I'm back!

It's amazing how much has changed for me in just a few months. I transferred to another position at work, and they sent me to Boston for 5 weeks to train with my new team members. I moved straight out of the apartment they had for myself and one of the other new girls (from Germany) and went to Rome for our big meeting.

You know, I had these expectations that it would just be the hardest time ever, that it would be borderline miserable, and that I will have never worked harder. I have to say that while I never have worked harder, that it was still really fun, and such a great experience that it couldn't be anything other than amazing.

Don't get me wrong, working 14-18 hour days, and working with 4-6 hours of sleep a night creates people on tight ropes. But at the end of the day, when you see people at their worst, they really aren't that bad.

I have to say that I have been really afraid to jinx myself. I mean, I'm so happy. Aaron is great, we are great, my job is even better than my high expectations could have hoped for, my family is healthy, Aaron's mom is still kicken cancer's booty, Aaron's sister is preggers with #2, Morgin is back on track, and my friends are amazing. I'm at a point, at just barely 26, where I finally am where I want to be. I can start planning the wedding, because I'm finally happy with myself.

Anyway, I've discovered that I can only worry about myself. I've learned that it's hard to find real friends, and if you do have them, they are to be truly cherished.

I missed Atlanta, being home, and seeing my friends and family. Its good to be here, to recharge, and to dig deep and figure out where I'm headed. But for now, life is good, and I'm just soaking it up!

Love to all...

Times are a Changin...

Hello Blogging Universe!

I haven't written in a while, and that is b/c I am super duper busy! But stay tuned, b/c my life just got a lot better, and a lot more interesting, and on occasion, I do have cool things to say.

I would like to add a note to the Universe that sometimes, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" is the most frustratingly accurate statement that there is. I'm glad to know where I stand in life, love, work, and family. I'm thankful that I am direct, and open, even if that is at my own detriment later on.

Mostly, I want to share, since someone once told me that blogging is a way to vent as well, that no one likes a liar. No one wants to be duped. And what comes around goes around.

I try to put good out in the world, and I believe that I am constantly rewarded with good things because I refuse to live anything but a fabulous, positive, happy life. If you don't have that attitude, you should adopt it. It works.

Love to all....

9/11

Where were you? I was getting ready for my Women's Studies class. I was an RA, and had only been 1 for about 3 weeks. I heard the other kids on the hall screaming at everyone to wake up.

Next door, on the tiniest TV ever, I watched the second plane crash into the tower. I watch the replay every year, and I still remember thinking, "This can't be happening". Everyone remembers where they were when the World Stopped. We watched. We waited. And at the time, we all loved our President, loved Giuliani, and were ready.

We declared war. A War that has redefined a nation. Redefined the world.

It is 9/11, and the political climate is different, and I am far from the 19 year old that I was. America stands divided on nearly everything, and we have the opportunity to choose our destiny.

But I remember sitting with kids I barely knew. I remember crying for the thousands of people that we knew were going to be dead. I remember knowing that life as we knew it was never going to be the same. I remember.

I will always remember.

Tara's leaving

IT SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS HARD. Tara's going back to South Carolina to be with her hubby and the rest of her family, and leaving the good 'ol Atlanta, BCG, and most importantly, me.

Well, I guess I should say that i am indeed happy for her, to, you know, live with her husband again, and you know, live close to her parents again. And since she wasn't going to have kids until she was close to her family, now she is just one step closer to making herself a mom, although she says that is still a little while away. At least she is going to be where she wants to be, and somewhere that will make her happy. Lord knows Atlanta drove her bonkers.

But she's leaving, and then it will be me, Robyn, and Laureen, and Robyn doesn't count, b/c she doesn't sit over here anymore. Actually, i heart her, but she's a loud phone talker, so it isn't toooooo horrible not having her yelling in my ear for the next little while. Which then leaves our little corner to Laureen and me. Holding down the fort, I suppose!

Anywho, Tara - Good Luck, Safe Travels, and come visit...

As for me, I'll be sitting here, at my cute little desk, working and whiling away my time...

PEACE OUT!

Kirsten's Wedding

Well, sadly, I am no longer in Florida. I am actually back in Atlanta. There are many benefits to being back home, such as seeing my fiance' again, going back to work (which I actually love), seeing my friends here again... but I already miss all my friends that I only see occasionally. Everyone has their friends that tend to be their soul mates, and I just got to spend 4 days with mine. Yes, there are 4 of us, and yes, we are totally connected, through the miles, and through our life changes. This time, it was Kirsten who got to be the center of all of us. But before her wedding on Saturday, I went down to Tampa on Wednesday to see Emily. My BFF, my partner in crime, the one who laughs at all my jokes, the kind of friend that everyone wants and so few have. It was great to see her and her sister, and just talk. We literally talked for like 7 hours, and then decided it was time to eat!

