Ohio Holiday Tournament

We took a bit of a spontaneous trip to Ohio this year, not without the sacrifice. When we go to tournaments, and especially fly, here are major things we sacrifice:

1. Spending time with the family

2. Sleep (very often we have to take the earliest flight out to make sure we make it to the tournament in time to go hit at the playing site)

3. Money (of course, we use points where we can, so this has helped a ton but still...rental cars are the biggest culprit lately)

4. Just relaxing time at home (tournaments are anything but relaxing most of the time... but then sometimes I appreciate the downtime at the hotel after a busy day of tennis)

6. Time with friends (Mark has to frequently say "no" to hangouts)

7. We miss Sundays in our home ward (but we usually try to find a church building nearby and at least show up for Sacrament. 

So basically, after listing all those factors, one things is for sure--one must absolutely love the sport and the competition to be dedicated enough to go through all of the traveling and training despite all these things we have to give up. Behind every high performance athlete is a family that is his rock of support and encouragement. And we are hoping to be that for as long as Mark loves tennis and works hard at it.

Well...that was certainly a detour from our post...

This time we flew to Cincinnati on American Airlines because miles redemptions was just too good. Usually we use Southwest companion certificate. Early morning flight still though...

Mark now knows exactly what to pack for a tournament. He has a laminated packing list that he follows. Most of the time we get close to 95% of everything we need. For summer long tournaments, we have to check two suitcases, for winter, we are ok with one. 

This was our first time playing in OH. By the way, we could have driven but I didn't want to drive through Kentucky and the mountains with the potential of bad winter weather. 

Here we stayed at an IHG hotel. A typical picture of Mark in the early hours of going for a warm up--usually at 7 am. Mark is wearing a high quality Dunlop coat that has served him well! And his jug--UnderArmour kind that they don't make anymore, which is a pain because that's the only kind he's had since he was 7 years old. The lid keeps breaking though. 

Mark does love getting Asian food when playing a tournament. Wintertime means it's good ramen time. 

The good news was that the tournament was played inside! What a relief as we didn't have to worry about the weather. It was definitely not sunny outside...in fact it was gloomy in OH pretty much the whole time we were there. Very depressing, so it was good for us to see it and be happy once we were back to NC-haha. 

This was Mark's first L4 tournament in the 16s age category as he had just aged out a couple of weeks prior. Indoor courts definitely suit his game well as he has a massive serve and an aggressive forehand. 

Here is a quick picture of me and Mark celebrating his birthday at an Asian restaurant after a very busy day of tennis. We barely made it there before it closed and had dinner at 8 pm. 

Mark did pretty well in singles by playing five matches, winning three of them. But the highlight of the tournament was definitely his doubles performance! He did not know his partner before signing up to play with him. This kid, Jovan Morales, is from IL and he sounded nice via texting, so Mark decided to make the best of it. 

Jovan is ambidextrous so he is super tricky to play against. It helped them tremendously, of course. They got along great and were very encouraging and somehow they made it all the way to the final where they had to face the number one seeds. They played absolutely insane! It was a pleasure to watch and I couldn't believe that they actually were doing so well! At some point they had a match point and Jovan missed a fantastic put away volley down the middle. He was super discouraged, but Mark showed great sportsmanship and pulled him out of that negativity. They ended up winning 9:8 in a tiebreak (7:4). I can tell you the exact score because Mark remembers it all very well.  

It was a fantastic match against these very talented players. 

So Mark got to bring this huge medal home. What is not shown is how I had to scramble and change our airplane tickets home which were for the night before. After they won the semifinals, I knew that we had to extend our stay and cancel tickets, which was quite an ordeal. But it all worked out! 

Congratulations to Mark! It was a fantastic win! 

 

Mark turns FIFTEEN!

Mark managed to spend another fantastic year doing what he loves most of the time! 

Having a late December birthday requires creativity. So we had a friends get together before Christmas instead of a big party--just the way Mark likes. Shaw (who drove from Greenvile!), Connor and David came to play pickleball with Mark. 

