july 1, 1980
well, by iowan (CST) time, i'm officially 27... which means i've celebrated 27 years of life... 27 years full of life. lessons learned, on a farm, in the barn, they hayloft, tire swings, lilac bushes, pulleys, tree houses, bunk house, tom boy, dirt, thunderstorms, laura ingalls, green apples, apple trees, cherry tree, grandpa, kato, conrad, brothers, amazing parents, incredible extended family, small community, beautiful friends, fantastic high school, lovely colleges, st. paul, (oh st. paul, how i love thee), united, the nook, sweeney's, muddy pig, grand ol' day, st. patrick's day, conversations, beers, ciders, burgers, piazza, catholicism, lutheranism, youth ministry, long walks, bike rides, mission trip, musicals, snow, sun, rain, ol' mexico, brits, lawn bowling, the local, the liffey, the xcel center, hockey games, africa, NYC, LA, solo plane rides, long road trips, being a roadie (a 56 hope roadie, that is!), nursing assistant, graduating, moving, nurse, chemo, cousins, marriages, baptisms, wedding receptions... love had, love lost, successes, failures, joy, pain, praise, etc... ***sigh*** 
july 1, 2007
to bring in the "new year" with me is my beautiful mother. she flew from iowa, via MSP :) and arrived safely in LAX. we've done quite a bit of just "taking it all in" since she's been here. meaning we've spent a lot of time, actually, the majority of time, outdoors (just the way we like it!). we spent today's early afternoon walking around the area in which i live and making friends with our dining neighbors at cafe buna. yesterday we spent the day soaking up the sun, the ocean, the people, and sand at the beautiful santa monica beach (see below)
tonight we drove to Orange and spent time with the fam. my lifelong-neighbor-practically-family-childhood-and-teenage-friend, Patrick, has also relocated to CA and he joined the family for a huge and tasty mexican-family-style meal prepared by none other than senor seth. you ain't had guacamole till you've had his! wow! 
Brothers Josh and Seth preparing the food..
it was a great time and they even surprised me with my favorite summer drink and strawberry shortcake for a little b-day cele!
here's are the few pics i got.. 
brother josh showing off his silliness
the chef..
sister jill moves to quickly for my slow cam..
is california starting feel like home? maybe...
hi friends.... :) forgive the choppiness of these blogs. it seems there's always so much to say and so little time to write. but i'll do my best. life is good... and here's the latest..
work: getting better. getting used to the crazyily-lack-of-structure-and-sense system.. ;) and still enjoying the co-workers. i've also had some wonderful, wonderful patients.. a blessing, indeed! i've been working a lot in order to get my shifts in so that i can have a bunch of days off, because mom is soon to be on her way to LA.
exploring: have been to a few new places nearby. went on a lovely date with a lovely guy to a phenomenal mom and pop italian restaurant nearby. we had a great time but i could hardly eat my meal i was so enthralled with the garlic/olive oil dip for the bread.. mmm.. and the great smile across the table! ;0) also went to cafe buna.. had this tasty, tasty omelette with rice, beans, plantains, avocado. yum.
got a couple great phone messages that cheered my heart! one from the youth group with whom i volunteered in Woodbury. i got involved with the high school group last year when i traveled with them, as their nurse, on a mission trip to mexico. as we were driving cross country, i had everyone sing songs about each of the states through which we were driving. :) dorky but oh-so-true. i guess they didn't hate it too much because they called me, earlier this week, as they were crossing into Oklahoma and sang for "ooohhk-lahoma where the winds..." it was beautiful. i felt the love, people.. you rock! hope the trip is going well... praying that the border-crossing was less eventful than last year.
i also got an awesome message from lindsey about her and the boys and dollar burgers! loved it! dollar on, my friends... dollar on!
and.. remember my new neighbor who just moved in? i came home from work the other day and there was a beautiful bottle of wine and a cork screw (in a velvet case) on my doorstep! she'd written on the label, "welcome to LA, Laura." how sweet?
