Maya Strang...living it up!

Home Improvements

2006-08-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

We've been doing some things around the house. Here is one of the main things. Cameron put up a back splash in our kitchen and under cabinet lighting. It was the first time he tried it and it turned out wonderful! I'm very proud of him! Here are some pictures of it.

update

2006-08-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

i started a new way of eating last monday. it's from the book "Eating For Your IBS." It's really taken a mind shift for me. You are to eat soluble fibers at every meal which is pastas, white breads, crackers, potatoes, etc... Since I want to loose weight I've been eating whole grains and none of the above! Other things...no sodas or anything with Sucralose. So basically I can drink water and vitamin water (which is really good thankfully!). I need to eat and drink lots of Peppermint (it's soothing to the gi track). No chips, but I can have baked lays and pretzels. Never eat a salad first. The insoluble fiber can trigger my IBS so I am to eat them at the end of the meal on a full stomach. Veggies have to always be cooked. Chocolate in very small doses. I can however eat sugar. It is a soother! Main suggestions are marshmallows, twizlers and jelly beans. there are tons more. oh no red meat or pork. only chicken, turkey, tofu and seafood (which i wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole!). i have to stay away from fried foods, egg yolks and dairy. i went cold turkey with this and will slowly try things again to see how i do. i've done pretty good. the first two days were hard. my ibs seemed to get worse, but then i started to feel better. i also have to take benefiber every morning. it's pretty crazy, but i'm willing to give it a go to help control my ibs.

i have realized that it is only bad in stressful situations. so in those situations i need to make sure to eat "safely" as it's called. and the main thing is to walk out my faith! i know God has healed me of this. now i just have to stop letting the enemy tell me different.

with the book are a bunch of recipes to make "safe" foods that taste good. i make a peppermint fudge cake last night. it has applesauce, unbleached flour, canola oil, vanilla and peppermint extract, sugar and unsweetened coco powder. no eggs and no dairy. i brought it into the office today and thankfully everyone loves it. i am so happy cuz i love to bake. now i get to figure out ways to switch our ingredients to make it healthier for everyone's gi tracks. i think it's pretty cool. it can be my thins. :)

thankfully i love soy products. just had a tofu veggie lasanga for lunch and it was really good. last night i had 2 glasses of caffeine free coke. i did fine. i think that will be my treat every so often, cuz i really do love me so coke-a-cola! i'm gonna try the tofu cheesecake next. we'll see how it turns out. :) i'm not so sure about that one.

k, i'm gonna go. my lunch break is over. :)

Pictures...

2006-08-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

I love this photo. Cameron took this photo while we were trying to get eveyone to smile at the same time. Our true selfs. We are at the National Air and Space Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

Cameron and me at the Natural History Smithsonian.

Picture of me at the Natural History Smithsonian with a big lion above me and Chandler peaking out from behind me.

The girls at our first course two cake class. Making flowers.

Hello!

2006-07-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I haven't blogged in awhile. Been busy. Been lazy. You know how it goes. :)

Well, the clomid did not work this time around. We are taking this month off and not focusing on baby making. It was starting to consume my every thought after 2 years of trying and taking a toll on me emotionally. This time to step back and get some perceptive has been really good. We want to pray about this whole thing and hear from God on what steps we should take towards getting pregnant.

I've started working out again. FINALLY! It has been about 2 months. I stopped after I had my surgery. But I've taken a few pilates classes and am LOVING them! I can already feel a difference. Love it! Love it! Love it! And they say you should be in good shape while you are trying to get pregnant. So it's a good thing all around.

Cameron and I took a mini-vacation down to Celebration , FL. We stayed in the hotel in their downtown. The neighborhood is very similar to the one we live in, but their downtown is very quaint and relaxing. The whole pace was much slower and very relaxing. We'll definitely go back again. Any locals should definitely check it out.

I'm going to DC next Sunday(16th) - Wednesday(19th) with Camerons family. The enemy is of course trying to pull me back into the whole stomach thing again, but he can just shut it! I have been set free and this will be another opportunity to walk in faith. But please do pray for me! :)

Our cake class is over. We are going to take level 2 in August. It was a lot of fun. I think I'm going to take a beading class this month. I've wanted to learn how to do that, so I can make necklaces and bracelets.

Okay, I'd better run. Below are some photos of recent activities...

We went bowling with friends last Saturday. On my last game i bowled a 144! So I had to take a picture for proof.

Our final cake class cakes. Mine is on the left, Tia's is in the middle and Dana's is on the right.

My clown cake from the third class.

a few pictures

2006-06-19T15:20:00.000-07:00

Tia's cake is on the left (she loves owen wilson). Mine is on the right (i love Cameron Edward Strang). We have fun in cake class.

Tias birthday. We went to GatorLand with a bunch of friends to celebrate!

Here are some of the gators. Icky!

Birthday dinner at Cafe Tu Tu Tango!

can anyone see this?

2006-06-14T06:57:00.000-07:00

for some reason i can't see my blog on any computers????

baker barker bakke bakery

2006-06-09T15:01:00.000-07:00

so for awhile now i've wanted to open a bakery...one day that is. today cara mentioned that she wants to open one one day too. so if we open one together it will be called "The Baker Barker Bakke Bakery" which comes from "cara's maiden name, the nick name i use to call her, my maiden name and then bakery cuz it'll be a bakery." we are just so clever! :)

anyway, tonight i start my cake decorating classes. yippy!

have a great weekend!

maya

here we go

2006-06-06T10:01:00.000-07:00

WARNING: Girly details below.

i went in yesterday morning for an ultrasound. they needed to check the size of my eggs and the clomid did it's job! the doctor was very happy with my results. my lining is a little thin so i am taking some estrogen for 3 days which will help build that up. tonight i have to give myself a shot of hcg which will release the egg. (i think) then on friday i start to take progesteron which i do until i find out if i'm pregnant. this will help promote the pregnancy i'm told.

lots of steps, but this is nothing compared to the other ways of getting pregnant.

i have actually been feeling overwhelmed with all the steps of getting pregnant with help, but i became very encouraged yesterday when i was told that everything looks good and was working like it should. God has been my strength through this. Amazing. i don't know...it's hard to describe it if you haven't been through it.

so, i'll talk to you all soon.

love ya!

a few things...

