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!

Gems like these...

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." - Angela Schwindt

And Kaylen's first daycare, First Friends, taught us what we wanted to find in our next daycare. We were lucky enough to have some of the most amazing, caring, giving teachers we could've ever hoped for. And her friends became family. She spent 5 days a week with these people from the time she was 3 months old. It was one of the most difficult things to say goodbye to.

The one and only, Weston.

Kaylen's school boyfriend declared early on. This short hair cut of his was a newer development, but always quite the beef cake! He was always sweet and Kaylen took to him from the beginning. It's been 4 weeks in Portland now and his name comes up out of the blue as I'm sure she still retains so many of her memories of him.

Lilly was Kaylen's other BFF who had been around since the beginning. For some time, they went back and forth biting each other. Usually the Action Notice we got was either that Kaylen got bit or did the biting. And we could almost be 90% sure that the other participant was Lilly! But all in all, they were friends and it was funny to have her friends be going through all the same stages at almost the same times.

Kaylen has always been a social butterfly. She has always thrived being around other children, so I know that it would be important to find another great daycare for Kaylen in whatever city we were going to end up in. She has always been a leader in her class. Gregg and I often joked that Kaylen pretty much walked into the classroom and announced her arrival. She usually had Weston or Veer take her coat off for her. Ha ha... she definitely had far more than just us wrapped around her little finger!

First Friends Director, Mirna. Kaylen loved to yell out every night as we headed out the door... "Bye Mirna! Bye Minney!(Mindy)"

Miss Melinda. She worked in the Infant Room even when Kaylen was with the Toddler class, but always took a fondness toward Kaylen and we loved her dearly for that.

Miss Rosie... Kaylen LOVED to get her dance on with her! Miss Rosie gave Kaylen a little Latin rhythm!! ;-)

Miss Linda. With the kind of motherly love you would hope to find in a daycare. Each day we knew that Kaylen would find the kind of love we'd hope to give her in the Toddler B Classroom like Miss Linda could give her.

One of the gems we had to leave behind. Miss "Kika", Monica, was definitely one of our favorites while we were at First Friends. She was one of the teachers who fell in love with Kaylen the way that Kaylen fell in love with her. In the Infant Room, it was Miss Becca, and as a Toddler, in was Miss Kika. Kaylen attended her 2nd birthday party, she thought of Kaylen when she went out of town and bought her her first tutu dress, she would think to share special treats with Kaylen, and the list goes on. We, as parents, really connected with Monica, but it was the special attention she gave to Kaylen that always meant the world to us. We always knew Kaylen was loved, adored and well taken care of, as we would do at home. It's people like these, who your child grows to adore herself which makes it hard to switch "schools". These people become family... which always makes it that much harder.

We couldn't be more grateful for the amazing care and memories First Friends gave to us and to Kaylen. We always knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was in the best of hands. She was loved, nurtured, cared for, educated, praised and disciplined the way that we would've tried to do ourselves had we been able to at home. It's always been hard to know that we both had to be working parents, that staying home wasn't an option. And if you had to have your child in daycare, this is the kind of place that you would want them. We loved the facility, but it was the people that we're most grateful for. The teachers were more than we could've asked for and trusted them with our most prized jewel. Thank you First Friends for all the care and love you gave to Kaylen and being the best second family we could've possibly provided her!

Gregg turns 28!

The unfortunate part of having your birthday fall just two days after your daughter's??? Having to basically share your birthday with your daughter for the REMAINDER of your life!! But honestly, the minute Gregg knew his birthday was going to fall so close to Kaylen's, he was going to be more than happy to give his up to celebrate hers. And this year was his second in having to do so...he turned 28!! So, we didn't have a big bash, though he had friends that gave him plenty of crap for not filling them in on the fact that it was his birthday! But we did go out for dinner that night as a family and he spent a little time out with a few friends later! So, it was nice to celebrate Gregg! He who gives so much of himself to make this family continue to tick, his dreams stay on track and still find a little bit of time for himself. We love you and are so happy we had even just a little bit of time to celebrate YOU!

Out to dinner at Market Street to celebrate Daddy!!

Kaylen helping Daddy blow out his 28th Birthday candles!

Daddy opening presents... this card was from Kaylen...As were his new Toms!

No birthday is complete without birthday kisses from Kaylen!

We know Gregg had given in to more mellow birthdays considering his his two days after Kaylen's and he couldn't be more selfless. But we were super excited to have a little time to just share with Daddy to tell him how much we love and appreciate him! Thanks Daddy for all the time and energy you give to us!! Glad we could help celebrate your birthday with you!