i was working nights this past weekend so i hadn't really a chance to stop by and thank her, but when i got home yesterday i rang her bell to see if she was in and it turned out that she was. her friend anya was over, as well. three hours and several (and by several i mean more than 2 and less than 4) very tasty bottles of red wine, and we were all instant friends! i'm pretty sure I self-disclosed more than necessary (but what's new, right?! she might as well know the laura everyone else does!), she'd made us some crazy amazing grilled mini-pizza (and i exaggerate not when i say amazing! chicken, cilantro, crushed pepper, mozzarella, almonds, etc.. she said she's like an "italian mama.." loves to cook for people!! who's a happy neighbor?)..
the three of us sat and talked and drank and laughed.. it was great! her mom was a travel nurse in Hawaii who kept renewing her contract there, so she pretty much grew up on the island and surfed every day of her life. sweet.. and guess who's gonna learn to surf???? :) she recommended a hair stylist for me and told me about a place that will pick up, wash, dry, fold, and deliver your laundry. hmmmm..... tempting. anyway, she's awesome.. thoughtful, fun, down-to-earth.. just the kind of neighbors i need.
i also met another traveler on our floor.. a fun, hip, sweet woman and she happens to live just down the hall from us.. i sense an apartment outing coming on...
well, that all i've got friends. i continue to be thankful for this experience, for all whom i've met, and all of your prayers, love, and support! hope all is well with everyone.
love to you..
laura
the boys made this slide show before i moved and i also received from them a picture collage.. anyway.. i had to share this... i love it.. miss you you guys!!!
("the boys" were my neighbors.. they lived upstairs in a huge apt and i lived in a studio downstairs.. we became fast friends :) here are pics of our year)
bryan so kindly made a youtube of it.. yay!
thanks!!!
hi everyone!
well... work was another night of mass chaos.. several of us are trying to talk to our manager about making some improvements and getting the place a bit more organized... so that's hopeful.
i slept a few hours when i got home.. just enough to feel rested but not too much that i couldn't sleep tonight. then friend/co-travel-nurse jamie called.. and Our Adventures of Tuesday began! :)
They started with a trip to Wal Mart in nice city outside of LA.. Crenshaw or something that started with a b.... hmmm.. either. We parked in a ramp and entered the three story Wal Mart.. oh yes.. three stories! aren't you just dying to hear about it? ;) there was one gigantic elevator. of course we were the first in line waiting for it, with our cart, and 3 people, including an employee with a massive cart totally cut in front of us.. argh!
we got up to the 2nd floor and cruised the aisles of all the good stuff we needed for our new apartments! jamie and i have spent a lot of time on the beach so we knew we needed a few things such as beach chairs.. you can only lay flat in the sand for so long. so we tested out a bunch of little chairs, including one called a "myPod" some strange looking thing but quite comfortable.. so we got them. we had fun.. the best part about 3-storied wal mart, though, was the cart escalator. have you seen this before? so that one doesn't have to use the elevator, there were normal escalators for people and crazy little belts that carried the carts up to the next floor, going just a bit slower than the human escalator so as to allow you time to get to the top of the cart-belt before it finished its journey. great fun! our cashier.. not so fun.. or friendly, but that didn't burst our silliness bubble.. we had a blast!
Our original plan was to go on a bike ride after Wal Mart but we decided to try out a little restaurant in a nearby town. the place is called Casablanca. it looked cute on the outside so we ventured in... and it was even cuter on the inside!! themed after its namesake, the movie, there were pictures of Ricks Cafe Americain, Morocco, and much more. Picture of the actors all over.. there was even an older woman in Moroccan style clothing making fresh tortillas on a wood burning stove in the middle of the restaurant! the service was great and those tortillas were the best i have ever had! i mean, amazing!!! i can't wait to take my parents there! or anyone else who visits!