2006-05-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

i started clomid on sunday. i've been a little emotional about it for some reason. not real sure why. but, i am excited about it. a little nervous. it changes from minute to minute. cameron reminded me that God has promised us a child. i needed to hear that. i need to stand in faith on that.

anyway, we've had a good memorial day. i finished my office at home this weekend. i painted it and got a few accent pieces. i like it.

oh, we had a lost party this past week. here are a few pictures:

LOST cake (obviously homemade) :)

The OTHERS (i'm on the right and i was the leader of the others...which we found out was actually not the leader)

Chris as SYIAD

Jeremy as LOCKE. He won the costume party.

Tyler (jacks dad) and Nick (jack on the plane)

it's time...

2006-05-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

i went in for an ultrasound this morning. i have to go back on sunday morning for another one cuz i wasn't at the point yet to start clomid today. so it looks like sunday i'll get to start it. from what i've read i'll take it for about 4 days and then will ovulate about 5-8 days later.

so we're excited for this next step to be here towards us getting pregnant.

hope everyone is wonderful. love you all!

maya

Another 2 year old!

2006-05-12T08:09:00.000-07:00

Our godson Elijah Kinsley is turning 2 on Sunday. What a great Mothers Day present for Becky! Love you Eli!

4 years

2006-05-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was our 4 year anniversary. Here is a picture of us on our 3rd. Love you Cameron!

Owen

2006-05-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

crazy that owen is now 2! here are few pictures i found of him turning 1...

chocolate

2006-04-27T22:38:00.000-07:00

today i had a chocolate craving and i gave in. i didn't just slightly give in. i dove into as much chocolate as i could find. 5 chocolate covered gummy worms (the best thing ever!), chocolate covered cookie, chocolate covered marshmellow and two reses peanut butter cups. dang it...i had done so good all week and then BAM. all i can do is just shake my head at myself. maybe next week will go better.

2006-04-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

The surgery was a success! The doctor was able to successfully open both of my fallopian tubes. The surgery was not as bad as I thought it would be and I am feeling way better than I thought I would be. I have not had to take any pain medicine! The incision on my belly button is pretty sore and I do kind of walk funny at first (cuz standing straight up streches it out). The most annoying thing is the gas they put in my stomach is having to absorb into my body (or something like that) and I have this dull pain in my collarbones and ribs. They said it should go away in about 48 hours which would be by the end of the day. So all in all I am doing really well. Thank you so much for your prayers! I go in for a check up in two weeks and then I think they'll start me on clomid which will make me ovulate more regularly (i think...so many things i may get them mixed up!). :)

I'm hungry. Maybe I'll venture out and grab some lunch. I can operate heavy machinery now...aka my car.

Love ya all!

Maya

2006-04-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

oh...I am finally reading again! This is a big deal for me. I love to buy books. I usually read a chapter or two and then move on. It takes a really good book to keep my attention. I'm actually reading Falling Into Love which just came out on Relevant. and I read the first few pages of Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller. it looks like one i'll enjoy too. yeah for reading! any good book suggestions?

2006-04-18T20:44:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow at 1pm is my procedure. I go in at 11am. The surgery is at 1pm. It should take about an hour and a half. Then I'll recover in the recovery room and go home. I've taken Thursday and Friday off of work to get better.

I am actually feeling pretty good about the whole thing. Probably because once it is done we can start to have some babies!

Your prayers are much needed please. I am praying for a safe and successful surgery and for Gods peace to continue to be over me through this process.

Love you all!

Maya

2006-04-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

My procedure will be next Wednesday the 17th at 1pm. Below is what they will be doing to me. Both of my tubes are blocked. I'm actually really excited cuz that means we are one step closer to having babies! More to come later...

Laparoscopy
Laparoscopy is an outpatient surgical procedure to view the pelvic organs by using a small, lighted telescope (laparoscope) inserted through the abdomen at the belly button. This procedure is used to diagnose and treat problems such as blocked fallopian tubes, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, or adhesions (scar tissue) all of which may impact fertility.

A laparoscopy is performed under general anesthesia. After you are asleep, a needle is inserted through your belly button and the abdomen is filled with carbon dioxide gas. The gas pushes the internal organs away from the abdominal wall so the telescope and any necessary instruments can be used in the cavity to treat your condition.

When surgery is complete, the gas is removed from your abdomen, the incisions are closed, and you are taken to the recovery room. When the effects of anesthesia have worn off you may return home and continue your recovery for a few days prior to resuming activity and work. A two-week post-operative follow-up appointment will be scheduled prior to surgery.

Where does it go?

2006-03-29T10:32:00.000-08:00

Where does time go? I remember high school weeks taking FOREVER. Now weeks fly by and suddenly it's April. I mean come on! :)

Our NY trip was great. It was fun to wear coats and scarves. We walked everywhere which was actually really fun. By the third day we had the whole "walking like a new yorker" thing down, so we got places pretty fast. My flight back was also really good. So now I can travel. Good stuff.

My birthday is this Saturday (not an april fools joke). I'll be 27 years old. I'm about 95% okay with entering into my late 20's. :) I'm getting a massage tomorrow and am thinking for working a half day on Friday and going to get a manicure and pedicure.

Work is going well. We just had the Radiant Magazine release party which I was in charge of. It went really well. It was at a cool venue in downtown and Leigh Nash performed. She was awesome! I can't wait for her CD to come out in August.

Last Thursday I had my HSG (i think that's what it is called) at the fertility doctors office and found out that both of my fallopian tubes are blocked. Thankfully they can be unblocked with surgery. The surgery will be in late April. Once that is done I'll go on Clomid and THEN WE'LL GET PREGNANT!!!! So we are praying that we will conceive sometime this year! I'll keep everyone updated.

Besides that, I'm trying to work out more. Last night Tia and I worked out for almost 2 hours. Now we just have to do that more than once a week!

Okay. I'm gonna go. I'm posting on my lunch break and need to finish eating.

Talk to you all soon!

