Work that doesn't feel like work

Holly: Not too long ago we came across this article:

"It was so much better than real life."

Yes, I know it's another Doctor Who related thing, but bear with us.  The overarching theme is simple: work that doesn't feel like work.  In the above article, Tom Baker mentions how he would grow sad at the end of the day, because he was so enthralled in the fantastic Who world, and his real world wasn't all that fantastic.  We've talked about this at length.  I'm about to start my year of service as an Americorps VISTA, and notice I used the word "service".  Because it's not a job.  It's filling a need, working with common-minded individuals, being a part of something that's greater than yourself, and I know I'm going to enjoy this because for those reasons, but also because I've been trying to get my foot in the door at Berea College for quite some time now.  It's important to enjoy what you do, because it's so, so easy to get caught up in the "jobness" of it all.  I encourage you to evaluate your current position, really consider if you enjoy it.  If not, perhaps it's time for a change.  It's never too late.

Do any of you have a job that doesn't feel like a job?  Would be happy to hear! :)

Just a little something to remember: Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. -1 Corinthians 15:58b

Kelly: So often when I talk to people about what I do, I get the response of "wow that must be so hard." Well yeah, sometimes it is. But sometimes it's like going to the grocery store, or to church or just out in town. More often than not I just talk to my patients. Not about their illnesses, their medications (though sometimes I do) but just about stuff in their lives, or what's on the news, or if someone said something funny. But really, anybody can talk to people. Put aside the fact that they have a mental illness or two, but yeah. And that's one of the reasons why I love what I do, because I love talking to people. I think that a friendly face can make a difference in someone's day. I did one small act of kindness and just talked to a patient, and at the end of the day she smiled at me and said "you made my crappy day a lot better." It's the little things, like Holly said, filling a need. It also helps that this was something I wanted to do; this field. I'm never bored, and most often it really doesn't feel like work. To me, it's a tell tale sign that I really enjoy what I do.

When I watch Tom Baker's era as the Doctor, I can see his passion and his love for the Who-niverse in his eyes, smile, and demeanor. You can tell he just adores what he is doing in the moment. I think that's why he stayed as long as he did. So there you have it. You can make the best of any crappy job situation, and it's hard. It takes a lot of work, but you can do it! Give it a go; you'll be amazed at how much your mentality will change.

"Please remain calm. This is a kindness!"

Kelly: I'm almost certain we have discussed this topic before, but to me it bears repeating. The main premise for this post is this; be nice to people. REALLY be nice. It can go a long way. Case and point; this afternoon. Holly and I went up to our favorite local coffee hangout to have lunch. It was really busy and it took a while for our food to come to us, but we waited patiently because it's worth it to us. :) Anyway, one of the baristas brought me the wrong sandwich. He realized the mistake after I gently pointed it out, apologized and then brought me the right one. He continued to apologize and I smiled and said it wasn't a problem....which it wasn't. They were busy and always provide wonderful and excellent service. When we got up to the register to pay, another barista said that I would not be charged for my lunch. I said I didn't mind to pay, but nope. Didn't let me pay. You know, it's the little things. Treat people right, don't expect anything in return and it'll come back to you. If you're intentionally being kind to others and expecting something, you're wasting your time.

Case and point; yesterday. Yesterday is typically one of my days off at work, but I'm off today and switched with a co worker. She's working for me today and I did for her yesterday. On Thursday I got asked to come in early and help out on another unit. I said sure. This person I worked with...notoriously has a bad attitude for reasons I'm not sure of, although yesterday wasn't too bad. There was one instance where I was reprimanded for...trying to be nice to a patient. I thought to myself, you know, I volunteered to come in early and help out. At the VERY least, a little bit of niceness and gratitude would have been appreciated. But look right there. I was expecting something. You see, it doesn't always work that way. Whatever happened to doing nice things for other people just to do nice things for other people? It's something I'm trying to work on, and I hope you all will do the same. My purpose on this planet isn't to make myself look and feel good, it's to glorify God in all I do.

Holly: 

Where the title comes from...if you have to ask, you'll never know.  Ok ok, it's a Doctor Who reference, fine! The series 8 premiere is tonight and the anticipation is driving me mad! ANYWAY...