Then, Jules came in on Thursday morning, and we all went shopping. I LOVE doing that with them, and with Jules in Augusta GA, and Emily in NYC, it isn't often that we can. Needless to say, it was 7 hours of shopping! Noor came in that night and we all put on our new cute dresses and went out to dinner, dancing, and FUN!

Friday, I got to go with Emily and Jules, who were in the wedding, with the other bridesmaids, and get my nails done with them and Kirsten. Kirsten, as I have said before in a previous post, was my first friend at college, and we have gotten a lot closer of the last year or so. I'm so excited for her on her journey! But as you can see below, we were having a good time before she had to get ready for the rehearsal dinner.

Friday morning, Emily and Jules went to start the hair for the pictures and such, and Noor and I met up with Ashley, Jeremy, Euler, Matt, and Gwen for lunch in Ybor. As you can see, we had a great time. Then it was time to get ready!!

We were all ready to go and see KCLARK get married to Andy. We met in the lobby to go to the shuttle. And off we went!

Now, I like to think of my self as a really good photographer with decent chops and such, but it is really hard to catch moving targets. Most of my pictures from the beginning of the ceremony are blurry, but you get the idea. Brides wearing Navy dresses, Kirsten and Andy, beaming. I mean, they literally have light shining out of them like the sun, they are just so happy. When they finally are pronounced married, we wait, and this is them on their way to the limo. I mean, this is just the best picture ever!

The reception was a blast, and most of all, we really got to spend time together. The had just at 80 people there, which was around what I was hoping to have at my wedding, and I think that it worked perfectly. I mean, I danced with, talked with, and played with her, rather than just being there to share the joy with her.

We all had a great time, but the real fun was that we all came early and got to spend time together before hand. That's the best thing about my friends... we all love and miss each other a lot, and we all make the effort to spend time together when the opportunity arises. I miss them all already. They make me a better person, together or apart, but I always prefer us together.

Cheers to everyone out there that misses their friends...

Community Service Day - Part 1

Well, here it is. Literally 4 months worth of research, begging, borrowing, planning, and worrying all came down to one day. Every year, BCG does a community outreach day. It is a time for all of us white collar folks to get out of the office, away from computers and blackberries, and have a physical hand in helping the community. Yes, we do lots of pro-bono work, and yes, we are active individually in community and charity efforts, but 1 day a year, we literally close the office, and nearly every person out of 100 people comes to lend a hand.

This year we picked KIPP Ways Academy:


They are 5th-8th graders who are in a zip code where every school is failing on standerdized everything. They go to school from 7:30 am - 5:30 pm, attend school on Saturday at least 2 out of 4 every month, and 3 weeks of summer school every year. They are the 4th best middle school in the entire state of GA, and the best middle school in Atlanta Public Schools. They are literally working 60% more than every other student out there, but that is why they are so successful. Can I get an AMEN? So, yes, I picked this school again, and yes, they are deserving, but what, may you ask, do you DO to help this place?

Well, here goes.
1) Build an outdoor classroom. The end result:

Working it out...

Before we got started

Pushing hard...

2) The amphitheater:
Before, and after. I mean, is their really any comparison? And BTW, the entire campus had ZERO, and I do mean, not any, flowers, on the property. We added two flower beds, one here, and one at the outdoor classroom.

3) The Band Room
New Shelving, 3 new murals, organizing, the works!

4) Classroom materials –

Now this one I pulled out of my booty. They needed bookcases, storage cabinets, filing cabinets, teacher’s tables, and the works! I did not have the money to make this happen. I did however get people to give me things at cost. And about 5k of stuff donated. Thank the good lord.

See the next post for the rest of the projects!

Community Service Day - July 11th, 2008 - Part 2

Please note that this entry it too long, and I had to post it in two parts.

5) The PE/Art storage room. This room is what people would make out in and get caught being stupid in back in the day. It was disgusting, filled with a few measly dilapidated shelves, and no system to organize anything. We changed that. DRASTICALLY. =)

6) New computers:
Both the library, and some individual teachers got new computers. YAY! BCG donated 5 or 6 of them, and Emory donated 5 or 6. Not too shabby!

7) Reading diagnostic:
All of these kids are new to the school. They are all on different grade levels, and with the help of about 5 or 6 of us in the morning, all 125 new students were tested and placed according to current ability.

8) Whew, yes, there is still more! We had a sports camp that rotated with the reading diagnostic that morning. GA tech sent out 8 b-ball players, male and female, and about 5 football players, all wearing GA Tech gear. We were also to get a former GA Tech player, and current Cincinnati Bangle to come out as well. The kids were VERY excited!

