Life With A Ukrainian Wife

Ukrainian Lady and a Wheelbarrow

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 15:53:00 +0000

I just found out I have kind of collection of my pictures taken with... wheelbarrows. And I am not just posing with them, I actually work! Well, I am posing with the only one - this one:

The picture is taken in Viking Museum, just when I moved to Canada. As you can see, the wheelbarrow is made in old Viking style, all wooden, with only metal frame on the wheel. As for Canada or USA, this kind of wheelbarrow are already a museum artefacts, in modern Ukraine, where I am originally from, many households still have it, so did mine.

Also, more and more new styles of wheelbarrows are appear on Ukrainian market nowadays. They have a metal ones as well, like this one, which I work with in one of my travels to Ukraine, at the archaeological excavation of the medieval castle in West Ukrainian city of Skalat:

Finally, I would like to show you my current wheelbarrow, which I work with nowadays in Canada, on my garden. The picture is taken in 2010, when we just started our Canadian garden:

What do I have on the top of this wheelbarrow? A sifter for the topsoil! Everyone in Canada knows how topsoil is rocky over here - not like in Ukraine, where it is soft like a butter. So I have insisted that my husband Ron made me that sifter and I will sift the topsoil from the rocks. I didn't want to make a raising bed for growing my vegetables, like everyone is doing here - I wanted to have my garden in Ukrainian style. Ron said absolutely reasonably that it will take me a lifetime to drain of the rocks through this sifter, but he made me one, anyway.

After first year of my gardening, I could see, Ron was right, so I gave up on sifting. I just picked up bigger rocks, that's it. Main thing, that top soil is fertile, just like in Ukraine, and my garden is growing great! The picture with my wheelbarrow and the sifter are just a part of my Canadian gardening memorabilia :)

Our Best Traveling Memories, Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 12 May 2015 19:22:00 +0000

Well, it is 9 years this year (2015), since we, Maria and Ron, know each other - we met online in 2006 and got married in 2007. I am a Ukrainian wife in Canadanow, very happy here and we both made a good Ukrainian-Canadian couple/team.

Among our regular life, living in picturesque Canadian countryside, taking care about our garden (yes, we started a vegetable garden over here), doing a lot of home cooking, crafting (I also started to make crafts and sell them on local markets), blogging (I wish I could do it more often) Ron and I like to travel. We have travelled to many places in Canadaand Ukraine; also, we have been to few countries, and some more places to visit still on our list.

Today, I would like to share with you some of our travel memories, which we are cherish a lot, like, visiting beautiful Prince Edward Island, or Jamaica, or cruising with Carnival Victory. Hope you enjoy the videos from our trips! More to come!

Belly Dance at the Wedding in Ukraine

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 09 May 2015 23:45:00 +0000

There is a new trend at Ukrainian weddings, I would say, in past 10 years - to invite dancers, singers and musicians to perform at the wedding. This video is from the wedding in western Ukraine our family have attended in 2013. The belly dancer is performing at the wedding of our close friends daughter. The bride herself was a part a local belly dancers group by that time, so her band mates have decided to make a gift for her - to perform at the wedding. Great performance, by the way!

My first home-baked bread in Canada

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 16:24:00 +0000

Yes, this is my first home-baked bread in

Canada

. Well, the first one in my life :)

In western part of

Ukraine

, where I came from, girls know how to bake a bread in their 16-17-th! When I was that age, I was thinking about going to University, finding a job at newspaper; at the same time, my classmates from high school were thinking about getting married, so they learnt all household skills possible, like, how to cook, bake and to be good wives :)

I am kinda late to that party - I mean, family life's party :) - - but better late than never, isn't?

All You Need is Love

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 04:37:00 +0000

Just to bring a smile to your face :) First picture – carrots big hug – is already very popular online:

And the second one - two carrots which are definitely in love – I took myself. More than that – I grew it myself, at our Canadian garden:

Six years ago, in 2006, my husband Ron and I still were single and lonely; in the same year – 2006 - we met online; in 2007 was our wedding; now is 2012 and we are happily married for 5 years already, enjoying each other and even have our vegetable garden with carrots, beets, potatoes and other delicious and healthy (organic!) veggies.

