Hello Gold Star Squad! It's Gold Star Friday, which means it is time to announce our Star of the Week!
It was awesome to have a reader-nominated Star of the Week last week, but this week we are returning to another nomination made by me.
I would absolutely love to receive some additional reader nominations!!! So please send me your nominations, and please see the end of this post for more details on how to do that! All recipients of the Star of the Week award who live in the US are eligible to receive a free gift from my Gold Star Award Winner collection** on Zazzle!
This week's star is one of the sweetest and most caring people on the planet! I am thrilled to introduce you to my friend Rachel!
I remember the exact place and time when I met Rachel. We met on April 22, 2014. Back then, I was feeling a bit isolated at my job, and I felt like I was severely lacking in social interactions/friends. So I finally decided to grab the proverbial bull by the horns and do something about my situation.
I set my aim rather high by starting my own girlfriends' group on Meetup. I had never started or led a group before, so it was a bit daunting for me. But I remained optimistic and hoped that everything would work out.
Sadly, the group did not work out very well, and my time at the helm lasted less than a year. Nevertheless, I did receive one awesome gift from the universe for starting that group – my friendship with Rachel!
Rachel came to my very first Meetup outing! That first meeting had a pretty decent turnout, so when I look back on it, I feel lucky that Rachel ended up sitting right next to me at the table.
We hit it off immediately and haven't looked back since! There are so many reasons why I think Rachel deserves a gold star and there are so many things that I admire about her!
Rachel is British, and she moved to the US not too long before we met. I really do marvel at the fact that she learned to drive here in the US. I'm pretty sure that I would have a very difficult time trying to drive a car in England! I have never driven on the "wrong" side of the road before.
Rachel is super adventurous, which is something that I admire tremendously! At one point during her adult life, she uprooted herself and moved to South Korea to teach children English.
I think it took a lot of courage to do what she did – it's not common for people to completely change everything about their lives by moving to another country on their own. Such a move can help cultivate resilience, creativity, and belief in oneself, all of which I think Rachel possesses in spades!
Rachel is one of the most caring people I know! There are so many examples I could give, but just this week, she offered to drive her friend to and from an out-patient surgery. Even though it required several hours of her time, I know that Rachel didn't hesitate to make the offer of assistance. For many years, she has also worked in elementary education, and in particular, with special needs children. She is a generous person through and through!
She is also one of the most understanding and non-judgmental friends that I have. I truly feel like I can say anything at all to her, including confessing my fears and inadequacies, and she is never, ever critical of me.
Not only that, she has an amazing ability to get where I am coming from, even if she has never gone through the exact experience or feeling herself. I feel comfortable telling her things that I would not have the courage to say to anyone else, and that is a very rare blessing that I highly treasure. Without a doubt, she is my soul sister!
Rachel is a cat person, which is something we have definitely bonded over. I honestly don't know too many cat people, most people I know are dog people. I think dogs are totally great, but it's nice to find a kindred spirit every now and then! We have a mutual adoration society for our cats, Tiki (my cat), Maggie, and Ivy (Rachel's cats) and Snowflake (Rachel's sort-of-adopted outdoor neighborhood cat)! 😻
And I'm sure she is tired of hearing this, but Rachel's British accent is absolutely beautiful! Anyone who hears it is immediately charmed and captivated by her!
I am incredibly delighted to present this week's Star of the Week award to Rachel! Congratulations my beautiful friend!
Finally, it's time for our Star of the Week photo! I am including a picture taken on the day we met at that first Meetup outing, and one of my favorites that was taken at a Galentine's Day party in 2017. Subsequent to my initial publishing of this post, I found another festive holiday picture of us that I couldn't resist sharing!
Please join me in congratulating Rachel as our Star of the Week!
Would you like to nominate yourself or someone you care about to be our next Star of the Week? To read the rules about the nomination process and get more information about the free gift that U.S. winners will receive, please click here. Then submit the Nomination Form!
**If you click through any of the links on this page and make a purchase from Zazzle, I will receive two separate commissions: one for being the designer of the product and another for referring the sale to Zazzle.