Experimenting

There has been no blogging recently but it's not due to lack of things happening on my end of the keyboard. I've been experimenting with about 10 different blog interfaces since September and have a domain name out on each site. I'd go the wordpress route like many I know, it really is the best option, but it won't work on my version of Safari.

So, I'll be taking a break from blogging until I get all of that situated. You can see my pictures uploaded on a regular basis for luckilu_gallery on www.flickr.com. Stay in touch with me there.

I'll keep you updated when the new blog is unveiled.

Sometimes I wish I was as easily ammused as Easy. He spent at least 30 minutes with this tree frog. If I hadn't removed him from the window, I think he would have been there all night.

Tonight was out first evening to truly relax. I made my first dinner at home, ginger chicken with asian noodles, (yum) and we caught up on some of the premier shows from last week. Jared has been anxiously awaiting the premier of Hero's and we really enjoyed it. We just looked at each other a few moments ago feeling unsettled. I think it is because we weren't as productive as we have been every other night. Good news is the desk is setup, bills are in their place, bedrooms are functioning, kitchen is perfect, and so is the laundry room. Much better than a week ago.

But unsettled we still feel. Maybe I'll start painting the eight dining room chairs...

Slow Going

Here are two reasons why I am not currently posting:

1. Still moving. Still exhausted. Too much venting for anyone to read on one blog.

2. My Apple is giving me a pop-up message that reads something like "If you do one more thing, I will blow up and delete everything you have saved and love on this machine. Stop touching me and go away." So, we are going to buy a new one next week. This is not a cheap event incase you were wondering.

I barely have the strength to post this.

I completely agree with dad and mom's number one son that moving stinks. While we don't have any damaged furniture, I have a husband with a severly sprained ankle and I am missing half a toe. The house is still a mess but it is MINE! I'll post more once I find my desk.

Treasures in the Backyard

I did a little wandering through the backyard this weekend and found some real treasures.

LSU

Saturday night Jared and I joined many other fans at the LSU opening game against Lafayette. We ended up having seats in the visitors section which was a little disappointing. However, LSU won so it was a great night. I was on a hill near the Journalism building when taking this picture. A young guy was talking to a friend on his cell phone and I could overhear him saying, "You'll see me. I am wearing a hat and a purple shirt." As if this information could really help identify him in a crowd.
We also stood about 5 feet away from Shak for 30 seconds. It was amazing to see how many people tried to take a picture of him, myself included.

Colorado Part 2

We did take a lot of pictures at the Pasley's party and here are a few of the best. Not everyone can say they have been to a birthday party with belly dancers.

Colorado Part I

We had a great time in Colorado last weekend. We started out by arriving in the Springs around 11am. We drove past all of our old houses to take pictures, ate at our favorite deli "Wooglins", and spent some time downtown. I love Colorado. We have some of our best memories from when we lived there.

It was long overdue to see our family there and quickly we remembered how much we missed seeing these guys day to day. Good friends, mountains, and 50 degree weather makes for a good, good weekend.

Photo Friday 1.

Today's word for PhotoFriday is circle. I took this picture while waiting in line for admission at a museum in Romania.

Colorado....

We are in the process of changing to a new system for blogging so Jared and I can both have a forum. In the meantime, I'm back to ol' blogger again. It's a good system really.

We leave this morning for Colorado (it is 4am as I type this) and Jared and I are very excited about the getaway. It couldn't have come at a better time. There are many rumors going around about what this party will actually entail and with the Pasley's, you never know what you are going to get. They are some of the most creative people we know.

Have a great weekend and many pictures will come soon of the event!

Moving...

To a new site. To see my future blogs, visit http://luckilu.typepad.com

Is it really my space?

I am overwhelmed at how true the Kevin Bacon conspiracy actually is. You see, I signed up for MySpace this evening (all because of Abby and Phil Crozier) and I found some long lost friends within 2 minutes. I wasn't even trying - I promise. I don't like myspace, it kind of freaks me out the way personal ads and 'The 5th Wheel' freak me out.

Plus, it isn't really "myspace." Sure, I can post my own pictures, thoughts, and questionaires from 1997, but I feel like "myspace" is completely invaded. Maybe I don't want to reconnect with that creepy guy from Richard and Michelle's wedding. But most likely, the Kevin Bacon conspiracy will catch up to me and I'll be getting a request from him to be "my friend."

Until then, I'll be nervously waiting.

Extreme Makeover

Two weeks ago, Miss Wanda brought Remi home from the groomers. He came out a completely different dog. In fact, she said she told the groomers that they had the wrong dog when they brought him out. I cannot believe how different he looks.

