The Grown Up Life Wrap Up

I don't get time. And, quite frankly, I don't like it. Regrettably, I'd like to launch into a rant about how "It feels like just yesterday summer started..." and "it is almost August. How the Hello Kitty did that happen" and "it all goes by so dang fast." Ugh. So cliche. But so true.

I don't get time. Part of me is convinced its all a big joke. How else would an hour making cold calls feel like 3 days and an hour spent galavanting around downtown feel like a minute? I think time warps exist. Loosing ourselves in something we enjoy is the time-space equivalent of flooring it on an empty highway, where the not-so-fun stuff feels like trying to run with weights strapped to your ankles.

Today marks the last day living in my humble apartment abode, and the beginning of the last week of my internship. I've been an (almost) full-fledged adult for two months now, and I can say with confidence that the experience as changed me.

1. I've fallen even more in love with what I do. Content creation is my official professional love language. Whether its copy for an eBook, text for a blog post, or a pitch to a reporter, writing in the PR realm is my favorite way to get lost. My biggest PR accomplishments this summer have been crafting a blog post using thermodynamics as the main illustration (just as difficult as it sounds) and landing a story on the company in one of the top 50 newspapers in the country (that one still gives me goosebumps).

2. I've learned the science of sales. UFC's ain't got nothing on me. I'm eternally grateful for the skills I've been taught when it comes to sales communication. Talking to people is fabulous fun for me, and practicing how to steer conversations in different directions is something I know will be put to future good use.

3. My dad was right when he said, "never assume anything." "I'm just going to skip the chapter on sales," I thought to myself one day last fall, sitting at McConn with my marketing textbook. "I'll never need to know that stuff." Wrong. "I'm done with Spanish forever," I thought, walking out of Spanish 112 after my final exam freshman year. "I'm good with being mono-lingual." Wrong again. "I can go 85 on the freeway, no problem. They'll never take me alive!" I thought, pretty much every day. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

4. Never stop seeking friendships. In just two months, I gained a new member of my future bridal party. PB&J partners in crime for life.

5. Being one-track minded is way harder than I originally thought. I used to think the ability to only focus on one thing at a time was a positive, but I've learned it is something I'll struggle through the rest of my life. I've found that, in diving head first into work, other things get left behind, like the laundry that has been sitting in the dryer for 4 days and the several internship journals I have yet to turn in on Blackboard. Most importantly, though, I've learned that maintaining a relationship with God in the midst of life's manic pace is a hardcore commitment that takes work. And, to be honest, I've kinda sucked at it. Being intentional isn't optional. I know that now.

Without further ado, let's take a look at my summer bucket list from THIS POST.

(In no particular order)

1. Document my junior year {working on it}

2. Finish freelance "Words and Color" project {Halfway. After trekking back to Ohio I'm pulling it back out of the catacombs}

3. Read books. Lots of em {I've done pretty well. 1984, The Great Gatsby, A Simple Plan, Miss Peregrine's, The Stranger, On the Road.}

4. Make a significant dent in "642 Things to Write About" {Ooo, not so much. I need to get on that}

5. Catch up with old friends over lunch/coffee {Halfway.}

6. Learn a new trick on the trampoline {Not yet. How about....a full!}

7. Train for a half marathon {YES. Significant progress.}

8. Get super tan {I'm Venezuelan}

9. Move into the new apartment!

10. Buy a new professional wardrobe

11. Explore my brand new city

12. Learn a new language (Sales and Marketing speak)

13. Write several inspirational corporate blog posts

14. Cook an entire meal

15. Run the July 4th 5K with my Dad {It was pouring down rain. We opted out. Raincheck on that one.}

16. Dairy Shed

17. Tube it up at Dale Hollow

18. Make new friends

19. Go to a concert {Tim McGraw, Wilco & Bob Dylan, several concerts in the park, and soon JOHN MAYER!}

20. Collect data for my Senior Project {Starting that in August}

21. Talk to Jesus LOTS {Not as much as I should have. So sorry Jesus...we'll be catching as soon as I finish this, I promise.}

22. Go thrift shopping

23. Expect the unexpected {Oh, the irony.}

24. Carpe all diems. {A work in progress. Always. :) }

Pop Theology: "Work Hard Play Hard"

If you've read this post, or happen to live within a 5 mile radius of Rach and my's bachelorette pad, you probably know that I jam out on my morning runs. If the song doesn't have at least 160 bpm, its out. One of my new favorites just so happens to be David Guetta and Ne-Yo's "Work Hard Play Hard." Man that song gets me pumped.

Take a knee, yo.

Christians get a bad rap (pun not intended) when it comes to having fun. The unfortunate stereotype in our culture pictures us sitting around on our high horses with noses in the air and hands folded, watching as the rest of the world dances. We're pegged as boring and judgmental; our only amusement in life being fist-pumping to the Veggie Tales soundtrack.

