Dig D is coming to town!! That's right, folks! For the first time, ever, my dad, David, will be taking a solo trip to visit his favorite daughter, um, yes his only daughter, in B'more! woooot wooot
What's on the agenda? Well, I've never been to DC and my dad is a huge history buff.. so we'll be taking a day trip on the commuter trains to the Capitol city! Other plans?? See Baltimore, the harbor, eat a bunch of sea food, have some beers on Valentine's day ;), meet the friends, fix some stuff at our house.. the usual!
Also, an update on life as a traveler..
I must admit that when I was back in Minnesota, in the comforts of a city that holds so many people I adore, and only driving distance from the large majority of the rest of my friends and family, I was feeling quite tempted to return home. 
(St. Paul skyline):)
I'd almost convinced myself that I'd seen other parts of the country and knew where I belonged.. right? did i? but what about saving money? spending a year volunteering? trying life in Oregon? Its all getting fuzzy, those plans. The only thing clear to me was the true peace I felt whilst home in the mid-west, but more confusing, was the fact that the idea of moving back did not leave me feeling peaceful...
I was torn.
ahh, fortunately, for me, not even a week after I returned to Maryland, my dear friend, Kelly-the-boy, with whom I worked in St. Paul for 5 years, was here visiting some friends. 
Kelly and started as nursing assistants together at United back in the day. We grew to be great friends over the course of the years and I always appreciated the unique perspectives that came along with his friendship and our great conversations! So what a blessing it was to have him here, if even for a short while at a slightly pivotal time! While we were talking about travel nursing, I was reminded that it was quite exciting that I'd actually done it. That I'd picked up and left my entire life and started something new. I had no reason to leave MN, nothing to run from.. which makes it an even bigger (and crazier) blessing that I did it. I realized how blessed I am to be a nurse, to have all of this opportunity.. to have driven across the country with dear Ingrid, to have seen her sweet grandmother again before she left us for the heavens, to have spent time with the CA family and experience life on the beach, and now on the bay.
I also started considering some of the blessings and logistics of my current situation (money, saving it, housing situation, roommate, great friends, other stuff:) , etc). I thought about the fact that moving across the country, again, would involve spending a lot of money and time I just didn't want to spend.. and why? Why did I want to go to Oregon? Well, its beauty is a big draw (I've only seen pictures). The hippie-sort-of-attitude was alluring. The pay would be less.. meh. I try not to base life decisions on money, but that is one of the major reasons I started doing this travel bit. hmm.. I could always pray again for an amazing roommate and housing situation.. but I don't know a soul in the state. And.. suddenly Oregon wasn't sounding so appealing.
Then finally, I returned to my place of work here in B'more after my trip home... and the friendships/relationships that had been starting to form at work with the other nurses were, well, blossoming, really. I noticed how much more fun the second assignment was.. already knowing the people, knowing the routine, understanding how things work. I was much less stressed and found myself actually enjoying my time at work! Kinda reminded me of home.. hmmmm.. 
So.. there I was.. praying for direction when I finally realized the great contentment and gratitude for the blessings being poured upon me in Baltimore and how life and everything has sort of just fallen into a beautiful place! For what reason should I leave so soon? What's the rush? I've got lots of time, right?! And so.. I stayeth, for now.
I also realized that for most of my life, the little farm house in small-town-eastern-Iowa was the only home I'd ever known, but that my understanding of "home" is changing as I travel through life, years, and states. I had no idea that another place could hold such comfort, safety, and familiarity like St. Paul does, and now parts of California.. and come to think of it, Baltimore is starting to feel that way, too! And so for all of this, for all of you who have helped make these cities so special, so special that they feel like home, I am sincerely and humbly grateful. :)
All my love, from Baltimore! :)
Laura
"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things i will do; I will not forsake them." Isaiah 42:16
I'm just throwing in some pictures for fun! I was out walking the other night at dusk and captured the great beauty of a calm inner harbor with my phone!
Some fun news... I received a message from one of my cousins saying he's going to be in town this weekend.. I have lots of fun plans for us and I always get pretty excited about visitors!!!!
you know i love a glass of red wine!! well, last night was perhaps one of my favorite nights in Baltimore, thus far (And Inga... when you use that golden ticket and come to b'more, we'll definitely be doing this!:);))! Andrea, Mariah, and I met at the Metropolitan in Federal Hill for wine tasting night.
So for $15 we got 5 small pours of different wines from Rhone Valley, France (I guess it was French night), starting with a white and moving into more intense, red wines with each pour.
First of all, Kudos to the server who remembered which glass of wine all of us were on (we were each enjoying the wine at a different pace) ;) Not only did he keep track of our drinks, he was quick! My glass wasn't empty for more than 3 minutes! Secondly, great atmosphere.. small room, dark wood, candle light, warm, not formal but definitely set back from the rest of the restaurant. Lastly, great company!! Lovely friends I am blessed with.. the three of us had a great time!
