Lauren's New Job!

Hooray! Let's celebrate! 

I start my new job at The Boys and Girls Club of Green Bay next week (Jan 30) in their Resource Development Dept! I was very fortunate to find a position quickly. It's a funny story... here's how it all happened.

First, we wanted to wait until the holidays were over before I started looking, so we would be able to come home for the holidays. I started my search right before Christmas and had an interview scheduled for the first of January. This position was with The Boys and Girls Club of Green Bay (BGCGB), although it was for their After School Program. I thought this would be a fun job (part-time) and give me some flexibility. I went in for my interview and it went GREAT! They offered me the position... although recommended I apply for a different position in their Resource Development Dept.

After thinking long and hard, I decided to go for it! This also meant another round of interviews... ugh! I feel like interviews are a lot like first dates and I'm actually weird because I like first dates, so interviews aren't that bad. I feel like you always have a lot to talk about because everything is new information! Well, this interview had a kicker... a writing sample! After I went through two panels of interviewers, I had to write a sample grant and this was totally new for me... so I dreaded this part! I thought the interview portion went GREAT, but I wasn't sure how the writing sample went - I tend to ramble sometimes :)

Well, I must have done alright because I was their first choice!! Yippy! I'm very excited about this position because it will be similar to my position at the Home Builders Assn of Greater Little Rock, although there are a few new twists and turns - grant writing specifically. I'm also excited because it's a larger office environment than I've had in the past (3 at Building AR and 3 at HBA). There will be 5 of us in the Resource Development Dept. and I'm guessing around 15-20 in the whole office. It also seems like a very close-knit environment, which I LOVE. The HBA had a great environment, which felt like family many times.

Here are a few of my tasks: grant writing for projects $5,000 and under, research for future grants, maintain positive relationships with current grant holders/funders, event coordination, press releases, etc.

I don't think I could have found a more perfect position than the BGCGB! I love the non-profit world and I'm excited about working to help better the lives of Green Bay kids.

Here's the funny/ironic part - The Executive Director is from ARKANSAS... specifically
EL DORADO, ARKANSAS!!!! How crazy is that! We are practically from the same home town and now, we're all the up here in Green Bay, Wisconsin! Talk about a small world!

Stay tuned - Lauren

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!! 

I hope you all had a great Christmas! Kevin and I had the best time over the holiday, mainly because we got to see our friends and family! We flew home on Dec. 22 and spent the night in Little Rock with our friends. We know how hectic it can get during the holidays, so we planned one special night just for our friends! Betsy was so sweet to plan dinner and drinks for us and let us stay at Hotel Betsy. We had a group of around 15 that went to Loca Luna for dinner and then we hit our favorite watering hole, La Fountain! It's amazing how much you miss the "old normal"! It was such a great night! And, I just realized that I didn't take ANY pictures... shame on me! But, I guess it's because we were having such a good time! 

We drove down to Camden (AR) on Dec. 23 to spend Christmas with my family. It was a perfect trip, although I could of taken a few extra days. Since we were only there for three nights, it was busy! Our first night we stayed home and played cards (go figure!). Slade, Ms. Patti, Grandma, Aunt Pam and Uncle Art also came over! It was a fun night filled with Neighborly, Music and Good Company. As a tradition, I work with mom all day on Christmas Eve and wrap, wrap and wrap! Kevin was our little elf that day and did a little shopping for us... he actually survived Wal-Mart TWICE! Such a saint! We spent Christmas Eve at my grandma Laney's house and then did our family Christmas at the house that night. We were blessed with some really great gifts! On Christmas day, we had a big breakfast prepared by dad and then were off to an even bigger lunch at grandma's house. That night, we had our Blount Family Christmas at our house. It was so great to see the family! It was sad to leave on Dec 26 but we were also very excited to see the Williams Family! 

We didn't take too many pictures, but I thought this was a good one! My grandpa Blount (aka The Possum), Ms. Patti and mom. We're playing our favorite game - neighborly! 

Kevin and I are very lucky to have such great families and it also works out perfectly during the holidays - we get to spend Christmas with my family and then go skiing with his family over New Years! We're very fortunate! I know a lot of couples that have to split holidays between their families. We flew to Telluride (CO) with the Williams to spend New Years in the mountains. It is such a beautiful place! I have several pictures that I've included from the trip:

Happy 7th Birthday Grant! We celebrated Grant's birthday in style! He requested fish and hot dogs for his birthday. He had hot dogs for lunch and then a mix of fresh fish for dinner! We also had the best of both worlds for dessert - vanilla cupcakes and chocolate cake (plus ice cream!)! We did not follow our diet that night :) 

LOVE Downtown Telluride! Such a neat area - filled with great shops and restaurants! 

Here's one of us skiing! It was unseasonable warm (30s-40s) and Telluride actually had the most snow in ALL of Colorado and they were still below average. 

Our favorite day of skiing was our last day (first day comes in at a close second) where we all got to ski with Grant and Ella for the first time ever! They are both still in ski school, but we all took them out on our last day.  They are both doing so good! Here's Ella (and Tony) making her way down the mountain with some good "S" turns.

Riding the lift with Ella and Tony. Grant was so fast, I couldn't get a picture of him :)

My super cool skis! 

This one is a little blurry... Kevin and I at our favorite spot - Giuseppe's (Elevation 11,885). Every year, we make a pit stop for a few special beverages before we head home! Great Memories! 

We had such a great trip! I already miss the mountains, although we were ready to get home. Being on the road for 12 days is a LONG time. Plus - we missed Pixie and Kaaba very much!