Week 19 - Lovin' the summer weather:)

Hey there, hi there and hello there all. I hope the holidays are shaping up well for everyone! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...ok, maybe it is back home in the snow but down here it's about 77...I know, it's rough but someones got to do it:) I am looking forward to some sledding when I get back home though so Steph if you could have my sled ready that'd be great.

It was another wonderful week at Aflac. Yes, it is official...my first project is on the floor, functional and signed off on so I did a little jig and hit the ol' easy button. The other projects are still rolling and always picking up speed. I'm learning quite a bit about the Product Development department I'm in within the first week. It's interesting to understand the different products we have, how we price them and also how we get them to the customer. The people in the department are fantacular and very nice to boot.

We had another great SIFErs in Action meeting this week. We've volunteered over 100 hours together, started some great initiatives and now we have 7 people joining me for the Hurricane Relief trip...I'm really excited about how everyone is coming together for that, it will be unforgettable! I was part of a focus group for the Columbus Chamber of Commerce in their attempt to get a Young Professional Network up and going. I think it has some great potential and I'm hoping to contribute a great deal, I just know we need to get a going on it and not keep sitting around on ideas. It will be a great thing for the community and it will hopefully change the landscape a bit...look out, here comes Columbus Rising (sorry, that's just a name I came up with:)

I've realized that our basketball team is missing a certain...I don't know what, but at least I'm still having fun! I was able to get back into the bowling circuit this week with the team (pictured above). Blake and I are in a bowling tourney this week which should be pretty exciting! I had another great volunteer experience with the Christmas is for Kids event that Aflac sponsors. I got to put on my flashing Santa hat and help to hand out toys to hundreds of underprivileged kids...it was amazing to see the joy on their face when they took their picture with Santa and got their presents...always very fulfilling.

We had our Dirty Elephant gift exchange (a classy mix between Dirty Santa and White Elephant since we couldn't decide on a name) on Friday at our apartment complex. Everyone brought a dish, I brought some scrumtrulescent Hanky Panks, and we had a ball opening up, trading and stealing some pretty cool gifts. All the SIFErs hung out again on Saturday when we all went to Tuna Christmas; a hilarious 2 man play at the Springer Opera House...my tummy hurt from laughing so hard. Then our whole group went out to Houlihan's for desserts, appetizers and of course some Splemonade. It was pretty cool when a couple of the execs joined us for a night of fun, that really said something about the culture at Aflac that I appreciated.

Lastly...the weather, what can I say? It was about 75-80 degrees this weekend so I had to get out and about. Went biking for about an hour and a half and put some serious miles on the old Rollerblades in the last couple of days. I am looking forward to a white Christmas, but I think I can make due with this weather for a while!
Looking forward to coming home in the next couple of weeks to see ol' friends and the family. Until then, peace out.

Alwayz

Nate