The employees at Borders started coming around picking up books that were left behind. The announcement rang through the intercom that the store would be closing in five minutes. As every minute ticked by, I became more and more uncomfortable. I almost gave up when the friendly employee came to remind us that the store was now closed. But Vitaliy didn’t budge. He made us sit there and wait until they literally asked us to leave.

That should have been the red flag for me. A big loud warning sign of what my future would hold. Could this have been some kind of initiation with him? I’d think it was except for the fact that I’m still being tested all the time and we’re four years into our marriage.

As often as this leaves me with knots in my stomach, it’s actually one of the things that I admire most about Vitaliy. He is completely free. Some days I’m like a little kid — wishing I could grow up and be like him. I’ve never experienced life the way I have with him.

This past weekend in Tahoe it was about 59 degrees outside. I had three layers of clothing, a hood over my head, and a scarf wrapped around my neck. And this was Vitaliy.

Babes, I’m so thankful that you refuse to allow me to stay wrapped up in all my rules and regulations. You’ve peeled layer after layer off of me the past few years as you challenge me to live each day freely. I’m thankful that today we get to celebrate your birthday because it means I have another year ahead to finally grow up to be like you.

Happy Birthday, Vitaliy. I love you so much.

On our way home, we started reading Creative Authenticity by Ian Roberts. This is what we typically do on road trips. Vitaliy drives and I read books out loud. And in between reading, we discuss, we challenge each other, and then we dream.

In the middle of the first chapter, which was a discussion of beauty, we came across this,

“In the face of beauty, we are silenced, because beauty expresses silence. In lavishing attention on the object of the artwork, the consciousness of the artist can touch something divine, some transcendental quality, and that transcendent element now resides in the artwork. How do we know it? We feel it. We experience it. Our heart responds to the sublime quality the artist infused into the work.”

In the middle of discussing beauty and reflecting on what the author had to say, we looked up and saw a little patch of light which had a rainbow reflection to it. I pointed it out to Vitaliy because I had never seen anything like it. However, as we continued driving, an entire rainbow was painted onto the sky right before our eyes. Immediately, we could feel that sublime quality of beauty discussed in the book. We were humbly reminded that there is no greater source, to learn and understand beauty from, than the Creator Himself.

.

Here are a couple other works of art that belong to Him that we got to enjoy this weekend.

I thought I’d stop in and say hello to you first. It’s Wednesday. We’re halfway through the week. How is everyone doing?

Vitaliy and I are having some fun over here. We’ve had two full days of summer heat finally. We’ve recently started watching Bones from Season One. Does anybody watch this show? We’re really enjoying it. I don’t know why, but we’re kind of obsessed with detective type shows. We’re also immersed in “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” series. I’m on the second book of the series and Vitaliy just started the third. Loving it! So tell me about you!

We have a beautiful wedding to share with you this week that we’re getting ready. Until then, here is a sneak peek of what’s in store for next week. I’m so excited to share this session with you!

Have a great day everyone!

.

This past weekend I had an amazing weekend with Vitaliy. Saturday morning we sat across from each other, munching on our old fashioned pecan pancakes with fruit compote at a local Alana’s Café that has become a new favorite spot. In between mouth fulls of sweet syrup and pancake, I opened up and updated him in on all the happenings of my heart and mind. He listened intently and compassionately as he always does. He digested all I had to say and our conversation turned out to be just as good, if not better, than the pancakes our stomachs had craved all week.

I sipped on my Mimosa and looked my husband in the eyes. His hazel eyes have always romanced me and I never tire of getting lost in them. The warmth of his eyes and the compassion of his voice opened up my heart to accept the encouragement he had to offer me. He shared a lot with me, but one simple truth stood out and I’ve been hanging on to it.

Candace, we need to wake up each day and say, “Lord, thank you for all that you’ve given me.”

I do have everything I need. There is absolutely nothing that I need to fear. Contentment really is a choice.

God used Vitaliy, as He often does, to give me the strength to continue battling. Fear lost a major battle on Saturday. And to continue the plundering, I laughed my to-do-list in the face yesterday, took Vitaliy’s hand, and spent the afternoon laying on the beach. On a Monday afternoon. Now, that’s what I call winning!

He always calls me when he has the kids, my two nieces and nephew. Today he was taking them for a trip to the zoo, Mom’s Deli, and Ted Drewes. I was fine until he mentioned Mom’s Deli and Ted Drewes. Then not only was my heart missing St. Louis, but my stomach was grumbling at me too.

First, he put Bella on the phone. But knowing Bella, she demanded to talk first. “Hi, CC!” she says. CC is the name I was given ever since Bella’s older sister Kyah was first born. “We’re going to the zoo today!” Since I’m only talking through the phone, I picture her in my mind talking to me. Her big smile is stretched from ear to ear and, if I were there, she’d be jumping up and down as she spoke. Everything is a party to Bella. We chat about this and that and I can hear my dad in the background telling her to be quick because I’m at work. Then she does it. With the sweetest five year old voice you can imagine, she says, “CC, when you get off of work, can you meet us at the zoo? We’re gonna be there for a half an hour.” She melts my heart every time.

