While I have neglected my blog recently, I absolutely, positively, cannot neglect this week’s featured colleague. And let me tell you why. Kimetha Hill is a dear friend (and also co-worker) of mine whose last day in the office was today. She’s packed up her corolla and is headed to San Diego on Sunday to pursue her dream of a writing career. She doesn’t have a thing set up but remains on schedule to cross the country in just 2 short days! What a leap of faith! I am so excited for her and I will be praying hard as she searches for a home and job as soon as her feet hit the west coast.

We’ve worked together for 2 years, but have gotten pretty close this past year. She has been a huge source of encouragement for me in my faith and a true accountability partner. I don’t know how many times I’ve shared stories of her faith to friends because she constantly blows me away. She is a beautiful person inside and out and her generosity and grace towards others is inspiring.

I will certainly miss our Monday morning chats before everyone else got in, having her listen to ESPN radio while working because she couldn’t stand to get behind, Power Hour, her sassy boots, our lunch dates with Tank, break dancing in her cube (well I danced, she laughed), and the light she brought into the office!

The good news is she isn’t dead… just moving, so that helps things. She also informed us that she’s getting a webcam so we can and will be video chatting.

I can’t wait to hear about her first writing gig in San Diego, I know there are a ton of people here supporting her!

Florida

I PROMISE I haven't forgotten about you all or lost my motivation for blogging more immediately after getting it... I've been in Orlando since Tuesday and when I travel for work it's always difficult to post (I hope you forgive me).

Anyway, I had been trying to keep notes of funny things to recap that have happened while here, but tonight as a whole just takes the cake!  First of all let me start by saying that my roommate, Danielle, has been awesome!  We actually worked in the corporate office together (different departments, same division) for three years and she just moved to do her same job in the Orlando office.  It's been fun to spend time with someone familiar but everything with the Florida group has been great- they are hilarious!

Tonight, we were taken out to dinner off-site which is quite the process when your party is 18 people, the closest restaurants are 20 miles away, and you've got to fit into 3 cars.  The restaurant was this Irish place in Disney and the group really had a good time.  At one point some ladies at the end of my table were laughing so hard from the stories about this one office that people started leaving their seats to come over and listen, myself included.  I'm not kidding, I was laughing so hard and enjoying the main person's storytelling style so much that once I finished my food, I moved my seat til we left to their corner.  It was one of the best decisions I've made and the laughs kept coming.  Once I left that group to ride back, things got better.  Something to know about them is that every comment made is intended to be a punchline... and it is.  Melisa in particular is so funny to me.  A few of the things she said last night include (and yes, these are direct quotes):

"Oh gosh its a full moon, no wonder I'm so moody! I'm serious people!  The moon affects the tides and our body is 80% water... do the math bitches!" (excuse the profanity, but it was included to keep the integrity of the quote)

As she directs the driver on how to get out of the shopping center:

"You don't have to stop at these stop signs.  Seriously, I only ever stop if there is a person in the crosswalk.  I always stop for animals though, even if they aren't in the crosswalk."

"STOP looking at me while you're driving!  I'm afraid to make any jokes because when I talk you stop looking at the road and I can tell because the car literally swerves to the right each time." (this was true and dangerous... at one point the driver was laughing so hard she took off her glasses to wipe away all the tears and the rest of us panicked as we veered off the ramp).

Once we got back to the hotel, some people headed out to party and some wanted to just go to bed.  As part of the lame group, I got on the elevator for bed, but ended up riding it up and down to keep hearing stories.  This started when Kelly's floor came up right in the middle of her story, so we insisted that she get back on to finish... and then no one got off when their floor came up, we just kept riding and sharing until we finally decided to all get off and take our party of 6 to a stagnant place.  It was hysterical.  While I realize you might not see the humor in any of this, I wanted to remember the night so blogging was only appropriate, plus they'll get a kick out of it!

Featured Colleague: Meredith Mobley

 

Welcome to the first-ever Featured Colleague Friday post, exclusive to Walk a Day in my Flip Flops.  By exclusive I mean I'm not quite fancy enough to start a multi-blog series like the 30 before 30 or What I Wore Wednesday (give me some time), but if you have fun colleagues that you want to talk about on your blog, please do!

My sister recently suggested I give myself weekly topics to focus on so that I don't stop blogging and I think it was a great idea.  So, for the next few Fridays I'm going to attempt to post about my some of my favorite colleagues.    I know this combined with Office Shenanigans makes for a lot of office talk, so I'll try to keep it interesting and fingers crossed... you actually enjoy it!

Without further ado I'd like to introduce you to Miss Meredith Mobley.  Meredith is a diva by day and a diva by night.  When she isn't working at Dominion Enterprises as the Marketing Communications Coordinator, aka Queen of Communications, shes volunteering with PRSA, freelancing, and (not "or", because she does it all) spending time with her family and friends.  