But alas, it is the same dog. You can't mistake his bark anywhere.

Abigail

There have been many times in my life that I have been beaming with pride over my sister Abigail. This time might surpass them all. Abby recordered a few rough songs yesterday in hopes to begin recording a CD this fall/winter. The song "Daughter of the King" is written about little Daniella. She is one of the babies at the hospital in Romania.

You can check out her songs on this site, http://myspace.com/abigailmaynardmusic

They are fantastic, enjoy them! I love you Abby!

Activities

We spent the whole weekend celebrating Jared's birthday. Friday night was the birthday party, which extended to the next morning as the Kennedy's let us bunk in their guestroom for the night. Saturday we toured the town looking for new "for sale" signs and saw zero prospects. We enjoyed a few trips window shopping at the bike store and at academy and we visited the planetarium where we saw SonicVision. If you like U2, Coldplay, etc., this is a really great thing to see and so out of the ordinary movie going experience. We really enjoyed it.

Sunday we went to church at the Chapel on Campus and then did a little more house hunting. Can you believe we are desperate enough to move into an 1000 sq. foot condo? No yard, third floor, glorified apartment? We are really looking for the dogs benefit, as you can tell, this would be the perfect spot for them. After house hunting a second time, we were depressed as usual and needed a little cheering up. Woody Allen was just the man to do it - so we went to see Scoop. We very much enjoyed it.

Back to the house to eat burgers and finally relax. Another year older for Jared - still no house.

The Birthday....

Jared's birthday was Friday night. Our friends Ben and Lori hosted a great party for him. We had about twenty friends, from all walks of life, mingling together. We had several different activities, including "amish horseshoes" and poker. Jill Holland was kind enough to give Jared this tattoo for the evening...Below are more pictures from the evening. I think 28 looks pretty good on him. Should be a fun year!

Watching Fishing...

As I am typing this, Jared is watching fishing on TV. For the Maynard's, you can all laugh now. He is watching two guys on a boat, talking about a motor, and kite fishing. In honor of Jared, I thought I'd post some of his recent fishing trips for your viewing pleasure.

We didn't eat the shark...

The Championship

To keep from being bored on a Sunday, we challenged Richard and Michelle to a tennis match. Surprisingly - they were excited about the idea as well. So today we headed out to the courts, accessorized in visors and wristbands, and the Hall's kicked our butts.

I've never played a game of tennis before. Unfortunately for Jared, he was naturally on my team and we didn't do so well. I need to practice my serve apparently. All in all, we had a great time and I think we will make this a once a month activity.

Similarities

Kelly sent Jared and I some pictures of the kids at Casa Rebeca fishing. This picture of Levi reminded me of my own little fisherman sans the coke bottle glasses...

I think they will get along well.

Allyson

It's Allyson's birthday today and we spent the evening fattening ourselves up at CheeBurger CheeBurger. Milkshakes, Frings basket (half fries, half onion rings), CherryCola, and big, huge burgers. We haven't eaten like this in a while.

Thanks for the opportunity Allyson and happy birthday!

The Ultimate Project

Could this be our first house? This would be the ultimate project for Jared...

My husband has many loves and they always seem to take on new diminsions around his birthday. His latest hobbie is cycling and I have looked at more "fixed gear bicyles" than I care to mention. He made a remarkable discovery on Monday night, finding an old bicycle under his father's shed. I would say, this bike has been there, in the dirt for about 13 years. From this shot, you can't tell how much abuse this bike has seen. However, upon closer inspection you can see years of built on rust, an animal eaten seat, and tires are rotted green.
I love my husband and married him because he always sees life as a project; something to be taken and reconstructed, painted or polished. In the end, he is always right about his hidden treasures. Maybe this bike is something special too.

Back Home

It is hard to imagine that only one week has past since Jared drove us from our world travels to Baton Rouge. My body has finally adjusted to the time difference and I am settling in at work with 5 days under my belt.

In the back of my mind, I can't get the kids out of my head. It is times like these that the focus of your life is not inward but searching for a ways to love and serve others. Livada's organization is doing amazing things for these children and now, I am trying to find my place in the mix.

In the meantime, the kids at Casa Rebeca should look forward to lots of hand written notes, pictures and packages from Abby and I.

Vasi

We met this little boy Vasi the first day at the baby hospital. Vasi was one of the most easy to remember at the hospital. He would follow us from room to room as we played with the babies asking to be held and wanting all the attention.

