Happy Birthday to Me

Well, my birthday has come and gone and I guess I would like to rant a little. I feel kind of let down. On my birthday I got one phone call, and it was from my mom. I know people are busy and so I shouldn't judge them for not calling, but I guess I just feel unloved. My sister Krissa called on Saturday (the day before), so I don't blame her. My brother is in China and he emailed me, so I don't blame him (with 14-hour difference, it's hard for us to talk when neither is asleep or at work). Still, I feel unloved. I have no friends who I'm still in touch with who thought to call. No one at church said happy birthday (even though it was printed in the bulletin). No one on MySpace thought to say happy birthday besides my sister Marcie, (even though there should have been a reminder on my pic that my birthday was coming up. At least I've noticed that with others' pics). I really appreciate the clothes she sent me, too (just wanted to make sure she knows I appreciate it!).

Overall, the day was boring. Aaron had cleaned the apartment the day before as a gift, but he was sick on my birthday so wasn't up to doing anything really. No friends in the area to do something with.

I know, I'm pathetic.

But I think it stems from more than just this birthday. I think it comes from being born around Thanksgiving. I know it's not as bad as being born around Christmas, but it just seems like no one remembers. I remember for my 12th birthday I invited four friends for a slumber party (I don't remember when it was in relation to Thanksgiving). One told me before hand that she could not come, but the other three just didn't show up. I waited all night for them to come and by 9 or so, I realized that none were coming. 

In my teen years, I had to share a party with my brother who is two years older and has a birthday two weeks after mine. We'd usually have it about a week after my birthday in early December. These were usually disappointing (I think partly because we lived in the middle of no where, 15 miles from a small town). 

And don't even mention cake! I never got one that I can remember. My mom would be so burnt out from cooking for Thanksgiving that usually one of the pies for Thanksgiving was my "birthday pie." Needless to say, it didn't make me feel very special. I remember my sister, whose birthday is in June, getting ice cream cake when I was a kid and I didn't even get a cake at all.

Once I got to college, everyone in my building would leave for Thanksgiving, I'd have my birthday, and then they would come back and not even know that I'd had it. And I'm not really one to be like, "It's my birthday next week." I would mention it to a few good friends, but even they usually didn't remember, or they would be like, "It was your birthday, right? Happy birthday." And that was it.

My freshman year my birthday was the day after Thanksgiving. I'd ridden with a girl in my dorm to Colorado to visit my dad. The boy I liked at the time lived in the same city as my dad, and I was hoping we could hang out together. My dad and step-mom had gone somewhere and so I was literally alone on my birthday (I can't remember what it was, I just remember they were gone all day). I'd only visited the area for a few weeks a year, so I knew no one there other than this boy. He said he could probably hang out and so I was looking forward to it. I called him like 20 times that day trying to get a hold of him and find out when we could hang out. Pretty much that scared him away because he thought I was crazy for calling that much. Excuse me for wanting to do something for my birthday rather than sit at home alone. I didn't even have a car, so I couldn't even go out somewhere by myself. That was a horrible birthday. (And it doesn't help that my dad doesn't believe in birthday gifts once you're an adult, so I didn't even get any gifts that day).

I do remember my sophomore year one of my roommates having a party for me with cake and decorations. That was really nice and a fond memory. I just wish that sort of thing happened more often. 

So I guess my frustrations and pessimism about birthdays stem from these experiences. It doesn't help, either, that my husband's birthday is 8 days before mine. I'm once again sharing a birthday and so it seems like my birthday is overshadowed. We get our birthday cards at the same time, we have a party together (if we have one, since we have to plan it when we do), and since Aaron's the typical male, he doesn't do anything elaborate. I did appreciate him cleaning last Saturday. That was very nice of him, but it would be nice to have something that really says, "You're special. I love you."

Ack.

Happy Thanksgiving!

In honor of Thanksgiving, I want to say what I'm thankful for. I'm thankful for my husband who loves me and gives me lots of affection. I'm also thankful for his hard work in school so he can do well in his classes.

I'm thankful for my job that pays the bills (although I look forward to when I won't need to work). I'm thankful that it's close to where I live and for my boss who is understanding and who doesn't micromanage.

I'm thankful for my apartment that has covered parking (essential in Utah where you would otherwise have frost or snow on your car every winter morning). I'm also thankful for it having a laundry room and a second bedroom.

I'm thankful for my family who loves me and supports me. Especially my mom who I feel lets me live my life and trusts me to make good decisions.

I'm thankful for living in the United States where I have freedoms and where the economy is good. I'm thankful that I don't live in a third world country and that I speak English. And I'm thankful for military personnel who work every day to protect us and help those in other countries who need help.