Maya

NYC

2006-03-16T20:16:00.000-08:00

hey! i just wanted to let you know that our new york trip is going really well. the flight up here was GREAT and i have felt totally fine while we've been here. it is weird. i keep thinking i'm going to start to get stomach problems, but i haven't. it's like i feel like a normal person. my body is functioning like it use to. it's an awesome feeling!

God is so amazing. He is more than amazing. He is so faithful! I kept reading James 1:1 while coming here. It is about how we need to be joyful during our trials. How we go through these trials so that we can help others (or something like that. i don't have my bible in front of me right now.) So that is me. I will be joyful through whatever trials come my way. Kristy once told me that when she got a migraine she would start to praise the Lord even though she was in pain. That just stuck with me and then I read that verse. It's all starting to come together and make sense to me now. :)

Anyway, we've been VERY busy since we've been here. We've seen a musical and a play. Gone shopping in time square and soho. Walked all over the place today. Tried to get into the taping of the colbert report, but couldn't get in. Went to the MoMA and saw Sting walking around. Tomorrow we are going to the st. patricks day parade, tour nbc studios, watch oru play in the ncaa tournment (we'll watch at the espn zone) and then we are going to a knicks game tomorrow night. so i think i'd better wind down and get some sleep.

thank you so much for your prayers. i appreciate them so much.

God is Great!

talk to you soon...maya

hopeful

2006-03-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

we had our open house parties / camerons 30th birthday party this weekend. one on saturday for friends and one on sunday for family. they were both really fun.

we leave for new york on tuesday afternoon. please pray for me. i am actually feeling okay about the flight right now. i've been praying for gods peace to wash over me. i really feel like it has. i know the enemy will try to attack, but my god is faithful and strong. i was telling kristy that when i land in new york i am going to feel like i've conqured the world. it will be a fear i have had for a year and a half that will have been defeated. i'm really excited!

for the past 23 months every time i start my period i get a little depressed for a few days. i started this weekend and i can honestly say that i am not sad. i am actually excited because now i can schedule my appointment to see if my tube are open and we can also do camerons test. if all that comes back and working correctly then we'll start on clomid. so i am giving praise for not being sad right now and rather that i am hopeful for the future. for what god has promised us.

k. i'm going to go veg on the couch. i think i'll take pictures of the house first since it's clean. :) i'll try to upload soon.

i hope everyone has a wonderful week. one filled with amazing blessing!

love you all!

maya

spiritual battle is going on

2006-03-06T20:53:00.000-08:00

(i just read kristy's blog from a few days ago and it is stiring something inside me.)

i hate the enemy. so much so that i want to cuss. AHHHHHHHH.

i am going on a plane in one week. last time i got on a plane it changed my life. all who are reading this know what happened and how it has affected my life since then.

because of this the enemy is starting to put doubt in my mind again. i HAVE been set free from this. i know i have.

i feel this battle over me. i can't even explain what it all is. i just feel it. my dreams have been crazy. three nights in a row now.

God has already won!

please pray for me. this next week will be a tough one for me.

thank you for being my friends. i really appreciate your love and support.

maya

...real quick...

2006-02-23T15:34:00.000-08:00

we close on our house tomorrow morning! we are SO EXCITED! our walk through went great. almost everthing was perfect. tomorrow we do our final re-walk through and then close at 10am. our pods will be delivered in the morning and movers will be there in the afternoon. it will be busy, but awesome to be homeowners again!

my dr. appointment went really well. i had blood work done and they called me today to tell me that it came back normal and looks good. (they took 6 vials of blood!) i had an exam while i was there and that went well also. next i'll have this dye/x-ray thing done to make sure my tubes are open and cameron will get his test done. if all that comes back good than he will start me on a low hormone called clomid (i think). it will trick my brain to get it all synced up with my overies and should make me ovulate more reuglarly. oh, i ovulate really late in my cycle. around day 22 instead of around the 14th. so this medicine would help with that. he said most patients get pregnant within 3-4 cycles. so it was a really encouraging visit. we are both glad we went! i'll let you know when those other tests take place. thanks for your prayers. God is in control of this whole situation. He is great!

kristy was there. she is way cute in her lab coat. very official! has her own office and everything. it was really great to see a familiar face while i was there (although cameron was there with me) and hug her. helped calm my nerves.

talk to you all soon!

maya

ouchie...

2006-02-21T12:52:00.000-08:00

i have a big fat hang nail and it is really hurting me. owwwwwwwwwwwwwie!

i love to twirl my hair. it really does sooth me for some reason.

long time no talk...

2006-02-19T20:16:00.000-08:00

hey everyone. i have been beyond busy lately. work is crazy for me. my part-time status has gone to almost full-time recently so when i get home i'm beat. i guess it's easy to come up with excuses for not blogging. :) anyway, here i am. i've found a few mintues. here is whats up...

-we are FINALLY closing on our house this friday, the 24th. YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!!!!!!! the house is looking amazing. a few snags of course...they put the wrong carpet in the entire house is the big one! that now is fixed though. they didn't put hardwood floors in the office, but that also got fixed last week. also the kitchen cabinets had to get the fridge enclosure put in so they had to redo a portion of the kitchen cabinets. BUT it is all fixed and looking beautiful! we have our final walk through on Wednesday and then close on Friday! Thank You Jesus!

-so we are moving in on the 24th and having our open house/30th birthday party for cameron two weeks later. WE ARE CRAZY! but we are doing this so fast, because in three weeks we are going to new york for camerons 30th birthday. we wanted to do the party before we went. we'll be really busy, but we've been waiting for this since october 2004, so we are totallly ready. we've bought most of our furniture, picked out our interior paint colors and scheduled to have everything delivered/installed/etc...... :) good times ahead!

-on the baby news: we are going to see the fertility doctor. the one kristy and kyle go to and where she is now working. i am having my first appointment with the doctor on this tuesday. please keep that in prayer if you think of it. at the moment i'm not nervous. i hope to keep it that way. we are ready to go and get everything checked out and see if we will need help to get pregnant. God's in control. i feel good about it.

so the next few weeks will be crazy, but i hope to keep you all updated.

love you all!

maya

17 days and counting...

2006-02-07T13:36:00.000-08:00

We have a mailbox! Yippie!