Connor had to leave early, but David and Shaw stayed for some ping pong and ice cream. 

All of these friends play tennis, so anything involving movement and paddles is of great entertainment to them. They all are SO amazing at tennis and pickleball it's not even funny anymore. Like elite level....just a step down of those juniors who go pro right out of high school. 

For Mark's actual birthday, we ended up being in Ohio! Mark decided a bit last minute to play an L4 tournament that started on Dec 27. It was a great opportunity to do well, so we ended up flying to Cincinnati on Dec 26. Connor was playing the tournament as well, but they couldn't play together as Mark signed up late and Connor already has committed to someone. It was still great to have a friend there during brutal tournament hours... Mark was exhausted on his birthday, and Connor was finishing his match late, but we still met up at a Thai place and Connor just sat and hung out with us. It was a good birthday! 

When we got home, Robert made a cake, of course! Can you guess what the cake is? It's NOT a pickleball ball. You might also notice a massive medal around Mark's neck! But that's a story for another time. 

'

Happy birthday, Mark!!!!!!! 

And...traditional questions with answers relevant this year:

Height: 6' 00’'

Favorite sport: Tennis

Favorite sport to watch: Tennis

Favorite Book: "Scythe"

Favorite movie: Shrek

Favorite Color: Blue

Hobbies: pickleball, disc golfing

When I grow up, I want to be a professional tennis player

We are so happy you were born into our family! You are never too cool for hugs from us! We love you! 

 

Our December Festivities

We tried to keep December under control this year....hahaha. 

Well, actually we did a good job. Although every weekend had events, we managed to spend a lot of time as a family as well as attend a few parties.

First of all, Robert's dental party was another big hit this year. He has a wonderful group of people working for him, so it's so fun to watch them interact with each other outside of the office. 

Two doctors and their female staff:))

Mike, Sherrie and us. 

Mark, home alone, was given the privilege to put on the final star on the Christmas tree. If you ask him if he is enjoying being the only child, he'll say--yes. But deep down I know he wishes he had his siblings around. 

Grandpa and Linda sent us a blanket with a picture of the beautiful lake in Montana. 

Mark and I got to travel to Florence...South Carolina, for another tennis tournament. He played doubles with Connor whose birthday was that weekend too. This was the tournament that had so much rain delay that we left and then Mark withdrew from the doubles match (which never happens so Connor was not super happy with him...he got over it).

We usually now stay at the Hyatt hotel in downtown Florence (because it's free with points). The town was so festively decorated again! We love it! 

I think this reindeer reappears every year in the same spot. 

Alex got home for Christmas. It was SO good to see him again! 

We did go on a few Sunday walks together. 

And here is our Sunday picture right around New Years Eve. 

 

Ukrainian Christmas-2023

Z Rizdvom!!! 

A year ago we decided that since now our kids are only home when college/school is not in session, it would make sense to celebrate the Ukrainian Christmas on Dec 24th. For now, this is a wonderful tradition that we are trying to upkeep, no matter how much work it is. 

Alex got home from BYU after acing his finals. It was so great to have him home for the holidays. 

Here is our traditional Ukrainian Christmas picture, missing Katya.  

Always grateful for Robert willing to go along with our cooking intensive tradition. 

Mama (that is me) and Mark. 

And Mama with Alex. 

My Ukrainian lads. 

This year we invited the Roylances to come be part of our celebration. We, of course, have enough Ukrainian shirts to around to get them all dressed up as well. 

Mark, Alex, Emma, Addie and Ethan (we don't know Ethan as well as he is all grown and lives in UT). 

We loved having friends over to help us eat all the 12 dishes we made for Christmas. 

Can’t wait for next year! 

Lyana.

To Ukraine with Love (via Poland)

Sometimes you have to do inconvenient and uncomfortable things. When I think about this life experience that I lived through though, I mostly think about how necessary it was. Honestly, compared to a lot of other things happening in life, this was truly a walk in the park.

