Happy Birthday Natalya!

Hi friends!

Today a dear friend of mine turned 19 years old! 

Happy Birthday Natalya! 

I wish you all the Lord's blessings in your life and like I always say about you...

YOU are one of the few naturally kind hearted people that I know.

You have a heart of gold and would do anything for anybody! 

I wish we saw each other more often but we are on somewhat different paths till you join me Fall 2012 at Brockport. 

As always remember to keep serving Jesus!

Also, its been a pleasure working with you in Sunday school(ok that sounds too cliche...you get the idea)...I think God knew I would need someone who could withstand my blunt or unnecessary remarks in the classroom! ;) Only you know what a mean. Thank you for always accepting my apologizes...and since you are a very honest person I believe you when you say you forgive me-even though you feel sometimes there is nothing to forgive...again simply a kind humble person. 

I am also thankful for this past summer where we've made a lot of memories and became better friends :)

Blessings,

Lesya

Birthday Dinner

Hi Friends!

Thanksgiving day was also my best friend's birthday...well I did buy her a card stating our relationship was more like sisters because we feel so comfortable with each other. We can call each other out, be honest with each other, etc, and you just can't always do that with ordinary friends. I think it is just years and years of knowing each other.

This was us 5 girls. We went to a place called Bad Apples. Such a cute little place! Love discovering cute places in the area...the food was great as well. Angela also covered the check and it wasn't small...like I say she is a generous soul. We love you Angela!

We also had some good laughs as always.

Other than that my day was spent writing papers. I do feel very much accomplished! 

I hope to post on Thanksgiving soon!

Blessings,
Lesya

Birthday Girls!

Hi Friends!

I think we have some birthday announcements that can't go undocumented...

A very happy birthday goes out to

my aunt Galina...

my friend Diana...

(would you look at the attitude in this "action shot" wink wink) I wish I had more time to write but school work is calling my name.

My baby little sister Leah....

turned 3 today! The other day we bought her two cute dresses. I said, "Leah are you happy we bought you two dresses?!" "No, I don't want two..I want a lot." I was speechless...

We love you Leah...(family camp 2011) She still climbs walls! At church she always climbs over and under the seats and we can't stop in a calm manner.

I hope you grow up to one day be a girl like your sister Lesya ;) just kidding. Be better :) although from the looks of it...my, my, you have one big attitude and not much room in your heart to love me. The other day you said "I don't care about Lesya" but I still love you. You are just too cute and too smart and was definitely a blessing in disguise when you were first born ;)

Blessings,

Lesya

Patti's Pantry

Hi Friends!

Yesterday we had piano lessons and had to stop by the bookstore beforehand. Mark and Lena were walking next to each other and I had to yell out "wait, wait let me take a picture." They were just so cute matching gray "clothing. Since Lena is half the size of Mark you'd think she is half his age...so since he is 14, you'd say she's 7. Wrong. Poor girl, STILL the smallest in her 5th grade class (she's 10)...but we're getting there. I was once small too...and now look what happened!

We also had our second cell group meeting. I think it went really well! Didn't get any pictures from it though...

Today after the preschool and tutoring (those boys are smart, just lazy...typical) I went out to lunch with all my preschool teacher friends because it was Shelly's birthday (one of the preschool assistants). We went to a place called Patti's Pantry. It was soo cute! I loved it; very country style and they had this little shop. It had such a "homey" feel to it. We had a great time. I always love talking to the girls. They are so Christ-like and just so positive and have amazing testimonies. Afterwards I stopped by the mall, and then went home and napped! I'm always soo tired on Fridays.

Most friends are off in NYC this weekend. Hope you all are having a blast! 

This weekend I plan to spend with this girl:

We decided since we weren't going to NYC we would do something fun and tomorrow we are. But tonight will mark the beginning of our fun as we are doing something after church. 

Blessings,

Lesya

P.S. Have fun New York City Gals..Have fun and be good! ;)

When I'm 35

At 19....this is what (so far) I have though about in my life. I sometimes say that oh when I'm older I'm going to do this and that. I want to be a particular kind of person later in life.

So this is a letter to self...that I should read at 35.

I hope that Jesus is still your number 1 in all aspects of life. As when you were 19, God reminded you so many times that He is first and you're ultimate calling here in Earth is to serve Him. Do you still realize that or have you gotten caught up with other things? Do you still make it to church on Friday nights, or even Wednesdays. Do you teach Sunday school? Have you gotten together with friends to sing a song in church recently, to serve God and the people? Or do you say, oh that was done when I was young. No time, no need now. Do you sit back and watch things happen? Do you care for the orphans at your church? Do you love them, and invite them over and be a good role model? When you were 19 you saw families do just that and oh how you respected them, saying that is what you would like to do. Do you give? When you were 19 you said you would buy a smaller house even if you could afford a bigger/better one because you'd be able to give more.