Our woodfloors have been installed. The carpet will go in this weekend!

Our railings and banisters have gone in!

My friend Becky finally made it out to the house to check it out. She is hanging out in our kitchenpantry.

Our kitchen sink is in!

Welcome Laura!

2006-01-31T10:25:00.000-08:00

My very very good friend Laura Harris has now joined us in the blogging world. Here is her blog: www.lhmomma.blogspot.com

Hop on over and say hello.

We have known eachother since I was in 3rd grade and she was in 4th. She is now married to an Army drill sargent and has two beautiful kids.

Love ya Laura!

good peoples

2006-01-25T12:46:00.000-08:00

if you are at all interested in getting involved or want to donate some money to a good cause go here: www.peacegospel.org

i just got an e-mail from them about whats going on and thought i would pass on their organization to others.

love ya!

More Pictures...

2006-01-23T10:12:00.000-08:00

This is the view of our landscaping from the front/right angle.

Here are some of our cabinets in our kitchen.

This is the tile in the masterbath. This is on the shower wall.

Picture of my sweet Mckenzie fast asleep on me after we went and visited the house and she played in the park.

Me as a Magic Dancer (2003-2004). On Saturday night we went to a game and it was the first time I actually missed dancing. It was a fun season in my life.

5 weeks from Monday...

2006-01-21T09:07:00.000-08:00

...we close on our house! February 27th!

Our house is in the final stage (stage 7). The house is looking amazing. Here is what is now done:
-shutters are being put on
-front porch railings going in yesterday
-front and back porches have been texturized and painted
-landscaping is done
-touching up the outside house paint
-our air conditioners are in
-all our cabinets are in
-all tiling is done
-inside is all painted and trim/moldings are done
-all our counter tops are in
-light fixtures are starting to go in
-door nobs are all in
-starting to go through and do touch-ups on the walls inside

Um...I think that is it for now. Everything is really coming together now. Obviously we are VERY EXCITED! We locked in our interest rate last week also. Now we can start buying stuff for the house. YEAH!!!

I've got lots of pictures that I'll try to upload soon.

Love ya all!

kristy chowning

2006-01-16T10:03:00.000-08:00

for all of you who know her, isn't she just great?! yesterday we drove together to jen's bridal shower and we got to talk for about an hour. cameron and i are thinking about going to an infertility specialist since we have not been able to get pregnant yet. since kristy and kyle have been going through this she was an open book with me yesterday about the whole process. i just wanted to thank kristy publicly for being such an amazing friend!

a few things

2006-01-11T19:09:00.000-08:00

i have a mild case of mitro-valve syndrome (i probably spelled that wrong). one of my heart valves flutters in and out when it should just open and close. it's not super serious. i don't have to take any medicine for it. i'm just suppose to stay away from caffine because that is what sets it off. well, i kind of forget that and so i just drink caffine like it's going out of style. and then BAM my heart starts to go crazy. it'll be like that for a few days and then go back to normal for a few months. it's kind of a cycle (probably one i should stop). all that to say my hearts been flurtering a lot lately. i'm trying to be good, but my love for coke-a-cola is not making this easy. so i've bought caffine free coke.

that was random. it's just on my mind because it's been acting up for over a week now.

i have to go. a new episode of LOST is finally on!

talk to you all soon...

House Pictures

2006-01-03T13:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of our fireplace and our tv nitch in our future family room.

Here is our beautiful drywall! This is upstairs, standing in the loft looking at the front two rooms.

What our house currently looks like on the outside.

All our doors are hung! This is in one of the upstairs bedrooms. The closet doors and entry door for that room.

Pictures...

2006-01-03T12:33:00.000-08:00

Tia, Elizabeth, Katie, Kristy and Maya

Cameron with his framed Magic jersey (the staff got that for him for his 29th birthday. it is a signed jersey by Dwight Howard. his parents got it framed for him for christmas. it will go in his loft when we move into the new house.)

Cameron and I at work. He was in the middle of getting his picture taken for his column and I interrupted to give him some love. Azuree captured the moment. I was doing financials...our amex statement is in my hand. :)

Mckenzie peaking around the chair at us. So cute!

Happy New Year.

2006-01-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a happy new year. Cameron and I had a chill new years. I really dislike going out and being in the middle of thousands of people...i don't do good with crowds. Anyway, we went and saw our house and then had fun driving around and going in other houses under construction. Then we went and saw "The Producers" (it was pretty good) and then went to dinner. Got home around 11pm and watched the ball drop on tv. I had a good time. Next year I'll have to give in and go out I'm sure. :)

I don't feel like I'm ready for a new year. I want to me more gung-ho and excited for a fresh start, but I'm actually feeling a little depressed and tired. I'm sure that will go away. I really do want to be excited for 2006.

2005 was a good year. Pretty hard for me health wise though. I am feeling a lot better now and am praying that 2006 will see me restored to health 100%. This year we sold our house, but didn't get into our new house yet. Relevant had a great year. Lots of growth which makes my job harder, but I still love it. I really thought we'd get pregnant in 2005, but we did not. I am praying that 2006 will the year for us to get pregnant and perhaps even our first child will be born in 2006. Only God knows for sure.

Whats on my mind right now:
The Gators just won their bowl game. Good game. I just cleaned up our room. You couldn't even walk around in here with all our Christmas presents everywhere. Now its organzied which always makes me feel good. Cameron is at the Capital One Bowl with Kyle and some Zondervan people. I've got it on the tv and it looks like a good game. My sweet Mckenzie is sleeping next to me. She has lost 2 lbs. since we've been here. I think all the change and stress. She's still 16 lbs, but she feels boney which I don't like. The NFL regular season ended yesterday. And last night was the last Sunday night game ever! WHAT! That was a shock to me...i don't like that decision. Of course Sunday night does have good tv, so maybe it's okay... I'm going to go workout in a few minutes. I'm super tired so I think I'll lay down for a few first. I finally got my photos downloaded and I can't get them to upload. Stinks...i'll have to try again later. I really like regular coke-a-cola. Not a good thing to like with all those calories and sugar.

