Traditions

Day 8:

One thing I love in Ukraine is that I get be a godmother. Today was some holiday where the kids bring their godparents a specific food. It is so fun having these sweet traditions and loving life with them. Although, it definitely makes me miss my nieces and nephews.. But I'm thankful I get this time here in Ukraine and will treasure it.

Fishing

Day 7:

Today we cleaned the new house a bit, used the washing machine Anika's Grandma bought us, and Sash and I went fishing. It was a good day. 

Sash and I got stuck in the mud when we went fishing. Our car slid and then he had to use his magic to get it out. It reminded me of how easy it is to get stuck in our thinking or instantly go to the negative. But after a bit of work we were free. The same can happen with our attitude and our thinking. If we work on changing it, after a bit we will be unstuck. 

Being Content

Day 6:

It is so funny how fickle we can be.. Or really, it is super annoying. Okay, I am about to show you some serious ugly.  I have only been in Ukraine for less than a week. I have waited and waited for Sasha and I to be together and now that we are, I should be jumping for joy, right? That is what any decent person would be doing. But you want to know what I find myself doing?? Internally complaining about the things I don't have now, or how hard life is, and I could go on, but no one likes a whiner. I realized I have the worst attitude. I want a toilet, a shower, a closet, my family to be closer, my job back, and I even miss Grocery Outlet. I was standing in our new house today (still totally under construction) and caught myself finding the things I wish were different or better. I literally wanted to slap myself. Sasha has worked endlessly to build this house and here I am just picking it apart in my head. It was then I realized that I was being such a cry baby. Yes, life took a crazy turn and has not turned out like I thought it would. I thought I would get to wear the pretty white dress I bought, have my dad walk me down the aisle, and party till the sun came up with my family and friends. I thought I would get to keep my job and have a steady income with benefits and retirement. I thought I would get to live in house and have my dog. That is not the plans God had though, at least not now. But I want to stop being the person that is filled with dread and fear and start being the person that comes to life because it is a new adventure. I know that nothing is forever and one day I will probably be back in America and wish for the life here in the village. I mean, I get to be that person that will have my kids rolling their eyes because I walked uphill in the snow around the bend just to find the outhouse. Today I read, "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want." Philippians 4:12 and realized this is my goal. I want to be the person that is content, truly content in any and every situation. My aunt gave me a sign that I just hung on the wall today that says, "Faith in God includes faith in His timing." If I am going to say I have faith in God then I best be living it out. And let me tell you, I have done a very crappy job since I got here. Anyone who knows me, knows I am far from perfect, but I am sure gonna try to choose joy more and be content.  Now, let me be honest, I am sure I am still going to whine a little about walking to the outhouse in the snow or the potholes in the road that add an extra hour to our trip to the store, but I really am going to try and enjoy the journey as my mom would say. 

Such a good reminder

It snowed today and I was reminded just how beautiful our home is.

Dreaming of all the things we will do

I am a lucky girl

New Adventures

I have officially moved back to Ukraine for well... an unknown time. We are waiting on the government to hopefully grant Sasha a visa so we can live in America. I am going to try and post at least one picture everyday of life here. I am already behind on blogging (not a big shock I know). I will post days 1-5 and then try to be good at doing one everyday.

And we are off...

                                   

Finally together

So excited for Sasha's potatoes. I missed them in my life

McDonald's coffee is a must before the 7 hour drive home. 

Visiting Tolik and Vika before they get moved to an orphanage in Sumy.

<3

Update on life

Well, about a month ago I got a letter from immigration telling me that they have received my application for the fiance' visa. It was submitted in October so that right there tells you how behind they are. My lawyer said due to the election and fees going up in December everyone quickly submitted all their documents and that is why there is a hold up. They are still saying 5 months but the National Visa Center is also backlogged. I gave us a few month wiggle room for the wedding but now it looks like if we keep the June date we could be cutting it really close or Sasha might not even make it. So we are thinking that we will probably change it to September as long as there are dates available at our venue. Okay, that is wedding update now on to the rest of life.