Today I think, well, it’s kind of funny – Ron and I are both Ukrainians which born and grew up on two different continents (I am originally from Ukraineand Ron is Canadian, of Ukrainian background); we met each other online at dating website which is based in Australia and run by Russian lady. How unpredictable and cute life can be sometimes! Cute like those carrots and full of love like them :) And like us :)

Ukrainian Secrets to a Long Marriage

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 03:27:00 +0000

So, dear husbands, whom you love more, your mothers or your wives?

Kind of tough question, huh?

Not really. Just read a poem below. It’s called “A Ukrainian Wife’s Poem” – my husband’s sister-in-law sent me it:

A Ukrainian Wife’s Poem

He didn't like my holubtsi

And he didn't like my cake,

He said my perogies were too hard

Not like his mother used to make.

I didn't perk the coffee right

He didn't like the borsch,

I didn't mend his socks

The way his mother used to do.

I pondered for an answer

I was looking for a clue.

Then I turned around and

Smacked the crap out of him

Like his mother used to do!

I don’t know who is an author of this poem – it’s goes viral by e-mails between Ukrainians of North America – but this poet definitely got a great sense of humor! I showed the poem to Ron, my husband – he was laughing hard, just like me. Thank God, my hubby got a good sense of humor, too (otherwise I wouldn’t marry him – I have a hard time to spend even 5 minutes in presence of man without sense of humor).

Posting here this poem, I just wanted to introduce you to Ukrainian marriage humor – for you to get an idea what kind of humor it is. Yep, this is the kind! And this poem was written about relationships in family, where both – husband and wife – are Ukrainians, that’s why the author mentioned a Ukrainian dish holubtsi (cabbage rolls) and perogies (stuffed dumplings). Speaking ethnographically and historically, the situation which described in the poem is very typical for the marriages between two Ukrainians, so, it is not totally a joke.

Anyway, as you can see, this poem is showing a wife as a winner of the situation.

Here is another example of Ukrainian marriage humor, where a winner is a Ukrainian husband. A story called “Ukrainian secret to a long marriage” (sent me by my husband’s dear sister-in-law, too):

“At Ukrainian Church in …… (Name of North American city), they have weekly husband's marriage seminars. At the session last week, the priest asked Joe who said he was approaching his 50th wedding anniversary, to take a few minutes and share some insight into how he had managed to stay married to the same woman all these years.

Joe replied to the assembled husbands, "Well, I've always tried to treat her nice, spent lots of money on her, but best of all I took her to the

Ukraine

for our 25th wedding anniversary!"
The priest amazed responded, "Joe, you are an amazing inspiration to all the husbands gathered here! Please tell us what you are planning for your wife on your 50th anniversary."
Joe proudly replied, "I’m gonna go pick her up."

P.S. An illustration to this post – a rolling pin – is a part of Ukrainian marriage humor too. Well, I would say not only Ukrainian – our good friends Tanya and Bill from

England

sent it to Ron and me as a wedding gift :)

P.P.S. A huge “Thanks!” to my husband’s sister-in-law for sending me all these jokes! Just for the record – she is a Ukrainian wife to a Ukrainian husband. I am a Ukrainian wife to a Ukrainian husband, too. My husband’s sister-in-law and I are getting along very well, especially if it’s come to Ukrainian marriage humor :)

My Online Matchmaking Hobby: Five Great Marriages, Including Mine :)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 07:18:00 +0000

Tanya from Ukraine and Bill from England, married in 2006

Ron from Canada and myself, Maria from Ukraine, married in 2007

Jim from USA and Olya from Ukraine, married in 2008

Tony from USA and Halya from Ukraine, married in 2009

Nadia from Ukraine and Richard from England, married in 2010

Beautiful Wedding in Medieval Style - Lviv, Western Ukraine

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 01:15:00 +0000

Here is a video of the beautiful wedding in medieval style – in the city of Lviv, western Ukraine.The videographer really did such a good job on it, putting the video clip on such a nice piece of music - John Ryan’s Polka. Sounds great and looks great! Happy marriage life to the newlyweds Martha and Maxim!