I pray for Gods vision and direction for my life is made very clear to me in 2006. I pray to hear Him in everything I do. Oh...and I pray to stay motivated to keep working out. :)

Talk to ya later...

House moving forward!

2005-12-30T00:38:00.000-08:00

We have drywall! It is the most beautiful drywall I have ever seen. (okay...maybe not) It is so cool to see the actual rooms of our future house. They are still telling us we'll move in in March, but Cameron and I are praying to get in in February. We've got a ways to go, but we are so happy that we are finally making some progress.

I just joined the Winter Park YMCA. It is about 15 minutes from work (25 minutes from our current living space), but only 5 minutes from our future home. I've been twice and I absolutely LOVE it. I've done cardio (all the machines have their own tvs in front of them to watch) and I had my training session today (it's free for new members) which showed me how to use this computer system which tracks all of my reps/etc. on the machines. It is so cool! They also have great workout classes which I am very excited to take. I can also go to the Crosby Center YMCA which is at the Winter Park FL Hospital down the street. They use it as a rehab center, but all the W.P. YMCA members can go there and use everything. Totally cool. If you can't tell, I am so excited to be working out again. Yippy!

Lots more, but I'll save for another post.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that 2006 holds many blessings for you and your families.

Love...Maya

December 7th

2005-12-07T21:01:00.000-08:00

Today is the 5 year anniversary of mine and Camerons first date. We went to Outback steakhouse and then to Virgin Megastore. And today is the 4 year anniversary of Cameron asking me to marry him. We went to the Magic game (of course!) and then to the Grand Bohemian restaurant.

Cameron surprised me today with some beautiful yellow and red roses with pink babies breath. I LOVE roses.

I love my husband. It's been an amazing 5 years!

I love you Cameron!

life in a 15 x 15 room...

2005-12-05T18:19:00.000-08:00

hi everyone. sorry i've not been around much lately. i don't have internet here at the house (i had to take aol off my computer because it keep making my computer freeze when i was at work) and i never remember to post after work. but here i am...finally! :)

well, our house failed framing last week. so that will push everything back two weeks. they say we'll have drywall, cabinets and tile in our house by christmas. i don't want to be cynical, but i'll believe it when i see it. so with all that, they are telling us we'll be in our house by march. so that means we'll be in our 15 x 15 room for another three months. we are totally bumped right now. please keep both of us in your prayers. for patience and for favor with the builder to get our house done as soon as possible.

i've bought one christmas present so far. i plan to do some actual buying this week and weekend. after this blog i'm going to do some shopping online. i would love to get it done and wrapped in the next two weeks. i'll let you know if that actually happens! :)

cameron and i went to the ucf championship game on saturday. they lost, but it was a lot of fun. we had beautiful weather and great seats.

my last hip-hop dance class of the year will be this wednesday. i'm gonna make up a dance to a christmas song and we'll have a little party afterwards. i'm looking forward to that.

i am soooooo happy for kyle and kristy being pregnant. God is so good and faithful. such an awesome time for them. she was literly glowing yesterday at church. she looks beautiful!

we've had a couple prohetic people tell camerons mom (and then she told us) that God told them that a baby is coming soon for cameron and i. that is really encouraging. i got my yearly check up results back today and everything is normal which is also encouraging. we've been trying for a year and eight months now. cameron and i were just talking yesterday and we think we should go see a doctor soon. something we will need to pray about over the next couple weeks. please keep us in your prayers for all this stuff.

work is going well. only 13 work days until christmas vacation. but it's not like i'm counting or anything. :) we're just staying here for the holidays.

okay. not sure when the next time i'll be able to post, but i hope everyone that reads this is doing well.

much love...

i'm filling out this thingy...

2005-11-13T17:41:00.000-08:00

2 names you go by:
1. meb - maya elaina bakke
2. mayamilkshake brings all the boys to the yard

2 parts of your heritage:
1. germany
2. norwegian (no idea how to spell that)

2 things that scare you:
1. boating on florida lakes (alligators)
2. never getting pregnant (although fear is not from God so i know i shouldn't)

2 of your everyday essentials:
1. bottled water
2. my sweet puppy

2 things that you are wearing right now:
1. gap jeans
2. banana republic teal knit shirt

2 favorite cds (at the moment):
1. worship cd from cits
2. anything jason upton

2 things you want in a relationship (other than real love):
1. communication
2. happiness

2 truths:
1. God does not give us a spirit of fear, but that of a sound mind
2. it's not my timing, it's Gods and to trust Him at all times

2 of your favorite hobbies:
1. watching tivo (dick vandyke and home decorating shows)
2. dancing

2 things you want really badly:
1. a more positive attitude
2. chocolate

2 places you want to go on vacation:
1. california (never been)
2. england (i really like it there. minus their mustard.)

2 things you want to do before you die:
1. be all that God wants me to be
2. be a good wife and mother

2 ways you are stereotypically a dude/chick:
1. moody
2. i have boobs (HAAAAAAAAA! i can't believe i just wrote that. i'm so leaving it!)

2 things you are thinking about right now:
1. i need to go switch out the laundry and change the sheets before cameron gets home from the magic game.
2. i'm tired of myself.

2 stores you shop at:
1. restoration hardware
2. storehouse furniture (oh, and we did buy our couches! i'm upload pictures later.)

where have i been for the last few weeks?

2005-11-12T20:20:00.000-08:00

HI! So sorry that I've been slacking on my blogs lately. Since it's been awhile I'll just do a list of whats up:

-our house sold on Nov. 2nd. everything went really well. i'm glad it is over with. we are living with camerons parents now which is actually fine. it's really great that they are letting us stay here during this transition.

-we went up to the mountain house this past week. did a mini-vacation and went to ikea for more office furniture. the leaves were wonderful colors, but it was 78 degrees everyday! so no cool weather, but still a nice time.

-tomorrow we are going couch shopping. hopefully tomorrow i can blog that we bought one! also looking for all the other furniture (dining room is the other major room we are currently working on). it's a little overwhelming, but an exciting time.

-we don't have wireless internet now so blogging at home is a lot harder. can anyone say DIAL UP? bringing it back. :)

-i was a hair model today. it was fun but she started to cut my hair so it would flip better and now it have lots of layers. i really dislike layers in my hair. so that stinks, but whatever. it's just hair and it'll grow back.