Abby and I found out on Sunday that a terrible accident happened at the baby hospital and Vasi died. The baby floor is about 4 or 5 flights up and he fell from a window. My heart sunk with this news and the effects this has on the nurses and ministry for Livada. Kelly posted a lot of information on her blog about this and I hope that everyone has a chance to read this post, www.lovethelittlechildren.com

Lots of prayer is needed, please keep this on your heart.

3am

We are leaving shortly to depart for Cluj. Our flight is at 6:50am and we make four stops before arriving in Houston at 8pm today. It will certainly be a long day of traveling.

Although you might not tell it from the picture above, this was taken right after and before a sob fest with the kids from Casa Rebeca. Abby and I knew that it would be hard for us to say goodbye, but we were not expecting the kids to be emotional at all.

Lots of crying, packing, and two hours of sleep later - we are ready to go home. We will have posts above the rest of our trip when we get back to America. Pray for safe travel. We will miss the babies and the kids at Casa Rebeca terribly but we will be back again soon.

Yesteday we visited the market here in TM. Potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots are in season and every stand had those staples. We also picked up some cherries and saw the first crop of strawberries.

Kelly told us that Marian had his first strawberry last summer and he was so thankful for it. He was 13 then. It is amazing what I take for granted.

The Roller Coaster

Abby took this shot while she was standing on the sidelines of this "roller coaster" at TM Day. She wasn't feeling so well so she volunteered to stay behind. The ride was fun, although it took us around the same track about 10 times. I was very glad when it stopped.

Look how fast we are going!

Dogs have so many talents

Several years ago at the Romanian Zoo a lioness birthed a few cubs. The cubs were unable to eat from their mother so the Romanian's brought in a Vizsla dog to help nurse them. The Vizsla is a Hungarian short-haired pointing dog and reminded me very much of Easy.

She seemed to get along just fine with the lioness she nursed by her side. She is now full grown. Amazing what dogs can do!

Lacremora

Friday was one of our last visits to the baby hospital. While we were there, Kelly spoke with one of the nurses and found out the name of the baby I fell in love with. Her name is Lacremora. Apparently she is named after a flower here in Romania and she is now nicknamed "La" as Lacremora is such a huge name for a little baby.

We brought washcloths and towels and gave the babies a little cleaning. La also learned how to make noises with her mouth while we were there and discovered her tongue! We will visit her for the last time the Saturday before we leave. I will miss her very much.

TM Day

Yesterday Abby and I, along with the kids from Casa Rebeca, visited the festivities at TM Day. There were carnival rides, live dancing entertainment, and large blowup slides. The highlight of the afternoon was the "modern dance" routine done by a dance squad. They danced to the Pussy Cat Dolls, "Don't cha" and wow was it enteraining.

The kids loved the roller coaster (train) we rode as well as the bumper cars. We had a blast!

Romania Zoo

I am a huge animal lover and so are the kids of Casa Rebeca. Upon entering the zoo, we were greeted by 5 horses nibbling grass at the entrance. We then made our way through the extensive monkey exhibits and then through the fish and reptiles. Along with the lions, tigers, and bears, we also saw donkeys (as pictured above), deer, and dogs. To top off the whole adventure we ended with a large exhibit of guinea pigs and rabbits. The kids enjoyed this the most.

Tomorrow we are heading back to the baby hospital, going on a picnic with Casa Rebeca for lunch, and having the girls of Casa Rebeca over for a slumber party night at Kelly's.

Babies, Part II

The babies we saw today are all under a year old and two of them do not have names that we know of. It is bittersweet to see them as they are so easy and wonderful to love but it is so easy to feel helpless. Please pray for these infants and toddlers. As they sit in their cribs all day, sleeping or looking at the ceiling, they are losing precious opportunities to learn, walk, and explore. Pray that they are blessed, that they find a family and find their love from Christ.

Pray for solutions in Romania.

Today....

We are on our way to the baby hopsital again this morning. For those of you who are Saved By The Bell fans, we packed a large duffle to carry some babies home. I wish we could....

Father's Day (a little late)

Abby and I share the pleasure of having the funniest dad in America. He gave us money this summer to complete an expedition to Italy and Romania to ensure he was also the funniest dad in these countries. It is now verified that he is the funniest dad in London, India, Thailand, and Dublin. Some may say this expedition is a waste of money but it does help dad sleep at night. He is now ready to try out for last comic standing, the "Dad edition".

It is not every day that I have a reminder to bless my father and it just so happens this time around, I am a 26 hour plane flight away from him. None the less, I love you and am thankful for you and who you are every day. Thank you for being a support in my life and for this trip. It has truly been a blessing. This time - I took pictures of the scenary just for you.

