My Heart Cries Out


Blog, Peace Corps

My heart cries out for my people. I saw the news as it happened last night. Russia launched an unprovoked attack on my beloved Ukraine. All the reports in recent weeks pointed towards this needless aggression, but the feeling of that happening hits different and all at once. Ukraine does not deserve this. Ukrainians deserve […]

February 24, 2022

Ten Years


Blog, Peace Corps

Ten years. Let that sink in. Where were you ten years ago? What were you getting ready to do? Can you even imagine? Any given day, I couldn’t tell you without looking it up. But today I know. Today I know that ten years ago, I was leaving to forever change who I was. I […]

September 17, 2020

Being 30


Blog

This is a post I meant to save for the end of the year, as posts like this tend to be placed there. But so much about what I have to say feels better to get it out sooner than later and move on to the next thing. Bear with me because there is light […]

November 21, 2018

Preserving and Canning


Blog, Home, Kitchen

I always thought my family was a bit different than the families of my friends. The traditions we kept, I just assumed they were ours. At times, I was embarrassed by them or didn’t know how to explain them. I figured other people would think the traditions were weird. Little did I know, more people […]

October 31, 2018

Kvass


Blog, Peace Corps, Recipes

Let’s take a few steps backward and talk about Peace Corps, it’s been a while and I’m feeling nostalgic. If we go back six years, I would be in the summer of my second year in Ukraine. Likely packing for baseball camp in Khmelnitsky or Camp Excite somewhere in Sumska Oblast. My days would be […]

July 4, 2018

Marley


Blog, Cats

It started ten years ago when I was young and foolish and invincible. My brother had two cats but no longer wanted one of them. He offered her to me. I asked him what was wrong with her, why would he give me a cat with no strings attached. He said there was nothing wrong […]

January 9, 2018

I can’t believe I forgot to talk about Student Loans


Blog, Home

I’ve been talking about my student loans for years. It seems like it’s been a very slow process of whittling away at them to the point where they’re manageable. And what I consider slow is probably blazing fast for the average person. I mean, I rarely paid the minimum due each month and there would […]

July 10, 2017

The old country


Blog, Peace Corps

Sometimes I have dreams at night about people and places in Ukraine. They seem to be some of my most vivid dreams. I don’t usually remember my dreams, which is why these really stand out. I wake up, and the feeling of the dream really sticks with me. I wake up and feel sad. I […]

February 8, 2017

How to Make Friends


Blog

I don’t know if I’ve talked about this on here before–I know I’ve talked about it with a handful of different people–but, how do you make friends? Like, I legitimately want to know.  As far as I can remember, I’ve made friends when I’m in places where other people are trying to make friends en-masse. […]

January 7, 2015