July

I started out the month of July working in Atlanta. We have been working on an upgrade to our order entry system for the last 2 years and we finally went live with it on June 30th. I am my region's 'super user' (yes- that's what they call it! haha) so I was one of the lucky people to spend a week in one of our highest volume branches to assure they could function the first week. Go live went smoother than we expected but it was still a looong week! Thursday I got to spend the night in Kennesaw with one of my best friends since kindergarten, Jennifer, and her husband. We did dinner and got to see some pretty fantastic fireworks then called it a night, after the drama from their upstairs neighbor of course! ;) Friday we had the day off because it was the 4th of July, one of my favorite holidays! I wasn't able to take the week off and head to beach like I've done the last few years so I decided to spend the day with my mom's side of the family for a cookout at my uncle's house. I got to see my parents, grandmother, aunts and uncles, and almost all of my cousins.

here I am with 3 of the cousins: Blake, Morgan and Jeffrey

we celebrated the July birthdays...

dad playing with my cousin's dog Boomer haha

It wasn't the beach but I enjoyed getting to spend time with the family which doesn't happen often so I was happy! After the cookout, I headed back to Chattanooga for the weekend and had a pretty relaxing 4th of July night at my new favorite spot, the Top of the Dock. If you have never been there, it's such a great atmosphere! You should definitely check it out if you live in Chatt.

The next 2 weeks were pretty eventful for me as well. I was back home working in Birmingham and our new region manager came to visit. She is from the big D in Texas. We spent some quality time talking about my place in the company and what I'd like to do next which resulted in a few opportunities popping up the very next week! I'm pretty excited about the options I have so stay tuned... I may be moving to a city near you soon!

The second week of July was a very special week for 2 very important people in my life, Melissa and Dusty Crane. They had their first baby on July 9th at 2:51pm. Emma Grace Crane is the newest addition to our little group and we are thrilled to finally have her in our lives! I am actually really sad right now as I have not gotten to meet my new 'niece' yet but only 1 more week!

In honor of miss Emma's arrival, Jennifer, Lauren and I threw Melissa a baby shower back in May. It was an elegant afternoon tea party where we all dressed up in our finest sundresses and pearls and socialized with Mel and Emma's many admirers. :)

the guest of honor

Mel with her hosts


That brings us to today... I am in Birmingham this weekend preparing for my upcoming trips. Monday I leave for Pittsfield, MA for a customer focused selling course. The course is Tuesday and Wednesday and since there are no flights out after 7pm Wed night, we'll be flying back Thursday morning. I fly back to Bham where I'll spend Thursday evening un-packing then packing for the next trip. Friday I'll work from Birmingham catching up on the week's work then drive to Chattanooga to finally meet Emma! I cant wait!! I plan on spending the weekend with Mel and Emma and also going to visit my friend Mandy and her new baby girl, Abigail. After my weekend filled with mommys and babies, I must fly to Charlotte. Monday-Wednesday we are having a region meeting for the Southeast region, which is always a great time so I'm looking forward to that! We are going rafting Tuesday on Charlotte's man-made white water rafting course so that should be interesting. I have decided to take Thursday and Friday off of that week so I will fly home and spend my time off keeping miss Melissa and miss Emma company! I just cant wait!

So that sums up the month of July for me. It's been busy so far and will continue to be but I'm doing my best to enjoy every minute of it!

"Life happens when you are busy making other plans." - John Lennon