Isn't it sad that this picture is the exact opposite of what Jesus had in mind for us?

I think, as Christians, we should be the funnest people on this planet. We have the one thing that makes life worth living - a relationship with the Creator and confidence that this world is not our end destination. Shouldn't that be reason to celebrate and live joyfully every single day?

Jesus worked hard. No doubt about that. If Jesus was hanging out on earth today, He would be on the cover of every leadership book written in the last decade. But what we fail to take into consideration is the fact that Jesus knew how to have a good time. He played hard (maybe not in the context Ne-Yo describes, but Jesus was human. He enjoyed life).

Hold on to your hymnals, people.

1. Jesus had a big group of friends. The Marion B-Dubs would be so annoyed if Jesus and His disciples came rolling in on a Friday night. Thirteen dudes with long beards and big appetites would have the wait staff scowling until they left unusually good tips. I wonder how Jesus would have liked His wings.

2. Jesus told the best stories. There is always that one friend who captures attention at social gatherings with entertaining tales. In the BC's, these were called parables.

3. Jesus went to parties. Once again, I say "parties" cautiously, because I can assure you that biblical parties looked a little different than the parties of today. But Jesus went to weddings and other social events to hang out. I'm a little jealous of those couples who were blessed enough to have Him in the audience. I want Jesus to do the toast at my wedding. Talk about perfection.

4. Jesus loved little kids. This one gets me every time. In His perfect humility, Jesus held babies and let toddlers sit on His lap. The Son of God forwent His busy schedule every now and again just to love on little kids. Um, wow. Pass me the tissues.

5. Jesus loved people. Relationships are the essence of life and what it means to be human. Building friendships with people is what we were created for, and our charge as Christians. Thus is why "high horse" stereotype is so frustrating, because it completely goes against our purpose on earth. Instead looking down our noses at everyone, we need to be right beside them, our arm around their shoulders.

Its time to get rocking and rolling and show the world what we're made of. Let's play.

How to Pack for a Weekend at the Lake

The end. :)

Off to another state to tube up the lake and soak up the sun. 

Meanwhile, enjoy Rach and my's Kick-A Lake Day Playlist while you're carpe-ing diems this weekend.

Hasta la vista, my good people.

More Essential Words You've Never Heard Before

According to the Oxford Dictionary, there are approximately 171,476 words in the English language, plus 5, as noted by this post. So, why is it there are so many persons, places, things and ideas that have not been assigned an official word? For example. The space inside the handle of a coffee cup. Wordless.

Move over, Webster, because creating combinations of consonants and vowels is my 7th favorite hobby. And, thanks to my helpful sidekick/sister, a new wave of vernacular is about to invade your vocabulary.

wat [wat] (coined by Marissa B.)
noun
-A cat that resembles a whale
The wat buried its head in its food after pancaking the small child. 

coffeeDHD [also known as Coffee Dependence Hyperactivity Disorder]
noun
-The state of hyperactivity brought about by continual caffeine intake via coffee
"My coffeeDHD is flaring up again," she said as she yelled as she pretended the bed was a trampoline.

gnarsty [nar-stee]
adjective
-The combination of gnarly and nasty used to describe the highest level of grossness on earth as we know it
The smell of sweat mixed with fart mixed with taco meat is straight up gnarsty. 

logoxuria [low-go-zur-ee-ah]
noun
-The feeling of a mixture of awe and envy felt when reading a passage you wish you wrote.
Logoxuria washed over me as I marveled at the words on the page.

chog [chog] (coined by Marissa B.)
noun
1. A dog that is treated as a child.
2. A child that acts like a dog.
The chog enjoyed sticking her face out the car window and barking at unassuming pedestrians (based on a true story)

Have a wonderfully worded Wednesday!

How to get your guy friends to your Bachelorette viewing party

So far this summer, I've learned a thing or two about the sales process. When I'm pounding out cold calls, I like to think of myself as a detective. It is my duty to wipe the tears from the church marketing person's eyes when they realize the millions of dollars spent printing those pesky bulletins are in the same dumpster as the dirty diapers from the nursery. There is an app for that, ladies and gentlemen.

With the help of some key selling techniques, anyone can learn to take on a challenging situation and turn it into gold. While I've had the pleasure of handling quite a few difficult people on the phone, not one has presented a challenge as large as coaxing the guy friends into our living room on Monday nights for The Bachelorette. And I do love a challenge.

I am happy to report that, with the help of a little sales knowledge and sugar, Rachael and I have a 100% conversion rate among the guys in the office under the age of 25. The feat is not as impossible as it sounds, ladies. Time to get your detective on and get the guys in front of your TV tonight.

