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.

When the letter M changes everything.

I always liked the letter M. You know M for Melissa, Mickey Mouse, Mama, and there are so many more. But now I love it all the more because it means HE CAN COME!!!!!!! Yes, that is what the lady at the embassy said today. It was not me who she said it to because I had to leave the house as to not hear them talk. I haven't found my big girl panties(I actually hate that word so I can't believe I just wrote it, but it seriously applies) yet and cannot be in a room when the outcome of what is being discussed  can be bad. I have to wait and hear it from someone else. Yes, I am aware this is ridiculous. But thanks to Anika who called the embassy, the nice lady told her that he in fact can come. Holy moly, I cannot keep up with all the changes. But they are good ones and I am ridiculously excited. Thank you to all who prayed for him, we really appreciate it. I love when I get to see ways that God has worked and know without a shadow of a doubt that it was His handiwork.

For example:
-Desperately trying to change our tickets(mulitple days of trying)
-Not understanding why we couldn't but there being a clear roadblock
-Him asking me a few days ago if there was anything he could do to come with us. Me saying, "no, there really is nothing." And fully believing it was true
-Us having no idea that he had a multi entry visa(we have prayed many times for him to be able to get one and they have told him no.)


Okay okay, you get the point.

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Multi entry visa

So Anika and I were scanning documents to have ready to give to the lawyer.  I turned to Sasha's visa he just had to come to America last time and what did I see but an M staring back at me.  I quickly asked Anika, "does this mean what I think it does?"  and what I thought it meant was multi entry.  Here's the thing..  Anika and I had been trying to change our flights to be here for our good friends wedding.  And they were going to charge us a crazy amount.  I was super upset because I really thought it was going to work. Also, they guy that was supposed to stay with Sash and help him up and left. So we will be by himself in our house that needs some desperate TLC. Then to add fuel to fire there has been all this talk about Russia invading again.  Even as much as the high up people in Sumy telling the people to pack an emergency suitcase to be ready to flee. This made me all the more upset because I didn't want to leave him if the war was going to start raging again.  I wanted to be with him or have him be home with me.  So...  All that to say,  we still don't know if he can come because the dates are unclear on his visa and the embassy is closed for the weekend.  Prayers are appreciated.  And no matter the outcome I fully trust God's timing and His plan.  It's always better than mine even though I happen to think I am right almost all of the time ;)  stay tuned because tomorrow we will know. 

5 months...

So I got some news that made me ridiculously happy. I emailed my lawyer before all the documents were in and final for the fiancee visa. I wanted to make sure that getting married here in Ukraine wasn't going to be better than applying for the K1 fiancee visa. She responded by letting me know that the fiancee visa is now taking about 5 months and that is the faster way to go. 5 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can imagine my shock when the last time I had met with her she said a year. Guys, the prayers are working. Keep them up :) I was thankful for the good new since Anika and I were trying to change our flights because one of our very good friends is married 2 days after we leave and turns out Sash is going to be all by himself when we leave. His friend who was living here and promised to stay and help, up and left. United is horrible to us and it was going to cost a lot to change the flights. So... we will be coming home. Thank you United, I really would love to not fly you anymore. Well, that is all the updates for now.


We do a lot of fishing here in the village :) Here are some pics. It really is beautiful here.

Engagement Story

As most of you know I have been dating Sasha for the past 2 years. Last month, we went to the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine with a few of our friends. We took an excursion that was literally the live version of Indiana Jones. It was really awesome but also very scary. The main attraction was a waterfall. Sasha and I climbed up to take some pics or so I thought, and he told me to turn around because he had a present for me. When I turned back around he was on one knee and asked me to marry him. He of course said more than just that but it is kind of a blur. It was seriously so perfect. He did a great job and I was really surprised. He did a really good job of making me think he wasn't going to propose for a while.

Now the questions have been, "when is the wedding?, "where will we live?" And the answers unfortunately are unknown. I am applying for a fiancé visa for him. The problem with this is that my lawyer said the wait time is 1 year. Yes, I did cry when she told me. He also can't come to America during that period without a waiver, which is not that probable. BUT... I am praying that God does some miracles and it all moves along faster. I have some very awesome people who are praying with me everyday at a designated time. So, I believe we will have some pretty awesome stories about how God worked out the"impossible". Sasha and I would be more than happy to have anyone who wants to join with us in prayer. We pray at 10am. 

So.. What does this mean? Well, it means there are a lot of unknowns. Once he gets the visa we have 90 days to get married. We are going to plan the wedding and pray and hope that we can find a place and vendors that will be flexible with dates. I know… I am hoping for some big things. If any of you have ideas or connections please feel free to share. I would really appreciate it.

Many of you have asked about the proposal and future plans so I thought I would start this blog to keep updates. I am in Ukraine in the village with very spotty internet so I thought this was the best way. I am a terrible blogger so please bear with me.