Oh and for some potentially exciting news for Laura, there is talk of a girls vacation to somewhere warm and beachy! Never before have I been on a trip like that (there was no such thing as "spring break" at my high school, nor did I desire to spend my college breaks anywhere but Iowa!). So... I'm thinking this might be the time to splurge, just a little, and go on a real vacation with my girlfriends!!! I'm very excited about this and hoping it works out. Last year, they went to Cancun and managed to do it all fairly inexpensively. :)
So, its good to be back into the swing of things in Baltimore.. the second assignment at this hospital is turning out to be a bit more enjoyable than the first. I'm slowly but surely adapting to the fact that the nurses are responsible for just shy of everything on this floor... its good to be challenged but I truly can't imagine feeling more drained at the end of 13 hours. Nevertheless, its great to have 4 days of to recoup and get things done! Nothing like sitting on your bed-on-the-floor, blogging, and listening to the beautiful sounds of some crazy, loud saw, slicing into pavement and a jackhammer humming a long. Lovely! (but seriously, this is the 2nd time they've dug this pavement up.. what is going on!?)
I'm off to a coffee shop!!!
Peace, friends.
XOXO
Hello friends!!
I now write to you from the Moline airport at which I seem to be stuck. :( My flight has continued to be delayed all afternoon.. bummer since I have to work at 0700 tomorrow morning and I could have spent the day hanging out with the folks instead of strangers in the airport! Oh well.. at this point I'm just praying for safe flights and an arrival prior to midnight!!
Indeed another beautiful trip to the mid-west has come to an end. I'm sad to leave the comforts of home.. the farmhouse in which I grew up, family, old friends, and of course the Twin Cities. Nonetheless, I come to realize how full of joy and love my heart is when I leave and how these trips seem to rejuvenate my heart.
The midwest was a wintery wonderland.. lots of beautiful, fluffy snow! Got to go sledding with the nieces, and as you saw in the last blog, snow fort building! Quote of the day from Claire while trying to climb back up the hill after sledding down, "Warwa!! My wegs are too wittle! I can't get up in the hill!!!" :)
After some good time with the family, I packed my stuff into the little red car and headed north to the cities of Twin. The drive was a bit emotional as it, too, has begun to feel like home. ah, but mostly, I was just excited!!
As soon as I got to town, I dropped my bags at my old roommates's house (where I stayed for the short duration of the trip), changed clothes, and stopped in at my cousins' house for a quick visit, then to the Nook to catch up with dear ol' John.. my favorite member of the "Nook Regulars" club! :) After that, it was off to a house party to ring in the New Year.. a nice evening with friends.
And so on and so forth (yikes! gotta wrap this up, almost time to leave)... every day continued to be full of blessings as I was able to spend time with and see many of my friends in MN. Staying with my old roommates was one of the highlights.. oh how I love these women and miss having them in my daily life!
On my way home, I took the long route through Des Moines and visited some friends from high school who now reside there... always a great time. Highlights include seeing Lesley's brand new baby girl, Siri.. and Leanne's little adorable Will. My friends have babies- incredible!!! As I headed back to De Witt, I met up with my friend Ryan in Marshalltown for lunch... so great.
It was wonderful to see those of you I was able to ... sorry if I missed you this trip, but I'll catch you in April!!! Not sure where I'll be going after that, but I'm contemplating Oregon if a friend or two of mine decide to travel there with me! perhaps another round in B'more.. who knows.
Alright, I must say goodbye to the Mid-West.. plane departs in 40 minutes!
Thanks to all i was able to see.. I shall miss you!
All my love,
XOXO
Laura
Nope.. Not Fort McHenry, this time we're live from Fort McMangan! Chloe, Claire, and I were busy playing in the snow this week.. and oh, did we have fun. I had to use my years of snow fort building experience to teach the nieces how its done. Thanks to Dad manipulating a huge pile of snow in the yard, we were able to construct a decent fort and the start of a tunnel. Of course, we could have gotten a little further along had Garrett (the most adorable terror-on-wheels 3-year-old nephew you could ever imagine) not punched one of the walls over a few times (imagine big, cheesy, "i know i'm not supposed to" grin, right afterwards, too!). And had the girls not been more fascinated by the taste of snow than constructing with it.. we could have had one heck of a snow fort, but in the end, we had fun and I think this one is pretty groovy! So much so, that I thought it'd be a fun place from which to place a phone call to a friend in California after the parents went to bed! So, I grabbed one of my favorite brews, dressed up in Dad's Carharts, and headed outside! 
As you can imagine, my mid-west vacation has been great, thus far! Lots of fun times with the nieces and nephew, brothers, parents, and some of the wonderful extended fam. Hoping to get in some time with amigos on the last leg of the trip through IA. Tomorrow I take off for the good ol' Twin Cities! Spending a few days up there then hopefully a night in Des Moines, one last night in IA that back to the east. I must say I'll be happy to return to milder weather, though I have enjoyed the snow. I also got to take Chloe and Claire sledding... oh so fun!
Happy New Year to you, dear friends. I pray its been a blessed year and another to come!!!
All my love,
Laura
XOXO
Hello friends and family!!
