Sunday, April 28, 2013

Spring Adventures - April 28, 2013

Hey there, hi there and hello there to one and all.  Hard to believe it's almost been two months here in Columbia, SC ... where has the time gone!?  Happy birthdays are due to Jeff and Michael back in Iowa, hope you had great ones guys, no more emergency rooms Jeff:)  Plus, it's that time of our life when everyone around is either pregnant or having a child, so congrats to my cousin Chad/Kristal for their newest addition, Jered/Angie for their announcement and our pals the Mobley and Parson families for their little girls.  O yeah, and then to the Demkos, Rosengardners and others that have buns in the oven:)
Since the last time I wrote, Jenny started her gig at Palmetto Health-Richland, a massive hospital with some great people.  She's pretty excited almost every day she comes home, happy wife - happy life.  She has found some good work friends, has a great boss and soon will start working three 12s, her dream shift!  That way she can continue on with her woodworking for DemKlein Design (shout out to the Demkos!)
Aflac Group has been a blast too with so very much to do, it balances out with some great people.  Just am filling up the PIC team with some analysts and hiring another half dozen folks for our quality and escalations team, so it's exciting because I love the interviewing process, people are so interesting and funny.  We've had fun during our weekly Fun Friday events, so many characters on the team it keeps me on my toes.  It's been reassuring to have two great ladies leading the teams to allow me to help out in other areas.  As we truck along, I feel like our future state is coming together nicely, so it's good to see change happening, all for the better.  O yes, and I was selected as one of the two finalists for Aflac Group's Got Talent for our Employee Appreciation Week of 8 qualifiers, so come mid-May we'll have a Zac Brown Band Chicken Fried remix to Pimento Cheese, funny times!
As far as the volunteering, just starting to get my feet wet up here in Columbia.  A few weeks ago I got to attend a Young Leader Society event, a combination of United Way and YP.  Tomorrow I'm chatting with the YLS group to see how I can get more involved, so am pretty excited about that indeed:)  I also had the chance to partner with the HR group at Aflac to get a United Way campaign approved, so for the first time, Aflac Group is going to get together for the United Way of the Midlands, pretty exciting indeed!
We've had fun traveling in South Carolina too having been to Charleston and then Easter at Myrtle Beach with Kayla/Alan.  Although the weather was a bit dreary, that didn't stop us from dominating the outlet malls and walking on the bach.  Apparently Lincoln was not a fan of the waves, but we were just warming it up for Eddie's bachelor party over the 4th of July.  Then a couple weeks later we made the trip back to Columbus for a fun Tinkler wedding with the crew, congrats Jack and Alisha and thanks for lettin' us tear up the dance floor.
After that we had some fantacular visitors in mid-April.  Thanks Steph and Dad for helping us have a wondermous weekend.  Had some good time chillaxin' at the house and then having some adventure time up at the National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, NC.  It was so much fun to not only hang out, but go on some amazing adventures amidst the treetops, on the zipline, climbing the rockwall and even going whitewater rafting.  It was a beautiful day topped off with great company, including a visit from Kateri and even getting a bit wet going backwards down the rapids.  I think we found our go-to spot for all visitors interested in an adventure, let us know and we'll be around! Whitewater Video
We continued the adventures this past weekend at the 2nd Annual Benderdinker in Augusta, GA with the Bauman crew.
Welp, it's about that time to get back on some school work.  I took a two month hiatus from Creighton and start back this week.  In the interim, I received my candidacy so I am ready to start this whole diseration.  My topic is going to be: Impact of Servant Leadership Traits on Employee Engagement in Corproate America.  Lots of reading and writing on the horizon, but it's going to be fun.  Hopefully see some folks when we're back in Iowa this weekend for Katie's wedding, another dance floor to bust a move on:)  Until then, have a great day:)
Alwayz,
Nate