We are officially back in Kiev after heading to western Ukraine to visit Chernivtsi, the city where Vitaliy was born. It was quite the walk down memory lane.

The adventure ended with a day spent at Vitaliy’s grandparents farm in the village. There are so many pictures to share and so many stories to tell, but I’m finding that it’s all going to have to wait. One thing that I’ve learned and am trying to implement into my life is to be fully present wherever I’m at. Sometimes this applies to dinner with Vitaliy when I need to turn off my thoughts so that Vitaliy has my full attention. Other times this means that I need to put my phone away so that I stay engaged when I’m out with friends. But for today, I feel this looks like me giving up blogging for the week in order to have the extra time to spend with family here in Ukraine.

Life is short and time is very precious. I’m going to sign-off for the week in order to be fully present with the ones I hold dear. I’ll talk to you next week! Be sure to come back though, I attempted to milk a cow and want to tell you all about it.

This is a picture of Vitaliy and I outside of the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kiev the day before we left for Chernivtsi.

Vitaliy and I just ended an incredible day exploring Kiev together. I am totally exhausted, but I didn’t want to forget this memory.

Every time I leave the apartment, I’m reminded of how dirty Ukraine is. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. They just don’t have street cleaning services like in the U.S. or people to pick up trash. I finally understand why Ukrainians always take their shoes off upon entering someone’s home.

Today as we explored many different neighborhoods, there was one thing that stood out. The dirtier an area was, the more obvious it was to spot something pretty. At one point, I turned a corner and walked down an abandoned alley way. It was dirty and deserted, dark and gray. But my eye immediately caught the attention of some pretty flowers up ahead. It was so easy to spot the color amidst the contrasting gray. It reminded me that beauty is easy to spot amongst the ugliness of this world. Light is easy to glimpse in the darkness. Goodness is easy to notice amongst evil.

Just something to think about.

Vitaliy and I are leaving in the morning to travel to western Ukraine. I am finally going to see the city he was born in and the village he would visit every summer during visits to grandma and grandpa’s house.