9) The afternoon was an arts rotation. Band, Chorus, Drama, and Art all had 30 minute windows to talk to the kids and give them some exposure to what they were going to be doing for the year.

Now that I’ve written all of that down, it seems more overwhelming. Believe me, it was a big effort, but everyone had a great time, the kids were so happy, the teachers and administrators, so appreciative. It was a great day, and I’m so glad that we got everything done!

August 2nd

On August Second, one of my oldest friends is getting married in Tampa. And of all my friends, I thought she'd be the last. She lives in NY, and is getting married to, I have to say, her soul mate. He balances her, keeps her in check, but makes her feel complete, loved, and worshiped without being whipped. He is masculine without being insensitive. He is attractive, but she is better looking. All-in-all, I can't think of a person more perfect for her. Most important to her, he carries his faith outwardly, and practises what he believes without making other people uncomfortable. He makes her a better person, and she is literally more whole with him than without him.

It is amazing to see her so happy, and I'm happy for her. Genuinely excited for her. I met her on my first day of college, in my FOG (freshman orientation group), and we are so similar, it made us fight sometimes. Both so stubborn, smart, strong willed... but of the two of us, she was the one who loved to play the field, and I was the one who wanted to be in love. Funny that I got engaged first, but she's getting married first.

I love her, and I love my friends, and as we move physically farther apart, it makes me appreciate how much I need them in my life. I'm not a person that requires alone time, "me" time, pretty much ever. But i am a person that requires girl friend time, and time away from the love of my life. So I can be with friends, and he can get alone time, and we both function much better.

ANYWAY, I haven't blogged in a while, mostly, b/c things have been so hectic. I have to write all about Community Service Day and how great it was, and post tons of pictures, but again, too busy to talk for long, so I leave you with this thought:

When life is hard, and you lose faith in yourself, you question if you are making good decisions, and sometimes feel lost and alone, just think about all the people who don't have access to pina' coladas and turn on your blender. :)

12 Days and counting

In a mere 12 days, You will not hear from me. Nope. Not a word. Why? Because I don't want to have anything to do with my computer for 8 days. Yes, this is true.

But while I have that going for me, Aaron and I are starting to look for.... a HOUSE! I'm excited at the possibility of owning a home before I'm 30, that is for sure, but even more so, I'm just excited to look at homes. It is WAY fun to do that!

Peace out everybody.

It's JUNE!!

Hello World!

As usual, it takes me a while to think of something to say, but today my friends, I am excited. Why you ask? Because for the first time in my adult life, I am taking a real vacation. Not one with the family that I was a nanny for, not one for two days at a friends house and trying not to spend any money. This time, I'm going on a real vacation for 8 days, and 7 nights.

DAYTONA BEACH, HERE I COME.

Aaron, my fiance for those of you who don't know, and his family love Daytona. As a child, my family went to Miami for every trip, and his went to Daytona. We are going to share a 3 Bedroom, 3 bath beachfront condo. And we are excited. very.

I can't wait to just relax and play in the water. To play put-put. To sit in the sand. A LOT.

Aaron's family doesn't sit still very well. In-fact, they are constantly moving, and shaking, which is great, b/c I get bored. I want to PLAY in the water and on the sand, b/c after a while, I just can't sit and do nothing. It isn't my style.

I hope that it looks like this:

And not like this:

Well, I guess that is it for now. Look for more EXCITED posts later!

PEACE OUT, A-TOWN DOWN

Rach

New York, New York

Well hello out there in the wonderful world of the 5 people I know of that read this. Di says I haven't written anything good in a while, but there are many reasons for that:

1) Too busy
2) Too boring
3) Too lazy

That being said, I actually do have some cool stuff to say today. After a long and crazy reason as to why I was the chosen one, I found out on Thursday that I would be going to New York for the day on Monday to run a 6 hour meeting. Yes ladies and gents, lil ol me got to go to the big apple for a 5 hour event. I LOVE this job.

The reason I got to go, is because about 20 of our super duper high ranking and fun partners were participating in this meeting in person, in conjunction with 6 outside VIP big Whigs that came in later, and adding to that the fact that we had video conferencing and phone conferencing that makes it a crazy day!

The best part is at the end, when the hardest to please man in the universe, who up until this point, for the last year at BCG, has not once made eye contact with me, says "Thank you for coming Rachel, you did a great job." After a near miss at a heart attack, I quickly recover and say, "of course, not a problem, any time. There were the inevitable fires to put out, but they were none the wiser, which is exactly how it is supposed to be.