The driving point for all of this, for me, is this: What Kelly said earlier: "Treat people right, don't expect anything in return, and it'll come back to you."  I challenge to take it a step further than that: Treat people right.  Period.  Let's face it, there is way too much negativity in the world.  I've been around the block for a while now and I've come across people who are just consistently in bad moods.  People who just seem to do nothing but bring others down, bring themselves down, bring the world down, just a big fat bunch of downers!  As someone who is the polar opposite of that, it is physically draining being around those types of people.  It really is!  For me, not being a downer is a choice.  Sure, there's plenty of things I could complain about.  There are day-to-day goings on of people around me that could tip me over the edge.  But that's not how it works for me.  Even something just as simple as a smile goes a long way.  I choose to be kind because, to me, no one deserves any less than that.  No one deserves to feel badly about themselves.  No one deserves to feel worthless or neglected.  Now, this doesn't go without saying that I do let my frustrations get the best of me sometimes.  But as God as my witness I will do my best to try not take it out on you, and that is a promise.  If you see otherwise, please let me know.  Please.

As someone who has been on the receiving end of random acts of kindness more instances than I could name, I feel like it's my duty, not just as a Christian but as a decent human being, to procure those same acts as well.  I'm still working on it.  The saying goes "Nice guys finish last."  I couldn't disagree with that more.  I once had a supervisor tell me I was too nice.  I told him thank you.  People aren't going to remember what you said to them or what you did for them; they're going to remember how you made them feel.  Kindness builds others up, plain and simple.  Imagine how the conflicts around the world would differ if those opposing just spoke kindly or acted kindly to one another.  I think it would, quite literally, change the world.  

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ has also forgiven you. -Ephesians 4:32

Three cheers for H and K!!

Holly: Ach!! That magical all-elusive date has come and gone again!  How time just seems to march right on by.

Yesterday was August 20th, THE THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF OUR BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D YAAAAHHHOOOOOOYAAAAAAYYY!!!

I still can't believe we're chuggin' along, and that we are.  They say "what a difference a year can make" and what a year it has been!  It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating 2 years of this blogosphere of wonder and now here we are again, 3 years strong.  3 years of not running out of stuff to talk about.  Imagine that! So much has happened this year and we still have so much more to look forward to!

I think we're going to keep at it.  In fact, there is no "I think"; we ARE going to keep at it.  Thank you all, once again, for chuggin' along with us.  Here's to many more years!

Kelly: Trying to type this with a kitty on my lap (a Yoda kitty to be more specific) will be most interesting. Like I say every year when this comes up, I never thought it would make it another year. This has been the first full year of our lives we are both working "full time" and neither one of us are in school. It's been fun and awesome and by far the most crazy! Hard to believe how fast the time seems to go, and it feels like this year went by the fastest. But yeah. 3 years. This blog idea was born after the two of us came home from our respective abroad endeavors and decided this would be not only fun for us but a bonding experience too. We have enjoyed coming back to this blog, even though we haven't been able to post as much in a while, but still. This isn't just for us, but all of our readers too. We want this to be a safe place to read our thoughts and to explore your own thoughts on the topic at hand. We don't do this to get it out there and see how many people will follow it in one day, no.

That's one of the great things about this blog and the fact we write it together; there's always something to talk about! Often I see stuff on the news or hear something on the radio and still after all this time tell myself "that would be good to blog about." And we do this too with conversations we have. So there you have it. Three years! Here's to hoping we'll have a four year post next year!

August 20, 2011- date of blog launch

August 20, 2012- one year after blog launch

August 21, 2013- two years and one day after blog launch

Today! August 21, 2014- three years and one day after blog launch.  With Yoda :)

Squeak (Link-up)

Holly and Kelly: Meet Squeak, our first car! A 2001 Toyota Echo, he came to the family in November of 2000 and was our dad's car for a while.  He saw many things: a newspaper route, our first attempts at driving (that's another story), and many other things.  By the time Squeak came to us at the end of summer 2010, he had racked up well over 100,000 miles, yet he still ran like a dream.

