I met my ex-husband through a friend that I worked with in a hardware store when I first moved to California.  He turned out to be a very lost and shallow individual.  Although I would have gladly spent the rest of my life with him, I feel fortunate to have been given a second chance to find true love.

After 13 years of sticking my head in the sand dune, I recently went through a very regimented weight loss program called divorce.  I don't recommend it, but in addition to the renewed figure, I walked away with 2 of the most beautiful girls you would ever have the pleasure of meeting.  Although I refer to my home as the "house of hormones", I wouldn't trade it for the world.  My daughter Taylor just graduated from preschool and my daughter Devon is conquering the world as she meets it….. and all at the grand old age of 2.

I have been working with a great group of people at Merrill Lynch for a little over 10 years now and hope to stay until I retire (or find a rich man to take care of me - ha).  I started as a receptionist without an ounce of knowledge regarding the stock market.  After a year I took the Series 7 Examination and became a Registered Client Associate. 

I am currently a Senior Associate working on a team with one of the top producers in the area.  The team I work with gives me the flexibility to put my concentration on the most important part of my life, my family.  I feel fortunate to be working with such a great group of individuals.  In fact, I don't know of many companies that promote family quite as much.

I enjoy camping, traveling, fishing on the Bay, dancing, Art and Wine Festivals,

I occasionally keep in touch with Tim and John Hatch, and Ed Pesantes.  I have not traveled outside of the states too much since I left Saudi but I try to visit with different friends around the states at least once a year. 

I take the girls on an annual summer vacation to the beach in Capitola, CA once a year.  In fact, Taylor's first trip was when she was three weeks old.  It's a trip we all look forward to.  Some of the families we go with have been going for 40 years.  We are getting ready to go on a camping trip, which is also turning out to be an annual event.  Both girls have been going since before they could walk. 

My brother, Joel, is living just a short distance away in Concord, CA with his wife, Lorraine, and two beautiful children, Marie and Jonathan.

I am in the process of rediscovering life (as anyone in my situation could doubtlessly relate) and enjoying every minute of it.  I try to surround myself with new and old friends and would love to hear from all the Brats out there.  If anyone would like to contact me, my email address is jhrowe@pclient.ml.com.

      Great Works         

Blue Latitudes  -Tony Horwitz retraces the travels of British Captain James Cook and examines his legacy in this informative, entertaining story.  Cook was a remarkable man, rising from humble beginnings to become one of the most celebrated men of his era.  He discovered Antarctica, Hawaii and several islands of French Polynesia.  He was also the first westerner to visit much of Australia.  He charted much of the coast of the northwestern U.S. and Alaska as well.  At one point, twenty-five percent of the plants known to science had been collected on his voyages.  He set the standard for the trips of Charles Darwin and others.

Quicksand, Oil and Dreams -Aramco Annuitant Mike Ladah’s look at his life growing up in Jaffah, Palestine, becoming a refugee and moving to Ramallah in the West Bank, coming to the US for college and then spending his career in Saudi Arabia and the U.S. with Aramco.  It relates the author's experiences to the political and social events of the time, placing the stories in a historical context.