Catching Up...

I get it - I've been pretty bad at blogging lately. It's not that I haven't had a thought or two to get on and post; but there't this other issue - honesty. In that I want to be really honest on this site, and not write about things by just touching the surface. It's just that I can't help but wonder that if I'm writing about a bad roommates situation that's really bothering me, said roommate might log on and read about it. Or if I'm annoyed with my boss, a friend or a boyfriend, that said person will get on here and not understand me broadcasting about it to the world. Kind of that thin line between blogging as a substitute for journaling, and blogging as a substitute for journalism.

The past few weeks have had a lot going on, and so we'll categorize them into the basics.

1. Last weekend's wedding. Jon's best friend from high school and throughout college, A.J., married his girlfriend Lauren. They are absolutely adorable and so in love. Their wedding was great and it was awesome to have everybody together in one place to celebrate.

When Jon & I first started dating, we were together 24/7 [we still are, basically...minus that I live in Chicago.], we didn't get into our first fight until four or five months down the road. And to this day, we have never really fought over anything serious, minus the insecurities that come from dating long distance. Anyway, although dating long distance has been really good and I think we've been uberly successful at it, it still stresses us out to some degree, sometimes resulting in petty fights when we are together. The past weekend - or past 4 days - were really great though, with no hint of stress or arguing. It reminded me of when we first started dating, which is encouraging, because that's one thing I never want to lose in our relationship - the excitement in being with each other.

2. Pack Expo. As I mentioned in the last entry, Pack Expo is the second largest packaging expo in the world, second to Interphex in Japan. It's held in Chicago, which is relatively new territory to my company, and obviously, to me in particular. It was absolutely amazing to see so many people in the industry come out for it. I got a chance to meet with many of the people I had talked with quite a few times via cold calling, which is a big step for me. Up until now, most of my encounters with clients have been through cold calls. This is a really difficult medium to enter the industry through, because there is no opportunity to relationship build, which is necessary in my business. When working on a project, you meet with your clients multiple times, and a given project can take up to 2 or 3 years to finish. You end up knowing quite a bit about your clients. So, you can see how when a client is needing equipment, they would tend to go to business acquaintances for information rather than a voice on the phone whom they know nothing about.

This past week after the show, I was able to contact quite a few clients and get quite a few quotes. I'm really proud of getting so many quotes so quickly, but it gets quite frustrating at times. Not that I don't think my boss is dissapointed with my work, but like any director-type, he will always want to do better. I understand this, because I myself feel that I can always be improving and doing more. However, at some point, a little encouragement that I'm doing well would go a long way.

3. The Holiday season is FINALLY here! I am so excited - I love this time of year, because it makes everyone so happy. I love the gift-buying process. So far, I've got my parents & Jon's gift figured out. I'm really excited about both of them, because I wanted them to be really special, to have meaning. Especially Jon's, because my last boyfriend & I never did any gift-giving... more or less because he was just really not a very 'giving' person. Anyways, I had originally wanted to get him a GPS system for his car since his last one had been stolen and he didn't want to spend the money to get a new one, but today he specifically mentioned that he didn't really think he needed a new one when giving me an idea of possible gifts... :/ but, no worries, I've got something that makes MUCH more sense and has a little bit more sentiment... :)

That is all for now, time to get to bed...