Friday, December 14, 2012

The Big Snow 2012!


This past week Kyiv had a record snowfall.  It barely stopped snowing for about 3 days and it is the most snow recorded here since 1930. 


What I love about winter time in Ukraine is that no amount of snow will ever stop Ukrainians!  They are as unfazed as a native Californian in an earthquake.






I've never seen so much snow in my life so I was getting strange looks for taking pictures of it!





I love this photo!



Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Dancing Softly - Book Review



While I've met some less than "normal" people via the internet, I have to say that for the most part, being involved with social media has added a lot of amazing and inspiring people to my life that I would have never normally met.  Nikki Rosen definitely belongs in the inspiring group.  Her name began to pop up on my comments page and then I read her blog, we facebooked, and so the social media friendship began to evolve.....

Her first book, In the Eye of Deception: A True Story , Nikki tells her true life story of how she left life in a cult.  Dancing Softly is her second book and is a work of fiction.

In this book, Jamie, a young girl from an abusive family, finds herself living on the streets and eventually gets locked up in a psychiatric ward.  The book vividly and intensely describes her struggles she goes through to "prove" she is not crazy and can live on her own.  The story has a lot of twists and turns but ultimately Jamie has a happy ending. This book is sometimes hard to read because it's so realistic and intense, but it's very believable and inspiring!

If you want to learn more about Nikki, you can check out her facebook page by clicking HERE!


Saturday, December 1, 2012

Fun Times

 Some fun photos from last week.  I tried to covertly get a photo of them playing but the strangeness of having their photo taken and the excitement of seeing themselves in the digital image on the back of the camera afterwards made them very curious.




Saturday, November 24, 2012

Ukraine's Holodomor


Today is the official day of remembrance for Ukraine's genocide victims.  The great famine of 1932-33 was actually a man made famine in which 2.5 to 7.5 million people died.  (Hard to give exact figures because of lack of records and intentional misinformation.)

Here's a video clip that shows what happened:


Friday, November 23, 2012

Scenes From A Mashrutka

Thanksgiving is not celebrated here in Ukraine, so it is a normal working day.  I was at our Day Center yesterday and since the sun finally decided to make an appearance after days of cloud cover, I took these photos as I rode home on the Mashrutka.


















Thursday, November 22, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving!

"A thankful mind set does not entail a denial of reality with its plethora of problems.  Instead, it rejoices in Me, your Savior, in the midst of trials and tribulations." - Sarah Young - "Jesus Calling"

"Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers."......John 3:2  (NKJV)

Be thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!