Sunday, July 26, 2009

July 26, 2009 - Welcome to the pad Caden

Hey there, hi there and hello there. Wow, what a week ... had my mom's birthday, my sister came into town and o yeah, we got a dog!
Aflac went pretty darn well this week as there was so much going on. Between Online Service ideas, cost benefit analysis time, future state planning meetings and precision leadership training I barely had time to use the restroom:) Although there were a lot of meetings, the team was on it getting so much accomplished. This week was also Triple Crown week where all of the new and successful Aflac agents come into town to learn about HQ and how the home office supports them. A few of us from Policy Service had the good fortune of interacting with these folks and learning a lot about what they go through, but most everything was positive for PS!
It was a fun week for sports as well ... except for Friday when I had an early exit from soccer, we won't chat about that:) Our soccer team made it back to .500 this week but even more exhilirating was our kickball game. It's the third week of the season and only three teams were left undefeated, one of which was us and one of which was our opponent. After a couple lucky kicks in the first they took a 1-0 lead all the way until the bottom of the 6th. Our leadoff man got on followed by an out and then I was up to kick:) I was a bi unhappy with their pitcher, so I laced into one for a RBI triple to tie the game up. Our next batter popped one up to the 2nd basemen, so I decided to tag and make a mad dash towards home plate for what would be the game winning run ... what an epic battle for first place!
This week was also a big week for the Literacy Alliance. We had our quarterly meeting update where I got to give the treasurer's report (I've had to reach back into my back pocket for my accounting courses on this one) which was followed by a small kick-off for our "Livin' the Dream" program with a local high school. A local TV station covered the story (http://www.wtvm.com/global/story.asp?s=10780458). We also had a great Rock Solid Financial (RSF) club meeting on Tuesday, gotta love the crew.
Steph joined us this weekend, so Jenny and I went to pick her up in Atlanta and hung out at the iHop before touring the town. We went down to Pemberton place for a walk-a-bout around some street vendors, music and free Coke of course. We came back in town to chill at the pool for a bit before the dog madness began:) So, I thought I would surprise Jenny on her birthday with a dog, but because of a great deal of outside influence and a perfect match at the pet store ... Jenny's birthday surprise moved up a couple weeks. After a cookout at our place, Sunday came and went with the day dedicated to finding a dog kennel. Ok, so we took it one step further and adopted a dog. Caden, a 13 week old Lab/Catahoula mix, is the newest addition to our crew. He hng his head out the window driving home and had great play time with the tennis ball and his food/water bowls in his new home. He and 9 brothers/sisters were left in a box outside someone's home, but after all his shots and a little TLC, he was ready to join us at his new pad. We hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoy the pooch.
Well, I hope everyone has a great last week of July and I am glad you enjoyed your birthday mom with the gifts!
Until next time, don't forget to have your dogs spayed and neutered:)
Alwayz,
Nate

Sunday, July 19, 2009

July 19, 2009 - Back in the saddle

Hey there, hi there and hello there to one and all. It's been a week now since our return from South America and we're back in the swing of a semi-normal life:) Dribbles, I hope you had a fantastic birthday and I have to send a big happy birthday song out to my mother, mom! It's hard to believe you're going to be 35 again, hope you have a plate-smashing time on your birthday this Thursday;)
I will say that Aflac has been going great over the last few months between the promotion to supervisor and recently finding out that they would be sponsoring my MBA at Emory starting in the fall. Then, I have an absolutely amazing team on top of that so we have been getting quite a bit done. One of the cool new things I get to work on is a brand new focus on leadership development based on the book, "Bringing Out the Best in People." This new 'precision leadership' is based on the science of improving behaviors in your people and it shatters almost every other leadership book's principles that I've read, so it's been quite a chore between learning and the various training modules we have to complete. We're in the midst of trying to save the company even more money too through Online Service improvements and moving communication from paper to email, so the next few months worth of projects will be pretty exciting!
The sports season continues to be in full swing too with our kickball and soccer teams. Our kickball team posted our second victory this week with a convincing 13-2 win which boosted our confidence for a Friday night W in the coed soccer league. I will have to say, Jenny is really getting the hang of this whole "not using her hands" thing:) Training for the triathlon for Labor Day weekend is also going pretty good, but that whole notion of having to breathe when swimming is still getting to me. Hopefully I can get that worked out before the event;)
A few of us helped out the CSU SIFE team this week as they are preparing for the school year and recruiting activities. They are a very driven group for being <1>
O yes, we had a little bit of a shin-dig at our place last night and now I must say ... we are pretty much done (phase 1) with the house as now everything has a place. I tell you what, that is an amazing feeling.
Well, don't know if too much else is going on. Congrats to cousin Allison for the fair win and cousin Kacie again on her engagement. I hope you all have a wonderful week and until next time, have a great night.
Alwayz,
Nate

Sunday, July 12, 2009

July 12, 2009 - Our trip to South America

Hey there, hi there and hello there to one and all. Wow, what can I say ... it sure has been a wondermous couple of weeks abroad. Jenny and I set flight to South America two weeks ago today and returned on Friday relaxed and refreshed after an amazing excursion. Instead of putting my entire journal of the last two weeks in a blog, I figure I would put up a few photos and our latest YouTube addition for your viewing pleasure (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCJErIuPFIU)
Our first stop was to the beautiful country of Peru where we landed in Lima for an overnight before our flight to Cusco which was 11,000 ft. above sea level. While in Cusco we toured the historically fantastic city set atop Incan ruins with street vendors, beautiful sights and llamas! We took a tour of the city and the Sacred Valley before the big attraction ... Machu Picchu, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. We spent two days in the ancient ruins amidst the mountaintops in awe of the architecture and beauty.
After Machu Picchu, we hopped on a flight to Igauzu Falls in Brazil. This led to our tour of the widest waterfalls in the world, a Natural 7 Wonders of the World finalist and a breathtaking boat ride. The water was powerful and beautiful, a real site to see on both the Brazilian and Argentinian side of the falls. This was followed by an afternoon visit to Paraguay, a crazy country of street vendors and mischief.
Our last stop lay in the mountaintops and beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Here we laid witness to our second of the New 7 Wonders of the World, the gargantuan Christ the Redeemer Statue. Rio was a magnificently modern city with many new amenities and the best of both worlds with the mountains overlooking the Atlantic Ocean beaches. We visited Sugar Loaf mountain, the statue and relaxed on the beach to wrap up our excursion.
Words cannot explain the fantacularness of the trip, so I hope these pictures and video can help bring it justice. Nevertheless, we are both glad to be home and able to chat with family and friends once again.
I must say congratulations to my cousin Kacie for the ring, best of luck to my cousin Allison and Grandpa Klein in their recoveries and a big happy birthday week to Dribbles! Please keep your fingers crossed as Jenny has an interview for an RN position here in town this week, I know she'll do great:)
Lastly, I just received word on Friday that Aflac will be providing me with a full-ride scholarship for my MBA at Emory University, so I start this fall in my pursuit of a graduate degree ... yahoo!
Thanks again to everyone for their thoughts and prayers for safe travels, we made it back without the Swine Flu!
Until next time, have a wondermous week!
Alwayz,
Nate