Congratulations Janna!

The stork will be making a delivery to the Tolar house the end of November. Please send Janna your congratulations. Have a good day, Shanda

Holly Springs CAD

It started out really cold, but our turn-out made it worth it. It was a very busy day for us, because it was the 3rd of the month. We had several customers attend, and actually had several people stop just to ask what the occasion was for exactly. We were very pleased to have them to stop, because when they need money they will remember us. We served 165 hot dogs and gave away around 180 drinks. For this location, that was great. Crystal and Laken were a huge help. Everything went smooth, and the customer's were happy to see Crystal handing them a freebie bag full of goodies.

Janna

Look At The Bigger Picture

Luke is always encouraging us to set goals and by doing so we become better leaders. This morning I read this short story and it was so good I wanted to share it with all of you. It is out of the book "God's Little Devotional Book for Leaders" You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures. A man once approached a construction site and noticed three men shoveling dirt out of a long ditch. He asked the first man what he was doing. The man sneered back with a surely-you-can-figure-it-out-yourself attitude. "Digging a ditch." He walked on to the next man and asked the same question. The reply was only slightly more kind, "I'm makin' a living. Just makin' a living. Gotta feed the wife and kids, you know." When he asked the third man what he was doing, the man said with a great deal of positive energy and pride, "Sir, I am creating part of a masterful set of irrigation channels that are going to turn this dry ol' valley into a garden rich with produce to feed the world's hungry!" Look beyond the seemingly meaningless chores and minor failures of today and see a bigger picture --- ultimately, one that serves others. You'll find greater satisfaction in your daily grind if you see yourself as making jewels for the Lord's crown, rather than simply polishing rocks. Have a safe and happy weekend, Shanda

April Fool's Day

Usually everyone hears of the usual pranks, but this one tops it off for me. Lynn Johnson's son, Bruce, decided that it was time to pay his sister back for the prank that she played on him last year. So he drives from Columbus, MS to Murfreesboro, TN which is where she lives because a phone prank just was not good enough. This guy went into her office and got her house keys and redecorated her home. The decorations were not ordinary by any means. He turned her sofa on it's side, saran wrapped her toilet, drew pictures on all of her mirrors with her lipstick, put crime scene tape up all over her house, toilet papered the stairs, among other things. After he was finished he walked back into her office, handed her keys back to her, and told her that she needed to keep them locked up if she didn't want people going into her home. So she had to wait the rest of the day out and anticipate what he had did to her home.

I bet she thinks twice before she pulls another prank on him, because his paybacks are not small by any means!!

Have a wonderful Friday!

Janna

Here they come...

Customer Appreciation Days! Amory Money Matters and Holly Springs will start the FUN days off this Friday. FUN is what everyone is suppose to have. We try to make this inviting for our customers. Most customers remember the ones from the past and will not miss it. These are a few things that we ask of each office: ~Each office will be incharge of getting their own DRINKS and BUNS. (Get with your Area Manager) ~Make sure that you help unload and load. ~Have ALL check ups and deposits done the night before so that you can help. ~Dress cool but appropriate. T-shirts, shorts, and flip flops are allowed on these days ONLY! ~Employees kids are welcomed. (We ask that they be 5 or older) ~Everyone have FUN but stay professional about it! ~Keep up with how many hotdogs your office gives out. If you have any questions please let Janna or me know! Thanks Kim

Last Weeks Rain

No, Brooke and her family have not moved to lake front property, but this is what they woke up to last Thursday morning. Austin and Emma were scared they would be stuck in the house forever.

Thankfully the water receded and life is back to normal at the Ewing's house.

Happy Monday,

Shanda

Happy Birthday

Yesterday was Laken's birthday and we at the Fulton Office were more than happy to help her celebrate with cake and ice cream.

Laken and Nikki will have a few extra pounds to carry around that ball field now.

Hope you all have a great weekend! Shanda

Rain Rain Go Away...