I'm thankful that I will be able to go home for Christmas (it's been three years).

I'm thankful to have good health and to not have any chronic illness (such as diabetes, depression, or chronic fatigue).

I'm thankful to be such a blessed person. This is not to say that I don't have trials or anything bad in my life, but I think it's better to focus on what is good and right rather than what could make it better. I am grateful for what I have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

End of Cell Phone Woes

So finally my cell phone frustrations (i.e. not having one) have ending. This is in response to my previous cell phone rant in August. As of today, my cell phone will be arriving at my house. My husband's phone arrived last Friday, but I guess since my phone model is really popular, it's taking a little longer. I was able to get two free Razr V3 phones (one dark grey, one magenta) with $50 rebate on each (so $100 back total). We went with T-Mobile since they had the best deal on the phones, a pretty good plan (700 shared minutes with free nights and weekends for $59.99), and people I know in the area who have them have been pleased generally with the service. So that's exciting. For those wondering what my phone number is on the phone, I'm in the middle of transfering our home phone number to it, so that I won't have to worry about making sure everyone knows the new number, and since we're going to get rid of our home phone and just use cell phones, this will make it easier. So, anyway, very exciting news (for me anyway).

Happy Halloween!

Okay, so I decided to actually dress up for Halloween. I like the dressing up, but I hate the deciding and getting things for a costume. But I was inspired and decided to be a . . .

mime!

It was something I could without much planning. In fact, I decided to do it last night. White shirt, black pants, black jacket, add to it white gloves from my wedding and face make-up I got at the store and voila. I got the make-up when I thought I might be a geisha, but I decided against the geisha idea when I realized I couldn't get me hair to look like that and a wig would be expensive. It turned out to be a good decision, though, since a woman in my church decided to be a geisha and I wouldn't want to be a repeat. Anyway, so I used the makeup to be a mime instead.

Next time I have a costume with make-up, I want to get stage makeup instead. I hated working with this stuff. The pictures on the packaging looked all wonderful with thick makeup, but this stuff is so thin. Definitely not thick enough to be a real mime. I hope next time I'll be able to get good stage makeup and use that. It looks much better!

Finally

I'm just about as excited as can be! I've been a temp now for 18 months and for the last 6 they've been talking about hiring me on as a regular employee. It almost seemed like it wasn't going to happen. Then two weeks ago my job was posted on the company's employment Web site. This was a big step. I wanted to tell everyone, but I figured I should wait till I was actually hired. You never know till it's official. My boss wasn't planning on hiring anyone else, but what if a really impressive resume came by.

Yesterday my boss came by and told me that if all went according to plan then I'd be given an offer letter today. Well, you'd think I'd be excited, right? I was, but I was also worried. My boss had said something a month ago to make me believe that I wouldn't be getting paid anymore. At the time when he said I about wanted to kill him because last December he said it would be $2 more an hour and I had been planning on that since. But I decided to hold on and see what the offer was. Maybe I misinterpreted. Plus, one of my mentors has recommended me read these books that talk about thoughts and how you can make things happen by what you think about. So I kept my thoughts on what I wanted to be paid, which was $4 more an hour (so twice as much as what he told me he'd be paying). I thought about what I'd do with that much money, how things would change, how I would save some of it, etc.

Well, I was at work working on some stuff, and my phone rings. I look at the caller ID and it's my boss. I pick it up and he asks if I can come into his office. I figured he was going to give me the offer letter. Immediately butterflies in my stomach started fluttering and I said a quick prayer asking God to help me know what I should say if he gives me a lower pay than what I wanted. Then I got up and walked to his office (feeling quite sick, I might add). I sat down and he closed the door. He had the paperwork in his hand and starting talking about what he will expect of me now that I'm an employee (assuming I accept the offer, of course). He sat down rolled over to where I was sitting. I could see the offer on the top page. Finally, I was able to relax. Not only was it $2 more an hour, but it was actually $3.38 more an hour (so quite close to the amount I had been thinking of). I could hardly keep from smiling, but I didn't want him to think I was too excited--he might wonder if he were offering me too much.

He talked to me a little more about what the offer entailed including benefits and what forms I needed to fill out. I had to go home and get my social security card because they needed to enter my information today. Apparently my official start date was last Monday, and to get me into the payroll system, they needed to get my paperwork today. So I went home to pick it up. I figured I'd fill out the papers at home so i could be sure there wasn't anything else I needed. By then it was time for my husband to be walking home from class, so I drove by and picked him up. Then I handed him the offer letter and said, "I want you to read this." When he got to the salary he turned to me smiling. "Wow." "I know," I replied. "Great, huh? More than what we expected." I dropped him off at home and then headed back to work. I handed in the paperwork to HR and so now it's official. I have a salaried job that pays much better than anything else I've gotten and has great benefits. Yay! It's so exciting! Now I'm going to go plan a new budget, which will include a cell phone for each of us.

