My precious friend Kathy....

So one of my besties came to see me yesterday!!!  This was such a welcome and needed visit with one of my lifelong friends!!! Kathy also earned her PhD in medicine at Alabama while I was working on mine.  That is where we met in 1998, and have been super close ever since.  She is soooo much like me it's scary sometimes.  She is also an only child, who is very close to her momma.  We were both raised in church, and we pretty much have the same outlook and view on most things. 

Kathy finished her Ph.D. 2 years after I finished up, so when she was done, I was already here in VA and had gotten settled in.  She went on to do a postdoc fellowship at the NIH in Durham, NC and I got out into the working world making money.  Then she landed her first power job as a pharmaceutical professor and moved to Savannah,Georgia.  It was here she met her husband, a man that she had met back in Alabama one night out with friends.                                                                                                      

 Kathy was my one friends that always swore she was never getting married or having kids. I would always say "Yes you will.... I can't wait to go looking at wedding dresses with you one day" But she stuck to her guns and she never saw herself married.  So when she called to tell me she was going to marry the guy she was currently dating- I was floored, and in February 2011 she actually did it!!!  So now my party girl and free spirited friend has an amazing husband!!!  Her hubby is in the Coast Guard as a rescue swimmer and they were just transferred to North Bend, OR-- yes about as far away from me as she could get, but when we talk and laugh on the phone it's like no miles are between us really.

So when she called a couple weeks ago to tell me her husband has a conference in Elizabeth City, NC and was going to come with him to see me and some other friends out here- I was sooooo happy!!!  So I got off work early and let our Nanny go home early, and me, Kathy and baby Chloe headed out for an afternoon of fun!!!  We headed over to the Virginia Marine Science Museum and Science Center.  Man did we have fun looking at all the sea creatures!!

This was kind of neat to see this guy cleaning the exhibit while we watched him!!

 We also saw this really creepy VERY VENOMOUS snake called the King Cobra!!!  And I was really wanting him to puff out his coat for me to prove he was indeed a cobra, and almost as if he heard my request, he puffed himself up!!

 Kathy was quick enough to get a picture of it!!  Below you can see him all puffed up-just soooooo creepy those things are!!!  I often wonder why God created these things???

 We saw crocodiles who looked asleep and/or fake, but I'm sure if you touched him he would show you just how real he really is!!!

 One of my favorite exhibits was the sea Turtles.  They are so neat, and MUCH bigger than I had envisioned.  They also had a sea turtle nursery where you could see the little ones being raised in a safe environment!!!

 They really are very neat creatures!!!

Then here is our little Chloe, just happy as she could be riding in her stroller like a big girl now, chewing on anything she can get her hands on!!!!

They had a stingray petting tank, ummm no thanks!

And a horseshoe crab petting tank, but I like to look at sea life, not really touch it!!!

After the museum, we met Sweetness and my Mom at the Town Center for dinner at Kathy's favorite place, California Pizza Kitchen.  It was so good, and Chloe was such a good girl while we all ate, talked and laughed reminiscing about old times.  The went to Cold Stone and we all sat outside in the town center and had ice cream, and little Chloe took a cat nap.  Mom headed home and then we went back to my house to put baby Chloe to bed, ut I wanted to grab a few pictures of Kathy and Chloe together first.  Those are what you saw up top, and then one of the 3 of us.  I told Kathy next time she sees Chloe she will probably be walking and talking!!! 

Now after seeing her and being with her again aft so long, I really miss her more.  I hate it that she is so far away, but maybe in 3 years when her hubby gets transferred again, they may get lucky and get stationed here next to me!!!

Thank Kathy for the beautiful day and I will always cherish our friendship.  I am so glad you have a life partner now and that your future looks so bright!!!  Love you girl!!!!