All You Guys Need It’s a Good Woman

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:46:00 +0000

I cannot resist sharing with you one picture that my husband’s sister-in-law just sent to Ron and me (I am Maria, Ron is my husband). “Hi you two! This one is just for you!!!” she wrote.
Well, take a look, how our sister-in-law sees our couple, and I can tell you, she is right - this is the way things are in our Ukrainian-Canadian family:

“Irrefutable proof that a good woman can bring balance and stability to your life” – this is a name of the picture.

Yep, all you guys need it’s a good woman. A woman just like us – Tania, Maria, Olya, Halya and Nadia.

Best Proposals Ever!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:57:00 +0000

I would like to share with you some YouTube videos with the best marriage proposals ever – well, for my personal opinion. I want to bring your memory to the day when you proposed/been proposed. Or maybe these videos will give you some ideas in case if you just going to propose to you beloved.
Speaking about my personal experience being proposed, oh, it was much simpler than in those stories on YouTube. But it always will be the best one for me over any proposal in the world!
So, my husband Ron asked his “Will you marry me?” in about one month after we found each other online (here is a spot where we met). I didn’t give him an answer right away – I was thinking entire day what I have to do. I can only imagine what he felt all this day. Well, I don’t have to imagine anymore – he told me how he felt, after I finally have answered him “Yes!” next day, after he proposed. So, Ron told me, what would happen if I would say “No” or I would keep thinking what to do - “I decided to stay in Ukraine and every day ask you to marry me, till you say “Yes”, he said (Ron is Canadian and I am originally from Ukraine). Here you can read more about our story.
Well, back to the videos I want to show you – sorry, I am talking too much :) I personally love these videos a lot – the ones I picked for you. These stories touch my heart every time when I watch them. Hope you enjoy them, too!

Dreaming About Girls Night Out

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 05:27:00 +0000

This tiny bottle of peppermint liquor from Europe I was given as a gift. I called this cute little thing "Girls Night Out".
Did I like the liquor? Honestly? Nope. Not my kind of taste. But I love a color - very much! And I love a shoe shape of the bottle. And its functionality: it is refillable, with a strong cork. Good to have in a household! Like, to refill with something tasty and to invite my girls over for our GIRLS NIGHT OUT!
Well, my girls all live in different countries now, so, I can only dream about our reunion. It will happen one day, I am sure!

Don’t Be Alone for Christmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:13:00 +0000

Here is another year almost passed by – 2011. Christmas is just around the corner. Or it is already? I look at the window, I see snow is shining on a sun, I see Christmas decorations by each house on our street… And I think, Christmas is not just a calendar day – Christmas it is a time when you really FEEL it with all your soul. It is may be sooner or can be a little bit later – as long as snow is shining, as long as your kitchen smells with cinnamon and apples… And a fur tree… And a nice candle… And a feel-good movie is playing on TV… And your beloved person is with you – that’s a main thing of your real feeling of a Christmas.
Yes, now my husband Ron and I have this real feeling of Christmas – because we finally found each other in this big world. We met in a very modern way – in a way that many folks are finding each other nowadays: online! To be more specific, we found each other right here, on this website.
How many holidays Ron and I spent apart before we met each other – well, to be honest, a lot. Now we got OUR Christmas (by the way, it is Ron and mine fifth Christmas together – I can tell you, guys that time goes by so fast!),

and OUR fir tree in a snow,

and OUR ornaments,

and OUR Christmas cookies,

and OUR perfect winter meal - a moose stew with a buckwheat side which is some kind of culinary link between Ukraine and Canada: moose meat mostly belong to a Canadian cuisine, buckwheat is to a Ukrainian one