We filled our bellies and had a great time.. then headed back to our apartments for a bike ride. just when i thought the day couldn't get better... we ended up riding on the venice beach bike path while God painted an amazing sunset over the coastal mountains. incredible... in my minds' eye i took many pictures for you all to see.. the moon shining over huge palm trees, the sun setting, the empty beach, the breeze, the crowded little streets of venice.. :) sigh....
we came back and jamie suggested hanging out in our apartment's hot tub.. well, that was a little crowded so we took a dunk in the bath-water-warm pool.
so yes.. seriously... the job.. a bit of pain. a learning experience, of course, and i'm giving a TON chemo so becoming even more comfortable with that, but all the greatness that comes along with this travel nursing gig has been amazing!
OH! I met a new neighbor who was just moving in across the hall. she seems really nice, maybe a few years older than myself, but down-to-earth.. and... after i told her to let me know if she ever needed anything she said, "you, too! I'm a wine broker so..." =) sweet!!
anyway.. it was lovely day thanks to my new friend jamie and the beautiful southern california.
thanks for all of you praying that i'd meet good people and have good neighbors. :)
lots of love
laura
ps.. i also think i found a great little catholic church really close to my apartment.. its a small community of people with a lovely little priest! did i already mention this in a previous blog? either way, i'm so grateful!
my dearest friends,
i hope you all are doing well. i'm still working on getting back to people via-email. know i'm thinking of you all!
things are going well out here.. staying busy! making new friends.. checking out new places. here is a quick re-cap of some highlights:
-Santa Monica beach/pier.. beautiful!!! and also great for people watching!
-we found "the Nook" of Santa Monica!!!!! its a tiny little bar/grill near the Santa Monica pier called Big Dean's Muscle In. its a place for beach-goers to wander into for a cold beer and some fried food. the servers are cool, friendly, goofy, laid-back and not afraid to swear at each other in jest in front of customers. they even wear white and green t-shirts just like at the Nook. their food is cheap, good, fried, and served in little red baskets. water is served from a big water jug. they only have a few beers and wines to choose from. the server recognized the girl i was with who'd been there once! they don't take crap from their customers that offer it. they have the same kind of rude/humorous/vintage signage as the nook. good place....
-new kinds of advertisement that have humored me! planes fly over the coast with banner advertising anything from movies, to TV shows, adult beverages, to baseball games. we even saw a string of four planes just advertising Evan Almighty! another plane used white smoke to spell out "KYLE XY" apparently a new tv series on HBO! Californians also uses human advertising a lot! occasionally in the twin cities you'd see someone standing on grand ave with a sign for a bookstore that was closing, cheap oil changes, etc. that method of obtaining attention of new customers is used a LOT here! every day on my way to work i see this man.. by definition he is "hot (i think he's kinda slimy): good build (and by that i mean extremely buff), super tan (and by that i mean freakishly tan), blonde hair, etc.. the works.. every day he is standing on the street, dressed in a super-hero's uniform and cape, dancing like a freak with a shield of some sort and a radio blasting bad music. i laugh every day. i guess he's a human billboard for a place called west side rentals. i'm starting to wonder if its a rent-a-stripper store! :-/ crazy but funny.. these are just a few examples.. i've seen more super-hero uniforms on more diverse people than i could see in an hour in a comic book store.
-pubs: i drug my co-travel nurses to a pub! i loved it.. they were bored. i'm going to have to make some pub-going friends around here! its an irish pub and all of the servers are irish.. and rude! ha!
-tan: laura has a tan! even after i discovered that SPF 15 is not enough for this girl's hasn't-seen-the-sun-in-a-few-years skin. i lathered up with Consumer Report's top choice of sunblock every hour-and-a-half-ish at the beach and still walked away with a bit-o-burn. oh well.. it really doesn't hurt. i can't imagine how i'd feel sans-sunblock! i still look pasty compared to most!