Anywho, in all that mayhem, I realized that my 7:29 pm flight was delayed. When I checked on it at 5:00 pm, it was already delayed to a 9:00 pm departure. BAD news. Weelll, the big partner told another girl that happened to be on my flight with me that we were done, good job, and catch and earlier flight home. So we did! We rushed to the airport and ended up on a 7:00 pm flight, and thank the Lord for that because after the adrenaline crash, it was not a pretty picture.

Well, that is it for now. Talk back at you sometime soon I hope!!

Hello everyone,

I just got my hair cut yesterday. I said "I'm growing it out long, for the wedding" and he says, I totally agree. What does he do? I have no idea, but for those of you who have curly hair, it looks like he chopped 5 inches off. My hair has officially revolted against me. Sad, very sad. I am going to try to work with it tonight, and cajole it into looking pretty, since the boss of the office is having everyone over to his house for dinner tomorrow night. Oy. Vey.

Just Checking in

Hello everyone,

I really have nothing to say over the last week or so. Nothing cool has really happened. I went to dinner on Friday night with my parents at the new Spice Market in the W hotel in Midtown. I got us the hook-up for a free meal there. We had a really great experience, but I've heard some of my girlfriends say the total opposite, so I think that the Jury is still out on that one.

We had Easter Sunday with Aaron's family, and that actually went over pretty well. Everyone was dressed up and looking pretty. I might have been the only woman there in pants, but I HATE wearing dresses when I don't have to. We went to a not crowded Ryan's for lunch, which was a miracle in and of it self. Then we went back to his mom's house for Morgin's Easter basket time. Pretty fun, but really exhausting.

Tomorrow, Aaron turns 27. And I know that years from now, we will wish that we were this age again, but right now, I'm going to just enjoy being young, and full of possibilities. Have a great week, and I'll tell you all about the birthday week and how yummy all the food was, and how totally fat I'm working on NOT being....

Friday night Crazy

For all of you that haven't heard, we had a tornado in downtown Atlanta on Friday night. There was over $200 million dollars worth of damage, and more than half of that was done to the World Congress Center alone. The ironic thing is that I had tickets to go to the basketball game at Philips Arena that night, and I just couldn't bring myself to go. Aaron was supposed to go with a friend, and he bailed, and I just didn't want to go. Aaron was going to go by himself, but the Tennessee game was on so he wanted to watch both at the same time. Just lucky that he didn't change his mind and get stuck for hours.

I've heard lots of crazy stories, and driving around, I personally saw the billboards on the connector. For those of you who have never seen a billboard up close, they are HUGE. Ginormous structures shredded in long pieces on the road. NOT a good look for ATL, I must say.

For those of you who are worried, don't be. Neither myself or family was hurt. All-in-all, the respective Atlanta Establishments are being really praised for how they handled the situations and how they made sure that people were safe. So, hat's off to you ATL!

L8R taters....

Sometimes, cats like to play...

The massage

Hello again.

As promised, I am here to tell you about my massage yesterday. If any of you have never had a "deep-tissue" massage, I am here to tell you that it was NO JOKE. It was not relaxing, although she was very very nice. I, apparently, have VERY tight muscles. My very tights muscles were, how shall we say, DISPLEASED at trying to become less tight. I have the soreness today to prove it!

When your masseuse tells you before you get "nekkid" that you are to expect "discomfort" (note the lack of the word "mild") but not pain, so please let her know what is too hard so that you don't end up with bruises, that might be a sign of what is to come.

I should also add, that when the middle of your back is tight, it makes you really ticklish when someone tries to rub on it. REALLY ticklish. She moved my arms in a different way, and that helped, but the majority of the time, it was uncomfortable.

JUST when I thought I finally had it under control, she started with my gluts. Yes, ladies and gents, that would be my BOTTOM. She took her none-too-small fists, and mashed my rump. I'm talking smooshed, and gouged, and diggin, into my ba-honkus.

So when I say that I am sore, please know, I have never been sore after a massage before. And when other masseuses would tell me to drink lots of water because the released toxins into my system, I wonder if this kind of massage released an army of militant germs that will attack me repeatedly until I beg for mercy.

If I have left you with an impression that I didn't like it, that is not in fact the case. I feel like she did accomplish her goal, of "working out the kinks". I might not honestly enjoy the means, but as the saying goes, the ends will hopefully justify those.

With that, I will sign off, and hopefully this made you laugh as much as I have writing it.

L8R taters...

My First Entry

Hello world!

I think we all know the phrase "peer pressure" and I have felt it enough to start my own Blog. My work friends all have their own, and in the interests of not being left out, now I have MY own. For now, I will say hello to everyone, and to those I haven't seen or spoken to in a while, you should call me. All the time. It's your fault, not mine. HA HA.

Have a great rainy Tuesday. Tonight: My first Massage in AGES. Excited? umm, YES. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. =) in the mean time, just sit back, relax, and be jealous. Very very jealous.