I hope that you love teaching as much as you did when you were 19. I hope it hasn't become "a job" that you have to go to, but rather LOVE to go to because you want to be there. I hope you invest a lot of your time into it as you planned when you were 19, because you want and love to serve "your kids" as I'm sure you're calling them. I hope you have the patience with them, unlike a lot of what you have heard from other students in your Inquiry to Learning class, back in the day. I hope you still see each child as an unique individual that God placed into your classroom for a reason. Do you still ask God to give you the ability to teach in a way that students understand?

Do you love your family? At 19 you said you already love your children (even though you didn't have them)! Are you a good mother. Friends used to tell you, you would be, but is that so? Are you patient? Are you kind? Do you invest time into them for them to get to know the Lord?! At 19 you knew that you would probably be the mom that did everything for your kids, even though they could do it themselves. You always thought you'd be the mom that wasn't too strict...although some friends (Olga-will have to remember this name!) thought you would be. At 19 you didn't know how many children you wanted...3 you always said...but 7 would do just fine :) Do you remember wanting to adopt? Sometimes you'd cry when you see precious faces of children without homes. Are you a stay at home mom? As much as you loved teaching, if you had the opportunity to stay home with your kids you would take it!

Do you love your husband? Are you even married? If you are...are you controlling, as you thought you would be back at 19 because you always had so many little siblings to watch after and that characteristic grew on you. Not controlling in a bad way hopefully... I think it's as though you feel like you have to do everything for everyone...you always said it would be scary to go through stumbling blocks in a marriage. You said if you'd be the one with disagreements in your marriage, you would humble yourself and say, "have it your way." Is that so?

Do you still LOVE to cook? Or have you become lazy? Do you try to be the best homemaker you could possibly be? Do you bring meals to other families when, lets say they had a baby, or are sick. Do you offer to help friends out? Maybe babysitting their kids, serving in any way you could. Do you invite people over? Do you give your guests the best that you have? Or do you wait to be invited over in order to invite someone...I hope you don't do good deeds expecting something in return. I hope your good deeds come from your heart as a way you serve Jesus. Do you love shopping? Dressing all cute, but being conscious of a budget...do you coupon? At 19 you got sick of it...didn't care for it too much. You still loved good deals on clothes though.

Do you have healthy relationships with friends? Do you stay in contact with the friends from when you were 19? Or you have drifted apart....its as though you are strangers. It would be cool if you held "girls nigh out" and Bible studies with your friends. Are you a good friend? At 19 many times you thought, oh I wish I was a better person. Do you still strive to be a better person?! Do you trust God with EVERYTHING? That was so hard for you as a teen.

At 19 on a Wednesday night, because of this post you are going to be running to choir. You still have to shower and get ready. It's mid week. November. Busy in school, but you try so hard to stay active in your church.

Are you always busy in a good way? What are you doing on a Wednesday November night at 35? I hope its not "doing nothing." I hope its serving God, your family, or your students.

Blessings,
Lesya

P.S. Readers you should do this too!! (I got this idea from another blog as well)

Mid-weel Post

Hi all!

I feel as though I haven't posted during the week for some time now.
This week is actually so very great. I am not overwhelmed with homework. First week in such a very long time...but no time to "sit back and relax"  At this point I'm going to take it one day at a time because thinking about how much I have to do by the end of the semester can be so overwhelming.

I guess I will go ahead and write about some of the things that have been happening as of late:

Last Thursday I had a debate. My position was that high school should last 4 years (instead of 3). So my opponent states her argument (we were the first to go from the entire class) and then it was my turn. I started to speak...and laugh at the same time. The laugh won and I just stood there and laughed and laughed, trying to apologize to the class at the same time. Olga kept looking at me shacking her head and later told me she thought I was going to cry because I could not stop laughing. Well, I sure was a piece of entertainment for the class. I tried starting over and laughed yet again. Why was I laughing?? I got really nervous right before presenting....and that's what happens when I'm nervous...but usually not this bad. The teacher then said, "Lesya, take a deep breath. Would you like to start over?" So I did, and luckily the laughing episode stopped!

Sunday, in Sunday school Natalya and I did hand prints with the kids (Natalya's idea...I owe the credit to her!) and they turned out so nice! I plan to do a Sunday school post as Natalya suggested I do, which isn't a bad idea.

Another thing...I am SSOOOOOO thankful to God for sending "blessings in disguises" just like what Laura Story sings in her song, Blessings. Sometimes we may feel rather bewildered about "situations" but then you come to know the bigger picture. God thank you for protecting me from this "situation"  (as in my case). I would share as I like to remember things for myself but this I don't care to even remember; just glad God showed, once again, that He is in control!