Financial Stress Relieved

Well, my financial stress has been relieved. My credit card's payment was due today and on Friday we received the loan check in the mail. We went to the bank and put it in there and made the credit card payment online. The credit card is paid off (with no interest), and we are no longer scrambling for money (not that we could not use more, of course, just that we're not dying anymore). Yeah!

Going to Lake Powell

I'm so excited. I found out last Friday that I'm going to Lake Powell this weekend. It's been a possibility for a few weeks, but I didn't know for sure till then. It's going to be so much fun. If you've never been to Lake Powell, make it a point to go. It's just about the best lake ever (partially because it's so big, and is also a great location). I hear this is a good time to go because it's not quite so hot, but still warm, and cools off at night.

Basically, a millionaire I know, John (who I've mentioned before), is letting a group of us go down and stay at one of his house boats (he has two). We're going to swim, hike, hang out, have fun, and learn from John about how to be successful in life. It's going to be great. I'll let you all know how it goes when I get back.

In other news, to make up for the day off I'm taking (since I still don't have paid vacation) and to try to get money to pay for Aaron's schooling, I'm doing some freelance work this week. So pretty much I'm working 12 hours a day. I know many who do this on a regular basis, but I just don't know how they do it. I guess we just push ourselves to do what we need to do, but it's still hard (unless of course you love the work so much it doesn't seem like a job). I am grateful for my job and the freelance work, though.

Financial Stress

I hate it when you have unexpected expenses. Especially when they equal $1000 . . .

I just realized a couple weeks ago that we were not getting a Pell Grant this year. I guess I figured we would still get something, now that I'm working full time, but apparently the government thinks $20,000/year is WAY too much to get ANYTHING. So we absolutely got no money this year for school from the government. Well, at least Aaron got a half-tuition scholarship, so that helps.

So when I realized this I applied for a Stafford Loan to pay the rest. I called the Financial Aid office and they told me to fill out a form and they would notify us in 3-5 business days. So we wait 5 business days and then give them a call (we had to call because for reasons I don't want to get in to, we don't have access to our mail box, so I didn't know if they notified us by mail). I'm thinking that we'll call, see if we get approved and then have the money to pay tuition. Well, when we called yesterday we found out there was a whole bunch of other stuff we needed to do to get the loan approved, let alone get the money (that they didn't bother to inform us about when we first called). On top of that, UVSC adds over $200 in "Student Fees". Why this is not included in the tuition, or what it's for, is beyond me. It bugs, though, because the half-tuition scholarship doesn't pay for half of the student fee and so we owe almost $1000 to UVSC by today.

I hate money stress!

Great Weekend--Great Labor Day!

Can I say that I LOVE paid holidays. Since I'm still a temp (which will hopefully change soon), I look forward to the six holidays a year that I get off WITH pay; I love it! To add to that, I completely did nothing yesterday--well, pretty much nothing. I got up pretty early and went over to Wal-mart to beat the rush. We needed groceries pretty bad and I decided I need to do better about planning out some meals and buying the ingredients for them. So Aaron and I picked out some meals that we both like and I made a shopping list. The meals the we picked are French Bread Pizza (so easy), chicken enchiladas, Rio Ranch Chicken Wraps (really good, pretty easy), and Twice-Baked Potatoes.

So that is what I did first. I was really frustrated because I was looking for coriander and couldn't find. I was pretty sure it was a spice (and I was right), but it didn't look like they had any in the spices aisle. I might have to go somewhere else to get some.

Then I came home and pretty much just hung out all day. I read some from a novel I'm rereading, Mistborn, and then watched How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying (it was on Comcast's "Free Movies" list), and finally finished off the day by playing Oblivion on the computer. I can't believe I got sucked into a video game, but I have! I'm having fun with it. So that was pretty much my day. At the end of it I was feeling guilty for not being more productive, but I guess when you only get 6 days of "vacation" a year, you tend to want to just relax and have fun. Besides paid holidays, I haven't taken one day off from work for 18 months! So it was really nice to have that day off. I can't wait till I'm hired and I get a couple weeks or more every year. I'm looking forward to it (plus my company gives 10 paid holidays a year rather than 6).

What a Busy Weekend!

Well, my weekend was really busy. I had fun, but I get stressed out when I'm around a lot of people for an extended period of time. I have always knew I needed my alone time, but I'm just now realizing that the reason is because otherwise I'm stressed. This worries me somewhat because I know when I have kids, alone time won't exist (except when I get a cherished moment when someone else is taking care of them). I still really want children, though. I think I'll just get somewhat used to the chaoticness, or something.

