Featured Colleague: Gillian Luce

I was hesitant to bring this back, and honestly I don't even know that "bring this back" is the right term, but I do know that I've been thinking a lot lately about the friendships I've made at work and what blessings they've been.  And in those reflections, I realized that I had yet to write about one of my closest friends, Gillian Luce, whom it just so happens I met at work.

When I met Gillian I wasn't really sure what I thought about her.  I liked her of course, but I didn't necessarily think we'd be friends friends.  You know what I mean.  Looking back, I don't know why this was my reaction.  As different as we are, we do share similarities.  And don't worry, she knows this already so its safe to blog about.  

I don't know where to start with Gillian... there are so many different things I could write about her.  I suppose what you need to know about her work wise is that she is the Marketing Manager for our real estate ILS so we don't technically work for the same division anymore, but we still sit two rows apart from each other.  Her job focuses  on marketing to consumers (aka home buyers) and she does that mainly through social media channels.  Don't get me wrong, I like Facebook, but I could never do her job... however, shes perfect for it.  Gillian is one of those people who can honestly say that she loves her job which isn't something you hear that often- people may be good at their jobs or are content in them, but love is a strong word.

Now on to more interesting things about Gillian.  She is always using quirky expressions in the office like jiminy cricket or whoopsy daisy (this could have contributed to why I thought we might not be close initially) and she is overly formal when she takes call at her desk.  These aren't bad things, they are Gillian things.

She is happily married to a guy I can't stand, just kidding... and she is obsessed with her chihuahua, Bailey, who I really can't stand.  I mean hes alright, but he has the potential to bark incessantly and even Gillian would admit its a bit much.

The only other thing I can say about her is that she has a servant's heart.  Gillian is one of those give-you-the-shirt-off-her-back kind of people.  I don't think there is anything I couldn't ask of her.  She loves her family and friends well and I'm grateful to fall into her friend category.

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!

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.