-california fam. for those of you who don't know.. i have a good friend from college out here who became a part of a "family" made up of some people who are related (and by "some people" i mean some of the coolest, jesus-loving, open, honest, giving, caring, real people i've ever met!), others who work at the church (jill, seth, ingrid, JT all work there), and then other randoms, like me.. and everyone just spends a lot of time together hanging out, helping, talking, celebrating, etc. like a real family. after visiting ingrid 3 times i'd gotten to know the fam pretty well, in fact it was some of the things they said that inspired my move to CA. anyway... i've gotten to spend a little time with everyone so far.. but brandon, who lives in San Diego.. hopefully soon though! its been a blast! big people, little people, mom, sisters, new sisters, food, wine, grill, groceries, lions specials, painting toes, etc.
-GREAT highlight!! 3 of my past co-workers called from work last night and left me the sweetest message. they wanted to know how i was doing! i was able to call back and talk to all three of them.. i almost cried!!! :)
-another fantastic highlight: monster cookies from grandma in the mail!! along with a magnet with a map of iowa on it so i won't "forget my roots." awesome!!!!!!!
-i've been able to connect with a few friends via-phone! that's been wonderful.
i'm getting excited for my first visitor: Mom!!! as i told her.. the weather here is like those few spring or fall days in Iowa/Minnesota where you say, "oh its just perfect today." its like that every day here! no humidity. warm sun, cool coastal breeze. its even a little chilly in the shade sometimes. mom's going to love it, among many other things. she did say she was going to just lay in the back seat of the car while we were driving though.. i thought this a better idea than the eye-cover/mask i was going to make her wear! ha! she has a hard time watching cars zoom by! :) she'll be here for my birthday.. couldn't ask for a better gift! oh the places we'll go! ;-)
ok.. time to throw a load of scrubs in so i have something to wear to work!
hope all is well with each of you. as always, i appreciate you checking in.
love from the coast,
laura
hi everyone!
so what i've got to say, after my first week entirely on my own at the hospital.. is that i'm definitely earning the (fantastic) privleges of being a travel nurse. what do i mean by this.. well, though i am sincerely appreciative and am enjoying the great, paid-for apartment in a lovely location, beautiful weather, beaches, fun places to go, and fun people.. this job is crazy!
last week i oriented for 2 shifts with a precptor. now... because a "solid oncology" unit is a new to this hospital.. and because they hired 15 travel RN's, no one really knows what's going on here... and the nurses who were actually hired to work on this floor are all newly chemo certified. we do have a "resource" nurse who's from an oncology unit in an associated hospital but they don't really know the process here either!
anyway, after my 2 nights being "oriented," then my first night on my own last week, i came to work monday night, for my second shift, alone, i was floated to another floor- geriatric telemetry.... c-r-a-z-y..... this hospital is really disorganized compared to United, well, and according to all of the other travel nurses, its disorganized compared to everywhere! and the floor i floated to was worse! people were rude.. my patients were off their rockers.. awful. after my float night i had a whole new appreciation for my "home unit." even though the equipment is old, there are two patients to each room, they don't have lure-locks so we run chemo through"aligators" :-/ the charting was supposed to have changed to computerized but that only lead to double charting because they still use paper charts, too.. so now we have to repeat a lot of stuff, we carry the mars with us.. oh and the MAR's.. they are so bad. its crazy! and its not just me, the other travelers feel the same. :) thank goodness our patients, leaders, and co-workers rock!
overall, thus far.. its a good experience but its been frustrating and challenging. so, cheers to the twin cities for being updated, organized, good facilities, and allina for an awesome conversion from paper to 'puters! tell cappi all of her hard work paid off! oh, and for you past-fellow co-workers.. would you believe that i leave my apartment 45-50 minutes before my shift starts and get here 15-30 minutes before report?! i know! crazy!! its a little different than my 1.5 mile jaunt down grand ave! ;)
i'm now finishing my 2nd string of nights.. and i'm very happy to be done. jamie and i are going to head back to the beach and i'm going to spend my day sleeping there! then out tonight in santa monica with other travelers and ingrid!