Writing and Public Relations are Meredith's great loves, only second to God.  You can always find her in pearls, heels, and on the other side of a camera lens.  In case you can't tell, she is extremely photogenic and not camera shy (the above shot was taken in our office).  One of my favorite memories of Meredith was when I was walked by her cube and saw her checking out a photo of herself (practically full screen) out of the corner of my eye.  The best part was the smile on her face, in the picture and at that moment while looking at it, you should have seen it!  I laughed immediately and did a double take to be certain of what I thought I saw; I wasn't mistaken.  If you know Meredith you know that's not hard to believe, perhaps you've seen similar behavior by her yourself!

A few of my favorite things about Meredith are:

1. Her confidence.

2. Her frantic feet tapping when she thinks something is laugh out loud funny but doesn't want to cause a distraction at work.

3. That she passes me hand written notes in the office via post-its.

4. How she'll make sure to do a catwalk strut of a new outfit if you haven't noticed it.

5. When she uses her handheld mirror to spy on me in my cube or when she threatens to spray me with canned air dusters (wait, I actually don't like that).

6. Her initiation of and or quick retaliations to sassy office banter.

7. That she keeps a can of beefaroni or clam chowder in her desk at all times.

8. The heart she has for her friends and family.

My original intention was to make this post pretty funny, but I wasn't as successful as I'd hoped to be.  If you know Meredith you're probably laughing more than if you don't, but as I started writing it I realized I was doing it more for Mere's entertainment than anyone else's.  

I need your help

I know I just recently gave my blog a new look but I'm looking for a professional facelift.  I
would do it myself, but I don't know how which means I'll need referrals for custom blog designers... as well as more followers.

Allow me to explain that last part.  I was talking to Jake about paying for a custom blog (not the really crazy kind) and he said I'd need a good following before I put money into my blog.  I asked how many followers would constitute "good" and he said 100... umm, I'm only at 24.  That being said I negotiated a little and we agreed on 50 followers as a goal.  Again, as of today I'm only at 1/2 that so I've got my work cut out for me.  This is where you come in.  I need your help.

I've never been concerned with the number of followers that I have, because I'm just happy that people are reading my blog BUT it would be nice to get a feel for who is reading.  That being said, I've made sure to list my blog in my Facebook profile, I plan to share this post to my wall, I've made the URL my gmail "away" message, and I've told you how to follow (so if you're reading but not following, this is your golden opportunity).  Any other ideas?  


Well that's all I've got on this topic, I'll be sure to keep you updated.  Tomorrow I'm starting my own mini series around my colleagues, which I hope turns out funny.  If not, sorry in advance; it will at least be funny to me and my co-workers... who, for the most part, happen to be following my blog (hint hint).


Oh, and don't forget if you've got any suggestions for blog designers PLEASE send them my way!  I just want to show a little personality...

giving credit where credits due

Club Tank

 I try not to talk about Tank a ton, but let's be honest, I LOVE to talk about him and this newest story is definitely worth sharing.

To set the proper foundation I have to start by telling you that our apartment is beside the playground which we have to walk by every day.  When we got Tank in July, school was out for summer and the kids at the playground loved seeing him (I can't blame them).  At first, Jake and I thought it was cute that they were so excited about him, but after noticing the excitement wasn't dying down with time we started to get a little annoyed.  After a few weeks, it got to the point that when we got home from work they would walk up to us and ask if Tank could come outside.  It was then that we started to dread taking him out.  I am not exaggerating when I say that they swarm us like little bees and physical block us from walking Tank.  Once one of the girls tried picking him up and dropped him, which didn't go over well with Jake.  Are you starting to get an idea of what life's been like???

On my sister's birthday a friend of mine offered to let Tank out after work so that I could head straight to dinner and not be worried.  I was short on time, she wanted to help, and her kids love him so it was a win win.  As I handed her my keys I cautioned her about the neighborhood kids and how they can be overbearing.  I kid you not that it was the first thing she brought up to me the following day at work and her daughter sent me a text that night referring to them as the "Little Pink Gang"!  So true, I couldn't have named them better myself! 