As some of you know, our softball game has been canceled. It has been reschedule for April 11th. Which is ok with us because it gives us another chance to practice. I'm not sure if Nikki was on the same field the other day when we practiced but.... hitting is not a problem. Some of us need a lot of practice on catching (especially myself). We were not as bad as we thought. We had a blast playing and I cannot wait til we practice again. We will keep you updated on the game. We could use some chants. I think the team is SICK of hearing me sing the only one I know. Kim

Lifesavers

This week we will be following the Lifesavers Softball Team. The players are Brooke Ewing, Laken Dobbs, Bridget Adams, Michelle Williams, Kim Wright, Jana House, Janna Tolar, Johnna Coffey, Julie Snow, Tasha Dobbs, Nikki Williams and April Moore. We have formed this team to raise money for Relay For Life. A Relay for Life team in Tremont is doing a softball tournament as one of their fundraisers and we decided to help them out by playing in their tournament. The tournament is Saturday at the Tremont High School and begins at 8:00. We invite everyone out to come out and watch the games and support Relay for Life. Stay tuned . . . . . . . . . . .

Bridget Adams

Microsoft Office Outlook

This program will benefit you if used to its full advantage. The calendar is one of the many GREAT options in this program! You can go in and set up your calendar with important information. You can also have it to remind you of an important task. We suggest that everyone use this for court dates, month end report, Friday report, change air filters, empty cig. bucket, etc. If you are unsure how to use the calendar please email Tracie so that she can set up a time to help you. If using this program to your advantage you are unlikely to forget things. Thanks Bridget and Kim

Congrats to Belinda & Crystal!!

Belinda is a new Nana!! Her daughter, Crystal, had a beautiful baby girl on March 7. She was a little early, but she is doing great now. Today is their first day home with Anaston Claire, and they're all so excited to have her home. Congratulations Belinda!! She is absolutely precious. I can't wait to hold her, and I know you are spoiling her.

Janna

St. Patrick's Day

Do you have on green? Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of all backgrounds in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Although North America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in other locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore, and Russia. In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick's Day has traditionally been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use St. Patrick's Day as an opportunity to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the world. Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland 's St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions, and fireworks shows. Have a good day, Shanda

Guess who's getting married!!

Chelsea Wooley and Corey Caygle are getting married. There's no date set yet, but he popped the question Thursday and she said yes!! They have been dating for almost a year, and they are both really excited. Chelsea's parents couldn't be happier.

Congratulations Chelsea & Corey!

Janna

February Winners and Thanks from Bookkeeping

Congratulations to: 1st Place - Macon 19.04% 2nd Place - Aberdeen 18.91% 3rd Place - Vernon 16.39% Ladies, Bookkeeping would like to thank each of you for taking the extra time to review your check-ups last month. The bank statements balanced much easier this month. Only 5 offices had mistakes and these mistakes were minor. We appreciate all of your efforts in this matter. Keep up the good work. Have a safe and happy weekend, Shanda

Beautiful Weather!

Angie Riley and her husband took advantage of the weather this weekend and went fishing. Angie said she caught a fish and her dog Bear got jealous and sat with her the rest of the day! Angie also noted that her husband DID NOT catch any fish!! Bridget

New Albany

We combined the 2 New Albany stores on Wednesday. Other than a few Bellsouth issues, everything went great. Chelsea, Heather, and Corey (Chelsea's boyfriend) were a big help. I owe a huge THANK YOU to them, b/c it would not have been that easy without their help. This office looks really nice and professional. I am looking forward to the great things that I know I will see from Chelsea and Heather. They are a great team and I proud to have them.

Have a wonderful Friday!

Janna

Snow Pics...

Dana Ford's daughter Kyla and her son Rebel with all their cousins!

Aubrey Adams (Bridget's) and Drew Wright (Kim's)

Michelle Williams with Zachary (son) and Sammantha (niece)

Jana House's kids Chloe and Hayden and their poor snowman!!!! Jana said her kids tried so hard to build it.

Laken Dobbs' children Tristan and Braeden

Let it Snow!

