I’m Julie Stiles Mills, a consultant, trainer, coach, worship leader, speaker, incurable bibliophile, theology nerdess, and exploring writer who’s passionate about helping people live an abundant life through an intimate, living, dependent relationship with God.
This list is a work in progress, so watch the number in the title and check out the additions when it increases!
1. Why Julie Stiles Mills? Seriously. Do you have any idea how many “Julie Mills” there are out there?
2. I sort my m&m’s by color before I eat them. Every time.
3. I didn’t drink coffee until I was 30 years old. What was I thinking?
4. I have one husband (affectionately referred to on the internet as “FirstHusband“, (sometimes promoted to “FavoriteHusband”), one son (FavoriteSon), one daughter (PinkGirl), two black cats (Boo and Bob), 5 fish, one minivan, hundreds of books and (what is that, like 7 things?)
UPDATE: In Fall of 2014, we lost both Boo and Bob two weeks apart from each other – to the day. Boo died from a burst abdominal abscess and Bob died from a blood clot. Given our affinity for black cats, we adopted a black kitten and named him Perry the Catypus (inspired by the Disney show Phineas and Ferb) because, when he’s not actively interacting with us, he disappears and we found ourselves constantly asking each other where the kitten was.
5. I can’t cook without a recipe. (unfortunately ownership of many cookbooks does not translate to home cooked meals every night.)
6. Whenever I begin saying “A job worth doing is worth doing well.” My children roll their eyes and finish saying it with me. Even in their sleep.
7. Had my first mammogram on January 16, 2008. Moved off my butt to get it done by my friend/my daughter’s teacher, who was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer. (she’s in remission) Are you at “that age” (and female) and haven’t had a mammogram yet? STOP reading this blog, pick up the phone and make the appointment. ya big baby.
8. I’m a vocalist. I’ve led worship and I’ve sung at churches, retreats, weddings, even funerals. Been singing since I can remember. When I was a young teenager, I could imitate Karen Carpenter. Sounded just like her. (It takes a LOT of practice.) I can’t do it anymore. I just sound like me now. These days, I mostly record covers. Am I any good? I’ll let you decide. Click here to listen.
9. It took me 9 years to get my undergraduate degree. Besides the fact that I worked full time and went to school two nights a week (for YEARS), I changed my major 5 times: vocal performance, music education, journalism, radio television and finally – organizational communication. Then I got my MBA in 22 months (it was a lockstep program).
10. I don’t own ANY pink or purple articles of clothing. No lime green either. Or bright yellow. Or Aqua. Or Teal.
11. When I make a sandwich, the lunch meat is always touching the slice of bread covered with mustard. The cheese is always touching the slice of bread with the mayonnaise on it. Any other ingredients go in between the lunch meat and the cheese. I don’t know why, but this is very important.
12. My favorite rose is called Whiskey Mac. It’s a peachy rose color and smells WONDERFUL. Whenever I find a Whiskey Mac rose bush, I buy it. I plant it. It produces beautiful roses for one season. Then, it dies.
13. I can’t finish the book Atlas Shrugged. I’ve tried. Can’t do it.
14. I believe . . . (yes, I like the blue collar guys). I believe that when a stay at home mom is asked what she “does all day” she should smile sweetly and ask: “Between the bubble baths and pedicures?” while trying desperately NOT to roll her eyes.
15. My favorite time on a digital clock is 11:11 – a.m. or p.m.
16. I have four big, beautiful, green plants on my back porch. They are all silk. The real plants turned into brown paper. every. time. It turns out, you have to water real plants. UPDATE: Not anymore.
17. One of the first things I do when I come home from ANYWHERE is remove ALL my jewelry. Whenever I forget to put my wedding rings, I say I “forgot to get married.”
18. I refuse to read a fiction book series until the author has finished writing every book in the series.
19. I once caught a shark. I was saltwater fishing with FirstHusband (LastFiance at the time). It’s been a long time, but if I remember, shark actually tastes pretty good.
20. FirstHusband and I used to own a boat (pre-kids) which we named, “The Briar Patch.” It was only about 19 feet, but it was enough for us. UPDATE: To date, we’ve owned 3 boats. The current one is a 25 foot, twin engine named “Reel Time.”
21. I like “clean” food. Not really a “sauce” person. Especially sweet sauces. Or thick sauces. FirstHusband is a sauce man.