I am originally from Ukraine, Ron is of Ukrainian background, but he is Canadian born and now we both live in Canada. And we are happily married since 2007, and we are not alone for Christmas anymore – we have each other, and we have OUR Christmas tree, and… (Read above)
So, another year – 2011 – is almost finished, and we would like to say a big “Thank you!” to everyone who has been with us this whole year: to our family, to our friends, and I am personally, as an author of the Life With A Ukrainian Wife would like to say a huge “THANKS!” to all my readers and subscribers. Thanks a lot guys! Thanks for all your comments and rates and messages!
I am glad for all my single readers who decided - it is about time to change and do something with their personal life. Very often I am getting messages like this one, “I would like to get connected and get started...” Well, guys, I want to clear a situation here. I am happy that you probably think that I am a professional matchmaker and a matchmaking – that’s what I do for living. Nope, I am not a professional matchmaker and matchmaking is not my job. It is just MY HOBBY, my interest (as you can read very above, in a description of this blog), and I am gladly doing matchmaking for friends of mine only. BTW, I was thinking lately that I am kinda losing this my hobby, because less and less of my friends remain unmarried, and it is good!
So, I am helping to friends of mine ONLY to find a right life partner. What I can do for everyone else, especially for the single readers of the Life With A Ukrainian Wife, is to redirect them to the online dating source where my husband and I met, and where I found spouses for my dear friends. Believe us, this site is really works!
How else can I help others to find their soul mates (especially if they are men and they are looking for Ukrainian women), it is to give them some online dating tips from my personal experience and experiences of my friends - how to make online search for a life partner better and more successful; in other words, how to make it work and… not to be alone for Christmas.
Thanks again guys for being with us all this 2011 year! Happy Holidays to everyone!

Our Happy Ride!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:48:00 +0000

Time goes by very quickly, and this year (2011) Ron and I were celebrating our 5th anniversary since we met online and met in real.

We met online on this amazing website, and just after couple weeks of our correspondence, which was mostly about our families stories, roots and ancestry (we both of Ukrainian background), Ron (he is Canadian) came to Ukraine to meet me in real. He flew to Lviv, which is a favorite city of mine, and, how it turned out later, Lviv became one of the favorite cities of Ron. We met in Lviv, we got married in Lviv and after 5 years of us being together we keep returning to this beautiful and magical city – not just in our dreams, but in reality too.
One of our things to do for fun, when we met in 2006 and knew each other very little, was a horse-and-buggy ride in Lviv. It was very nice ride which brought us to a romantic mood and to an understanding that something special is started to going on between us two. Here are picture from our Lviv’s ride in 2006:

So, in 2011, in our travel to Lviv, we took another ride –to celebrate our 5^th anniversary of being together. Here we are, andour gorgeous horse and buggy (I would say – a carriage):

I wish to all couples to have such a happy and romantic ridelike Ron and I have – through all the life!

So, How I Became An Online Matchmaker?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 09:35:00 +0000

