Week 12 - Another year under the belt

Hey there, hi there and hello there. I hope everyone and everything is going wondermously for all.

Twenty-three years old seems a lot like twenty-two...guess birthdays won't get exciting again until I hit twenty-five and finally start saving some money on car insurance! Thanks again pops for coming down, it was a blast. Thanks also to my family, everyone at work (especially Annikka's balloon and Ruthanne's cookie cake), the Funkmaster and all the rest of my pals for the great birthday wishes and gifts. I bought myself a new fishing pole and a Brett Favre jersey for the game in a few weeks...very exciting!

On the Aflac side I have run into a crash course of business these last couple of weeks with the projects I'm working on...learning quickly about the importance of strategic planning and the budget process as we're rushing to get in capital expenditures by the end of the fiscal year. It has been fun contacting vendors, working on contracts and bringing people together to get things done...what a rush! It's been somewhat difficult to try and grasp the fact that everything isn't always planned out like it should be and some things get too rushed in my opinion, but I've learned that's why I'm not the one making the big time decisions:) I did get to take an all day leadership course on how to help coach people, which was very interesting to learn about.
We had another great SIFE meeting this week recapping all of the good things we've done and getting psyched for all the things we have in store. My bossman Bob put me in charge of the social activities in addition to running the meetings and I think we're going to have an amazing time getting together outside of work...even more than we do now! We've got some more volunteer action set-up for this upcoming weekend...should be fun!

I went up to the Children's Hospital in Atlanta again this week with Mike Hope and some other Aflac folks...wow, what an experience. I played BINGO with two little boys that were only 1 and 2. After chatting with their mom a bit, she told me that even at that young age they had already been through multiple heart surgeries...it was really hard to swallow knowing what these kids had gone through, but they were still happy-go-lucky! We played catch with their new football and exchanged high-fives before I said farewell to Demarcus and Demarko...two kids that are an inspiration to everyone, helping me realize how insignificant some of the worries I dwell on actually are. I wish their family the best:)

Had another wonderful sports week with some amazing left-handed bowlingness...wow. Then this weekend I went with my compadre Josh to a podunk par three course, that was amazing! The highlight had to be the brawl that broke out in the fog of our soccer game. After one of our guys was getting kicked, I ran in and tackled a couple guys off of him and must have grazed some fellas' nose. To make a long story short, a guy punched our player in the back of the head and a few others kicked him while he was down before I came in to break it up...I ended up with a red card and now have to chat with the cops to tell my story because our guy may press charges against the cheap shot...should be an interesting experience to say the least!

Other than that it was a great week, full of excitement and adventure as usual. I know this week will be the same.

I want to end by remembering Ryan Zimmerman, a fellow '07 MMC grad whom has passed earlier this week. I was only able to interact with Ryan through Ambassadors and outside of the classroom every now and then, but it seemed as though he had a very positive outlook on life and you could tell how grateful he was to be graduating and on that stage during his commencement address. It makes us all remember that life is too short to live each day for the next. You have to live in the now and make every day count, live life to the fullest and leave it with no regrets. Your family is in our prayers.

Until next time folks, remember to get out there and enjoy your family, friends and everything you have.

Alwayz,

Nate