Bellena sent me a picture this moring and I wanted to share it with everyone. I am guessing this is Lyla's first look at snow since she is only 8 months old! Remember if anyone has any pictures you want to share send them to me! Have a great week!! Bridget

I will persist until I succeed

The following is more great wisdom from Oz Mandino's book "The Greatest Salesman in the World". I will persist until I succeed. In the Orient young bulls are tested for the fight arena. Each is brought to the ring and allowed to attach a picador who pricks them with a lance. The bravery of each bull is then rated according to the number of times he demonstrates his willingness to charge in spite of the sting of the blade. Henceforth will I recognize that each day I am tested by life. If I persist, if I continue to try, if I continue to charge forward, I will succeed. I was not delivered in this world in defeat, nor does failure course in my veins. I am not a sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd. I am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep. I will hear not those who weep and complain, for their disease is contagious. Let them join the sheep. The slaughterhouse of failure is not my destiny. I will persist until I succeed. The prizes of life are at the end of each journey, not near the beginning; and it is not given to me to know how many steps are necessary in order to reach my goal. Failure I may still encounter at the thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next bend in the road. Never will I know how close it lies unless I turn the corner. Always will I take another step. If that is of no avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth, one step at a time is not too difficult. I will persist until I succeed. Happy Friday, Shanda

New Arrival for Heather!

Heather Barnes had several new arrivals this weekend. She has 11 puppies! They are 1/2 Mastiff and 1/2 German Shepard. She has 7 girls and 4 boys. If anyone is interested in a new puppy (that will grow to be a LARGE dog) let Heather know! I hope everyone has a great week! Bridget

Jeremy & Jayla

I normally would not post a picture of my husband or children, but I honestly can't remember the last time that I shared a photo with you. Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!! Janna

New Baby

In case you have not already heard after 15 years Dana Ford is a new mother again. As you can tell from the pictures, the baby is already the boss. He tells them when they can go to bed and when to get up. Dana has come to work with bags under her eyes complaining of sleepless nights. Dana is learning all over again how expensive it is to have a new baby. Big sister, Kyla is doing her part by walking the baby in his new stroller. Be sure to send Dana your congratulations on the arrival of Rebel. Choose to have a great day, Shanda

Manager's Meeting

Normally, we would ask for topic ideas for the meeting. I don't think that anyone sent an email out asking for ideas. If there is something that you would like to be discussed let me know. There are several times after a meeting an employee will call me to discuss a meeting topic. This is fine but if you have any suggestions or ideas during the meeting you need to speak up. Part of having these meetings are so we can all share ideas. If you do not speak up til after the meeting your idea or suggestion might not make it to everyone else. We have lost a lot of good ideas from this. Look forward to seeing you! Kim

Guest blogger today!

Good Morning!

Normally Monday's are my day to post but today I am going to let Tracie Dueitt post about her adventure she had yesterday.

Yesterday morning I noticed the vent had came off my dryer, so I was headed to my bedroom to grab my phone to call my brother to come fix the problem. As I was walking into my bedroom, something charged at my foot. I probably jumped 3 feet and looked down to see what was trying to eat me, and all I could think of at the moment was a skinny opossum. I ran into the living room and jumped in the chair with my daughter and told her not to move or get down. There was some type of animal in the house. Then, I heard it beside us and it made it's way to my son's room, who wasn't at home that morning. I followed it to the room and watched it go under his dresser. I quickly shut the door to his room and ran to grab my phone. By now, I have come to realize what type of animal I had acquired. It was a ferret! I called my step father and he didn't answer. I called my brother and he said he wasn't going to touch the nasty thing. I was alone in getting this thing out of my house. I opened my patio door and opened the bedroom door and ran and jumped on the couch. It slowly came out of the bedroom and finally made it's way out onto the patio. I slammed the door shut and went out my front door and waited for the ferret to make it's way off the patio. It eventually left and went towards the wooded area. I parked my daughter's play car in front of the dryer vent to block entry back into my home. At last, my morning adventure was over, or so I thought.

About 20 minutes later my neighbor was tapping on my door. I opened the door and there he was with the ferret. He asked if the animal belonged to me. I told him it did not, but I had just ran the thing out of my house. The ferret went into his apartment the same way it entered mine. Our dryer vent's are beside each other. He took the ferret back in and began to feed it crackers. He later brought it back outside and taped up his vent and took the ferret to the other side of our building and showed it the other dryer vents.