-i'm starting my pre-natal vitamins again. i haven't taken them for months. when i was at the womans conference over a month ago i got prophesied that a baby is coming. so they prayed over me for that. which was really awesome. none of them knew me other than i was joy and steves daughter-in-law. it was very encouraging for us. reminder that God is totally in charge. please keep us in your prayers.

-went to a great 30th birthday party for Kyle. also a get-2-gether for jeff and elizabeth leaving. it was awesome to be with friends and hang out and laugh. friends are great!

-have not been to church in a LONG time. we are going tomorrow and i am really looking forward to getting back into our normal routine. i miss the church. the people. the worship. the presence of God. i'm really happy with where God has us now. it is really nice to say "yes we go to cits" and not "we're visiting a lot of places." i'm glad we are in a new season.

i'm tired so i'm going to bed. talk to you soon...

And now for the weekend...

2005-10-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

-today i had lunch with elizabeth. she is such a blessing to my life. God truly brought her into my life at just the right time (his time). we knew eachother for only about 48 hours and a week later i was offering to go up to nashville and help her pack up her house and move down here. we just clicked. i never had any close girl friends growing up. i had my trust with girl friends broken numerous times growing up and so i didn't really trust other girls. and the girl friends i did have, i kept at a distance. but not with elizabeth. i was/am just an open book with her. and with being that way with her it has helped me to realize how important it is to have a close network of girl friends and thats its okay to be vaulnerable with them. anyway, lunch today was great. i'm REALLY going to miss those when she's gone. love you elizabeth!

-had blood work done last week and found out i have high cholesterol. both my parents have that and take medicine for it. i'm just trying to eat better and eat more oatmeal. (i'm munching on oatmeal squares cereal right now, which is actually really good!)

-when we were at the womans conference about two weekends ago i got prayed for by some powerful women of God. the main reason was to break the hold the enemy has over me with the whole stomach problem stuff. i've been doing better, but still hadn't riden in any cars with people. but tonight we went to a movie and dinner with our friend flynn and i did fine. GOD IS SO AWESOME. he is so bigger than the enemy and he has already won. i just have to walk out my faith. and that is hard to do, but tonight i actually did walk out my faith. the faith that God has healed me and set me free from all that. it's a start and it was great!

-movers put almost everything in the pod on thursday. they dropped off another pod today and tomorrow we are packing up the rest of the stuff. then we have to clean the house. final walk through is on sunday and then we close on monday. we're still at our house. we'll move in with the in-laws on sunday. it should be a fun time.

k. i'm going to bed. big day tomorrow. peace out yo. :)

The Craziest Week Has Started!

2005-10-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

My mom helping to pack up the kitchen.

Cameron emptying out the attic.

WOW! So this is it. This is the last week we are going to be in our house. The pool table is getting moved tomorrow (it's going to the office for 2 months cuz we can't keep it in storage). The pod gets dropped off on Wednesday. The movers come at 10am on Thursday. We close on Monday, the 31st. We are moving on Thursday because we might have to get another pod so will need Friday-Sunday to take care of that. So I think it is safe to say that this is a busy week for us! :)

My mom helped get the whole kitchen boxed up today. The front rooms and bathroom are done. The attic has been emptied out so now I just need to go through all that. And the whole master bedroom/bathroom have to be boxed up still. And we have 48 hours to do it in! Honestly, I'd rather have it this way. No need to draw the process out.

Also, our new house is finally moving forward again! The house is painted, the front stairs/sidewalks/driveway are poured, electrical has started and we are about a week away from drywall. The builder said once drywall goes in it's 30-60 days before you close. We're aiming for the end of December.

Love ya all!

Maya

Our House Has Sold!

2005-10-13T21:11:00.000-07:00

Well that went fast! :) Here's the timeline...

Friday (10/7/05) our house went up on the www.relocationorlando.com website. Wednesday (10/12/05) our real sign got put outside our house. Thursday (10/13/05) we had our first showing at 6:15pm. By 9:30pm we had sold our house for our asking price! AND they need to close ASAP. We will meet tomorrow morning, but are thinking we'll close on Monday (10/31/05). That is just over two weeks away.

Hold on a second. I need a minute to breath! :)

I'm excited to have sold our house so fast so that 1. we don't have to do anymore showings (it takes time to get your house ready to show) and 2. we won't have to deal with selling a house and also closing on our new house at the same time. It really is a blessing. Of course this is the first house Cameron and I had together so it is a little sad.

"Everything happens in Gods timing" seems to really be an important lesson I have been learning lately. I must say the selling of this house and the timeline to moveout is definitely another one of those lessons. But God is in control. Isn't it great to know that!

Anyway, just wanted to share.

Now we all have to pray for Elizabeths house to sell just as quick.

Love you all!

oh...

2005-10-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

camerons weird habit...stuffing food wrappers into the couch cushions. i just pulled out a brown paper bag that use to have chipotle chips in it out of the couch cushions. it is the oddest thing ever. cracks me up.

mckenzies weird habit...if you have bad breath or breath that smells like any kind of food she'll get really close to your mouth and sniff. funniest thing i've ever seen my dog do. so far that is. :)

what weird habits do you or your loved ones do? anyone wanta share? hee hee! :)

Twirling

2005-10-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

According to my mom I've always twirled my hair. I use to suck my thumb and twirl my hair with my night-night as I feel asleep as a kid.

My first memory of twirling my hair was when I was in sixth grade taking a history test. My teacher called me out in the middle of the test in a silent room and told me to stop twirling my hair! Ever since then I've been "aware" that I twirl my hair. I'm now 26 years old and my twirling habit is still going strong. I can twirl it with amazing speed. I do my best twirling with my left hand. Basicly because I write with my right so when I'm reading, writing, etc... I twirl with my left hand. However, I do switch it up sometimes. I twirl when I'm bored, focused, tired, thinking, driving watching tv/movies...you name it I can twirl my hair during it. Thing is, I twirl my hair so much that it breaks my hair and makes it uneven. I've tried to stop. I'll put my hair up and then I start to twirl the hairs that fall down in the back. I mean COME ON..who does that? :)

Family and friends have made it their mission to tell me to stop anytime they see me start twirling. I've made it my new years resolution and said a million times that "on monday I'll stop twirling," but that goes out the window on the drive to work. And that's where I'm at with it. I stopped sucking my thumb when I was 9 years old (i had to get a mouth piece that had spikes sticking out over the roof of my mouth). We'll see how long it'll take me to finally stop twirling my hair. The journey continues...