Anyway, so on Friday, Andrea arrived with Kayla and Natalie because Pat, Tina, and the kids were coming to Provo to take Ashley to BYU. It was fun seeing the girls, and overall, they're very well behaved and have fun with each other, which was good, but it seemed hard to keep them occupied (it doesn't help when we have no toys for them to play with!). I did find that Kayla loves playing games on children's Web sites, and that helped. But Natalie kept bugging her wanting to play Dora the Explorer games. Overall, though, they had fun with that.

We saw Ashley and the family later when we went to her new college apartment. I think she is really excited about starting college, and I'm glad we're nearby to help if she needs it. Saturday was filled with getting her situated and getting groceries to start her off. It takes me back to my first year of college. It's an exciting time, that's for sure! It wasn't till that night, when Andrea and the girls left to go home, that I really got some quiet alone time. It was good to see everyone, but it's good to have your house back, too. Overall, the weekend was really busy!

Editing Jobs

This is a shameless plug for myself, but I'm confident in my abilities, so I'm doing it. If you need a freelance editor, consider hiring me.

I went to Brigham Young University and received a BA in English with an editing minor. Since graduating, I've gotten experience in editing fiction, magazines, and technical information, as well as publishing on the Web. I am very detail oriented and good at what I do. Besides editing for a software company, I have been partially in charge of Leading Edge magazine which has given me a lot of experience not only in editing, but also in management and organization. I have also had a chance to work with big-name authors such as Orson Scott Card and Dave Wolverton through this experience. Along with that, I contributed in editing Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson which is due out next summer (as well as the two sequels, which has not yet been published). 

I have done other freelance work. One with a company that provides form letters for those who don't write well, and for a company that sells books that help teach children to read (I helped created advertisements). Whenever they have more work, they contact me to help with it. They have been very pleased with the work I've done for them so far.

So if anyone is in need of a freelance editor, please consider me. With my variety of experience, I'm a good choice. Through my editing classes, magazine experience, and technical experience, I have over five years of experience editing. I can help with a variety of editing needs including proofreading (whether books, Web sites, magazines, or whatever), fact checking, solidifying manuscripts and preparing them to send in to publishers, basic layout and design, and writing (which I have experience through my English major). If you are in need of any of these services, feel free to email me at my email through my MySpace.com profile (www.myspace.com/jillenabean), and I can give you more information.

My Name in Print

I am excited because there is a new novel out, Mistborn: The Final Empire, that has my name in the acknowledgements. That's right--my name in print! An author who went to college with me, Brandon Sanderson, was looking for readers to help develop this novel and get it ready for publication by Tor, the leading sci-fi/fantasy publisher in the United States. I offered my services. It's the most awesome way I've found to get to read a book before it's published! In fact, this novel is the first of a trilogy, and I've already read all three. (Granted, it was in its first stages and so it may be very different once it's published, but I know all the major events of what is going to happen. And no, I'm not telling! I don't think Brandon would let me read more if I did :).

So anyway, if you're in a bookstore, look for Mistborn. Open it up to the acknowledgements page and I'll be there. It's an awesome book and very original. Check it out!

Cell Phone Rant

Can I say that I would really like a cell phone! This is pretty much a tangent rant, but there have been so many times lately that I thought, "Man, if I just had a cell phone right now." It's starting to get really annoying. If I were just hired at my job already (and for at least the amount I was told I'd get), then I could finally afford cell phones for Aaron and me. That would be so nice! I asked my boss today what was going on and he said that they're stilling trying figure out a title for the position, a job description, and a salary that fits that job description. Hopefully the wait will be worth it and they'll decide that for what I do, I need to be paid more than what he had originally told me it would pay. Wouldn't that be great! Here's hoping. I just really hope it's soon. It's been 3.5 months since he wanted me to be officially hired. He's making it a goal to get done by the end of the month, but that doesn't mean much to me since he's made many goals in the last few months about getting me hired that haven't happened. But we'll see. I'm trying to be optimistic about it. At least I know that they want to hire me for the position when it does open!

How I Love My Car!

So I have had an adventure with my car for the past 2+ months. [sarcasm]It was so much fun![/sarcasm]. A couple months ago it was having issues with overheating and so we tried to get help from friends who could tell us what was wrong. We were pretty sure it wasn't the radiator since there was no water leaking from it. We found a hose that had a hole and so replaced it, as well as the thermostat, but neither fixed the problem. It got bad enough that we couldn't drive it at all. We were lucky enough to have a friend that had a car we could borrow.