Image credit

If you are lonely man and you would like to find the woman of your life, you will look for her everywhere, it does not matter, whether it is: the closest bar or online dating site. Bars might be a good idea, but chances are better using an online service. Why? It is because the Internet gives you much more opportunities to meet the right person for you. Usually a membership in an online dating agency would cost the same money as spent by you in one night in bar. How many nights do you think you need to spend in bars until you meet Her? But if you bought a membership on a dating site, your chances to find your One and Only are increased many times, because so many women are also looking for their perfect match. And so much scam there too, you can say…
OK, there are two good tips for you.
First, you will be okay, if you will pick a right dating service. The policies of an agency determine what kind of people sign up for their services. A company that actually can verify information provided by the people that sign up for their services would be the most reliable one to use.
Second, learning from other people’s experiences is a sure way to get good results. By reading stories of successful marriages, it will help you make the right decisions in finding a partner for a good friendship which may lead to marriage. Don’t be afraid of taking chances, by having a good preparation and knowing what to look for, you will increase the chances of getting an ideal mate.
Well, look at me. I am a Ukrainian woman-journalist. I worked for Ukrainian newspapers and online news agencies for many years. I was always too busy building my career and making money that I almost missed the opportunity to achieve my personal happiness.
It was time to do something about this… I signed up to several online dating services to seek a mate, but with no success. One day I discovered the online dating service that changed my life and went on to getting married within a short time. The dating service did provide good information on how to find a good match. Then few women, friends of mine, asked me for help in finding husbands. So, this is the way in which I got my hobby of online matchmaker. It is now my passion... and in the past 5 years (2006-2010) my efforts have matched up 5 couples which have led to 5 international marriages (included mine :), all with the help of just one good online dating service!
And do you know what? I knew immediately that THIS ONE will really work! Why? It is because I found lots of testimonials from ex-customers of the website, I saw more than hundred pictures of happy couples which met on the website, and I knew: yes, this is the one! What else I liked about this website is that they post real first names of people. Using real names of the customers is more serious than displaying just their nicknames.
So, now I am happy to tell you more details about the results of my matchmaking activities on this website:
one friend of mine, a wonderful Ukrainian woman, is married to a British man;
my best friend, a woman from Ukraine, is now married to an American man;
another friend of mine, a gorgeous Ukrainian woman (she was my bridesmaid) is married to an American man;
a very bright and energetic Ukrainian woman, which is a friend of mine as well, is married to a British man;
and myself, I am married to a Canadian man.
All of us, four international couples, are doing very well! I would like each of you to be as successful as we were to find a good relationship.
I am very grateful to this online dating website, which helped to find four amazing guys for us, four women from a small Ukrainian city. Finding my husband was a real adventure; it did take several attempts to find the right person for me. So don't expect a perfect match right away. It may happen quickly or it may take years, but what fun you can have in the search! There was not a single day that I was disappointed; even though things did not work out sometimes... I never gave up. It took me a few years of searching before I met my One and Only, but with my experience, it was a lot easier finding good matches for my friends. Now I share my knowledge of successful online dating with everyone who wants to know more about how to find a really good match on the internet and to be happy.

Looking For Slavic Girls: Two Men’s Fears

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 09:29:00 +0000

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I know that usually two things make men afraid of using international dating services: a money scam and a language barrier.
Money scammers are women which ask men to send money for some needs such as “illnesses of relatives”, “to pay for travel visa to visit you”, “to pay for the Internet to communicate with you” etc. Lots of men believe their distant women friends are telling the truth, so they send money, and after that their beauties simply disappear. It is not always women that do the scamming; sometimes a dishonest man will create profiles of Slavic girls and will put pictures of beautiful Ukrainian or Russian models, actresses or singers to the profiles. He also writes letters to the men like from a real girl. Those letters are full of “sincere feeling” and, of course, money asking, so western men who get this letter, have no idea that their “girls” do not exist at all. The Internet is full of such kind of reports, so before you start to correspond with a Slavic beauty, you better check the black lists of women scammers.
Well, now back to my experience.
I will tell you absolutely opposite stories about Ukrainian women who do not even know that the word “scam” exists and what it means. They are my women friends whom I have helped and are presently helping to find their soul mates on the Internet.
One of them had already started correspondence with her future husband (but she did not know yet he will be her husband :). Some emergency situation randomly happened to her and she was REALLY in needed of money, six hundreds dollars. But she did not tell a word about it to her distant western friend! She had to borrow the money, and she took an additional job to be able to pay this loan back, but her soul mate did not know anything about it! He found about her hardship by accident, from other people, when he was already the fiancé of this woman.
Speaking about scammers, which are asking for money “to pay for the Internet”… You know, one of my friends did not even have a computer at home, so she went to an Internet café EVERY DAY to write to her distant boyfriend. I can imagine how much money she spent for it but she NEVER EVER asked her future husband to send her money neither for getting a computer nor for paying for the Internet. Another one my friend did not have a computer at home too, but she bought one and she got the Internet to her apartment, because she knew it is a good investment in her future personal happiness.
Well, our husbands are fortunate that they met us :) What it means is, they knew where to search, on which website. Now we are recommending this website to every man who wants to find a wife in Ukraine.
OK, what about another men’s fear of using international dating services? I mean a language barrier. You know, if English language would be a main criterion for our husband in searching good wives, our guys even would not start looking for Ukrainian girls.
Back to our experience. When one friend of mine started to correspond with her future English-speaking husband, she did not know English AT ALL. So, she used an online translator for her letters to him. The translation was horrible, with lots of mistakes in those letters, but the future husband of my friend recognized a very good girl with a big heart, even with all the grammar errors. Also this friend of mine started to take English lessons on the beginning of her correspondence with the distant boyfriend. Actually, she started to learn from zero, and… After just one year of those lessons, she spoke English so well, that we could not believe it! Her spoken English was very good, but she was not proficient in writing yet. But now, after a couple years of living in England, her written English has improved so much.
Another friend of mine which is married to an American man, studied English at school and University, but… she did not get any chance to practice what she studied, until she met her future husband online. Now her English is getting much better.
My personal language experience is quite a story too. My first email letters to my future husband were so full of errors. And when we met face to face for the first time, my spoken English was even worse than my written so we had to chat by writing to each other on a piece of paper. That was in 2006. If somebody would tell me then, that in 2007 I would start my first blog-site in English, I would not have believed it! But it did happen! So, I would like to advise you: do not be scared that your Ukrainian girlfriend knows very little English or she does not know English at all. Look first, what kind of person she is and whether she could fall in love with you. If she does fall in love with you, she will learn your language quickly so do not worry!
Check out also:
Ukrainian Girls Really Knock World Out!
Ukrainian Women Of Model Quality

