Ivan and I are big foodies! We love good food and enjoy exploring and trying new things. Food is amazing because it is so particular to each area - it reveals culture! When we travel, we make sure that we are not just exploring a new area for its scenery or museums, but also for its people, its culture, and its food. Some of the best food we have ever had was found down on the Quarter in New Orleans. The gumbos, the po-boys, the muffulettas, the sea food, the beignets! Just thinking about it makes our mouths water! Our favorite everyday foods though, hamburgers. We could both eat hamburgers just about every single day. We don't ... but we could! 

Neither Ivan nor I enjoy the heat. We both prefer a lovely crisp fall day. So when we vacation we usually always wait until the fall. Now, Ivan and I differ slightly on what we like to do on our vacations. I love see to history; ruins, arcitecture, and art while Ivan wants to lounge on a beach. What we do agree on though is hiking. We both greatly enjoy day hiking. Something short that can be hiked in less than six hours and doesn't require us to sleep in a tent is just perfect for both of us! Well, Ivan doesn't mind sleeping in a tent, I guess that's a me thing, but Ivan agrees on the day trips! That being said this year we have a couple short trips planned that we are very excited about! We will hike in the UP for one, and for the other we will head south and explore some cave systems! We are very excited for fall to arrive every year! 

Summer camp is one of those topics that people can become very passionate about, both negatiely or positively. Ivan never had the opportunity to go away to summer camp back in his home country. That wasn't a thing there. And by the time he immigrated he was past the age to go. I, however, have been given the opportunity to go. I was very introverted and said I would only go if I could go with my best friend. I was assured that wasn't a problem because all the kids from church were going the same week. So, there should have been about thirty kids running around there that I knew. As it so happens, there was clerical issue and my paperwork was misplaced (and only my paperwork). I was the only kid from my church to go the week I went, while everybody else went the week before! I was devistated and I told my parents I didn't want to go, but it was already paid for so you can guess what happened. I don't want to make it sound like I had terrible time because I didn't. I just had to get over my introversion first before I could cut loose and have a good time. Once I was able to do that I ended up having a blast, it just took a couple days. We slept under the stars, we jumped into a bog (which was both interesting and disgusting), we played on obstacle courses and we swam in the lake. It was seven days of non-stop fun activities! But, I was ready to go home! My view on summer camp is, it's not for everybody and I would never make a child go. But if they want the experience they should have it!

Summer time is of course wedding season. Ivan's family is so large that we have multiple wedding every summer and they are always so much fun. This last weekend we had the opportunity to attend his niece's wedding. It was an absolutely beautiful multi-lingual celebration with tons of family and so much amazing food! 

Everybody loves a good dessert! Ivan and I both share a love of cheesecake. He's a traditionalist with his cheesecake but I prefer a biscoff cheesecake or a pumpkin cheesecake - something that has warm spices added to it. But aside from the cheesecake Ivan has brought with him some desserts from his home country that are just delicious! One being something called nalisniki, which is a type of crepe. It is only slightly sweet but so addictive. We eat them cold but they are also delicious if fried in butter and drizzled with a little bit of honey. Another dessert he has introducted to me is a very specific type of cookie called horishky. It looks like a giant walnut but is made from a type of gram cracker and is filled with caramel! Ivan's mom loves to spoil us these treats!

Summer days sometimes look like a walk along the river and corn dogs! 

Ivan and I like to have speculative conversations. What would you do if....? or What do you prefer...?  or What would you choose...? conversations. These types of conversations  are always fun because there are so many possibilities! The most recent one was about super powers and what our chosen super power would be. Ivan said he would want the ability to see into the future so he would know how best to take care of his family. We discussed back and forth the taboo of seeing the future; but he reamained resolute in his answer. Seeing the future. I would want to be able to teleport. I love to travel but get terrible motion sickness. Being able to teleport would take care of a lot travel issues. In true Ivan fashion, he teased that the end isn't the goal, it's the journey where all the memories happen. All I could do was give him an unamused glare, which made us both laugh. 

Ivan and I have had a lot of conversations about whether or not we'd ever like to open a business. We both would like to do that but the businesses we gravitate toward are completely different from each other. I want to open a book store and cofee shop or bakery; that's where my heart really is. But! we live in such a small area that I don't think it would take off. But a girl can dream of cozy overstuffed chairs, fresh coffee, and new books to her hearts content. Ivan already has a business that operates during the spring, summer, and fall. But what we've discussed is a way to make passive income and I suggested a storage facility. He really likes that idea a lot! Will we do it? Who knows! But it's definitely fun think about! 

Something that initially drew us to one another was our faith and our individual desires to live that faith out. I asked Ivan if he had a favorite Bible verse that he referenced back to when he was struggling with the burdens of life. He told me that John 3:16 was that for him. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." He said this always reminded him of God's goodness and faithfulness. My favorite verse comes from Isaiah, Isaiah 41:9b-10. "I have chosen you and not cast you off"; fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God: I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. This is the verse I often go back to when I am feeling afraid or uncertain. When I don't think I have the strength, I know God does, and he will uphold me and guide me through. 

Summer time means ice cream! Ivan will get any and every kind of flavor, but he is particluarly fond of banana splits and coffee ice cream. I on the other hand rotate between raspberry with dark chocolate chips, mint choclate chip, and coffee ice cream. Sometimes we indulge in another ice cream pleasure. Because we are both night owls, sometimes, after all the shops are closed, we drive into town and get an Oreo McFlurry (and a small fry, of course!) and eat it down by the lake. 