Then we took the car to a mechanic. They tightened some clamps and supposedly fixed the overheating problem (cost us $80 to tighten clamps, but figuring it was fixed and it could have been more costly, I was pretty happy). Then on the way home, it dies. Apparently there is something wrong with the carburetor. Great, so back to the shop. They try to figure out what was causing the problem, but never really figured it out. They decide to rebuild the carburetor (which was just done last November), costing us $550+, and think they've fixed it. It works great for 36 hours and then dies, again. This time they say that when they rebuilt the carburetor, they didn't set something right. They didn't charge us for that, though, since it was their fault. That I appreciated since they were really causing us inconvenience. Well, we picked it up last night and so far so good, but I don't think I'll really have confidence that this car is fixed until I've driven it a few weeks with no problems.

Summer Conference

Well, although my weekend was tiring, it was AWESOME! On Friday I headed down to St. George, Utah for a business conference. We talked about what is needed for a good leader, how business owners think differently than employees, what the different personalities are and how to deal with them, and how to set and reach goals. On both Friday and Saturday the conference ended around 12:30 a.m. I didn't get to sleep till 3 a.m. or later. That was why it was so tiring. But the information was great. On top of that, I went with some people I've become friends with and we had a great time with each other during and outside of the conference.

Fourth of July

So the fourth was great, mostly because I got to stay home and get paid for it. Paid holidays rock! Now if I could only get paid vacation . . .

Pretty much all we did was I made really good food and Aaron and I enjoyed it. It really wasn't too hard--nothing like Thanksgiving. I made the fruit dip and potato salad in the morning and then right before we ate, I cut the fruit, boiled the corn on the cob, and cooked the hamburgers.

All together we had hamburgers, fruit with dip (cherries, strawberries, apples, bananas, and watermelon), chips and dip (although we got so full before we got there that we didn't actually eat any!), corn on the cob (cooked the perfect amount, if I do say so myself), potato salad, and ice cream. It was a great meal and what's even better is there are leftovers! Yeah! In fact, it's about time for lunch and I'm excited about those leftovers.

So it was a good, pretty easy-going day. It was kind of weird that it was in the middle of the week, but in a way that was nice, too. On Sunday night I was thinking about how nice it'd be to go to work on Monday and then  have a day off, then only have 3 more days left of work. And it was nice.

The Wonderful U S A!

Well, it's coming around to the 4th of July once again, and I have to say I'm grateful to live in the US! It really is a land of opportunity with the chance to complete your dreams. I'm not saying the US is perfect, or that our government always makes the right decisions, but I think overall it's a pretty great place to live.

I'm so appreciative of our Founding Fathers. What vision they must have had to create the government we enjoy today. Not many governments could have lasted this long, largely unchanged! It truly is amazing. I'm excited for the 4th of July, to celebrate our nation and its founding. I just hope everyone remembers why this holiday exists and why it's so important. There were a lot of men and women who have put their lives on the line to build this country (and many who have died) to have a country with our freedoms.

Thank you to all service men and women! What we do without these brave people who are willing to fight for us!

Anniversary Pictures

So Aaron and I finally had our anniversary pictures taken. We didn't have them done around our anniversary because Aaron was having a hard semester, but once it was over, I scheduled them. I got SmilesbyWire, which is where you can view the pictures online and if people want copies, they can order more. I like this because I can download copies of all the poses, even though they're low resolution, so that I have a copy of all of them and not just the ones we ordered. I believe we ordered 6 out of the 12 poses, but it's nice to remember what they all looked like. Plus, digitally they look fine, even if they're a little small. Anyway, if you want the internet address so you can look at them, let me know and I'll email you the link. Fun, fun!

The user picture I'm using right now is one of the poses. It's one of my favorites. I don't even think I knew that the photographer was taking it, but it turned out well. More fun than just looking at the camera!

Scholarship Money!

I'm very excited because last weekend we got a letter from UVSC, the school my husband attends, saying he got a half-tuition scholarship for next year. This is very exciting. I think our Pell Grant will be less this next year because I made more last year and so hopefully with the two combined, we'll have tuition covered! I'm a little surprised he didn't get more considering his GPA, but whatever. Maybe Computer Science doesn't give out full tuition scholarships. As long as we get enough government money, we'll be okay. But I'm so proud of him!

Josh Is Engaged

I can't believe it, but my little cousin, Tim's brother incidentally, got engaged! I can't believe it. When I went to Tim's wedding he kept saying how he wanted to get his bachelor's degree first because he's planning on going on to graduate school and thought that'd be easier. Then at the sealing for Tim, the sealer said to Josh, not knowing he was his brother or anything, and said, "You're next." He thought it was pretty funny, but that's all and then a week later he gets engaged to a girl that he was apparently dating, but I don't think he told anyone. I know he didn't tell me. He said he's been on a few dates since being home, but mostly they were disasters. And with him working 70 hours/week, I didn't figure he had much time for a girlfriend. Then one week later he's engaged! Weird.