Love you Dad and miss you! Happy Father's Day!

More Babies

More pictures of us at the baby hospital. Abby is holding a little toddler boy. He has probably been at this hospital since arriving in this world. I am holding a little baby who is about six months old. Unfortuantely, I do not know this babies name or sex as it was not posted. It was the sweetest few hours to be able to hold this little baby. We had a chance to feed each of the babies in this room before leaving and gave them a few hours of our attention. I so hope we have an opportunity to go back and love on them more.

The Trip Begins

This is why we are here, to see babies like this. Today Abby and I went with Kelly to the Baby Hospital. Due to the way the orphanages are handled here in Romania, these unwanted babies are left here for sometimes two or more years. They receive very little attention and spend 95% of their days in their cribs alone. Today we were able to hold them. laugh with them, and call them by name. Some of these babies did not even have names or birthdates. I so wish that Romania allowed open adoptions as so many of these babies could have loving homes in other countries.

Rome

Abby and I saw many sites in Rome and happily, we saw everything we wanted in our four days. Here are the highlights, with pictures.

Friday - We arrived in Rome and managed to catch a taxi at the airport. The taxi driver did not know very much english but was able to get us to our hotel. Our hotel room was small but we loved it. The first day, we walked around the hotel area and Plaza Fiume, picked up some pizza at the cafe, and cherries at a local market. We scheduled the "Illuminated Tour of Rome" for that evening and had so much fun learning about the sites and seeing Rome at night.

Saturday - We overdid ourselves this day. We mastered the subway, went to the Colleseum, the Roman Forum, Capital Hill, the Emperors Monument, and on and on. We also did a little bit of shopping and ate our lunch on a terrace across from the Roman Forum.

Sunday - We mastered the bus system and loved this mode of transportation. We took a test run to the Christopher Columbus Center to see if we could buy tickets to Cirque De Soleil. We were able to get tickets for the 9pm show and also went to the Rome Trade Fair and sampled cheese, bread, baked goods, etc. We did most of our gift shopping on this day as well and really enjoyed ourselves. I picked up a pair of nikes and Abby got a nike watch. (Not that this could not have been purchased in the US, but seems fun to say they are from Rome).

We made a second trip to the trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps (which were under construction) on Sunday night. We didn't make it back to the subway before it closed so we made a long walk back to our hotel. Very tired....we slept in until 1pm on Monday.

Monday - Last of the site seeing. We spent half of the day at the Vatican and the Vatican Museum.

All in all, we had a blast! Pictures are coming. We are having trouble with uploading them.

Everything is Italian!

We are getting ready to leave for Romania early, early tomorrow morning! When we get settled, there will be lots to tell. In the meantime, here are some fun tidbits to hold you all over....

- Everything is Italian. Dad, FYI no one speaks English. (Including this website)
- Our hotel is not close to anything, including the Spanish Steps.
- Spanish Steps took 3 days to find. Abby can't talk about this without cursing so ask me for the details.
- Prego is a word for everything, can be used in any sentence and has no meaning on its own.
- Don't tell the wait staff that your order is incorrect. You will hear lots of yelling in Italian. Again, don't ask Abby about this...
- Italian men, glad we can't understand what they are saying. Lots of screaming, pointing, and death looks.
- Buses are the way to go for traveling.
- Texas automatically translates to BUSH!
- Taxi drivers rip you off.

Pictures to come tomorrow!

Packing

In three and a half days, I will be boarding a plane to Rome. I feel nowhere near prepared. Packing has begun this morning and it has been somewhat of a slow process. The dryer keeps buzzing, MTV's Made keeps beckoning me to the couch, Remi is chewing a bone on my house slipper, and my job has called 4 times. Also, the list for Wal-Mart keeps getting longer and longer.

I have accomplished cleaning out our closet, organizing Jared's clothes, uploading and ordering pictures on www.walgreens.com, and posting this journal entry. None of these things were on my to do list for today but I feel glad they are getting done.

Now it is time to get serious about packing...

The Little White Ghost

This face gets me every time. My dogs personalities are so interesting and I swear, even though I am sure everyone think I am crazy, they are so much like people!

You will hear me talk about "my boys" and no - I am not refering to any human children but my dogs Copper and Easy.

Easy has some of the best characteristics. He is so very loyal and is always wanting some good attention. He is much more willing to take commands and he loves to cuddle (with myself or his stuffed animals). As Jared's mom says, "He has a sweet heart."