ok.. i totally forgot to write an update! ha...
quick synapses since i left CA:
flew to MN, friend Amy and dog Chief picked me up at the airport. i stayed with amy and her boyfriend, Ben, who were great hosts for an entire week!
friends from work met up at Cafe Latte friday AM for a some coffee, catch up, and baby-meeting! friend Caprice had her first baby girl: Sophia Michelle! :) love that name! here's a few shots of that.. thanks to all of you who made it. it was so good to see you all.. i miss and love the 4500's! :)
hung out with ben, amy, and the crew.. saw some crazy rock band :-/ here's amy and maureen jammin' out
my dear friend sarah got married so i was very excited to be able to make it! they are an amazing couple. sarah is an amazing friend.. their vows, which they wrote, were beautiful and heartfelt. even amy shed a few and that rarely happens! 
managed to squeeze in some breakfast time with jake at louisiana cafe.. and coffee with beautiful audrey! perfect!!
went to mass with jill, ben, lucy and the girls and had pizza at jill's afterwards where liz joined us.
then out with amy, ben, and crew.. again! :)
had a great night out with lindsey and dani (girlfriends from college).. the restaurant was seriously slow-paced but offered us the opportunity to have a lovely, long, and real conversation.
tuesday night the 998's re-united atop Brendan and Stacy's apartment on the roof-top deck which over-looked st. paul and minneapolis. gorgeous!! everyone was there! sam, stacy, brendan, lindsey, nate, emily, costa, bryan and kim! great food, beautiful scenery, and good friends... oh how i love the 998's! (pictures pending brendan sending them!).
wednesday amy and i got some burgers at the nook! :)
thursday i drove back to iowa.. got to see girlfriends from high school and their beautiful babies! saw hairspray with mom. went car-shopping. had some nice one-on-one-beers with dad. a great home football game. got to see grandma f, aunts margo and tracy, uncle murl, great-aunt diane, mom's cousin and her daughter shannon, cousins danielle and fletcher. had some good quality time with chloe :) bought the car. had dinner with mom, dad, uncle tom, and chlow. went to a friend of the family's wedding. drove to baltimore.
now i'm here.. its been great.. lots of good things to share and some bumps in the road but i'll get to those tomorrow!
i'm seriously done blogging for the day!!!
love!!
hello friends and family!
i know its been way too long since i've updated you!! i guess one thing i've come to learn about myself in the adventures of moving constantly is that i cannot blog unless there are no other pressures, tasks, anxieties otherwise weighing on me. if i've other things on my mind i just can't focus long enough to type much of anything and i must have a decent internet connection which isn't available in rural iowa.. i looked into it, argh... but alas here I am! Safe and sound in Baltimore, Maryland.
so where has life taken me in the past month?! oh where do i begin?
well, i know many of you were hoping to read about the week mom and dad visited in CA. We had a lovely time. have i mentioned that i've got some of the best parents ever? its just like hanging out with great friends whom i adore, respect, admire as parents, too! We started out in San Diego where dad had a work conference at the huge and beautiful Marriot hotel which looked over the bay and Coronado Island.
(as always, click on picture for larger image): 
here's dad checking out the view of the harbor and just to the right was the city! beautiful or what!
the first night there mom, dad, and i went, along with the rest of the people there for the conference, to the san diego zoo! had a great dinner, complimentary drinks (woo hoo), and did a quick run through of the zoo. it got dark pretty quickly so we didn't get to see much but here are pics of what we did do (rode on the gondola, hiked through the panda and gorilla area without managing to really see any of them, and enjoyed the great area where the dinner was held). 
The pics below are the pictures of the area we ate in.. how cool!!! the gorilla's eyes would go from dim to bright and back again. I decided this would be a totally cool place for a wedding reception. :):)
pretty cool, eh? so the other fun things we did? had dinner on Coronado Island! one night dad and i went out with his co-workers on the town! we were in the "gas lamp district" which is apparently the "happenin'" area for young adults. it was definitely interesting to be quasi-clubbing with my dad in san diego but a fun time. he has fun co-workers, too! after a near-death experience in a cab-ride home, we had one more cocktail at the great hotel bar and turned in for the night. 
the next day dad finished up his work stuff and the three of us went to the USS Midway Museum just a short walk from the hotel. i never thought i'd enjoy a museum so much!
Here are some pics of that.. 
these are the bunks in the "berthing" area for the newest navy enlisted. 
this is the chain used to raise and lower the anchor.. the huge anchor. 
mom and dad on my california patio! :0)
hmm.. other fun stuff.. here are some pics of my dear friend, sarah, from high school with whom i met up with in CA and had dinner with in downtown disney. my favorite picture is of us standing between the I and A at the end of the gigantic CALIFORNIA sign.. we be representin'! ;-)
ok.. i can't take much more of waiting for these pictures to download! hope you've enjoyed.. i'll write more later!
love to all,
laura