EDIT 10/2006: Well, I guess the wedding is off. I didn't find out till I asked why I hadn't gotten an invite. I don't know what happened, nor did I pry. Not my place, but I know his family wasn't really feeling a good vibe about the relationship, so it's probably a good thing it didn't happen.

Tim's Wedding

So my cousin Tim got married last Thursday. I know, who gets married on a Thursday? I heard they wanted a long weekend because they were going back to work on Monday. It was a beautiful day, other than the fact that it was extremely windy! When Tim's wife, Liesl, walked out of the temple, her veil flew off. It took forever to get it back on her head! But she was gorgeous! After the wedding I went with Tim's little brother Josh to get some food for a luncheon that turned into a dinner. It was suppose to be at 3 p.m., but I don't think we started until 4:30. Really, when the ceremony is at 1:45, it makes sense it would take that long to get back from Salt Lake to Highland and have everything ready. I helped clean-up afterwards, but I decided not to go to the reception. I was completely beat! Plus I hadn't seen my husband all day, who was unable to go because he had two finals that day.

So congratulations to Tim and Liesl!

TLE Is Now on Its Own

Well, now that we've officially announced it, I guess I can let you all know that Leading Edge, the magazine I work for, will no longer be associated with BYU's English department beginning this October (once October's issue is back from the printers). 

The English department has decided that their resources are better used for other things. It's been a fight with them for awhile, mostly because they believe science fiction and fantasy are not literary genres and therefore are not worthy of study or funding. This has especially been the case since our major advocates have retired or passed on. We are hoping to keep the magazine going, but will now have to fund ourselves. This is somewhat of a task because just to print the magazine costs us about $3000 a year and we probably only get about $500 in revenue (i.e. subscriptions and selling the magazine). There are other costs involved besides printing, especially now that we're on our own. There is advertising, space to work in, computers and more.

I think what the English department fails to realize is what benefit this magazine has brought to students. It is considered the most professional magazine on campus by many faculty members in both English and editing, and has been around for over 25 years. It has given student real world experience in running the magazine (which has been solely run by students and recent graduates since its inception). It's given students the ability to make decisions on how to run the magazine, how to improve circulation, how to choose stories to publish, and how to edit. Even though we will be disconnected from BYU, we will still be relying on students volunteering to run the magazine, so they will still get this experience, but only as long as we have money to keep the magazine going. And because we accept submissions from all over the world (and I mean that literally--from The Netherlands to Japan), our level of writing is much higher than many college sci-fi and fantasy magazines. If you'd like to see the reaction of current and previous staff members of TLE, check out the thread on Timewaster's Guide Forum.

If anyone would like to support our magazine, the easiest way to do so is to go to www.leadingedgemagazine.com and get information on how to buy a subscription or old issues. Or you can send us a check stating that it's a donation. At the moment we only accept checks, but we are hoping to start accepting credit cards soon. Once we do, we will be adding a link for straight donations. Any donation would be wonderful. Please help keep us alive.

Edit (5/15/06): Well, I guess this was premature. Just a couple of weeks ago the Linguistics and English Language department has decided to take over Leading Edge. Why not before? Because the English department has tried to push student journals off onto the Ling/ELang department before and when Ling/ELang said no, English said, "Fine, we'll keep it." When asked if Ling/Elang would take Leading Edge, they thought it was a bluff just like in the past. It wasn't until they found out that English was going through with giving up Leading Edge that the chair for Ling/ELang said that they would take up Leading Edge. We now have an advisor from that department and are very happy to be staying at BYU. Phew! What a relief.

Late Night!

I didn't get into bed until after 1 a.m. last night and didn't fall asleep until probably close to 2 a.m. (I didn't look at the clock cause I was afraid of getting frustrated that I wasn't asleep yet). You might be asking yourself why I didn't get to sleep until so late. I am usually very good about going to bed on time because I pretty love sleep and it helps me to sleep better if I go to sleep at about the same time every night.

So why stay up so late? One of my co-workers is a very good business man and is very successful. Lately as I have gotten to know him, he's taken the time to "mentor" me and help me see how I can be successful financially. Well, he learned all he knows from someone else who is now a millionaire. I had the opportunity to sit down with this millionaire last night, along with about five others and talk about what he did to become a millionaire, cause he didn't inherit, but rather went from being poor, to being middle class, to being a millionaire. And I say that if you have the chance to learn from someone who's made it, then you should take it right?