22. I almost ALWAYS order salad with dressing on the side. I don’t care for salad soup, where there’s a puddle of salad dressing at the bottom of the bowl when I’m finished. Instead, I dip my fork in the little bowl of dressing before using it to stab some salad. At home, I can measure and add just the right amount , so it’s no big deal.
23. I love mushrooms. In anything. Cooked or raw.
24. I hate salmon. I went to London on an MBA class trip and was inundated with salmon everywhere we went. My classmates were convinced I would like it if I tried it baked. or grilled. or smoked. or poached. or whatever. I finally refused with: “How much salmon do I have to try before you people will believe I DON’T LIKE SALMON?”
25. Sometimes, when we go out to dinner, I ask FirstHusband to “surprise me” and place my order for me. When I’ve made enough decisions for the day – or maybe for the week – and I just don’t want to make even one more, no matter how small, he graciously does this for me. Knowing my anti-sauce, anti-salmon, dressing on the side and mushroom preferences, among other things, he always does a GREAT job.
26. My favorite Weird Al song is a toss up between Hardware Store and White and Nerdy. I prefer the student made video of Hardware Store to the official. And I prefer the green screen behind the scene video of White and Nerdy with Donny Osmond dancing in the background over the finished official.
27. On April 30, 2009, after more than 15 years of dealing with fibroid tumors, 3 surgeries, keloid scarring and 2 years of anemia, I finally had a hysterectomy. NO regrets! (Kept the ovaries, they never did anything to me, so I left them alone.)
28. Since it was (hopefully) my LAST abdominal surgery, I decided I wanted a better looking scar this time. I asked my GYN if she would consider a tandem surgery with a plastic surgeon and she gave me a referral – no more keloid!
29. Yes. It hurt. But Percoset was GREAAAAT! And by the time I finished with the Percoset (started driving again), FOUR ibuprofen tablets did the trick. UPDATE: I don’t know why I included this in my list. I must have been high on Percoset. 🙂
30. I would rather eat a Brussel sprout than a Peep. bleh. It’s like goo with glitter on it. and again. bleh.
31. I have absolutely no problem, however, purchasing Peeps for the sole purpose of blowing them up in the microwave. After seeing this on facebook, we’ll be new to “Peep Jousting” in 2012. As Larry the Cable Guy would say, “I don’t care who ya are, that’s funny right there.”
and a fitting end to a Peep in my opinion.
32. My preferred drink with pizza is milk.
33. I like a little pizza (or spaghetti) under my pile of Parmesan cheese.
34. I rarely watch TV. But those Hallmark Christmas movies are like a magnet. It’s gotta be an “opposites attract” kinda thing.
35. can’t complete a thought, much less this list of thin . . .
That is AWESOME…you had me hanging on your every word through out the list.
Can we just talk about some of the items ON the list?
#2 – Seriously…I do too! My kids think I am NUTS!
#5 – Can’t cook too well WITH or WITHOUT a recipe!
#6 – I say to my kids, “Do the RIGHT thing even if it is the HARD thing” about a 1000 times a day!
#7 – I will be 37 this August and have already had “3” mammograms…so you are due for some more! 😉
#11 – Now THAT is just weird!
#14 – me eith…
Nice hanging out with ya!
I just read this and really enjoyed it! I am 100% completely like you on #5. I have the same issue as you on #16 – and apparently you have to water the plants whether they are inside or outside. 🙂
Yesterday, my daughter was home from school and decided to bake a cake. She noticed the time and said, “Look Mom, it’s 11:11 (with much glee, I might add – she’s 15). Totally true!
Funny, I got half-way through Fountainhead and could not go on! And I hate to leave a book unfinished.
I like your site…lot’s of info here. I’m a newbie just getting started.
Blessings!
Jenn
I sort my M&M’s too…Them I eat them in order of the columns that have too many…Till I get to columns with equal numbers. Then I eat one from each column till gone. Who can eat them just out of the bag? 🙂
oh my goodness, i do the same thing as your last commenter (is that a word?)! I can’t not eat them in order by color. Your list made me smile, thanks for sharing.
#2. Well,I don’t sort my M&Ms, but I do sort my potato chips by size. I eat the little pieces first, with my sandwich or burger, then finish off with the big ones. I have no earthly idea why.
