This year, I read a grand total of 23 total books. That’s nearly half the number of books that I read in 2024. I love reading for many reasons, but I sensed this year that maybe one of those reasons is to distract my racing mind with new information. Thanks to a few of the bo...

This year marked fifteen years of our family tradition. Back in 2011, Katie was expressing she wished she had more dresses, and we came up with the idea that we'd buy her a dress and do a photoshoot together. (Neither of us remember when we decided it would become an annual tr...

This year we marked 15 years of our Birthday Dress tradition. Every year we are faced with challenges to get it done (weather, childcare, sickness, motivation, to name a few), and every year we wonder how long we can keep it going. This year was no exception. Travel, children,...

Twenty years later, I still tell people Katie is my best friend in the whold world because, well, that's the easiest way to communicate to others that I still really like her. But honestly that title isn't quite right. It doesn't capture the realitry of our relationship. She i...

2024 Books I read a total of 39 books in 2024. As always, the year was filled with a wide variety of books—short books, long books, fiction, and non-fiction. Like every year, there’s always a topic I find myself returning to which I usually deem my theme of the year. This yea...

This year’s Birthday Dress photo shoot felt a little harder to squeeze in than normal. Not only are we on the road (as we usually are on her birthday), but this year we have a baby who’s at an age which requires extra attention, and this year was a special birthday. Katie turn...

Last night, Katie and I watched with tears in our eyes as the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, addressed the United States congress in person.

This year’s Birthday Dress photoshoot took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. This was the second year (of the twelve we’ve been doing this) that rain got in the way, but thankfully this time we were able to get a lot done before the rain started. When it did start to rain, w...

Twenty years ago today, I first set foot in Mariupol, Ukraine.

Our little birthday tradition was delayed this year because Katie and I both were sick on her 38th birthday. There was no cake, and there was no party. She got sick, then I got sick, then my parents got sick. It was a sad birthday. Finally, over a week later, we got out to sho...

So we moved this past weekend. Moving is something we've done a few times in the years we've been married, but there was something special about this one. This time, we moved into our own place. We are now home owners in Ukraine. That's the short story. The longer version is a...