In One Month

In one month I will be hereSitting on one of these

With this in my hand

And each of these girls laying beside me

Needless to say...... I CAN'T WAIT!

Pagnozzi Get Out & Play Games

Last week our office participated in the Pagnozzi Charities "Get Out & Play Games." About 12 companies participated and we competed in several games throughout the afternoon. We had a great time but didn't win a single event :) That is bound to happen with an office that is majority women. But hey, we did win the Spirit Award! Our team name was the Recreational Hazards and our uniforms were like the ones in Dodgeball the movie (no I did not pick our theme). Below are some pics from the events.

Below is a series of picture of me catching a touchdown pass

Yes that is Tom Pagnozzi in the volunteer shirt, the former St. Louis Cardinals catcher, coming after me. He was yelling and I'm pretty sure he wanted to takle me. The blonde in the background is my boss Heather. I heard her screaming.

Making sure to stay in bounds

TOUCHDOWN! Daddy would be so proud!

Officemates - Scott and I

And below is my favorite picture of the day - Our COO Michael....

My Rant on the Gulf Tragedy

We are closing in on 60 days that an outrageous amount of oil has been spilling into the beautiful Gulf of Mexico that has now be categorized as the worst oil spill in history. Now let me preface by saying I am not usually the person to jump on bandwagons or hold up protests signs or care much about matters that are out of my hands but this monstrosity has made me reach my breaking point and I need to let my frustrations out. Let me also say that I am in no way an environmental activist (although I do recycle and try to conserve energy) and I do believe in the drilling for oil to sustain our current lifestyle. I just think the way in which things were handled and the corners that were cut by BP are unacceptable.

Now on to my rant...

Not that I had much to begin with, but BP has lost all respect in my book. I have never been so upset, disappointed and downright PISSED OFF at a company as much as I am at BP. The more and more I read, the more I find out about the mistakes the company made leading up to the spill and during the aftermath. To find out that this devastating event could have been avoided, makes me sick to my stomach.

Being in the PR world, every day that passes by I wonder when BP will admit their mistakes or come up with a plan to combat the terrible publicity. For starters, they had no crisis communications plan waiting in the wings.

Eric Denzenhall said it best in his article Why BP Didn't Plan for this Crisis when he stated "corporations are a collection of individuals motivated by a short-term personal self interest, the first and foremost of which is job advancement and preservation....these individuals fall prey to what psychologists call 'the apathy of crowds,' the passive assumption that someone else, somewhere has things covered."

Today, 50 something days after the initial spill, I saw the first ad from BP CEO Tony Hayward (granted it could have aired earlier but I saw it for the first time today). He apologized for the spill and said BP will do everything to fix it. TOO LITTLE TOO LATE Tony!!! Sorry doesn't fix it.

What breaks my heart the most is the wildlife that are dying because of human stupidity. BP claims that they will pay to protect and rehabilitate the wildlife in the gulf but will they follow through? And what about all the people that can't work because of this? What are they supposed to do? Will BP pay for their lost income as well? I am going to be even more mad if when I go to Destin in July and my pearly white beaches are covered with oil slime. This spill is affecting more and more every day!

I also want to know why they haven't figured out some way to stop the leaking? I find it very hard to believe that nobody in that entire company did not have some kind of plan, however elementary it might be, to fix the leak permanently. I will just add that to the growing list of outrageousness that is the BP company.

I know I have no solution to the problem but I do know that an ocean is being destroyed, wildlife is dying and somebody better find a way to fix it all NOW!

Shelby's Graduation

A couple of weekends ago my cousin Shelby graduated from Southside High School in Fort Smith. I joined the rest of the family to watch. Southside graduates outside and it was hot! We had a good time though celebrating Shelby's acheivements - she graduated with a 4.1 GPA!!. Shelby is coming up the Hill and will be an Arkansas Razorback next fall and I couldn't be more excited. I see many girls nights in our future. Congrats Shelbs. I love you and am so proud of you!!

Shelby was senior class secretary so she got to sit on the stage (she is second from the right). The aunts got to the stadium early and saved seats so we were literally right in front of her. I made faces at her all night. The Nolte clan. We will be back next year for Jake's graduation

The Smith women

Standing in line to get her diploma
The sky was beautiful that night.

And the Thunder Rolls...

First, start singing Garth Brooks' song "Thunder Rolls" in your head. Ok, you got it? Now look at some pictures I took of a storm rolling into Benton County this morning. The sky was amazing!

Zac Brown Band and Tim McGraw

One of the many advantages of living in NWA is that it is home of Walmart. Each year Walmart hosts its Shareholders meeting where thousands of people come into our area and celebrate Walmart. Walmart is a great company and likes to show its appreciation for its associates, shareholders and customers.

Each year they bring big name artists for concerts that are FREE to the public. Two years ago, I went to Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood. Last night me and mom and one of her coworkers saw Zac Brown Band and Tim McGraw.

Zac Brown Band was AMAZING! Such an entertaining group and their music is a mix of country and hard rock. They have got a fiddle player that is mind-blowingly good. Now I want to go to one of their full concerts.

After ZBB, Tim McGraw came out. And let me tell you, he was looking FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE! I have never really had a crush on Tim but after seeing him in person, I now do. One of the cool things about his performance is that he had 2 woman signing the songs (using sign language) and they were so cool to watch. At some points I was watching them more than Tim.

The concerts were in Bud Walton Arena and there is not a bad seat in that place. We had great seats and had a fun, FREE time listening to some great music. Tonight is REO Speedwagon and Barenaked Ladies. I can't wait to see who Walmart brings next year.

Blast From the Past

Last week Andy Shupe, a local photographer for the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, sent me this picture in an email. He said he found it when going through old pictures and thought I would "enjoy it."

I think this is circa 1999 when my junior high dance team was preparing to compete at Nationals. The funny part is I know exactly what part of the routine we are in.

All I can say is that I had a good laugh. YIKES!!