(oh and i was twirling my hair the whole time i wrote this blog)

house for sale...

2005-10-08T20:02:00.000-07:00

we put our house on the market this week. (www.relocationorlando.com)

hoping it well sell fast! our new house is at LEAST two months away from being done. we'll probably end of living with camerons parents for a month or so. we'll see.

our new house has sat almost still for 11 weeks now. AHHH! so we left them a message today that we need to meet next week. they were suppose to finish our siding, paint our house and start electrical this week. and once again they did not do what they said they would. so now we're going to be the squicky wheel cuz that always seems to get things going. so...builder get ready to hear from us a lot until our house gets moving.

besides that...mckenzie is cuter than ever, my friend becky has adopted our cat jerry and has turned him into the nicest cat ever!, cameron loves to eat the precut fruit bowls from publix, i have an obsession with eating really bad lately (reeses' cups and cokes are awesome!), i desperately want to get over my fear of flying and riding in cars with others (oct. 15 will be one year since all my fun stomach stuff started), i'm dancing at my mother-in-laws conference next weekend, gators won today (5-1), vickings are not doing so good (1-3), not pregnant yet (been over a year now, Gods timing not mine), i've been SO moodly lately and i'm sick of myself, have not been good at going to church lately (i need to spend more time with the Lord. it is so important)...

thank you Lord for everyone in my life. bless them and keep them close to you at all times. thank you!

later peeps. i need to go find a coke! :)

thoughts...

2005-09-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

my mom and i were talking about how poorly our elderly are taken care of once they go to a nursing home. she was paired up with a lady (through her church) to kinda just be friends with. my mom has gotten very close with this lady and now she is having some health issues and is back in a nursing home. my mom is a nurse (and started out working in a nursing home) and was telling me just how awful it is there. irene (the elderly lady) is losing control of her bodily functions but her mind is still very sharp. well she needs help with everything almost and my mom says the nurses or workers basically just don't care. i can't even fathom this. irene is having everything paid by the state so the nursing home she is in is not top of the line, but she still deserves to be treated well. i have no idea what i can do, but my spirit is aching about this. it hurts my heart to know that this is a common thing. our elderly deserve more.

i am a servant. a giver. a helper. i don't need anything back, i just like to help others in anyway i can. sometimes this can be a burden i guess. in my mind at least because i can not always help as much as i want to or as many people as i would like to. i pray god guides me to use the gifts he has given me. for people to not see me, but to see him shining through me. for all my actions to bring glory to his name. i heard td jakes say once before he started a sermon something along these lines...God, remove me from this situation and only let your words/thoughts/actions be hear and seen. that's what i want with my life. i want to help others. my friends. my family. my church. strangers. i've started to realize that i have a heart to help fellow americans who need help. a lot of people (celebrity's lately) are very focused on helping africa. which i think is amazing and i admire all that is being done to help that country and others. but i think our poor/homeless/or people in some form of need are overlooked. i need to look online for some organizations. i'm sure there are tons. i just feel a stirring in my spirit about this lately.

on a lighter note...we are about to finally put our house on the market. been getting it all cleaned up this weekend. i pray that whole situation goes smoothly. our baldwin house hasn't moved much. electrical should start this week and the rest of our windows will get in and they'll finish the siding. i'm ready to move in. lets get this thing started! i guess step one is selling our current house. :)

oh...ARE YOUR READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?????????????? yeah! such joy this time brings me. i had to watch every football game for four years in highschool so i think it just stuck. then i started to watch the vickings with my dad on sundays. and now i'm addicted! and cameron loves the gators so now i am addicted to college football. so last weekend and this weekend i've spent HOURS and HOURS in front of the tv watching any and all football games i can. and i LOVE sportscenter during this time of year. good times! :)

wow. they just showed faces and names of sex offenders on a commercial. that is awesome! we need to be informed.

k. hopefully i'll start blogging regularly again.

love ya!

posting

2005-08-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

sorry i haven't posted lately. i haven't been in much of a mood to blog or do much else for that matter. the enemy is really trying to get me down. it's been over a week that i've been battling some depression. i have moments where i break through, but i get sucked back in. pray for me if you think of it. thanks...

Other Pictures

2005-08-19T12:55:00.000-07:00

My parents celebrating their 30th anniversary!

Cameron and Mckenzie dancing. Yes Mckenzie has my white sports bra on. We were bored so we dressed her up. :)

Kristy and Jaden at the tile party.

Caitlyn

2005-08-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

This picture makes me want to be a kid again. :)

I need to blog...

2005-08-18T21:44:00.000-07:00

Crazy, but I seriously have a craving to blog. I've been SO busy this past week, that I have not hand anytime.

Quick Update:
-cameron and i have been giving the relevant offices a "face lift" which has been a lot of really hard work and late nights, but it is really looking nice and the staff seems to really like it. we've still got more to do... :)
-the first hip-hop dance team practice is this saturday. pray for a good turn out. and pray that the dance i've made up is liked by the dancers. of course as long as it brings glory to god that is all that matters. pray for me for saturday if you think of it.
-work has been tough. author royalties go out next week so this is a very busy and stressful time for me. God is absolutely in control. i've been doing my best to get everything in order for this.
-went on a double date with my brother-in-law (chandler) and his new girlfriend (samia). they are very very cute together and she is really sweet. we went to dinner, the "tile party," and saw the penguin movie. (cute movie but i would recommend renting it)
-speaking of the "tile party" it was at cara's house (she and her husband have wonderful new tile in their house). any reason to hang out after hours with our co-workers and friends is always fun. tile looks great!
-oh, my parents had their 30th wedding anniversary on monday! we took them to dinner and had a great time. also camerons parents 34th wedding anniversary is friday! very awesome!

here are some pictures from tonight: (i'll upload more later)

Hailey modeling the new tile at the tile party.

cara and jeff davis. the tile party host and hostess.

cameron and jaden having a staring contest:

Aparently I've Been Tagged...