I have been spearheading raising money for Ukraine since the war began. It's important to me to know I can help, but personal feelings aside, it's important to people of Ukraine, peaceful people who just want to live and raise families. I have been involved in many efforts from collecting military uniforms (and searching for them at antique shops) to simply shamelessly texting my friends and asking for any amount of funds that they can donate. I never take it personally if they don't send me money, truly. I feel immense gratitude and faith if they do. 

So this time, I was working with Oksana Petrukh, a daughter of our old family friend in Lviv. She has been my trusty volunteer that has been supporting the troops at the frontlines and personally has been delivering donations to the military in the east. I decided to join her efforts and collect tourniquets and hand/foot warmers--some of the most needed items at the moment. People from all over the states sent in their donations. When I realized that I was going to have quite a large amount of  supplies, the wheels in my head started turning and I began to entertain the idea of me flying to Poland personally to deliver the supplies. One night I remember I simply could not fall asleep as I had a strong impression I really need to do this. I came up with a plan in my head and worked everything out the following day. Robert wholeheartedly supported me although probably thinking that I was a bit crazy to just drop everything and do a one night run to Warsaw. Thankfully, I have learned how to play the credit card game and figured out how to get a business class ticket on the way there for very cheap (well, taxes) plus economy on the way back. I need to fly business class because then I were able to take three 70 lbs suitcases for free. Otherwise, Air France charges $250 per suitcase! 

I arranged with Oksana's volunteer in Warsaw to pick up the supplies. And I arranged with another volunteer to get her stuff picked up there as well. The Ukrainians in the Carolinas organization sent six incredibly expensive and needed life saving tourniquets that cost $500 each. I had to transport them in my carry on as they were so precious--and then give them to a volunteer in Poland as well. 

Packing all the donations that people sent plus all the stuff that Ukrainian people from the area sent through me was quite a task. 

We had donated uniforms and some fleece, but mostly tourniquets and hand/foot warmers. 

Some medical kits as well. But overall, we had 1000 or so hand/foot warmers! 

On Dec 11th, Robert helped me get the stuff checked in. Our military bag came in handy as it was light but fit a ton of hand warmers. Each suitcase I was taking was 70 lbs. We tried to send one more, but they told us we still had to pay the fee although it was humanitarian aid. 

I said bye to these two wonderful helpers who are my biggest supporters in endeavors like this. 

I am happy I have TSA Precheck, but this time, it didn't help me much. I got stuck behind four carry on bags that had to be manually checked...and mine was flagged as well. It was those very expensive tourniquets that looked unfamiliar. The guy in front of me had a bunch of camera equipment in a case that looked like a sports weaponry or something, so the TSA officer had to swipe every single detail of it and it took forever. I kid you not, I was there for almost 30 minutes. 

I still had time to spare once I was through, so I headed to the Delta lounge for a quick snack. First time at that lounge at RDU as I am usually not allowed to go there as I don't fly business class internationally. It was just okay...but still made me feel special. 

If you don't feel fancy flying business class to Europe with Sky Priority/TSA Precheck, then I think you are spoiled! 

This was my first time flying business class in two decades...and it was not just a wide seat kind of business class. This was legitimately the best flight I've ever taken. 

I had to take pictures of everything and make this trip fun despite the solemn reasons why I was taking it. Look at that legroom! I could lie down and go to sleep easily. 

And food...all the gourmet food. It was amazing! 

And a menu just to memorialize this experience.  

Not done...nope...still dessert to come...

And a breakfast in the morning. 

First time ever I didn't want a long flight to end so quickly!!! 

I was flying through Paris (CDG) where I waltzed over to the Air France lounge and found out that I indeed could go to this lounge because I was flying business class BUT I also learned that if you are at least Gold status with Delta, they let you come here too. I mean, that is better than Delta itself!!! They only allow people flying business class internationally or have fancy expensive credit cards to go to the Delta lounges... 