Squeak got his name because when you drove, the driver's seatbelt would squeak, and sometimes the brakes would too, and it kind of stuck after that.  Yep, Squeak was a good little car.  And how can you not love that color? :) In the few weeks he lived on campus with us we made many trips, mostly to Brandi's apartment, or to Richmond; he even participated in a heroic adventure to rescue Brandi during the flood of 5-2-2010...yeah, we were fairly convinced we were all going to get swept away!  

Unfortunately, our adventures with Squeak were short-lived: heading home for the summer at the end of July, 2010, it was early in the morning, pouring down rain, and I (Holly) was driving down the bypass in Richmond.  I accidentally mistook a turn I thought was the on-ramp to the interstate.  I ran the red light and we were hit by an oncoming car in the back right passenger's side.  God was all over that day and thankfully no one was hurt, save a few bumps and bruises, but a 4-hour trip turned into over 7.  Like I said, it was only by the grace of God we made it home safely.  The entire story is long, but the end of it was that Squeak was deemed totaled, and he was taken to a junkyard and is now in car heaven.  

We've both learned a lot about car responsibility and driving since then; at the time of the accident, we'd had our licenses for less than a year and I had never driven in Richmond before.  Lessons learned all around, and we both now have clean driving records and cars we love and take care of.  

This link-up brought to you by our dear friend Camille over at Reflections in Writing :)

The Singles Industry

Kelly: "You just know."

But really? Does any one person ever just "know?" If anyone who has ever been in my shoes and has heard that phrase, you feel the same way I do; it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Yes, we're talking about being single, more importantly single women. To me it seems that there are so many things that give me the impression that being single is a problem to be fixed. And you know what really gets me? There is so much media giving attention to singleness written/advertised by MARRIED women! Let me give you a few examples; blog posts written about being single (by married women), an advertisement on K-LOVE about Proverbs 31 ministries and most of the content of their message is geared towards married women. I'm going to be completely honest, those are the last things I want to see and hear about when it comes to singleness.

Not going to lie, I enjoy being single right now. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever find "the one" and while my answer is yes, the truth is I'm not really in any hurry. I sincerely believe God will place the right person in my life and in the meantime I'm going to enjoy the ride. And for the record, I love spending time with my married friends and my friends who are in relationships (and none of them have done these things!) I've learned so much about being in a relationship from them and they are good models for me. I don't feel uncomfortable around them at all. I remember being in high school and sometimes my friends would try to hook me up with a guy they thought I would like, and my freshman year I actually caved and went along with a hook up. He was in 7th grade and had a crush on me since the beginning of time. Needless to say, it lasted about a week and I told him it wasn't him but it was everyone else calling the shots except me, and I had a problem with that. Of course he was crushed, but I did it for the best. Fast forward to 6 years later; I was a junior in college and this guy Facebook messaged me. I won't go into the nitty gritty details, but basically he wanted me back. Not joking. I ran from my dorm to Holly's and told her everything. Very few people know that story. The point is, it's ok to be single; enjoy it. Good grief I knew so many people who seemed to have a new relationship every week. It was exhausting. I don't have a "Mr. Right" in my life yet, but the tides seem to be changing, and I am open to that. So married friends; let your friends be single. Let them enjoy it. Be good examples of a good relationship.

Holly: I'm not going to lie, I harbor a bit of animosity towards the singles industry.  Let me explain: On Facebook or something, every now and then I'll come across an article, blog post, something of that nature, with a comment along the lines of "Shout out to all my single friends, this is for YOU!" And guess what? 9 times out of 10, it comes from someone WHO ISN'T SINGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Immediately tuned out.  Sorry, but that's just how it is.  If you're a single lady (or guy!!) and you post something like that, then I will be much more inclined to give you the time of day.  I'm sorry, but that's just how it is for me.  I know it's a bit brash.  But let me make a few points:

How about more articles, blog posts, etc, celebrating singleness? The fact that I am 24 years old and am able to keep a roof over my head, pay my bills on time, not starve to death, find a job I enjoy, ALL THE WHILE being comfortable in my own singleness is pretty applause-worthy to me.  Or anyone who is able to do all those things, for that matter.  Nope.  Instead, we are bombarded with "How to be the perfect wife", or advertisements for dating sites, Facebook friends jumping from one relationship to the next, and the list goes on.  Now please do not misunderstand me.  I envision myself getting married someday.  I'm going to be a bridesmaid next summer and I couldn't be more thrilled for my friend.  I would not be opposed to going on a date or two in the forseeable future.  But what's the hurry?  It seems like people are getting married younger and younger these days.  I feel like in today's society, if you hit your mid-20s and you're not married yet, then something's wrong with you.  I'll be 25 in about 8 months or so.  Is something wrong with me?  I certainly don't think so.  For now, I'm going to keep my options open...and continue enjoying my singleness.  Who's with me?

Somebody else's responsibility and not sure who's responsible for what and so what you're not coming back?

Holly: Yes, the title is a mouthful.  And we are erring a bit on the silly side, but it all boils down to one thing: accountability. I think we lack none nowadays.  Seriously.  No one is held accountable for their actions anymore, it seems.  Or lack of actions.

I'll give an example that is also a wee bit of a pet peeve: Something that really drives me crazy about churches is that we are often told "We should pray more" or "We should read the Bible more".  Well....great. I won't disagree with you.  But how? There's usually no follow-through, and we're left to our own devices, which usually turns into a never-ending mental battle of "doing it right" versus "doing it wrong".  As someone who has been a follower for a few years now, I am STILL struggling to find out what works for me.  Here's another example: when someone decides to leave a church or a small group (we ran into this back when we participated in BCM);  there was a bit of persuading to try to stay, and then after it was all said and done, that was it.  Basically all forms of contact were cut off.  ALL.  There was no "Hey, how are you doing?" after we left.  There was nothing.

If we really are the hands and feet of Jesus, if we are brothers and sisters in Christ, shouldn't we be looking out for one another...really looking out for one another?  As I mentioned in our small group discussion this morning, I would much rather have someone take me aside and tell me I was going down the wrong path, versus being left alone in the assumptions that everything was hunky-dory.  At what point do we stop saying "someone else will take care of it?" and just take up the gauntlet ourselves?  Now, I'm not saying I am an expert in this.  Trust me, I have A LOT to learn from all of this as well.  I've thought of several potentially difficult conversations that I should be having, most of them with myself.  I hope that we as Christians, or just decent human beings, if Jesus isn't a part of your life, take responsibility for our actions and how we truly, really, wholeheartedly, interact with each other.

Kelly: In light of recent events, our church will soon be discussing how to fill a vacancy that has since March been empty, and God has called some wonderful volunteers to attempt to fill this vacancy whilst a decision is being made. I know that sentence seemed like a lot of garbled gobble-dee-goop, but it hones in on what this post is about. Throughout the years I've been attending church, many programs, groups and once active and thriving ministries have fallen off the wayside because in my opinion there's no accountability. Some of thought "well, nobody cares about this anymore" or "the need is being met elsewhere in the church" or the most common one I've heard "well, a piece of it is covered so as a whole this area is being taken care of." Not necessarily heard by me, but by other members that I am close to and trust. It's quite sad, to be honest. When this meeting rolls around, I don't know if I'll have anything to say, but if I do, I hope it's from my heart and that I feel led by God to share. I think instead of asking "who's going to do something" let's maybe perhaps ask "what can we all do as a body of unity and a body of believers?" Having said that, I'm going to share a story.