2005-08-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Elizabeth Jackson for this “5″ meme!

5 names I can’t use for my kids, but I love:)

Boston
Isabella
Elizabeth
Sara
Natalie

5 Movies You’ve Seen Recently:

Must Love Dogs
Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Three Men and A Little Lady
Dukes Of Hazzard

5 Nice Things That Happened To You Lately : (In the last week)

I've gotten posts on my blog. (that really makes me happy!)
My puppy fell asleep on me. (so sweet)
Was asked to by Elijah's godmother.
My husband kept complimenting me on what a great job I did painting the offices.
My husband danced with me.

5 magazines I subscribe to:

None.

I tag Chownage.

Dancin' Dancin' Dancin'

2005-08-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

Our first hip hop class went great. I had 9 people show up. Everyone caught on really well and seemed to have a good time.

I'm so excited to be dancing again. It's been over a year. I'm going to find an adult hip hop class to take also. Every song I hear on the radio I'm dancing to in my head. I watched the top 20 videos on VH1 today and was zoned in on all the dancing. It feels so good to want to dance again!

Now onto choreographing for the first practice for dancing at my church. Fun times.

We're Godparents!

2005-08-11T14:56:00.000-07:00

So our good friends, Lloyd and Becky Kinsley, have asked us to be godparents to their son Elijah. And we have very excitedly accepted! It is such an honor to be asked. We've actually only been in the same country with them twice (they live in the UK) and have not even meet Elijah yet (although Becky was pregnant with him when we first meet, just nobody knew yet), but God has blessed us with them as friends. A job at Relevant started our friendship and it is one that will last for a life time. Thank you again, Lloyd and Becky, for asking us to be Elijah's godparents. We are so excited!

The pictures are of our very cute godson!

Vacation Pictures

2005-08-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

so we are back from our vacation. it was wonderful to get away for awhile and not have to worry about everyday life. but i am glad to be back home. tonight tia came over and watched the first nfl preseason game (bears beat the dolphins by 3)! we both love football and of course we played a round of dutch blitz (thanks to elizabeth's research on how to play with only two people) during half time. okay. hope all are well. here are a few pictures from our vacation...

view in front of the mountain house.

front of the mountain house.

sweet mckenzie sleeping on the drive up to jasper, ga.

Another Update From GA...

2005-08-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

-today we went to ikea. was very inspiring for our new house. we decided that we are going to come back up to atlanta closer to when we get our new house and we'll get a few pieces from ikea and the other discount furniture stores in the atlanta area.
-saw dukes of hazzard today. was actually a pretty good movie. i say it's worth going to see. southern accents are a little rough, but has good car racing scenes and some good laughs.
-also went to the lenox mall and had dinner at micks. was a good time hanging out with my hubby.
-tomorrow i plan on choreographing for my first hip hop dance class that will be held this upcoming wednesday. i'm nervous, but excited. yesterday the enemy really tired to attack me. i got pretty down trying to find the right song to dance to for church and i was feeling uninspired. making me think i can't do this. but the enemy is WRONG. of course he would try to stop me when i am making up dances that are to praise the Lord.
-tomorrow i also plan on going through my wedding photos and finishing up my scrapbooking thus far. (i'll let you know if that actually happens)
-cameron and i have on the dvd for newsradio. cameron loves this show. funny stuff.
-oh! yesterday i was walking mckenzie and i saw a few deer (a common thing), but then i noticed something moving that was black and i realized it was a BEAR! so we ran down the driveway into the house and i ran out to back porch and took some pictures. crazy! it was a cub, but still! :)

a few random thoughts...

2005-08-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

cookies turned out good. no mixer so had to do everything by hand. cameron says, "very good." (direct quote) :)

my dog is so cute! she is up here with us in GA. she loves walking around the mountains. i love her.

my hubby and i have been watching The Office (bbc series) and Arrested development. our type of humor. good stuff.

walking up and down these mountains is great for my legs and butt and cardio.

i need to spend more time with the Lord.

goals for this week of vacation: work on my scrapbooking, spend time with the Lord, do author royalties (oh fun), pick out wedding pictures so i can actually get our album together finally (it's only been 3 years!), and of course spend time with my wonderful hubby. oh and relax!

JASPER, GA

2005-08-02T17:29:00.000-07:00

So, I've been trying to upload pictures, but using dial up is driving me crazy. I may have to upload pictures later.

Anyway, Cameron and I are up in Jasper, GA. It's a small town about an hour north of Atlanta. We got up here late Sunday night. Monday we hung out at the house in the morning and then went into Canton for lunch. Then we drove about an hour to find an Apple store so we could get a power cord. (can't live without the computer) We then saw the movie "Must Love Dogs" which was a pretty good chick flick. On the drive home we went the back roads with the convertible top down. It was so relaxing and beautiful. Today we've hung out at the house. I actually went into town for a few hours. Got some groceries and stopped at the local FRED'S discount store. Got some cheap scrapbooking supplies and some adidas (for $20 bucks). Ah...living in the mountains is good. :)

I love it up here. So peaceful. I'll try to blog more while I'm up here. Hopefully with pictures. :)

I'm gonna go bake some cookies.

Some Pictures

2005-07-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

All my toys! Cameron and Owen playing with the wabbles.

Elizabeth and Owen opening presents on O's 1 year birthday party!

Our house in it's current state.

Caroline and Jaden at Owen's birthday party.

This is me

2005-07-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

Hi. My name is Maya Strang. I am 26 years old. I've been married for 3 years. My husband and I have a cute puppy named Mckenzie. I work at Relevant Media Group as the Operations Manager. We are currently selling our house and building a new house. I am about to start teaching a hip hop class for my friends and also about to start a dance ministry at my church. I just took up scrapbooking, which I am very excited about. Um...I think that's it for now.

I just want to give a shout out to my friends Elizabeth and Caroline for inspiring me to blog. I'm very excited for this new venture.

Love ya...Maya