How To Find A Right Ukrainian Woman And Not To Get Scammed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:17:00 +0000

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Now, when you know from our experience, that it is highly probable to find the right Ukrainian woman online, you will be ready to do the first step towards your happiness, won’t you? So, I guess, first your question will be “where?” Where do I look? Well, you have a huge choice of dating services online, but I think, it would be more reasonable to choose a website where REAL PEOPLE have found their soul mates and got married, like us.
Ok, you made your choice of online dating service and I know, what is your second question after that. How? "How to attract a beautiful, kind and REAL Ukrainian woman? How should my profile on the dating website look? What pictures are best to post?"
Without any doubts, your profile on the dating website is very important. For the years of my online searches I saw hundreds men’s profiles and now I want to give you some tips, how your profile should look to attract a right woman; in other words, woman who are not looking for the games online, but for a good husband and family happiness.

Three tips to your profile

1.You better answer all the questions in your profile: about your personality, interests and what kind of person you are looking for.
Many dating websites will ask you to write a personal message, so, if you really want to find a good woman, please do not write a novel, otherwise girls like us will think you are just a big stories teller and nothing more.
But if your personal story will be too short, as one sentence like “I am a great guy”, or if you will decide not to write your personal message at all, serious women will think, you are dull or you got some mental problems. So, one or two paragraphs of your personal message are enough.

2. If you know somebody, who already is happily married to a Ukrainian woman, do not forget to note it in your personal message. It works. Also, if you have any connection to Ukraine (relatives, friends, Ukrainian descent), state that too. It works very well. For example, I knew right away from the personal message of my future husband that his ancestors were Ukrainian and it actually caught my eye and it was one of reasons why I answered him. If you happened to be in Ukraine already, it would be good to say it too in your profile, desirably with a short explanation as to why you have visited Ukraine (traveling, business, visiting relatives); otherwise good women can think you are simply a sex-tourist and that you are not very serious about finding your destiny.