Recently (aka yesterday) after work my patience was challenged yet again!  I was walking down the sidewalk and talking on the phone when I heard them yelling to me about Tank.  I started thinking to myself that they can't possibly expect me to answer them 1.) because I'm an adult and I don't have to answer to punk kids and 2.) because I'm on the phone... obviously!!!  Finally, after I walked past them without answering they realized I was busy.  When I got inside I avoided taking Tank out as long as I could.  Usually we take him out right away but I just couldn't handle them again, so I kept an eye on him and prayed he wouldn't tinkle inside... and he didn't.  Once I mustered up the courage and more importantly, patience, I took him out.  I was supposed to be meeting someone in the parking lot and had to actually ask the kids to please wait for me to come back so I could meet my friend, and then repeat myself because they wouldn't move.  After a few minutes they came and found me in the parking lot. U N B E L I E V A B L E.  But wait, it gets better.  They approached me with a sheet of paper that said, "Club Tank" across the top with names and rules underneath it.  They explained to me that they started a club and wanted to show me the rules and who was in it.

Rule #1: We can pet Tank at least once a day.
Rule #2: Tank comes outside to play after school.
Rule #3: (I don't remember it, because I was still in shock about this club and that they were telling me about while I was in the middle of talking to a friend at their car in the parking lot).

How does one respond???  I just laughed and told them they'd have to tell me about it later when I wasn't busy.  Seriously... I want to say something but they are KIDS.  Old enough to be annoying sure, but young enough to be super sensitive.  I would make a polite comment to their parents, if any were ever around, but their gang is completely unsupervised until almost 8pm.  Maybe that's part of the problem.

I really don't want to be mean, but it's too much.  I hesitate to walk my dog because I don't want it to take 5 minutes to get more than a few feet from my door but there is no other way outside.  And I don't want to be mean to them, because I am the adult and they're just kids.  Jake and I need to talk about this more.  Our original plan was to talk to one of the older siblings or this little guy in the group, but the siblings have been non-existent since school started and the little guy has become the ring leader for Club Tank.  Any suggestions???

Office Shenanigans... I'm bringing this back!

Well, initially when I posted about Office Shenanigans the thought was to keep the posts coming... but as you can see I haven't revisited the topic since August 17th.  I'm so lame.

However, now that some time has passed and I'm feeling motivated to blog more than I have been, this is a perfect time to bring the "series" back, or should I say start the series since there was only one story before now?  Shall we get started?  

Let's talk about AOL Instant Messenger, which I'm sure you've heard of.  Where I work it is strongly encouraged to set up an account for inter-office and more often inter-department communication.  We say its for ease in file sharing but really it allows for instantaneous conversation without having to get out of your seat or carry on a face to face conversation with your co-workers.  Genius. And we wonder why people are growing more and more dependent on email and less comfortable with phone calls.  BUT, this isn't even what I want to talk about, this was just to "explain" why we have it.  What I really want to talk about it what the above conversation.

First of all you should know that the Meredith (aka memobley) shares a cubicle wall with me.  Next you should know that these sort of messages aren't at all unusual to get.  I'm not sure why I initially assumed it was a misspelling- clearly she'd be using a greeting from the dark ages.

Anniversary Weekend in Manteo

 Manteo carries a lot of significance for me and Jake.  Its where we got engaged, 11 months later honeymooned, and then 12 months after that celebrated our one year anniversary!  As a matter of fact, I don't know that another town has more meaning to me right now at this stage in my life.

Since it holds sentimental value and is just over 2 hours away, it was easy enough to go there for the weekend to get away, relax, and celebrate.  We stayed at the same Inn that we did last October and made sure to hit our favorite restaurant, the Outer Banks Brewing Station.  We had plans to do dinner at Adrianna's, the site of one our all-time favorite dinners, but a wedding was going on there so we hit another local place instead.  It was a pretty chill weekend, which is exactly what we wanted!

Oh, and on Sunday we picked out a pumpkin from a Farmer's Market on the way home... something we put off last year and never got around to doing.  I'm pretty excited about it actually!  I can't wait to show you pictures after we carve it, but for now I'm keeping secret what its going to look like.

One Year!!! Can I Get a Woop Woop?

One year ago today Jake and I tied the knot!  Can you believe it?  We hardly can.  

I know a lot of people say this, but it really does feel like our wedding just happened.  I can still remember the day perfectly and its hard to tell where the past twelve months went.  A lot has changed and some things have stayed the same, but I can tell you the transition to living together after our wedding taught us a TON about one another!  Here are some things I've learned about Jake over the past year, that the 8 years of dating beforehand didn't reveal:

1. Jake loves to wear just his boxers, no matter what time of day it is.  Personally, I don't see the appeal say at 1pm on Saturday, but it's who he is.

2. Jake is isn't a morning person, despite what he might say.  Sure, he'll get up early to get a good workout in, but unless he has had breakfast its not a good time to talk to him.

3. Speaking of food, he can eat the same thing day after day after DAY and he loves to combine the strangest ingredients for these meal experiments.  A perfect example is his daily breakfast (aka his "Happy Time"): yogurt, bananas, milk, granola, and melted peanut butter... all mixed together in one bowl.  Gross.