We were talking recently and I asked Ivan what some of his favorite childhood summer memory were. Ivan grew up in a small village in Eastern Europe where things like electricity and indoor plumbing were rare commodities so I knew his answer wasn't going to have anything to do with gaming or television or even travel for that matter. He got a big smile on his face when he told me, "Back home our village was surrounded by trees and fields but a large river ran through our back woods. All the villiage kids would meet down at the river and swim all day. We wouldn't go home for food but often skipped meals or ate the berries growing around the river bank just so we could have more time to swim together. That's my favorite summer memory." Ivan still has  love of swimming and would be a beach bum if he was a less responsbile man. 

My favorite summer memories were the summer road trips my family took. Once a year we drove up to Mackinac and on a few special occasions we venturned out of the state. It was less where we were going and more the road trip experience itself. Packing the cooler in the back of van, eating at rest areas, taking naps at said rest areas. Falling asleep in the back seat with the window down, wrapped in a blanket. One time we stopped at a rest area so my dad could take a nap. My sister and I read at a picknick table and ate snacks while my mom went for a short walk. She mistakingly walked through the dog park shoeless and stepped in a fresh pile! I can still see her washing her feet in the sink at the rest area and just laughing from the absurdity of her luck. I still prefer to road trip whenever possible because it brings with it a feeling of nostalgia. And now being married I get to have that with my husband, and God willing, any future children he has planned for us! It's something I greatly look foward to!  

Ivan is building a log cabin in Northern Michigan - completely by hand! It's one of the things that truly impressed me when we first met because all the work that he's done has been done in an almost old fashion kind of way; without the use of any big machinery. He dug the foundation by hand with a shovel. When he was placing the outside logs he used a winch attached to an old 90s Honda civic. He is so resourceful and knowledgeable that no problem or obstacle seems to phase him and he takes everything in stride. It's getting to a point where we can see that the final product is within sight! We got to spend a couple days up there recently finishing up the bannister and wow does he continue to amaze me with his work! 

What a joy! Since Ivan didn't have to work the Fourth we made a whole day of it. We started with an iced coffee and a leisurely drive around the lake. We followed that up with a movie a home. We don't watch a ton of tv, so this was very pleasant! We watched Project Hail Mary. Then we finished the evening with pizza and fireworks out at the lake. We got our pizza to go and ate out at the beach while waiting for the sun to set and fireworks to start. We laid on the beach for number of hours just talking and laughing; a chance to slow down and enjoy each other. Watching the fireworks with others gathered was a lovely end to America's 250th birthday. 

We have been trying to eat cleanly for a while now, and one of our favorite dishes is a actually a common dish from Ivan's home country. When we first started seeing each other he began to introduce his culture to me through food! I have to admit there were many times he would describe a dish and the mere sound of it would make me grimace. We have both been pleasantly surprised to find that when I actually tried the foods I have liked nearly everything! Ivan jokes that I'm more slavic than I realize.

Our favorite dish, especially during the summer, is a crisp and refreshing cabbage salad. You need to finely cut one head of cabbage and combine it with chopped cucumber (1/2 cucumber) and onion (1/2 of whatever kind of onion you prefer). You toss it very lightly with some oil of your choice and the tiniest splash of white or apple cider vinigar. I use olive oil but Ivan's family often uses sunflower oil. You don't want it too wet with oil because then the salad will will be greasy and soggy and it's gross to eat. Make sure it's seasoned with some salt and pepper. Add a couple cloves of fresh garlic to the mix. And top it off with a large amount of fresh dill. Keep it refridgerated! This salad stays crisp and delicious in the fridge for about a week, but it never stays that long at our house. I make a batch a week in the summer and it never seems to be enough. Yum! 

Some of our first dates remain some of our favorites. Not because they were grand and extravagent but because there was a quiet simpleness to them. One that sticks out with particular clarity was the day he picked me up and we drove out to the beach. He opened the tailgate of his truck and pulled out a watermelon and a couple bottles of water. We sat on the tailgate messily eating that watermelon as we talked and laughed; the view and sound of the rolling waves a steady companion to our laughter. We've been so blessed to have had a level of peace and comfort with each other from the very beginning, which has allowed something as simple as eating watermelon at the beach to become a cherished memory. 

This last weekend Ivan and I had the opportunity to do something we had never done before. We attended an Edgar Allan Poe speakeasy performance. With me being an avid reader (and Poe being my favorite American author), and Ivan being an extrovert pro-max, this event turned out to be so much fun for us. We started the evening by donning some traditional inspired romantic era/Victorian era gothic attire. While this style is far from our usual attire, we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to play along. We stood in line waiting to enter with other Poe fans, dressed similarly to ourselves; everybody visibily excited for the coming performance. The performers were dressed in beautiful costumes and the set directions and lighting created a Poe-esque atmostphere that made us feel like we were in a gothic Bostonian home. While Ivan was not overly familiar with Poe's work, he watched and listened to some of Poe's most prolific and eerie stories with rapt attention! We sat there with big stupid smiles on our faces through each of the four performances, feeling somewhat sad when it all concluded. As we left, Ivan said to me, "That was so much fun. We should do it again." Yes! We should! :) 

Where would we live if we could live anywhere? Ivan and I agree that we would always want to have our home base in Michigan, even if money was no object. Michigan is home to both us; our families are both here, we love the quaint small town we live in, and we love the easy access to the lakes. But if we ever had the opportunity to have a summer home elsewhere Ivan says he would want something in the Florida keys because he loves to be close to water. Or someplace along the east coast where the towns are small and the seafood is fresh. I am very different. I would want a home in the Scottish highlands or somplace in Italy, either Venice or Rome. I love both of these countries; the people, the culture, the charm and the food and would love to spend more time in them as a resident and not a tourist.