We got back to Ukraine about 10 days ago. It was so fun to be able to spend New Year's here in the village with people we dearly love. It has been snowing like crazy and very cold. That is for sure new for us as we usually try to go home during the cold winter months. I won't give you all the gross details, but making the trek out to the outhouse is not my favorite. For those of you that don't know, we are renting a space in the center of our village to open a cafe. It is seriously a dream come true. They are selling it for a very reasonable price but we need to rent first but the end goal is to buy it. The boys have been doing work on our house and slowly but surely it is getting better and better. There are currently 5 of us living basically one room which is always, lets just say, not boring. 

We were here for Ukrainian Christmas and started new traditions that we hope to keep for years to come. Yesterday, we had "home" church which was really cool and we are excited to see what will come in the future. We recently just had a big discussion in our house about church and what that even means. I am a firm believer that church is important, but sometimes I think people can get stuck on church being a building and lose sight of what is really important about church, which is worship and fellowship. This can be done anywhere and not everyone has the luxury of a church building or even transportation to get to a church so we brought it to them. Our little village has no building (yet) for people to be able to gather and worship, so instead of taking a 2 hour trek to the city we used what we had and invited people into our home. I don't believe it will always be this way but I also firmly believe that for right now it is right and God is in no way disappointed with us for not going to an established church. We have never been the type to do things the conventional way and we sometimes get some backlash for that, but what I have learned is at the end of that day you have to do what you believe is right and what God is calling YOU to do. And that is not going to be the same for every person. Okay okay... That is enough of that, now look below of fun pics of what has been happening the last 10 days :) They are a little out of order. I am not the best with techy things so... I couldn't figure out how to move them to where I wanted. This blog took me like hours to do just for the darn pics...

Vala and Vika twinning in their new jackets!

At midnight on New Years!

Enjoying God's beauty.

Happy New Years!

Our winter wonderland workshop

Love spending time with our friend Ira

New Years!

Dusya made a feast for us for New Years

So excited for their matching jammies.

Our Goddaughter Melissa.

Love crosses oceans

Since we have gotten engaged I have really loved the phrase, "love crosses oceans". It seems perfect for us. But as I left him at the airport to fly back to the States and your love is literally across oceans from you, it just didn't seem as beautiful. I know, I know, it is just a little bit of time and then we will be together. But the goodbyes are getting old. We still have no heard anything about the visa but supposedly that is not a bad thing. Anika and I are hoping and praying to be able to go back to Ukraine around New Years. We have some exciting opportunities in the village and want to get started ASAP. Also, being with Sasha on New Years doesn't sound to horrible either :) But I am sad for Sasha as we left him all alone with exception of our dog and cat. He will hopefully have a friend come and stay with him. I can't even imagine living all by myself in the village. Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I will have some good news soon.

Wedding Plans

It has been a little while since I updated so let me fill you in on what has been going on. Sasha and

When you have been living in Ukraine for the past 8 years,  there is a good chance that you are not going to have this big savings account. So when a wedding venue asks you what your budget is, you feel dumb. Because the truth is, there isn't really a budget, but I am 33 years old and don't want her to know that lol. That being said you can imagine how over the moon I was when I booked a venue for a ridiculously good price.

All that being said... It hit me like a ton of bricks about a week and a half after I put a deposit down, that I think I misunderstood the pricing. It was just too good to be true. But... I do believe in miracles :) So stayed tuned because as of right now the date is June 3rd and Lord willing we have an amazing venue that basically is everything I prayed for.

Now even if the place still works out we are dealing with government documents so there is still a chance we will have to change it anyways. But I tried to give us a good cushion.

Now for a girl who has never loved commitment this should seem fine, but seeing as I said,"yes".  I guess that means I have stepped over to the side of commitment. And now I am ready to see some other things set in stone. This is a crazy time of life but I am honestly, excited to see how all the little pieces fall together.