Well even though I am really tired right now, it was worth meeting with him. I learned quite a bit and he gave some advice on what books we should read, and what CDs we should listen to to get more information. It was really great. Anyone who is interested in some of this info, let me know. I'll talk with you about it. I have to tell you, millionaires see money very different than the other 95% of people who are not millionaires. Wow!

My Husband Is So Sweet!

Yesterday, around 9:30 p.m., I was driving home from Leading Edge when I remembered that my favorite show, Gilmore Girls, had been new that night and I forgot to record it. When I realized this, I was really bummed. I really didn't want to wait till it came on again as a rerun. I was pretty much kicking myself for forgetting, but there had not been new episodes on for over a month and so I had forgotten. So I got home and walked upstairs to the office where my husband was doing homework. I asked him, "You didn't happen to record Gilmore Girls for me, did you?" His reply was, "Yes, I did. It's downstairs in the VCR." I couldn't believe it. I started squealing and jumping up and down. "You're the best," I told him. "Thank you." Then I ran downstairs and watched it. Before going to bed that night, I must've thanked him a hundred times along with an exclamation of "You're awesome!" I just couldn't believe that he was so thoughtful to think to notice it was new and to think to record it for me. It was so awesome. He is so thoughtful!

My Anniversary Is in One Week!

Aaron and I have our 4th anniversary in a week. I'm so excited. I can't believe, in a way, that we've been married for a whole four years. It's gone by so fast. I'm excited to see what he'll get for me. I've given him some ideas to help him along. I got him a video game that he can play online called Guild Wars. He asked for it, so I know he wants it (I just hope he doesn't get into playing it for hours on end like many who play it do). I'm getting my hair cut on Saturday. As we do traditionally, we are having our picture taken. It's the only ones we really have of both of us together. It's hard to get pictures together when there is normally just two of you! So I'm having my hair cut so it's cute. I haven't had a cut in a year. I really hate having to go do it. I'm going to get a layered cut again, but this time, I'm leaving the length. It's now to about my shoulder blades. Nothing else to report.

Nieces Came to Visit

I just remembered something that was fun. Andrea and her family finally moved here from Washington. This was very exciting, then we found out that they bought a house an hour an a half away! So sad. They were in Lehi, though, shopping last Saturday and so came down to see us. They had their two girls with them, Kayla and Natalie, and I got to play them . In fact, I felt like a jungle gym as they played on and around me. I haven't seen them in awhile and so that was fun. They're so cute.

Life Is Life

Well, I know I haven't posted, but I just really don't know what to postabout. Everything is same old, same old. Aaron is still having a hard semester and struggling to do well. He got a 96% on his American Heritage mid-term, but he still has lots of projects, tests, and 2 papers before the end of the semester and I don't know how he's going to get it all done by then.

Work is same old. My boss hinted that the job for me was approved, but he hasn't opened it up yet. He also hinted that he's planning on hiring me for it, but I won't know till it happens. I don't know what is going on and I'm scared to ask.

Leading Edge is going well. As we get closer to publishing the next issue, I start taking more responsibility on myself. Matt has been good at helping, but I still feel a lot of pressure to do well. I'm excited by the fact that we've already accepted four stories for the next issue (in October) and possibly will have our fifth soon. We usually on publish 4 to 6, so that means we should be ahead on production since we're not waiting on accepting stories so we can start on production. I think this is partially due to Matt and I staying caught up on reading stories that are passed up to us. We make decisions quickly instead of letting them pile up.

Still, no real big news there. Other than that there is not much happening to report on. Sometimes this is a good thing because news can be good or bad, and I want to avoid bad news as much as possible . Can't wait till Aaron's semester ends, though. He's been so stressed!

I Met Dave Wolverton (AKA Dave Farland)

This week at BYU, there was a sci-fi and fantasy symposium called, "Life, the Universe, and Everything." Basically, a whole bunch of sci-fi and fantasy authors, editors, and fans come together and talk about subject dealing with sci-fi and fantasy including getting published, writing better, and how much we like Harry Potter (as well as other books, TV shows, and movies of the genres). One of the authors who attended was Dave Wolverton (also known as Dave Farland. One name is used for sci-fi books and the other is used for fantasy books). While he was here, I went to his book signing to have my copy of Leading Edge signed, since we published a story by him in the last issue. I also was hoping he'd sign some extra copies of that issue, and the 20th anniversary issue (which also had a story by him) that we could use for promotional purposes. While he signed them we talked and I told him my background in editing and plans to do freelance editing, mostly in fiction (although I am open to all genres). He was very impressed and asked for my info. I guess he gets a lot of requests from people to edit their stuff and he doesn't have time, so he's building a list of editors he can refer them to. I just happened to have a business card with me that I created when I graduated. I was very grateful for this because I was able to hand it to him, instead of the unprofessional alternative of writing my info on a scrap of paper. Overall, this was very exciting for me and I hope some freelance work comes from this opportunity.