Today I met with the English teacher from Greece Christian because I will be tutoring 4-5 boys every Friday, starting this week. She shared a little about her story, and it made me think about God's purpose for every one of our lives. Sometimes, its not the "so-called perfect plan" we may have in mind.

Lastly, I've been thinking about how unhappy I am with myself knowing I do so much yet so little because I don't have the time to devote myself whole hardheartedly (as Diana said)  to all the responsibilities I CHOSE to take on. It's just so hard because I hate thinking about not doing my best in everything (especially work for the Lord, although whatever we do should be as though we are doing it for Him). So, I don't know I'm just praying about all of this. Maybe God will give me a miraculous amount of energy for everything...or maybe not :)

Blessings,
Lesya

Cell Group Meetings have begun!

Hi Friends!

I hope everyone's week went well...I have to say that being home on a Friday is out of the ordinary for me and it feels nice waking up knowing that I don't have to go anywhere. For the past 8 weeks I taught that Ukrainian class and afterwords it so happened that I would go to the mall to "return something." Now I'm just plain sick. Sick of all the clothes-not the good deals though, of course. 

Anyway, this past Sunday the 6th of November was our first cell group meeting. We are off to a good start! And now, some of the food that was present...

Apple season! I made some kind of dip to go with the apples. Still on the look out for a good apple-dip recipe.

My mother's homemade salsa. It is always a hit!

I love this chicken salad (with celery) so I decided to make this too. 

Diana and her mother made this apple cake. It was good! Yay for apples!

Traditional Ukrainian dessert...

I did not get much photos of the girls oh and the sandwiches! They were so very good. Diana and I actually left church early to prepare but only half of our group showed up. Oh well. Also thanks to Tanya and Diana for hosting the first get-together!

Last Friday I had a little party for my Ukrainian class but I don't want to put any pictures up as I didn't ask for permission. 

This morning my mom comes in with Leah into my room.

 I say, "Leah come lay down next to me.

Leah: "No"

I say: "Why not? Please. I love you Leah."

Leah says: "because I don't like you" (and puts this little smirk on her face)
The other day I asked her why she didn't like me and she said: "because you are not my boyfriend!" Where did she get that from??!!

Oh Leah what are we going to do with you....little girls aren't suppose to be like this!!

Blessings,

Lesya

WIll Always Remember

 Hi Friends!

 The week started off well. I don't think I'm ever going to stop posting pictures of these two together! They are just so CUTE! I know, I know, obviously to me they are!

Recent sayings of Leah:

"Leah, I'm gonna eat you up!"

"Don't eat me up!"

"Why?" 

"Cuz I'm not your food!"

"Leah, Lesya crashed her car. What are we going to do?"

"We can fix it. Or you can use Mom's car. Roman can drive you. We can buy you another car."

Oh the mind of a little one. She could always cheer me up :) Especially after my crash. Andrew and Leah were my source of comfort.

Today she randomly told me, "Lesya I'm gonna fix your car when I get older."

Andrew, on the other hand says don't worry I will help dad fix your car.

Overall I had a great beginning of the week...it was busy but I went to the city and another little boy gave me a note saying "Best Teacher" and it just made me so I don't know sad, because I know some of their lives are so bad, but they are such great kids. I wish I could do more for them! This little boy in particular reads his little children's Bible which I pray God uses to touch his little heart. He is also the little boy that says he will hit his girlfriend if he tells her to buy him a doughnut and she doesn't!

Wednesday I was on campus till 9 and walking out the scenery just looked so beautiful! This is a bad picture but it was so nice and I felt so good. I had accomplished a lot that day and was on my way to...

Diana's house from diana-ablogaboutlife.blogspot.com! I had a good time and then Thursday...

Thursday was great until...I was driving Mark to a band concert and crashed! Oh the sadness I felt about my poor poor car. It is hurt pretty badly. I am SSOOO thankful that we are all okay but I just I am so mad at myself. It was however such a nice scene of family coming together. Roman rushed right over. My mom came hugging me. My dad was not mad either. In fact I called him and the first thing I said was, "Tato, don't be mad at me but I crashed my car..." Right now they are all just telling me to calm down about it. Looking around me and everything that is happening in our church in peoples' families, this is really so materialistic. In reality, this won't matter in a couple of months...time will go on but for the time being I am sad and back to driving my embarrassing red car until that one is fixed...or I get a new one.

Friday, Natashka, Tanya and I met after I went to the mall with Mariyka (my cousin-in-law). We planned out some more for our cell group. I am so excited and pray that the Lord blesses us! We were so full of ideas, things I was surprised we could come up with...oh I hope mitosis won't have to occur soon.  Tomorrow is our first group meeting. Hopefully all will go well!

Blessings,

Lesya