When I was in college, Holly and I joined BCM. We went regularly for about 2 years and on and off for about a year. I went more often than Holly, as she was busy doing RA stuff, which was no big deal. So I came and went for a while, but my schedule was starting to become busy and I made the decision that I was going to have to devote more time for my nursing work and explore other means to grow in my faith. I presented my thoughts to several members at the time, and I guess there's no way to say it, but in a way I was shunned. I stopped receiving invites to attend when I could, no one checked in with me regularly, and then the time came for the end of the year party. I actually was invited to attend, and I did. It was like walking into a completely different atmosphere. At that point I realized this was not a place for me to grow in my faith and my walk with Christ. That warm, welcoming, open and accepting environment was gone and replaced with favoritism, unwelcoming and feeling lonely. Now please do not misunderstand me. I have quite a few very fond and powerful memories from my time that I spent and will cherish the friendships I had. I'm not saying don't ever do a college BCM program, because that's not what I'm saying at all. All I am saying is this; at what point should we stop asking "who" and start asking "what." Instead of chastising for forgetting your Bible, greet one another and genuinely say "I'm glad you're here. We're happy to help you in any way we can." (Bible chastising c/o church camp). I am so happy and blessed that I am currently in a small group where I feel safe to share my needs and know that I am going to have follow-up with it or them, and I do my best to do the same. It honestly takes a little bit of an extra effort to hold someone accountable, but to me it's worth it. I think it can make the difference between someone staying in a church/small group and someone leaving it.

Being content: Identifying that "spark"

Kelly: Today Holly asked me a serious question. She asked me "how did you know you wanted to do what you do now?" I had thought of this before, but the obvious answer, like when someone asks you how you know if he/she is "the one", what's the most common answer? You just know. Right? Well yeah, that's what I said. It's true, but she wanted more, and on the spot I wasn't prepared to answer that. I had some time to think about it, and I answered honestly; I was passionate about the field I am in. When I was in nursing school three years ago and I was where I currently work, and I saw these patients. Then it hit me; mental illness isn't someone tied up in a straight jacket beating their head against the wall or drooling. These people, because that's what they are before patients, have families, friends, jobs, that they have sometimes given up to get themselves on the road to get better. I told myself that there was so much about these illnesses that I didn't understand, and I wanted to learn more about them.

It's hard sometimes to know what we want to do with ourselves. Sometimes I feel like I still am not sure I'm in the right place. But then, more often, I get affirmations that this is exactly where I am meant to be. So that's that. I love what I do. It makes me sad when I see people doing something where their mind may be in it but their heart is a million miles away. And I also believe that God calls us to do what we do because He gives us that spark in something. I believe that's part of why I ended up where I am now.

Holly: I've had almost 24 hours to mull this over.  I'll keep my part brief.  So here goes:

Hello, my name is Holly Korb.  I graduated from Berea College with a B.A. in Biology.  I've worked 4 jobs in 2 years, 2 of them being temporary, one being part-time.  My last week with UK Biology starts Monday.  In spite of ALL of this, I still have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life.  There, I said it.

Do I feel ok about that?  Ehh....some days are easier than others.  But while driving to work this morning, I was talking to God about my anxieties, the fact that I've become a bit of a job-hopper, that I'm afraid of getting into a perpetual "What's next?" rut.  And then something kind of dawned on me: Why do we have to be defined by what we do with our lives?  Why can't we be defined by what we live for?  Or, more importantly, who we live for.

The next statement some of you may disagree with (only because I know many people who have their lives planned out, they have dead-set career goals, which is AWESOME. I envy you slightly) but I think that in a society with an unstable economy, at best, I think it's complete crap that this society basically expects us college graduates to know exactly what we want to do as soon as we walk off that stage with our degree.  It's complete crap only for the simple fact that we will probably change our minds.  And if we don't change our minds, then plans change.  Things fall through.  That's just the way it goes.  Jobs are not forever.  Which goes back to my earlier question...why do we have to be defined by what we do with our lives?

Hello, my name is Holly Korb, and I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.  But I know who I live for, and that's God, and He has all this figured out.  And that has to be enough for now.

Getting to Know us!

A friend of ours posted a challenge by a friend of hers, titled "Getting to know me." So here's ours! :D

1. What is a nickname only your family calls you? 
Kelly: Opal. Well, only my dad calls me that. It started when I was a kid. Still stuck
Holly: My dad calls me H, which has been a recent thing.  H-bomb when I was younger.