And the winner is...... OHSU!!!

The decision has been made! After being accepted to 5 schools!!, Gregg is going to attend Medical School at OHSU- Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland, Oregon! We couldn't be more excited for him as this is such an incredible opportunity and school! It wasn't a decision that was made lightly as the other major contender was Des Moines University in Des Moines, Iowa. We knew what an opportunity it would be to live closer to my side of the family, which would've been about a 3.5 hour drive from the Twin Cities and DMU was also an incredible school. But after really considering Gregg's options, the M.D. Program at OHSU is hopefully an opportunity that will not only open doors for him for his residency program but also for his future. OHSU is an amazing school that saw the potential in Gregg and we saw the possibilities in it!!

OHSU picture Gregg took while at his interview

Kaylen in the Sky Bridge on the OHSU Campus after making our way to Portland

Gregg and Kaylen taking a walk around the OHSU Campus

We knew that it would be hard to leave Salt Lake City and the proximity to all of our friends and Gregg's family as well as the decision to not make it closer to my family. But we knew that this was the best decision for our family as well as the best decision for the rest of Gregg's medical career. We are so proud of Gregg and all that he has accomplished! Congratulations, sweetheart on such a wonderful opportunity!

Our sweet girl turns 2!

Our sweet girl turned TWO on June 4, 2011!! It is crazy how fast the time is flying. I know everyone says it, but I think it's true that you can't possibly understand it until you're a parent yourself. I feel like it was yesterday that we were having her 1st birthday! We were lucky enough to have two friends of ours offer to have the party at their place as all the parks were full! But we took our friends Heidi and Max up on using there house as it was just a couple miles away. It was a gorgeous day and that had set up great outdoor space for the party! We decided to have a Curious George themed party as Kaylen spent most mornings before school watching Curious George and the Cat in the Hat. She knows George well and these days she prefers to call him Georgie. Heidi even had a little bounce house for the kids! Gregg's family, minus Warren, came to town for the party and so many of our friends were able to make it!

For the morning, we had a little playtime outside. Kaylen wore the Birthday Girl shirt Mima sent her to celebrate her big day! Here is the birthday girl and Daddy!

Kaylen exploring Heidi's house before her big party!

Party-outside

Our birthday girl!

The bounce house for the kids! Kaylen and Dane loved it! Heidi/Max's daughter Olivia tried to get in on the fun, too!

Heidi offered to make Kaylen's birthday cupcakes that turned out AMAZING! She even went so far as to buy Curious George faces to put on them!! They were perfect!

Ali and Dane

Having a BALL!!

Kaylen, Ian, Katie, Leslie, Cherie, Carissa

Our sweet angel girl

Opening presents

Having fun with each present as they're opened

Mommy, Daddy and the birthday girl!

Thoroughly enjoying her yummy birthday cupcake!

Kaylen and Miss Kika (Monica)

The party was amazing, but it was also the last time we would see Gregg's family before our move to Portland. We were all sad as it has been so wonderful to live within the closer proximity to them all. We're going to miss them so much.

Jay had a rough time... giving Kaylen a hug goodbye

One of our family BFFs, Uncle Nanny tossing Kaylen in the bounce house, she loved it!!!

Us with our 2 yr old BIG girl!!

It was such a great party! We were so grateful to Heidi and Max for letting us use their space and helping through a wonderful party! It was great weather, great company and a great day to celebrate our sweet monkey turning 2!! It is crazy how the time has flown... have I already said that!? ;-)

Here are some of the things she is saying and doing now:

Sayings: "Me coming, too? Me coming, too!?" , "You okay?" every time someone coughs, "You happy Mommy/Daddy??" and doing anything she can until you say you are, "me happy!" , she speaks so well, but one word she can NOT get, which is fine because we think her word is so cute- washcloth= kaa-kaash, making squeal noises to make us laugh at dinner, she loves to sing the ABC Song, but has a tendency to stop at "G, next time won't you sing with me", but then keeps on with the rest of it :-) , repeating "Metamorsis" from one of her Elmo DVDs, tonight she told me that the crocodile on her book was an alligator... what?? How does she randomly know that word!?, she sings her song, "i love you, i miss you, i love you, i miss you".

Doing: She's been playing Daddy's drums and she's great at it!, she's great at sharing, great at holding hands as long as you remind her when in the street, she's going up and down our new steep stairs by herself, loves to play outside, at the park, at the zoo, loves her new daycare and friends, she really thrives on getting to play and be around other children, she loves our friend Amy's son Hayden and speaks of him even when we're not around him, she's likes to Skype family,