I know it’s been a while and I apologize. I was interning in Cartersville, Ga. this summer and didn’t have internet access. But I have been thinking a lot about this blog and where I want to go with it.

Since I am a do-it-yourselfer I thought I would offer tips on cool projects you can do at home. I also watch a lot of HGTV so decorating ideas will surely creep in every once in a while! I also am a proponent of our planet, so eco-friendly will be a big deal.

The Home Depot has supported several sports organizations at different levels and even in different sports for almost three decades. From NASCAR to the American Football League to ESPN, Home Depot has been involved in sports since before I was born.

This dedication to helping athletes once again shows Home Depot’s passion for the working, middle-class American – the person who fixes their own leaky faucet, installs their own kitchen tiles and paints their own homes. Home Depot supports those who play sports because it’s an affordable hobby. Home Depot does it for the people who attend every single one of their son’s football games or their daughter’s track meets.

The Home Depot Center in California is an athletic campus that is designed for training and competition all on one site. Just today at the Home Depot Center the LA Galaxy professional soccer team beat the Houston Dynamo.

This shows me that Home Depot cares about its employees and, especially in this economy, they are working hard to make jobs and careers available. Home Depot really cares about this country and its welfare.

Not only is Home Depot still offering careers when most companies are laying people off, but their benefits are amazing. They have all the standard health insurance, paid time off, 401K matching program, but they also offer great perks. Tuition reimbursement, relocation assistance, legal services plan and matching donation programs are just a few of the great benefits Home Depot offers.

As someone who plans on adopting, I also think it is fantastic that they have an adoption assistance plan that helps pay for adoption costs as well as gives the primary care giver paid time off like maternity leave. Home Depot was actually ranked in the top 10 adoption friendly companies by AdoptiveFamilies.com.

Home Depot is one of the best places to work for so many reasons.

The tale of the creation of Home Depot is an underdog story for the ages. Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank worked together at the hardware store called Handy Dan’s. When they were both fired, they decided to seek revenge by creating their own hardware store with a warehouse feature.

Thus, Home Depot was born. Over the next 30 years it grew to be the 2nd largest retailer in America, behind Wal*Mart, and managed to cut home improvement costs by 25-30% over the decades.

Home Depot has achieved much but has also had its share of downfalls. They are currently facing layoffs and a decrease in their highest priority – customer service. Some choices in company management at the highest levels have been questioned, but in the end Home Depot has maintained its same values.

While all of the founders of Home Depot have stepped down, some regret their decision. In an Omaha World-Herald article Pat Farrah said, “None of the three of us should ever have handed over the reins of the company. We knew how to do everything, and do it well, and people loved us. We should still be running the company today.”

With the recent step-down of the last founding member, people are beginning to wonder where Home Depot will be in the next decade. I believe there will be change.

I think more international growth is on the horizon. I think that home staging will become a bigger deal if the housing market doesn’t change and Home Depot could take a big slice of that pie. I think that the online world will become even stronger than it is today and interactive studios in stores where people can picture the way their room will turn out will become more popular.

I think Home Depot will change on the outside, but on the inside their core values will remain.

With the HUGE popularity of video games, kids spend way too much time exercising their thumbs these days when they could be exercising their creativity. Home Depot is taking a step in the right direction for American youth.

My boss Mike just showed me pictures today of his kids at the Home Depot arts & crafts day last week. They had a blast! They were having fun, they learned something new and they had a homemade present for Father’s Day.

When I have kids, one day, I will take them to the Home Depot kids workshops, without a doubt. They can build a birdhouse we can proudly hang in our front yard, they can create a one-of-a-kind painted picture frame or mold their own hand print and creative message into a garden stone.

I can’t wait to display all the great things my kids learn to make at the Home Depot kids workshops.

For those of you who already have kids, coming up this month kids can learn to make a picnic caddy on July 4th and a message board on August 1st.

To find a store near you, visit this helpful link. And be sure to check out the adult workshops as well which are helpful for any do-it-yourselfer. Best of all, they are all free!

On dad’s day he gets full control of the television remote, dinner at the restaurant of his choosing an, inevitably, a gift purchased at The Home Depot.

This year, my father got a lighted, laser beam level purchased, of course, at my favorite tool store – Home Depot. The big sell this year, however, at The Home Depot was the new Ryobi line.

Ryobi makes high-tech gadgets for almost every household chore from cutting the grass to installing bathroom tile. These gadgets are not only cool, but they also make it easier to do-it-yourself.

Ryobi, who has a contract with Home Depot as their only supplier, is a very cool company overall. They support a line of green motor oil called G Oil by Green Earth Technology (GET) and are constantly looking for ways to improve the energy efficiency of their machines. Ryobi even lobbied California legislature to INCREASE their restrictions on emissions!

So whether you got your dad one of these cool new Ryobi products (which I am kind of wishing I had) or you are thinking about your next hardware purchase, I recommend The Home Depot for the best selection and best prices on these cool new products.

He has only sold 15,000 tickets so go bid people!

Raffling off real estate is actually becoming popular – business to hand these up-scale raffles are even popping up including Raffle Mansion Charity Promotion which is currently working with a home in Norfolk, Va.

These raffles allow lots of people to pay a little for the chance to win a lot and lets the homeowner walk away with the full asking price (or close to it) without the hassle of having a home on the market.

Is this the future of luxury real estate? I invite you to comment on this new phenomenon.

Home Depot, along with Sears Pool Co., BEHR and Chick-fil-A, was a corporate sponsor for the refurbishing of the reflecting pool at MLK’s burial site.

Today, on what would be the day of his and Coretta Scott King’s 56th wedding anniversary, Atlantans went down to his final resting place to work on the pool’s foundation.

The repair work, contracted by Dominion Construction, shows the deep impact Mr. King had on America and how much his famous words still resonate with people today.

Many people went down today to celebrate Mr. King’s life and some were brought to tears being so close to such a celebrated man.

The Home Depot did a great thing sponsoring the repair of a tribute to this local legend.

I love everything the Home Depot stands for and it truly is my dream job to work for such a wonderful company. Every time I read the news I keep an eye out for articles about the Home Depot or something they have sponsored and I hope to share my insight on these pieces of this huge company everyday.