Well, I am happy to report that I was absolutely blown away by how awesome this lounge was! I took a shower! A SHOWER!!! And I ate as much as I needed, and rested. I had a few hours before my flight to Warsaw later that day. 

I arrived to Poland around 4 pm in the afternoon. It took forever to get our luggage on the carousel, but once I unloaded everything, it was super easy to find all the volunteers who were supposed to meet me. It was a huge blessing and a huge relief! One of the volunteers was kind enough to give me a lift to my hotel that was 5 minutes away from the airport. I met another volunteer there and dropped off my last suitcase with him...

I literally exhaled once my job was complete...checked in at the hotel, dropped off my tiny little bag of stuff at the room and took an uber to downtown. 

I walked and walked and enjoyed the festive atmosphere of the city decorated for Christmas. 

I heard Ukrainian left and right. I also heard russian although I knew they were Ukrainian by their accent. 

I blended right in and felt alive in a different way. It felt sooooo homely and so close to my heart, I can't explain it. I guess you just can't get that part of the Slavic heritage form the depth of my soul.

I enjoyed some Christmas market stall shopping (got an ornament) and yummy snacks. 

Then I stopped by a restaurant to get my fill of some vareniki (pierogi) and called it a night. I took a taxi back, which was super duper brave of me as a single woman. Both times my driver was from Uzbekistan.

I only had a few hours to sleep at my hotel as I had a 6:30 am flight the following morning. I know it sounds absolutely insane, but it worked. I needed to get home to my family and responsibilities. 

It was a different story traveling with just a super light carry on (well, it got heavier because I did buy chocolate at the duty-free stores, of course). I also took advantage of the lounge at the Warsaw airport--it was a miracle! They let me in also because I was Delta Platinum status. The lounge was quite amazing as well and I filled up on so much food and chocolate! haha

Oh, but I must tell this story. As I was checking in for my flight, I saw the missionaries. Of course, I see missionaries--that's just what happens whenever we travel internationally! We are like a magnet to them. Anyway, some of the missionaries in this group were flying home to the states on the same flight as me. The AP's were there but also the Mission President and his wife! They were so excited to meet me, it was amazing! I told them how I have a daughter serving in Romania, and how my son was working on his mission papers and that he is putting them in in a few weeks. And then the mission president says, "Well, you know, you just met his future mission leaders! We need missionaries like him!". I was a bit dumbfounded but kept my smile-hahaha. Of course, in my head, I would absolutely LOVE for Alex to go to Poland, but then I was afraid that I was somehow messing up God's plan if that actually happened because of me being in Poland at this exact time and talking to them-hahahaha. Anyway...it was all silly worries, needless to say. 

Here are the illustrations of my story. The Mission Leaders of the Warsaw, Poland mission, whose friends are the Fowlers, the mission leaders of Katya's mission! 

And me with the missionaries. I was originally planning on posting this on Missionary Mammas Facebook group, but then ran out of time. 

Here is our gloomy morning as we are waiting to take off. I seriously did not see Poland in the light. It was dark by the time I came out of the airport the night before and it was still dark when we took off. Crazy... 

Did I go to the lounge again at CDG? Of course, I did!!! And I even got a 20 minute facial this time! I knew that I needed to sign up ahead of time, so I signed up for it as soon as I arrived. I had 4 hours to spare, so I enjoyed my time at the lounge very much. 

And then I was on my way home. Economy seat or not--it didn't matter. It was a great flight, daytime, so it was pretty easy. I can't believe after all these years of traveling back and forth to Europe, how small the world seems after all. 

I know I didn't do this whole big operation just to give myself a pat on the back. I also know that my efforts were not in vain, although I will never know how exactly my donations helped particular people. I am grateful for this opportunity to serve and grateful for all those who made it possible by donating their money and time to make it happen. I will never forget this experience. I also know our kids will not forget that their mom did this because some things are just more important in life than others and sacrificing selflessly for the common good is what makes the world a better place.

And now...let's have faith and hope that the war will be over soon.

Slava Ukraini!