Maryann's Musings

Another low-key day in Europe? Yes, please! How about an afternoon spent with picnic lunches, boating on the Vltava River, and eating gelato ice cream? Once again, the perfect weather called for a special day out with dear friends. We four kids had promised Aunt Amy that we would wear life jackets, then promptly forgot as soon as we walked onto the dock. The boys posted themselves as the paddlers of our petite ship (thankfully, Tristan didn't call anyone "Mr. Christian" like he normally does on mini-vessels; it's a reference to  The Mutiny on Board H.M.S. Bounty ). Everyone liked the boat we selected because of it's peculiar seating. It reminded us of beach chairs. Breathtaking architecture meets God's wonderful design in nature Posing for a group selfie taken by a so-dubbed "fake Go-Pro." One of these things is not like the other... More than one swan swam up to our boat and expectantly floated around us. We concluded that oth...

Our fourth day in Prague was very low key, but Tristan and I loved it. (Yes, I said fourth day, and this is part 3.  We spent our second day at Prague castle, but that was such a huge amount of stories and pictures that it is going to need some work. So, I skipped it, and you get to enjoy other days until I have it ready). This was specifically the day that Tristan's preoccupation with roses really took off. The weather had just changed from cloudy and windy to sunny fall with changing leaves and cool breezes. The roses bloomed and the trees began dressing up for their last hurrah before winter.   Roses. I spared you the majority of the pictures.     We spent the day with a dear friend who showed us around her neck of the woods in Prague. She made a point of showing us a special memorial in her neighborhood. The current inhabitants of a home had put plaques outside on the sidewalk in front of their house. It has the names of Jews who previously lived the...

   Over the last decade or so, our family has watched a lot of Christmas movies. We know the classics and the ones certain family members can watch without feeling sick. This year, I decided to take it a step further. Here is a compilation of our ultimate Christmas movie wish-list; it gets to be our watch-list! Some of these movies we have seen dozens of times. Others were recommended to us. (You'll also notice we have a thing for the Muppets).    I patterned the list to capitalize on variety. We have our 'Funny Friday' with the Santa Clause movies, and our 'Serious Sundays' with more meaningful movies, usually Christmas Carol themed.         We are especially excited to watch the new Grinch release because of Benedict Cumberbatch. Fridays in our house are Sherlock Fridays and we left off on a cliff hanger! You would not believe the patience this is going to take.  For all you How It Should Have Ended  and...

Have you heard of the Feast of Booths? It is a Biblical Jewish holiday celebrated between October 13th and October 20th. As you may have already guessed, the 15th was the very day we quite unknowingly chose to visit the famous Jewish Quarter in Prague. Even though most of the attractions were closed, that didn't stop Tristan and I from walking around and enjoying the gorgeous old buildings in the area. It's a door, Savannah!  ( Inside joke)   Since the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague was nearby, I decided that today was as good a day as any to visit. It was spectacular.  Since the museum itself is housed in a Neo-Renaissance edifice, the building and interior were almost distracting from the exhibits in each room. A stained glass window in the hall The ceiling in one of the rooms   The museum had several rooms housing glass-work from many Czech artists. Bohemian glass is famous, but I was especi...

  Just so you know, the perfect place to break down is in Germany on a sunny autumn day when the leaves have just blushed red and orange, the weather is about 55 degrees Fahrenheit, and there is a lovely field by the side of the road edged with trees. Even more ideal, pack an abundant picnic lunch beforehand and bring plenty of good books, comfy coats, and great friends. Sounds unreal, right? This was our exact predicament, if you can call it that, last week on Tuesday, October 22. A view from our lodgings in Lofer, Austria   Tristan and I have returned home after the experience of a lifetime. We spent two weeks in Europe and visited the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany. Every moment was an adventure and every moment of hard work that I put in at Chick-fil-A to afford it was absolutely worth it!   The very first part of our trip began as soon as we landed in Prague. The Kinsky Palace was holding an exhibition of French Impressionists from the Ordrupgaard C...

A red-frangipani flower (Plumeria rubra) in our yard    We made it!   Our family landed in West Africa on August 14. We have lived in our house (meaning slept in) for over a month now. Let me catch you up on all our news.   Thankfully both of our water heaters broke after  we had used them for a few days, otherwise morale would have been quite low. We are also grateful (especially us ladies) that our explosive gas stove has been completely replaced. After several close calls in the mornings leaving everyone slightly shaken, Mom and I drove to the store with measuring tape in hand to purchase one. It's Italian and quite nice. We have blown over five transformer fuses, cracked innumerable rotten eggs, but haven't fried any electronics yet. I'll let you know when we have fully settled in!   Have you ever wondered about communications outside of the US? We used to buy SIM cards when we flew into a new country. I remember Mom and Dad having a l...

   It is coming up on 2 years since I last posted on my blog. I won't bore you with excuses, explanations, or extra fluff. Needless to say, I'm back. Hopefully.    We are currently in Texas and will return to West Africa in a week! The Lord blessed us with medical clearance, VISAs, and airplane tickets. There was a direct flight that we wanted to take, but it was cancelled at the last minute. Now we will be in transit for (approximately) 30 hours... it's good for us, right? It builds our survival skills!   Many things are on the horizon: a trip to Prague (actually a return trip, but most of you don't know that),  resettling into our home, and things not even I know yet.   The nice thing about taking a two-year break is motivation, renewed fervor, and knowing who your true readers are. To those of you who encouraged me to come back after a long, busy two years: you are my heroes, and this blog is dedicated to you. National Museum of the...