After a little while longer I heard scratching and peeped out my door. The ferret had made it's way back to our side and tore the tape and cardboard that my neighbor had just rigged up to keep him out of it. I watched him go into the vent and I knocked on my neighbors door. He never came to the door, so, I figured he would realize the animal was back in his house in a few moments. We called our maintenance line and animal control when this all began at 9:30 am and I left my house at 1:30 pm and no one had shown up before I left. I returned at 5:30 and my neighbor had placed Adi's car so it would block both vents and added more weight by shoving Adi's bicycle against the car. I searched my home and didn't find the little monster. I haven't spoken to my neighbor yet to see what happened after I left. So, just remember this story and take extra safety precautions, like a screen, to keep you from waking to unwanted animals in your home.

Have a great day!

Bridget & Tracie

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

We thought we would share a few facts about Valentine's day

~The Valentine's Day is observed as the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion, according to Hallmark research.

~The number of Valentine's Day cards exchanged annually is around 180 million.

~Over 1 billion Valentine cards are sent in the U.S each year

~Over 50 million roses are given on the Valentine's Day each year

~Women purchase 85% of all valentines.

If you have a Valentine's Day story that you would like to share, please do so on the comments page. If you don't have a Valentine's Day story tell us how you met your sweetheart.

Hope you all have a GREAT Valentine's! Shanda & Kim

Happy Belated Birthday!!

Shanda celebrated her birthday this past Sunday. Since we had an Area Manager's meeting in Fulton yesterday, we decided to have a small party for her.

Happy Birthday Shanda!!

Janna

This is Jessica Steele's baby, Sam! He is 3 months old.

Please send in pics that you would like to share. Please make sure if you want us to share them with everyone on the blog you specify!

Kim

sweet pic!

As most of you already know I am an animal lover. I have 3 dogs, 1 cat, 2 turtles and 1 Hamster. I thought I would share this picture with everyone. Aubrey and I took a nap and I woke up and found her dog had curled up with her to take a nap also.

Hope everyone has a great week! Remember to collect on returned checks!! We should have the winners of January soon!

Bridget

Everyone has been working hard selling the relay for life T-shirts. Yesterday afternoon the first order arrived and Bridget and Nikki were busy dividing them out to the offices.

Are you wearing your shirt today? This is a great way to advertise.

Managers mark your calendar for Thursday, February 19th, 10 AM. This is the date of our 1st Manager's meeting this year. Bring some good ideas.

Dana, Jana, Shanda, Kristie, Laken,

Brooke

Have a great weekend,

Shanda

Southern Belle T-Shirts

They are here!!! This is our BIGGEST fundraiser for Relay for Life. We raised the most money last year and we hope to get that title again!! Get out there and sell!!!!

Bridget

Hernando Office

As most of you know, Belinda Stevens is an extremely proud Nana. I know I receive at least 4 to 6 pictures of her grandchild each month. Braeden is 16 months old and is already driving a tractor. I believe that Belinda's husband, Gerald, started a little early training her! She's precious. Janna

History of Ground Hog Day

The legend of Groundhog Day is based on an old Scottish couplet: "If Candlemas Day is bright and clear, there'll be two winters in the year." Every February 2, people gather at Gobbler's Knob, a wooded knoll just outside of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Residents contend that the groundhog has never been wrong. The ceremony in Punxsutawney was held in secret until 1966, and only Phil's prediction was revealed to the public. Since then, Phil's fearless forecast has been a national media event. The groundhog comes out of his electrically heated burrow, looks for his shadow and utters his prediction to a Groundhog Club representative in "groundhogese." The representative then translates the prediction for the general public. If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow, it means six more weeks of winter. If he does not see his shadow, it means spring is just around the corner. Approximately 90% of the time, Phil sees his shadow. Phil started making predictions in 1887 and has become an American institution.

Phil did see his shadow today. Be prepared for a longer winter!

I hope everyone has a great week!

Bridget Adams