Another long blog for you but its my day off and I'm feeling very share-y today! Hope you enjoy the stories and updates!
As my dear roomie, Sandy, and I were watching the Biggest Loser last night, quite a bit of excitement occurred. First of all.. today is garbage day, which means last night was "set the garbage outside on the sidewalk night." A little piece inside of me gets really excited about garbage day because its so easy and its a twice-a-week purging all of the garbage from the house. Maybe its such a delight because recycling here is so annoying.. they only pick up plastic and tin every other monday and cardboard only once a month and sometimes they just don't show up for whatever unknown reason and then we end up suffocating from recyclable material, as we are right now.. ugh. So being able to open the front door, twice a week, and just drop the bag of garbage onto the sidewalk is a secret, simple little purging pleasure of mine. :) hmm... enough about my feelings on garbage!
So last night as were sitting in the living room, I heard the rustling of plastic bags outside the window. I knew exactly what it was, because this happened on Saturday, too. Someone was rummaging through our garbage. yup... what was once a satisfactory pile of waste was now an attraction for those in need. I whispered to Sandy to tell her what was happening, we shut the lights off and looked out the window.. and there he was.. sitting on our steps, our front stoop, pulling things out of the garbage. What he was retrieving, we couldn't tell, but only hoping it was the spinach-gone-bad or the rotted apple instead of the pay stubs she'd thrown out. We debated what to do. He wasn't harming us.. he was probably just hungry, but sitting on our step? Rummaging through our stuff.. granted, it being garbage and set outside, i think makes it officially not our stuff anymore, but nonetheless, this was not the fate we expected for our once-belongings. My first instinct was to make him food but of course the mom in me said, "no!" It was a little creepy. Sandy's was to call the cops! lol.. which she did but of course he was long gone and the cops never even came. whatever.. it was alarming, sad, and annoying all at the same time since he left the random pieces of garbage sitting out on our steps. I wanted so badly to step out the door and talk to him.. and I think if there'd been a guy in the house, I'd have felt protected and comfortable doing so. bah..
A bit of time passed and as Sandy was reading me an e-mail she was sending to her boss, I saw movement in the kitchen.. LF. LF is what we named the "mouse" in our house (that's us telling ourselves there's only one). LF is the acronym of a not-nice name.. sorry, but we don't really like him. We'd hired an exterminator who closed up the holes on the exterior of the house, made recommendations, and set traps in places where he figured they were nesting (ewww!). But my friends, if you haven't heard me say it before, I've discovered in my last few years, in different places lived, that city mice are smarter than country mice. I've literally watched mice run around traps. In the house I lived in in St. Paul, the mice were eating the M&M's off the sticky traps. I know!
So Sandy and I scared the mouse behind the love seat and prepared for war. I was in ready position, on the tips of my toes, big tennis shoes on, tennis racket in hands, ready to dodge in any direction and step or swing. Sandy was in charge of moving furniture. We barricaded what we thought was its only other exit with traps and moved the love seat.. even tipping it upside down to see if it got into the couch somehow.. only to find nothing.. no holes, no mouse, no holes in the floor boards, only the rude, random remnants of a mouse. sigh... so LF is still on the loose.. ugh.. all the invasion!
More random thoughts.. since I know I'm going to be here for a while and its getting too cold to work-out outside (too cold for my wussy self), I finally joined a gym here. I went to meet with Carin, my first ever personal trainer, today. She's great! Nice, laid-back, fun, etc. I also concluded that she was a great fit for me as I heard the other trainer next to me yelling at his trainee as a form of encouragement.. like crazy Jillian on Biggest Loser :-/ and my trainer just said, "all right, 'atta girl, 2 more reps! good deep breaths!" perfect! If some hot guy was yelling at me, I'd probably drop the weights, run out the door, and cancel my membership!
Anyway, I'm super, super excited to be a gym-member again. There's something about gyms! I walk in and I'm instantly happy! Without even working out, being inside the gym brings some sort of strange, instant satisfaction. I belonged to a gym the last three years I lived in St. Paul, and I really fell in love with the frequent gym visits/workouts. I think there's something encouraging about joining a new gym, too because I haven't gotten into a routine yet. Its all new and foreign which I think will leave me more willing to try new things and add variety (which is "always important"). wahoo! oh, funny random side note, i love daily mass on EWTN. There's a priest there this week (not sure for how long) who is just phenomenal! I really enjoy his homilies. So as I hopped on the treadmill this afternoon, I was flipping channels (cause the treadmill had its own tv monitor!!) and came across daily mass! I was actually excited to get to exercise and kind of go to mass at the same time- talk about multi-tasking! ;) ;) I'm sure the people behind me thought I was crazy as I smiled at the monitor and laughed as Father made jokes.
So that's all for now.. I'm also excited because Andrea and I are going to do something tonight.. I'm off for a few days because I work nights this weekend and she's out of town the next few weekends, so I'm happy we get to hang out tonight!
I think that's probably plenty to chew on for now, eh?
Thanks for checking in, for your prayers, love, and concern.
Love to you,
Laura