I’m laughing and I can hear her siblings in the background laughing too. She is still too young to understand how far away I live. I hear Ashton, her big brother, say, “Bella, she can’t come to the zoo. It’ll take her two whole nights to get here.” Kyah, the oldest of all three who prides herself with how smart she is, snaps back, “No it won’t Ashton! It will take like 4 hours.” Bella starts to process it all and I explain to her how both of them are right. She gives up and knows its time to pass the phone to the other two, but before she goes she has one more thing to tell me. “CC, can you tell Uncle V that I miss him?”

And then it happens again. My heart melts into a big puddle beneath me and all I can think about is “Christmas can’t come soon enough!”

So we sat. We ate. And we fell more in love. We created a new memory together that we’ll get to look back on years from now and smile about. And that is one of the greatest things about marriage — creating memories that you can be proud of and that make you happy when you think of them.

And just in case pizza and a cookie weren’t enough for my man, I tacked on a night out in SF to see Wicked. I was sure that would seal the deal for a perfect anniversary celebration. And I was right! Isn’t that the first lesson of a good marriage? You know, that the wife is always right. It didn’t even take Vitaliy four years to learn that one.

There is no other person that has filled my life with more love and laughter than Vitaliy Prokopets. Today is our four year anniversary and I can honestly say that our love is stronger and our laughing is hardier than ever before. And for that reason, we are here to celebrate!

I’m closing up my laptop because I don’t want to spend another minute away from the love of my life. Celebrate with us by leaving a comment! Tell us your best marriage advice or a great love story. Whatever you think will make us smile — because you know we love to do just that.

Smile.

Well, we’ve all made it through another week. I’m personally thrilled about that because it means that I’m only days away from seeing Vitaliy. On Sunday night I posted a status on our Facebook page that read, “It’s Sunday night. You’re checking out what you’ve got coming up for the week. #1 goal for the week is…?” Mine was actually to plan our 4 year wedding anniversary celebration for next week. So I’m happy to announce that I’ve completed mine for the week! What about you? Did you have a good week or was it a difficult one? I’d love to hear from you!

~Candace

P.S. Are you following us on Facebook? Come join in, I love putting faces with names.

.

Here’s another peek into Ukraine. This is a summer storm rolling into Kiev.

I’m sure that some of you out there who have a bad relationship with your in-laws are thinking, “You’re lucky!” But in my situation, this is actually a very big loss. Yaroslav and Svetlana were one of a kind.

I only got to meet them once. They had come to Chicago for Vitaliy’s graduation. It was the “meet the parents” kind of meeting. A big deal! And I was extremely nervous. But after being with them for only five minutes, their kindness calmed any doubts I may have had. I only wish I would have known it’d be my only chance with them. I would have brought a video camera or tape recorder or something. But instead, I hold on to the few memories I have and rely on Vitaliy and others to fill in my missing pieces.

Here’s a piece that came into our inbox a few weeks ago. I asked permission to share this email.

*******

Hi Vitaliy and Candace,

I found your page through the timtabstudios. When I first read the name Prokopets, it sounded so familiar that I had to check your website and when I read your story, yes I was confident that I knew the Prokopets family. Vitaliy probably doesn’t remember me, but I remember him and his family. His dad’s office (it was quite some time ago) was next door with our apartment door. And I remember Yaroslav as a person who was always happy. Especially I remember when Yaroslav visited us in Vancouver, WA. I think it was fall of 2002-03, or maybe it was winter. At that time my mom was really sick, she was fighting cancer. I remember how Yaroslav talked with her (he was like that sunshine on a rainy day). He was a good encouragement to all of us and especially to me. I was once more reminded by God that He still cared for us. My beloved mom went to her Lord in 2004.  I just want to let you know that I’m very thankful to God for that moment of encouragement that Yaroslav brought to us, that visit was very special to me.

I will keep your family in my prayers!

Kristina

*******

As we approach the five year anniversary of the accident next week, I wanted to share this to remind ourselves and to possibly encourage someone out there reading. Though our loved ones are no longer with us, we celebrate the fact that their memories are still alive today which was made evident by this email. One thing Vitaliy has often expressed is that he wished his dad was still alive because there was so much he still wanted to learn from him. But as we read this testimony together, it was evident that his examples are still teaching us today. And though I’ll never get to experience life with Yaroslav and Svetlana again, in little ways, I get to experience them through Vitaliy each and every day. In fact, I’ve often referred to Vitaliy as my “sunshine on a rainy day”. Now I know where he gets it from!

.

Like father, like son.

This is why I’m thankful I married someone from a different culture. I get to see life like I never would have seen it before.

Happy Summer everyone!

.