Nancy's Retirement Luncheon

Thank you Nancy for all your hard work over the past 17 ½ years here at Saltmarsh!

Administrative Professionals Dessert Reception

They called each other this morning...

Audit folks enjoying desserts...

Yummys from J's

Gunds checking out the food.

Thanks everyone for your hard work!

Holy Smokes!

Excitment in the Pensacola office today when the Fire Department had to be called! They showed up with 3 fire trucks and blocked off 12th Ave! Turned out to be just an electrical issue with the AC that caused a lot of smoke in one of the conference rooms.

Slim-Down Prizes

The top male and female "Biggest Losers" will each receive $200!

Good Luck and Think Thin!

Co-worker's Incredible Weight Loss

When I was looking for inspiration for the kick-off week to our Saltmarsh Slim-down, I did not have to look far. Trevia Buckner, in our Tax & Accounting Services Department of our Fort Walton Beach office, has lost an amazing 101 lbs.!

Please read about Trevia’s journey below:

I’m not sure “my story” is an exciting one…or even one that will work for anyone else. For years I’ve tried all the fad diets…no carbs, no fat, no taste…whatever, but I wanted the plan to work for me versus me working with a plan. I’m not sure that that makes sense, but I just recognized that I was unhappy with how I looked and how I felt and then I decided what I could do to fix me. I’ve always been a “stress eater”. So that was the first thing I knocked out. By being aware of that I was eating just to be eating, I avoided the snacks at work and no longer kept them in the house. Then I just focused on how much I was eating. I typically have a smoothie of some sort for lunch and then I have whatever I want for dinner. Sodas were also replaced by water and fruit juices. For the first few months, it was strictly a change in eating habits. I didn’t add any exercise. But just the change in eating made a really big difference. After tax season last year, I started going to the track to walk in the evenings. At first I could hardly complete one lap walking, but over time it got easier and I can run 3 miles now. (I’m still really, really slow but I can do it!!)

Most of what I had going on was personal to me. I guess the main thing is just don’t give up…because it is so hard at times and I went weeks at a time when I lost nothing…and it’s easy to give up.. And it’s very motivational to me for someone to notice that I’ve lost the weight. I know that’s probably vain, but I think most people feel the same way…and I think sometimes we’re hesitant to acknowledge that someone has lost a lot of weight because maybe we’re saying “oh my god you were fat”…but I can tell you from this side…that’s not what you hear at all…so if you see someone losing weight…tell them you notice…

I’ve lost 101 lbs….yea!!!!! and I have about 20 more to go before I’m at my goal. I did that over about a 14-16 month period of time by still eating things that I liked (smaller portions), exercising regularly and making the lifestyle change work with me.

Weigh-in Week

Please stop by my office this week for your initial weigh-in. **No actual weights will ever be posted, only percentages of weight lost.**

This 10 week “Biggest Loser” competition will consist of about 40 individuals who have expressed interest in participating.

Slim-down Trick: Start Smart
Begin lunch and dinner with a veggie-rich salad or broth-based soup, says Pennsylvania State University satiety expert Barbara Rolls, author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan. “That lets you fill up first on a big volume of low-calorie food and ends up displacing some of the foods you’ll eat next—the choices that are usually higher in calories.” Here’s a good salad recipe: Mix 11/2 cups of salad greens with 3/4 cup of raw veggies like onions, bell peppers, carrots, broccoli, or cucumbers; drizzle with 2 tablespoons of low-cal bottled dressing.

End of Busy Season Party

Great job Shannon!

Twins

Charles and Ted checking out the pig...

They approve!

Stephen on the hog

Happy Birthday Nancy and Stephanie!

Yes, they both have the same tax deadline Birthday!

Happy Early Easter!

Shannon Lands, our HR Manager and the Easter Bunny, with N.B. Cook, our Partner in Education school, kindergartners.

Tampa's new receptionist - Rob Wilson

Curious about "Chocolate"?

Frank kissing Chocolate...

Jim kissing Chocolate...

Chocolate sniffing the courtyard. We had a "Kiss the Pig" contest based on referals given to the Retirement and Medical Plans (RAMP) department. Every referal given, counted as a vote to who would kiss the pig... Jim and Frank were the lucky winners!

UWF Distinguished Alumni - Nathan Botts

Our very own Nathan Botts recieved the 2009 UWF Distinguished Alumni of the Year Award this past Saturday. Randy Knepper (President & CEO of Heritage Bank came in from Orange Park), Nathan, Bill and Ron are pictured above. Nathan, we are proud of all that you do within our Firm and in the community!

Saltmarsh's newest lobbyist?

Emily and Stephen of the Pensacola and Santa Rosa Leadership classes (respectively) visited our state's captial this past Wednesday and Thurdsay. They were addressed by many of our state Sentors and Representatives including Ray Samson, Larry Credul (House Speaker), Dave Murzin, Alex Sink, Clay Ford, Don Gaetz, Greg Evers and Durrell Peadon. Stephen gave a dynamic pitch for Rethinking Florida's Incarceration Practices and Policies during the dinner banquet at the Univery Club which was attached to the FSU field. They also had tours of the Supreme Court (were they do recycle in the Justice's private chamber) and Governor's Mansion.

While they were at the capital, there was a press conference for Autism Awareness featuring Dan Marino and Charlie Crist that they were able to listen in on.