End of an Era.

Friday was my last day at Kingstons. I can't believe I left the company after 7 and 1/2 years. I honestly can't believe it has been that long. But as I was clearing my computer of music and pictures I was able to reminisce of all the good times I had, especially with my bestest pal Val.

We were often told we were the heart of the company and always had the ability to keep smiles on our faces and therefore bring smiles to our coworkers. We used to pull things off that should not have been pulled at an office atmosphere but they always were welcomed to help bring the stress levels down. You have seen the posts of our Halloween costumes and it brings me great sadness to know that I won't be going to thrift shops or costume stores trying to figure out our next great costume. The first birthday she celebrated at Kingston brought an unusual cake to the office. My friend Cindy and I had a warped sense of humor and brought that to the table, literally. It was during the Wendy's scandal of the finger in the chili, and Val refused to go to Wendy's for a while because of that. We enlisted the wife of a coworker that makes incredible cakes and told her our plan. She made this big version on a Wendy's chili bowl and put a finger on top of the chili. It was super yummy even though it looked totally disgusting. Val was a good sport and the whole company thought it was hilarious.


Another time Val had a new filing cabinet delivered to her office and had this big empty box in her office for a few days until the garbage was taken out. We had a great idea for me to hide in the box on day, while she called in Travis (worked in the marketing dept with me) and asked if he could help her with something. As he sat in her office I would scratch on the box. Of course Travis asked if she heard something and she played it off like he was just hearing things. So she kept him busy while I scratched on the box again. This time he said he knew he heard something and was walking toward the box. I could tell he was getting close to the box so I burst out of the box. Let me tell you, he screamed like a little girl as he ran out of her office. We were both cracking up and our CFO (Reece) came into see why heard a scream. We told him what had happened, thinking we were going to get into trouble, but Reece just started to laugh and went back to his office. These are just a few of the jokes or pranks we were able to pull off. Never once did we get into trouble, it was almost as if they encouraged us to do it.


I will miss seeing that girl everyday, even if it was just for a half a day. I am so grateful that Kingston brought her into my life when I was missing out on having a bonefied friend in Idaho. I didn't have one up to this point and she was a huge answer to a prayer. Sure I had friends from other businesses, but not one that I knew I would stay in contact with for the rest of my life. I love this girl to death. She is my family in Idaho. She knows my secrets, my worries, my scares. my hopes, she just knows me. She helps me be a better me. She has great faith in me and my abilities. She pushes me when I don't think I can do something. Kingston brought me a great gift and she was the hardest thing to leave behind. As I was saying my goodbyes I walked into her office and we both just started to cry.

Kingston is one of many companies that I will work for in my life time, but I will always look back and thank them for bringing Val into my life.

Some pictures from our wild adventures the past few years.

Love ya Val.