Work Friends Who Become Best Friends

Where did it all begin...? Gregg had started school at the University of Utah January of 2006 right as we moved to Salt Lake City. I had graduated from St. Cloud State May of 2005 with a business degree, but didn't know what I was going to do with it. I applied for a slew of jobs and ended up getting one at a local employment publishing guide as an Office Manager. Very quickly I realized that wasn't going to pay the bills and it wasn't something I enjoyed. So, I thought I'd take my shot at a federal job search and ended up applying for a job with the federal court. It was an interview panel of 4 people if I remember correctly. And little did I know at the time that one of those people would become my first and closest friend in Salt Lake.

Me and my first friend in Utah, Ryan

Ryan and I worked in Intake together and over time, Ryan became one of my closest and most dependable friends. It wasn't long before we thought to grab a drink on occasion after work. But what fun is a "drinking club" with only 2 people!? So... we had to invite others... and along came Judy!

Judy and I

Drinking club was a lot of fun and a great escape for us. Gregg was working mostly full-time nights at the time and Judy and Ryan were both single. So, we found lots of company in each other! But soon, Judy and I were always talking babies!!! I got pregnant and not too long thereafter, so did Jude. It was the end of our "drinking club" but not of the friendship. I will be forever grateful for the two people in Utah who took a chance on me right from the beginning.

Judge Warner... I had the priviledge of working with him in court for quite a while. Judge Warner could definitely make a hearing memorable! He is a hard charger, but knew how to have a good time. I miss working with him and his chambers very much.

Cheryl... my supervisor from beginning till the end. She actually is retiring now and my friend Aaron took over her position. She put her heart and soul into her job and it was obvious. She cared about us all as people and provided such a supportive work environment.

Me and my boys... John M., Aaron Ryan and John D. The best kind of guys a girl could hope to be friends with. If ever I needed to vent, whine, or share joy, they were there. How I will miss all of our daily conversations! Work will never be the same.

Mary Jane and I... what a sweet heart and a great ear for listening! She knows how to have a good time and make anything more fun! Forever my ab partner at workouts, an ab day just wasn't the same without her.

Stacia and John.... Judge Warner's two law clerks. Along with Kirsten, one couldn't ask for a more fun chambers. On a regular basis, I wished a spot could be created for ME! :-) Two wonderful friends and two very good people who bend over backwards to help others.

Aaron, Kris, Trudy, me...

Aaron became one of my closest friends. The kind of person who would do anything for his friends, he is such a great listener, now a great boss and has a heart of gold. Kris is always the organizer and the catalyst for many good times. Trudy could throw the best of parties and thanks to them, I will forever be known as a girl who doesn't know how to quit karaoke!!

Gregg, me, Kirsten and her husband Paul... Kirsten was that official and much needed 4th person in Judge Warner's chambers. She was always willing to help me out whenever I needed favors and would volunteer to help anyone. The sweetest heart.

Matt!! We were lucky enough that MJ and Kris brought Matt to come do personal training at the courthouse. One I started, I was addicted! To the energy, to the motivation of the great group of people I got to workout with and Matt, such a great trainer!

Most of these pictures were taken at my work going away party and no party is complete without some good arm wrestling!

Stacia, who is not only an amazing friend, helped me through every pregnancy issue I could possibly have, threw me the BEST going away party I could've hoped for. It was fun and sad all at the same time... but what kind of going away party isn't!!??

On an almost daily basis, I miss these people. I miss having friends at work. And not just friends, but amazing friends. The best kinds of friends. These are the kind of people that I hope a move out of state won't change everything. They're the kind of people that you want to know for a lifetime and I intend to!

But I do want to also mention this... Gregg got to go out a few times with his friends before we left and his work friends had him over for dinner, but he isn't much of a camera guy. He soon realized after he quit working a little early in order to get ready for medical school and our move that the best part of his job was the fact that he had so many great friends there. The kind of people we could depend on to offer to help move ALL our stuff. His friend, Mato, revolved his family vacation around helping us move our stuff to Portland. The kind of people that now feel like family. Gregg's closest friend, Anthony, considers Kaylen a niece and Kaylen calls him Uncle Nanny. His friend, Christian, left to work in a hospital in Libya just before we left. We weren't able to say goodbye to him, but he was always such a reliable friend. Another friend of his, Celina, was always a part of the snowboarding crew in the winter and always showed up to support Gregg in his accomplishments. Gregg was also grateful to become friends with one of his biggest mentors, a Doctor in the ER, Maz. We both got really lucky with work places that we had such great friends. Made it so much harder not to miss them so much once we got to Portland! SO many amazing friends! And the best part!? These just cover work friends... yet another friend blog to post!