i should make a formal apology on here for not getting back to many of you in calls and e-mails.. when i'm working 12-hour nights i literally just go to work, come home, shower, sleep and go back to work. i don't clean, i don't make meals, nothing! so i'm behind in my replies.. but i am always happy to hear how things are going for all of you!! thanks!
love and blessings from CA!
laura
hi friends!
wow.. it has been an eventful week!
i worked my first string of night shifts at the hospital and well... hmm.. the good things i have to say:
its only three months
there are a lot of travel nurses so its really fun
my preceptor was really nice
the nurse to patient ratio is 3:1 right now
our leaders are awesome
the hospital is small so i can't get lost (unless i'm picking up a med at pharmacy or dropping something off at the lab in either case means i'm winding around a scary, dark, basement without signage.. ugh)
"Izzy's Deli to the stars" is open all night, so if we're desperate for some food or java, or pie, cheesecake, etc.. we have a place to go in the middle of the night!
i get to live in a beautiful apartment for free.. that has great amenities!
i am diggin' the weather and i hear it gets even better
i am really enjoying venice and venice beach..
santa monica is incredible
i get to see my pals from long beach a lot more
i get to hang out with those which i'd consider like nieces and nephews..
i can ride a one-speed bike without dying cause its pretty flat near the coast!
i get to talk to my mom every day as she checks in to make sure i'm "ok" :) hehe..
i could go on and on about the good stuff for a while! the hospital is not ideal.. i really don't think i'd stay there if they asked me to renew after this contract is up.. compared st United, i feel very unsafe.. i'm looking for bigger and better-structured facilities in the area
good news: mom will be here for my birthday! she's flying into LAX by herself (huge deal!)! her layover is in Minneapolis/St. Paul! crazy...
better news: mom and dad will be in CA in august.. i hope the CA and IA fam can meet!
this weekend was great! i went out with one of the travel nurses, Jamie, who lives in my apartment complex who also works on my floor! we hit up a cantina near the beach then the prominade in santa monica where we met some fun pool players! ;)
jamie and i went to venice beach today.. beautiful- absolutely stunning scenery!! then back to the prominade for a little laura-needs-summer-clothes-mini-spree. jamie's a great person so that has been a true blessing! she's originally from Illinois so we have the "midwest girls" thing in common.
then dear friend ingrid made the hike up here from LB and we had dinner at a fab "earthy" restaurant with beautiful outdoor seating in Venice.
some crazy things from this weekend:
-a monkey (like the one from friends) dressed up, in the middle of the ped mall.. displaying no tricks other than tipping his hat before he took the money that was offered him.
-a crazy kid, "evan from heaven" who wanted to teach us how to surf but was as high as a kite, himself
-breakdancers in the street
-a walk-thru-ish starbucks where apparently john mayer and other big liners have played
-a Christian guy with a mic, on the ped street trying to scare people into believing in Jesus.. that made me sad
-a 70-year-old man in a speedo on the beach
-food delivered to us on the beach
-crazy strange people carrying around a briefcase... on the beach
to top off a great weekend, i got a hilarious gift in the mail from my father and a fantastic e-mail from dear friend, lindsey, in st. paul.. who said she'd run into some of my old neighbor boys and that they would all be commencing for dollar burgers tonight as we did each monday at 8:30! oh i will be there in spirit! lindsey's e-mail also contained other news that brought a lot of joy!! thanks, linds!
a great weekend..
thanks for checkin' in!! and thanks to all the phone calls, comments, texts, e-mails, etc.. of love and support.. i miss and love you all!
and thanks to the california fam for taking such good care of me, checking in, letting me hangout at your homes, etc..
yours,
laura