Happy Valentine's Day

Funny story: I was driving my husband to work and he says to me, "Today's the 11th, right?" And I'm like, "No, it's the 14th." I'm wearing pink cords, a cranberry-colored shirt, heart socks (not that you can see the socks cause they're covered), and a pink ribbon in my hair. He says, "Oh." No other response. I don't think he knows what day is today.

I'm not blaming him cause he's had a hard semester in school and is having to work really hard just to stay behind in his work--and he just spent all last weekend studying for two tests yesterday, but still. I have to say I was a little disappointed.

This morning I wrote him a love note on pink paper. I was able to sneak his backpack out of his office (with him sitting at his desk the whole time), take out his lunch, put in the love note (in a plastic baggy so it wouldn't get gross), and put back his backpack all without him noticing. I bet he'll be feeling bad when he reads it and remembers what day is today. Even so, I bet he won't forget our anniversary which is more important. He mentions every once in a while that it's coming up soon.

Anyway, happy Valentine's day to you all. Hope you have people to love. Today is a day to show any love, not just romantic love. Give out your love to everyone!

EDIT: Well, maybe he did forget, but he went and got me some roses that night and felt really bad for forgetting. So yea!

Life Is Good

Things have been going pretty good lately. I still haven't been hired on permanently (what an oxymoron since it only means I'm not a temp, but doesn't really mean I have a permanent job), but anyway, that doesn't matter so much. I should find out within a month or two whether I will be. Either my boss will get approval and then I'll get hired, or he won't and I'll be let go (which just means I'll be in the market for more temp jobs). If this happens, I'll just keep in touch with the Documentation manager and possibly get some temp work from him until he has something more permanent in his department. I think it will work out either way. But overall, things are good. I hope it stays this way.

I have been so busy, though. I've been trying to do better at keeping up with housework and so if I'm not doing other things, I'm cleaning. On top of that I spend about 10 or more hours a week working on Leading Edge stuff. Also exercising, eating, sleeping, and watching a little TV here and there. I've hardly had time to think. Even work has been very busy with lots to do (which hasn't always been the case).

Leading Edge Magazine

As some of you know, I work at Leading Edge magazine. I'd like to put a plug in for it because if you like science fiction and fantasy, it's a great magazine. Our last issue featured stories by Orson Scott Card, Dave Wolverton (Farland), and LE Modesitt Jr, as well as Brandon Sanderson, a new author who has a novel published by Tor entitled Elantris, as well as a wonderful short story after the style and feel of HP Lovecraft entitled "Empire of the Dead" by Chris Kugler. I'd like to encourage all of you to take a look at our Web site at www.leadingedgemagazine.com. There are excerpts for each of the stories as well as a sampling of the art. Check it out!

Protein Shakes

I got into having protein shakes for dinner lately. It's really great because I don't have to plan something for dinner, it fills me up so I'm not hungry, and it's only 220 calories. The protein in the milk I mix it with combined with the powdered mix is 36 grams, so I'm finally get close to the daily recommended amount of calories. It's whey protein, so it's totally healthy. And it's fast and easy, so when I'm in a hurry, I still get something to fill my stomach. Yea!

We're All Moved

Well, we got ourselves moved last weekend. I'm excited to be in the new apartment, but it's stressful to move and now we're living in a disaster! Everything is everywhere with hardly any organization. I've worked on putting stuff away and feel I haven't even made a dent in it and it stresses me out to have everything be such a mess. Sure I'm not the cleanest person, but I definitely don't like things to be so messy and disorganized. I know it's going to take a week or more to do it all (since I still have to work afterall), but I can't wait till everything is organized and put away! It'll be so nice.

We're definitely enjoying having a bigger place and having space! I put some stuff in the crawl space under the stairs and didn't even make a dent in the space that's available. We haven't even put stuff out in the storage shed yet. It's so great. I just hope we don't fill it up. I don't want to have to move even more stuff than I moved this time. It was enough. This is the first time we've had a real move. Last time we moved, the only furniture we had was a mattress, boxspring, and frame plus two small bookcases and a small computer desk. This time we had that plus dining table with 5 chairs, couch, a big computer desk, two dressers, nightstand, and a really tall bookcase. Plus, of course, all the other things we've accumulated in the last two years. But that's okay, we've moved and I'm happy :).