I'm Working for a Fortune 7 Company at Age 22

Well, it's official. I am an employee of AT&T's Retail Sales Leadership Development Program (RSLP). I moved down to Atlanta this past Wednesday to a furnished apartment provided by AT&T. Everything is so nice, and while I will be moving to a different apartment next week(long story), so far everything else is going great! My "class" is very small. There are 8 of us, 4 guys and 4 girls. 5 of them graduated from University of Florida(YUCK), one from FSU, and one from somewhere in Minnesota. We seem to be getting along okay and I hope we can continue to work well together, since it seems like our success here is based on that.

So far, some things I have found out about the program include:
-I will be working 70 hour weeks. So please do not feel left out if I do not call you very often...life is going to be CRAZY the next 6 months.
-My tentative graduation date from the program is October 22. This is important because I will be in my final city about a week after that date.
-Atlanta is a BIG city and for the directionally challenged, like me, it is very easy to get lost.
-I have both a business cell phone (Blackberry Bold) and a business laptop. That seems CRAZY to me!
-On my very first day of work we sat in on a Town Hall with John Dwyer, the Senior Vice President, of AT&T Mobility. He is a very important man, only a few spots away from CEO of Mobility. This was very imformative and very cool that we were able to do this on day 1.

While all this is GREAT, there are definitely some things I will be missing in Knoxville. I was able to go hang out with my friends the last few days I was there, which was awesome. Here are some pictures of all the things I will miss in Knoxville(keep looking through the pictures. You will want to see the one at the bottom. PROMISE!!!).

Chris playing barrel of monkeys at Chill. It is a really cool ice cream shop, where you get liquid ice cream, add your toppings, and then they freeze it with liquid nitrogen. TOO COOL!

Whitney is so proud of her chain. Miss you Seester!

Josh

My best friend ever, Grace, and Jenny

Who wouldn't miss this? haha.

They had temporary tattos at Moe's. You got a free coupon if you put it on...so Chris did. It was so funny!

I will miss everybody so much. Thanks for supporting me and helping me become who I am today.

And last but not least, I can tell I'm really growing up. On my first day at AT&T, I just knew my mom would want a picture of me. So, being the AMAZING daughter I am, I took one. So here is the picture of me on my first day.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me over the past 22 years to grow into the adult I am today. I am so excited about my first "big girl" job, and know that I couldn't be here without your love and encouragement, and financial support. I love you guys more than you will ever know. Please continue to pray for me, especially that I will learn to go with the flow, for safety in Atlanta, and that I will learn everything I need to be successful in my career. Love you guys!

Mother's Day Project

A few months ago I decided to do a special project for parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). I had been realizing how truly blessed I am and wanted to give back in some way. I read a blog talking about a project similar to this and began to become very excited. You can see the original post here. My mom and best friend Grace helped me so much with the bags. We are very proud of what we did and I wanted to share it with you. Hopefully we can get more support next year and make these bags even better!

Grace and I (mostly Grace) hand painted each bag, 10 in all.

This was one of the designs (sorry it's sideways).

This was an adorable bag for a little baby boy.

Rattles for the girls

We were so lucky to be able to get all this stuff for each bag!

Mom, thank you so much for everything you were able to get for these bags! You are definitely storing up more treasures in Heaven! Grace, thank you for the time and creativity you put into each bag. They loved the bags! I was able to take them to Children's Hospital in Knoxville. As I was dropping them off to the nurse, she was so excited to be able to give these to the families. They sent us a very sweet thank you note, and said they have been a HUGE hit! Thanks again everybody. Love you all!

Cabin Fever

This past weekend Chris and I went to Gatlinburg and stayed in a cabin with his family. We had a great time and are so appreciative for the time we got to spend there and the fun stuff we got to do!

Too cute - Smokey Mountain Brewery

Chris and I got up early on Friday morning and took a hike.

I'm soooo strong!

Climbing around

So I am so lucky I have a great boyfriend. He climbed up to help me down...and if he wouldn't have, I would have busted my butt on the way down!!!

We got to go to the Titanic museum. It was so interesting!

Dan and Kim - awwwww

At the front of the ship

We played lots of pool - FYI if you want to win....do NOT team up with me. I am not good!

Pretty view from the cabin

Kim is super great at pool!

Chris and him Momma!

We are so glad we got to go to Gatlinburg! It was great to spend the weekend relaxing before I had to move to Atlanta. I know you guys want Atlanta updates. It might be a few days...I'm behind, and I'm TIRED!!! Love you!