My Outdated "About Me"

A few weeks ago, I took a look at my "About Me" page and was shocked by how out of date it was. Tasks over here in blogland have fallen to the bottom of the to-do list, haven't they? I had written the original about three years ago and, well, a lot has changed in that seemingly short amount of time.

Below I've taken a look at the outdated information to see what's changed, provided a few updates, and documented some of those changes via the very posts on this blog. Let's take a look.

"Put simply, I'm a young professional (writing, editing, and publication design) striving to find a balance between my full-time job, side projects (Zumba and freelance), personal goals, friends, family, and sleeping!"

Is 30 still considered young? I think so, but I'm gonna nix that description because I don't feel new to the field and typically work in management positions. I also quit working a traditional full-time job shortly after originally writing this (I wrote about the decision to quit working full time here) and made the side projects mentioned my main sources of income.

"Sometimes I don't think my inadequate self will ever be able to accomplish everything I want to, but I'm learning to focus on the little things and rejoice in small victories. Some of my dreams? I want to start my own business." 

I started Annesali Communications shortly after this to encompass my freelance work and additional clientele after quitting my full-time job. (See my post "Introducing Annesali Communications".)

"I want to find the love of my life." 

Wow. Check. I think I met Jake two, maybe three months after writing this. My first and only slight mention of him on the blog while we were dating was in my October Instagram recap where I show flowers he gave me. But I did write up our proposal story!

We have now been married for a bit over two years. And he is definitely the love of my life. My best friend. The one I want to do anything and everything with. My biggest supporter. And I'm completely heads over heels for him.

"I want to have a family of my own." 

Jake and I were extremely blessed to welcome our son Emerson this past January. He is a happy, chunky little guy and the perfect addition to our lives. Emerson hasn't officially appeared on the blog, but I did share his and her reactions to finding out I was pregnant.

"I want to live free and embrace happiness."

Happiness intrigues me apparently. I can't seem to stop writing about it.

Happiness Comes in the Little Things—Dec. 2013
A Happy Happy Life + 2 Goals - May 2016

I think my post "3 Things I Love About Life Without a Full-time Job" reflects what I mean about wanting to live free. 

"When I'm not writing, editing, or designing, you might find me teaching a Zumba Fitness class. I also hope to soon earn my group fitness instructor certification and explore the fitness world more from the instructing side."

I have definitely dived more into the fitness instruction world. I did earn my group fitness certification through AFAA (find my tips here). I also certified in and have taught U-Jam Fitness (my certification experience) and Piyo, and added in multiple Zumba trainings including Gold (seniors), Kids, Sentao,  and Pro Skills. Next on my list is barre!

If you made it this far, thanks for joining me on this little flashback through the past few years. I'm writing up a new description of me and this blog, so hopefully that will debut soon.

Wordy Wednesday: Do You Correct a Coworkers' Grammar?

Last night I had a moment before my evening Zumba class to flip through the March 2013 issue of the Ladies Home Journal that was in the Provo Recreation Center's community area.

The "You Are the Answer Lady" section caught my eye, and I found a question about grammar and writing in the workplace. Whup! That's right up my alley.

Here's the question: "Some of my coworkers' emails are full of poor grammar, misspellings and cheesy emoticons. I'm worried it will affect our client's perception of my company, but I'm not their boss so I feel like I can't say anything. Should I?"

I think this is a great question, and it brings up a touchy subject. As much as I personally value formal and proper workplace writing, I don't want to be (and am not) one of those red-pen editors that we all somewhat despise. (I'm right, right?)

If I were to respond to this person, I think I'd advise her to not correct the coworkers directly (that could seem like a personal attack), but instead mention the general concern (try not to target anyone) to a supervisor and suggest a training. My answer is similar to the first one printed in the article.

In my own workplace experience, I've had several coworkers recognize that I have the writing and editing experience that they lack. They actually reach out to me and ask me to proofread and edit emails and other materials—big, small, and insignificant—before they finish. I'm happy to help and will always explain why I made certain changes. This is a great situation because I get to help and train others without creating potentially uncomfortable situations.

Question: What are your thoughts? What would you do?

Wordy Wednesday: Expletive Sentences

What? Karianne is going to talk about expletives?? This seems so out of character. 

No folks, I am not referring to the kind of expletives you are most likely thinking of. I'm talking about the type of sentences that begin with "there is" or "there are."

For example, let's look at the following sentence: "There is a water bottle on my desk." This sentences portrays an example of expletive construction.

Believe me, you will see people using this type of sentence construction all. the. time. And while these sentences are not technically "wrong," they do reflect poor, lazy, and ambiguous writing.

You see, "there" is acting as a subject but doesn't have a clear antecedent and is essential just a filler work. A more clear way of writing the previous example sentence is to write "I keep a water bottle on my desk."

This diagrammed example is from mrclements.com (another great post).

Where did "there is" go?

Away.

Do we miss it?

No. 

Is the sentence more clear?

Yes, although the above example is not a great example. 

Do we have to figure out whether "there is" or "there are" is the correct usage? (Based on subject-verb agreement)

No. We've eliminated the poor usage, made the sentence stronger, and avoided the issue. 


So why do we keep using those darn expletives?!?! :)

Go ahead and take a look at Grammar Girl's well-researched explanation of the usage. She has some great examples and dives in a bit deeper than I do here.

P.S. The topic of expletive sentence construction was one that I first learned about in my business communications class in college. Sigh, that was one of my favorite classes. Good times, good times.