Step 1: The Upfront Contract (UFC for short). One part brutal honesty and the other part mystery, a good upfront contract sounds something like: "Hey, you should come over for the Bachelorette tonight. Can I tell you why I'm saying this?" Ending with a question is like a dangling a fishing pole with Justin Beiber tickets in front of a group of 13 year old girls. Consider attention caught.

Step 2: Find the pain. In sales, you're not trying to sell a product, but a pain reliever. These guys have something missing in their life that you can give them. Pick two of these pain points after your UFC.

1. "You'll just spend 3 hours playing Halo otherwise." 

2. "You get to hang out with awesome people."

3. "You can make fun of it all you want."

4. "Our house smells good."

5. "We just went grocery shopping."

6. "We miss you."

7. "There are no games on tonight."

8. "Our couch is more comfortable than yours."

9. "We can skip through commercials." (if you have DVR)

10. "We're making dessert."

In my experience, numbers 1 and 10 work the best. 

Step 3: Pound the pain. Not to be graphic, but in sales, once you've found the "bruise" on your prospect, punch it. Our people have a giant hole in their lives where sugary treats should reside, so we know to make cookies, peanut butter bars, and cherry squares the main focus. Ask what kind of food the dudes want, and the sale is as good as yours. 

Step 4: Resistance. If you run across a more difficult prospect, let them talk out their issue. Be kind, and always validate ("I totally understand why you hate the show, but let me tell you why it will be worth your time"). Keep the conversation going by asking more questions, and try to understand where they are coming from. Some people's pain just requires more digging than others. If all else fails, a classic guilt trip is usually effective.

Step 5: Close the deal. Send a calendar invite and get those cookies in the oven. 

If at first you don't succeed, be patient and keep pounding the pain. Some will take longer to convince than others, but, in our experiences we've found they will all come around eventually. 

Happy Bachelorette Monday! ;)

Imissionation: Where am I going in life

Thursday afternoon, I had the opportunity to meet with two Indy-based PR professionals who are rockstars in the industry. Wide-eyed and with pen in hand, I tried to make like a sponge and soak up every word they said while scribbling bits of the conversation in my trusty composition notebook (almost identical to the ones sitting in front of them. Take that, iPads).

Like gum to the bottom of a shoe, the advice they offered that has stuck with me since that meeting has been the cruciality of strategy in communication. Every word an organization utters, whether it be on a social media outlet, in a press release, or on the company website, must somehow fit into that organization's goals and vision for the future. You must have a plan in which every action fits. 

So that got me thinking. I found myself rewinding to stormy Tuesday night, grabbing a midnight snack with my best goons and talking about life. We were playing "The Question Game" (probably my favorite thing ever), and inquiring about random things. The question, "What is your mission in life?" came up. Dots connected. The same way a strategy must be implemented into a communication plan really should also be a factor in life. 

How often do I find myself just meandering through the day-to-day, with zero forward thinking and no rhyme or reason to my actions? 

I need a plan. And a mission. And imagination. 

I need imissionation. 

imissionation - noun

1. the culmination of one's life mission and vision for the future

2. an attitude which drives one to creatively seize the day

3. a rejection of complacency as to live life to the full

Here we go.

Main Mission:

To spread the love of Jesus in a way that creatively redeems the broken elements of a fallen world. 

I think sometimes, Christ-followers get stuck in the idea that we must either reject the world completely, or throw all caution to the wind and dance on ice with it. I believe, in following in Christ's example, we are called to engage with culture in a way that redeems it. God is in the process of redeeming all creation to Himself, and if we're not helping that process, we're hindering it. A Christ-followers reactions to most situations are the exact opposite of any old human's. With Jesus guiding you, people will notice a difference. And that is exactly what I want. 

Goal 1:

Put God first, others second, and myself third on the priority list. Always.

Goal 2:

Live up to the responsibilities God has given me in being a role model. 

My family is such a unique and beautiful construction. Being the oldest child (by 7 and 10 years), I'm humbled and honored by the role God has given me in my two little sister's lives. Its something I don't take lightly, because I have a responsibility to set a positive example and come alongside my parents in raising them to be Godly women. Burkhardt Babes for life.

Goal 3: 

Carpe all diems. 

I refuse to let opportunities slip through my fingers. My bucket list gets longer every day, and every day Today, Monday, July 1st (holy smokes its already July!?), I'm the oldest I've ever been and the youngest I'll ever be again (thanks for that, Eleanor Roosevelt). Time to get carpe-ing.

Goal 4:

Lifelong bestfriendship with the King of Kings.

"Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Galatians 1:10

If any word, thought, or action doesn't fit in with the imissionation I have laid out, its got to go. Life is short, people! Live it up.