4. Still on the subject of food, the grocery store is one of his favorite places.  Jake averages about 3 trips to the grocery store a week.  Nothing big, some bananas from Trader Joes, spinach from Kroger, and whatever else we may need come Sunday.

5. Jake isn't above reading my women's beauty and home decorating magazines.

6. He doesn't clean and he doesn't want to.  This is something I'm still working on with Jake, but so far the most I've gotten out of him is a few loads of laundry, trash taken out, and the stairs vacuumed (which actually happened for the first time today).

7. Jake has a way of showing that he does listen at the most random times.  I've found he'll do something for me based off an off hand comment or suggestion I made and forgot about myself! 

8. He is quick to forgive and forget.  So often I find myself trying to offer an explanation with my apology and every time he stops me and says he's already forgotten about it.  It's something I am trying my best to offer him as my first response as well.

9. Jake leads by example.  He is a man of God and shows me on a daily basis that our faith must be our top priority if we want everything else to fall into place according to God's plan.

10. He knows exactly who I am and happily married me anyway.  No one is perfect and being married sometimes bring those imperfections to light.  The key is to learn from them so we can love each other better.

That's just a few of the things I've learned and I'm sure his list about me would be just as awesome.  If I had to guess a few of the things he would say they'd probably be:

1. I'm a she-devil if disturbed before my alarm goes off.

2. I have really bad morning breath (I'd have to agree with him on this one, but I can't help it!  I have excellent oral hygiene).

3. I'm a good sport when it comes to what to watch on tv or rent at Redbox, unless it's multiple recordings of Colbert Report.  Don't get me wrong, I like him, but 30 minutes a day is sufficient... or else he'd record a longer show.

4. I am a treat monster... and always have been.

5. My showers last too long and I use too much toilet paper (He actually just commented, "You use a roll of toilet paper a day!" which is totally an exaggeration).

6. I spend too much time at Target.

7. I'm sensitive and speak my mind, which isn't always a bad thing.

8. At times I can be funny, but probably not as funny as I think I am (I made him laugh out loud this past weekend and was SO proud of myself).

9. I'm generous and have big heart when it comes to others, which rubs off on him.

10. I challenge him to be a better version of himself... I think this goes both ways.

There will be so much more to learn about each other over the years and I'm looking forward to it.  Nothing beats coming home every day to your best friend and being able to share life's big and small milestones with them.  It's simple, Jake is my person.

Here are just a few shots from our wedding!

Quarter of a Century

Yes folks, today marks my 25th Birthday. 

I think after a person turns 21 the "big" birthdays get fewer and farther between.  Honestly, 25 is really not an important age but its the equivalent to a quarter of a century, which apparently makes it special.  Regardless, I enjoyed my day and the people who made it a big deal!

I started the day with church and then headed to Cheesecake Factory for lunch with my family.  My Mom was awesome and took care of coordinating everything, including my birthday balloon at the table (which I happened to love).  After lunch we went to a nail salon and got spa mani/pedis while watching The Blind Side... it was so awesome!  Before I knew it, my Dad was there ready to go out to dinner (to yet another one of my favorite places).   So much for my "diet"...

Thanks to everyone for your phone calls, text messages, and cards!!!  I had such a great day and feel so blessed!  

Walk a Day in my Damn Flip Flops

Recently my sister-in-law, Alison, was over visiting and shared some interesting news with me.  Apparently, she was talking (and drinking) with her friends recently after a bachelorette party and somehow my blog came up in the conversation.  She proceeded to pull it up for them to see and to read.  The best part about her sharing this with me, was that she started off her story with, "this might be mean, but..." which is never a good sign.

Anyway, she went on to tell me the various comments made as far as how many times I tagged Jake compared to Tank and God, and other things like that.  I was m o r t i f i e d.  I suppose my blog comes across as young and naive because I'm recently married and blah, blah, blah.  To some it might serve as entertainment and to others my tone and genuine enthusiasm might be annoying.  Truth is, I type like I talk and try to keep my posts upbeat.  I mean who follows blogs that are somber and overly serious?  Talk about a fun, quick read in your spare time... 

Either way, my thoughts are if you don't like what I write about... don't read my blog.  Honestly, I'm not overly concerned with the # of followers that I have or comments I receive- this blog is for venting/sharing and keeping friends and family in the loop.  So you can decide whether you want to take the time to visit my blog and "walk a damn day in my flip flops" or not (that's for you guys and you know who "you" are).

For the record, I'm not upset about the jokes made, I know it was all in good fun.  Oh, and I made sure to mention Alison by name in this post because I knew she'd love that... and the new tag with her name to track with her friends.  I know it might be mean but...