2. What is a weird habit of yours? 
Kelly: If I remember it I'll put it on here.
Holly: I chew on the insides of my cheek (gross, I know).  I still bite my nails too.  It's probably why I'm still single :P

3. Do you have any weird phobias? 
Kelly: Stinging bugs. Any of them. I am pretty sure I'm borderline phobic of them. When I grew up if there was one in my bedroom I couldn't kill it because I was too scared. This stemmed after I got stung by a wasp under my nose when I was a kid. And after one that I squished stung me on my foot. And after stepping on a bee in the garage while I was washing my parent's car.
Holly: I am terrified of breaking down in Lexington.  This isn't a joke either.  Cray cray drivers up there.  Ok, this may be a joke, so I wouldn't go so far as to call it a phobia.  I don't really have any phobias, but I am afraid of falling.  Yes, that is different than being afraid of heights.

4. What is a song you secretly like to blast to when you are alone? 
Kelly: I still now and then listen to N*SYNC and Backstreet Boys. Not ashamed whatsoever.
Holly: "Fix My Eyes" by for KING & COUNTRY is pretty much default nowadays.  And not a secret! I like "Pompeii" by Bastille, although the premise is really sad.  And if "What's Love Got to Do With It", oh, it's on.  I have others, but I'd like to maintain some of my dignity ;)

5. What is one of your biggest pet peeves? 
Kelly: Close-mindedness. Bottom line.
Holly: I have several, unfortunately, but one that really grinds my gears is drivers that don't use a turn signal.  AAAGGHHH!!

6. What's one of your nervous habits? 
Kelly: Fidgeting, that's the most common one. Also, I act really stupid/giggly.
Holly: Bouncing my legs when I'm sitting.  Used to drive my mom nuts.

7. What side of the bed do you sleep on? 
Kelly: My bed is a twin bed, but when I'm out or in a bigger bed, usually the right side.
Holly: My left, your right, depending on your perspective :)

8. What was your first stuffed animal and what was its name? 
Kelly: It didn't have a name, but it was this raggedy bear with googly eyes. It was our brother's and (I think) our mom's too. It's at our Ohio house. I think at one point it was called Ginger.
Holly: I can't remember my first stuffed friend, but I have one from when I was 7 that I still sleep with: a ratty terrier-looking dog from the Columbus Zoo.  I call her Ashley.  She's been lots of places.

9. What's the drink you always order at Starbucks? 
Kelly: Either a grande cafe vanilla frappucino or grande cafe espresso frappucino. Then the usual pumpkin spice when they're in season.
Holly: Pumpkin spice latte when they're around, no questions.  Other than that, either a grande cafe vanilla frappucino, a grande valencia orange refresher with vanilla, or a blonde roast with cream and sugar. Sometimes I like a caramel apple spice.  As you can tell, I frequent Starbucks :)

10. Which way do you face the shower? 
Kelly: Uhhhhhh...I'm not really sure how to answer this question. So I suppose I will say no comment.
Holly: I reject this question and substitute my own.  Which....I will think of later.

11. Do you have any weird body skills? 
Kelly: This question made me LOL. But no. No I don't.
Holly: Kelly didn't mention it, but we can do this silly foot dance thing that our mom taught us.  Ask us about it sometime!

12. What is your favorite comfort food that you know is bad but you eat it anyway? 
Kelly: Chocolate. ANYTHING chocolate.
Holly: Well, I just finished a bowl of Edy's mint cookie crunch, so.......

13. What is a phrase or exclamation you always say? 
Kelly: Either "Allons-y, Allonso!" or "Oh my glob." If I really sat down and thought about it then I could think of more.
Holly: If I hear something awesome or crazy, I say "get out."  Actually, it's more like "GET OUT!" Kelly has been on the receiving end of this quite often.

14. What do you wear when you go to sleep?
Kelly: Sometimes my scrub pants from work. I only have one actual set of PJ's. But usually just whatever.
Holly: Usually just a big t-shirt and a pair of shorts.  Cute PJ pants when it gets cooler :)

15. What did you used to wear that you thought was cool, and now you realize it wasn't? 
Kelly: Oh my gosh, does anybody remember those fugly plastic shoes/sandals from the 90's? Totally had a pair of those. HACK.
Holly: Not really so much "wearing", but when I was in high school I used to wear a ton of eye makeup.  You know, the black mascara, black eyeliner, metallic eyeshadow.  I was so into it, and looking through old pictures now a few years later it just looks terrible.  I rarely wear makeup now, but when I do I prefer the natural approach.