function eventCalendar(){
					// function to return the parsed date so they can be compared
					function convertDate(startdate){
						aryMonths = ["01", "02", "03", "04", "05", "06", "07", "08", "09", "10", "11", "12"];
						temp = startdate.split("/");
						mo = temp[0];
						for (var x = 0; x < 12; x++) {
							if (mo == aryMonths[x]) {
								mo = x;
								break;
							}
						}
						dy = temp[1];
						yr = temp[2];
						datePassed = new Date(yr, mo, dy);

						var dateArray = new Array();
						dateArray[0] = datePassed;
						dateArray[1] = dy;

						return dateArray;
					};

					// get the date so you won't show old events
					var dateToday = new Date();
					dateToday.setDate(dateToday.getDate() - 1) // gets yesterday, so you can still show todays date

					// sets a variable so you can control how many results
					var numberDisplayed = 0;

					// starts ajax call
					$.ajax({
						type: "GET",
						url: "/home/events/events.xml",
						dataType: ($.browser.msie) ? "text" : "xml",
						success: function(data) {
							var xml;
							if (typeof data == "string") {
							   xml = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM");
							   xml.async = false;
							   xml.loadXML(data);
							} else {
								xml = data;
							}
							
							// starts looping through all the data in each event tag
							$(xml).find('event').each(function(){
								if (numberDisplayed < 3){ // controls the number of displayed results
									var id = $(this).find('id').text();
									var title = $(this).find('title').text();
									var startdate = $(this).find('startdate').text();
									var enddate = $(this).find('enddate').text();
									var booth = $(this).find('booth').text();
									if (booth != ''){ booth = ' - Booth # ' + booth; } // builds the booth string if not empty
									var city = $(this).find('city').text();
									var state = $(this).find('state').text();
									var month = $(this).find('month').text();
									var dateArray = convertDate(startdate);
									var newStartDate = dateArray[0];
									var startDay = dateArray[1];
									if (newStartDate >= dateToday){ // controls showing old events	
									var monthCode = startdate.substr(0,2);
									if(monthCode == '01'){ var monthName = 'january';}
									if(monthCode == '02'){ var monthName = 'february';}
									if(monthCode == '03'){ var monthName = 'march';}
									if(monthCode == '04'){ var monthName = 'april';}
									if(monthCode == '05'){ var monthName = 'may';}
									if(monthCode == '06'){ var monthName = 'june';}
									if(monthCode == '07'){ var monthName = 'july';}
									if(monthCode == '08'){ var monthName = 'august';}
									if(monthCode == '09'){ var monthName = 'september';}
									if(monthCode == '10'){ var monthName = 'october';}
									if(monthCode == '11'){ var monthName = 'november';}
									if(monthCode == '12'){ var monthName = 'december';}
											$('<div class="event ' + monthName + '" id="event_'+id+'"></div>').appendTo('#events');
											$('<div class="startday"></div>').html('<p>' + month + '</p><div>' + startDay + '</div>').appendTo('#event_' + id);
											$('<div class="title"></div>').html(title).appendTo('#event_' + id);
											$('<div class="date"></div>').html(startdate + ' - ' + enddate).appendTo('#event_' + id);
											$('<div class="city-state-booth"></div>').html('<b>' + city + ', ' + state + '</b>' + booth).appendTo('#event_' + id);
											numberDisplayed++;			
									}
								} // end if
								
								// Display current month after building the data
								$('.loading').hide();
								$('.month-title').html('January Events');
								$('#btn-january').trigger('click');
							});
						}

						
					});

					// onclick functions
					$('#btn-january').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('January Events');
						$('.january').fadeIn('slow');
					});


					$('#btn-february').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('February Events');
						$('.february').fadeIn('slow');
					});
					$('#btn-march').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('March Events');
						$('.march').fadeIn('slow');
					});
					$('#btn-april').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('April Events');
						$('.april').fadeIn('slow');
					});
					$('#btn-may').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('May Events');
						$('.may').fadeIn('slow');
					});
					$('#btn-june').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('June Events');
						$('.june').fadeIn('slow');
					});
					$('#btn-july').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('July Events');
						$('.july').fadeIn('slow');
					});
					$('#btn-august').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('August Events');
						$('.august').fadeIn('slow');
					});
					$('#btn-september').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('September Events');
						$('.september').fadeIn('slow');
					});
					$('#btn-october').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('October Events');
						$('.october').fadeIn('slow');
					});
					$('#btn-november').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('November Events');
						$('.november').fadeIn('slow');
					});
					$('#btn-december').click(function(){
						$('.event').hide();
						$('.month-title').html('December Events');
						$('.december').fadeIn('slow');
					});

					// Active selection month
					$('.month-selection li').click(function(){
						$('.month-selection li').removeClass('active');
						$(this).addClass('active');
					});
};