#1. And, my maiden name was Jones. I used to tell Hubby if he’d been a Smith, I never would have married him.
That’s a lot! That’s fun that you need an author to finish he series! What if they are never done? LOL!
Well, I’m so glad to meet you. Found you at Lysa Terkeurst’s site. Lurking in her comments where I’m often found.
Well, not so sure I have tons in common with at least this list. I think you’re hilarious! I was gonna’ say I’ve been divorced, too. But I’m not so sure you’re divorced anymore. The first husband got me thinking you were.
Gotta go read some more before I start rumors here.
In number 12 you said that the WHISKEY MAC was your favorite rose. Mine too! I had one several years ago but lost it when we moved and have never been able to find it again except in the UK and they won’t ship to the United States. I want another one so bad I can practicly smell it. Do you have any idea where in the US I might be able to find one. Price is no object unless it is rediculious. Please write me back with any information you might have. I will be eturnally grateful.
Great !!
I sort my peanuts .. always eat the ‘halves’ first, saving the ‘wholes’ for last
3rd hubby (by FAR THE BEST, and last, I must say) and I create in the kitchen (food only, folks) .. and I now have my own little cookbook. Well, not quite so little, as it has grown to 100 pages.
We hunt, we fish, we can, we garden .. so y’all have probably gathered that we don’t buy much of anything from the grocery store. Everything here is either in the freezer, or canned and put up in the pantry. Sure makes life a whole bunch easier when we look at each other in the early afternoon (we took early retirement three years ago.. so I really can pedicure and bubble bath ANYTIME I WANT!!!) and query each other “what’s for dinner tonight ?” and then just yank it off the shelf.
I have been canning potatoes for the last four years and they make the best roasted potatoes in the world!!! .. drain the starchy liquid out of the jar, rinse a bit in clear water, place on a foil-lined pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with your favorite seasonings (along with a little garlic powder perhaps), and, of course, mix in some of those frozen onions, and bake at 375 for about 20 minutes or ’til golden brown
I enjoyed your list, it made me chuckle. It is soooo nice to hear that I’m not crazy, just eclectic. Okay, so I am so with you on the OCD tendencies with both sandwiches and M&Ms. I don’t really like mustard, but the cheese definitely has to be on the same side as the mayonnaise. The meat goes on the other side of the sandwich, and the wet things (tomato, lettuce, pickle, etc.) go in the middle, that way the bread doesn’t get soggy. I get artistic with my M&Ms and make designs (eating extra M&Ms if needed to make my designs work out) and then I eat the colors with the most until all the colors have the same number of M&Ms and then I make a new design and then finally I eat the rest one color group at a time. I often tease my husband that I have a brown thumb because every plant I buy, I manage to somehow kill – either too much water, not enough water, too much sun, not enough sun, etc.. I didn’t change my major five times but I do have almost five majors… and a bajillion $$ in student loans, and I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up (I’m only 33). I HATE, HATE, HATE salad soup. Why do they do that? Does anybody really eat it like that? And one word for ya – “Rice, Rice, baby!”
LOL! I’m right there with ya on #22! Why ruin good veggies with a puddle of dressing… ewww
It is funny how we all have quirks. My husband told me when we were dating that he liked me because I was quirky. Years later am thinking he is the quirkier one. I do find it funny how we all have our own methodical ways though. I always order certain foods at certain places, while my husband tries different things each time. I like to take my shower in a certain order, so I don’t forget a step like conditioning my hair or something. I have surprisingly found that I am less quirky and more go with the flow since having children. It is nice to meet you!
Loved your list.
Things we don’t have in common: [1] I don’t sort my M&Ms; [2] I love salmon in any form.
Things we do have in common: [1] I can’t cook without a recipe (I can follow directions well, just not very creative), [2] I only tried coffee once at age 20 (it tasted as bad as I thought it would), [3] I like my salad dressing “on the side” and not in a puddle at the bottom of the dish (started this the first time I started Weight Watchers), [4] I love mushrooms.
Loved your Summertime rendition!
Great post. Thanks.
You mean you ‘wanted’ to read Atlas Shrugged? 😉 It is a fun list…how long did it take to finish it? It would take me forever. Is it your first book?
Please come on over and visit mine… http://www.aroundeverycornerat.blogspot.com
Blessings!
Jenny