A week before I left Ukraine, my dear friends threw me a bridal shower. I had originally planned to just have a party to spend some time with all the girls before I left, but they insisted I had to have a bridal shower. So a bridal shower I did have.

The girls planned a few games, naturally there was some toilet paper involved. Yes, toilet paper, they tried to recreate my dress using toilet paper. I had to pick the winners, it was tough but one seemed to stand out more than the other.

Tada!

They took advantage of my love for tea and created a game about guessing what ingredients are in the tea just by smelling it. It was kind of fun to see what everyone thought was in the tea, we had a lot of grass guesses.

We played a version of hot potato/musical chairs. Instead of a potato we used a bouquet of fake flowers and passed it around until the music stopped. When it stopped, whoever was holding it was out. It all came down to Marilyn and I. It was an intense game that almost turned into ping pong with flowers. Marilyn won.

No, no, no, I don’t want it!

Gifts were given much to my surprise. I had not expected any gifts but the girls brought gifts. It was fun to get things for our new home… when I get back. One little tradition here is that the bride should receive something for a baby before she gets married. So I already have my first baby bottle!

Look, dish towels!

I’m all ready for… wait a second.

The best part of the night was receiving blessings from everyone. Everyone shared different blessings or memories that involved me. I was surprised at the different things that people mentioned. Little things that I didn’t think mattered or was a big deal but to someone else it made an impression.

Blessings