3. In writing your profile, do not forget to answer all the questions about your profession and occupation, otherwise women will think that you are not able to support a family. Of course, you want that your new girlfriend will fall in love with you for your personality and not for your occupation. Believe experience of our husbands, if you really will find a right Ukrainian woman, she will estimate you for your personality first.
But, excuse me, I am sure, your beautiful personality will want to eat something once in while, and personalities of your future wife and children as well, so you better tell in your profile what are you doing for living.
Do not be shy, if you have a simple occupation like bus driver or postman. Say it! Only some very young and naive Slavic girls, without any life experience, may think that all the western men on the dating websites are billionaires. Ukrainian women ages 20-25 understand very well that not everyone can be a Bill Gates.
If you are currently without a job, be honest and put “temporarily unemployed” in your profile. But, of course, you better have a job, because it does cost a fair bit of money to bring a foreign wife to your country; such as the visa expenses, plane tickets, oh my! But, for our husbands’ opinion, all these expenses were worth to bring us to their countries :)

Three tips to your photographs

1. It is the best to have your profile with your picture than without one. At the same time, it is not necessary to publish a whole gallery of your images; just two-three pictures are enough, although one is ok too, if it is really good one. But! Your picture (pictures) better not be when you were 20-30 years old if you are now 40-50 years old. A smart Ukrainian woman will recognize that your photos were taken in 1970’s and 80’s by quality of pictures or by the old fashion in clothes etc. Ukrainian ladies like us simply will not believe that you live in such developed country and you cannot afford a modern picture of good quality. So, if you cannot afford even a good picture for yourself, how will you be able to keep a future family? I do not mean that you necessarily need to go to a professional photographer and pay him for your photo session. On contrary, I am sure that in your archives you have some “live”, dynamic picture of you in real life: where you are doing some sport, where you are traveling, fishing, cooking etc. Also it is not a good idea to publish your picture with your cool car or your house on background: a good woman will not react for such a profile and she will rather think you are showing off what you own and not yourself. Oh, I almost forgot the main thing: please smile on your picture! If you got a great smile, a good Ukrainian woman will not notice your beer belly if you have one :)

2. Speaking about bellies. If you indented to post your half-naked picture in your profile, I would not recommend you do that, even if you have a body of Apollo and you are dying to show it to the pretty girls. Maybe for some another girls it will work, but not for serious and modest Ukrainian ladies like us. Good Ukrainian woman doesn’t choose a man for his body shape; she checks his personality first. Well, guys, can you imagine, what would happen, if women would pick YOU on just how you are picking them: are you good looking or you are not? Guess, who would get a match then? Right, it would be only those of you, which are very handsome. What do the other have to do, the ones who have a big heart, but who do not happen to look like Brad Pitt or George Clooney?
So, if you really want to find a nice woman to build a family with, you better think first of what to write about yourself. Because if you put on your profile the greatest picture of your muscles and zero information at the same time, you will not get a letter from a good woman, you will rather attract a superficial and immature girl.

3. Another “don’t” in choosing of your photos for your dating profile: a picture where you “cut off” from somebody else, especially from a woman! It is very bad idea. During my Internet searches for a partner I saw some divorced men’s profiles with their ex-wedding photos: they just cut off the ex-brides (wives) from themselves on the pictures, and that’s it. They were probably thinking that a whole bunch of love thirsty Ukrainian beauties would be happy to see this. One time I found a profile of guy with his wedding photo where he didn’t even cut off his ex-wife from the picture: he just cut a hole where her head was. Really!!! Why to make everything so complicated? Welcome new bride to this vacant place!
I would like to explain to you guys: when a good Ukrainian woman notices another woman’s hand on your shoulder (even if it is in the picture), you will NEVER get a letter from her, you will rather get from someone who is a scammer. Scammers usually do not care for any other women’s fingers with manicure on your hand, because scammer’s goal is your money, but not your hand and your heart.

Check out also:

Ukrainian Girls Really Knock World Out!

Ukrainian Women Of Model Quality

Real Ukrainian Girls

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:11:00 +0000

Yes, here we are, real Ukrainian girls, at this video above: me and six friends of mine. Four of us are journalists; one is a teacher (by the way, a teacher of English); two are in real estate business. I am and four other girls are happily married to wonderful American, Canadian and British men. We met our husbands online, at this amazing website. Well, it is a 21 century for you and internet it is a way to meet your partner nowadays :) So if you are single and you would like to find your soulmate, don't be afraid to take your chance online. At least, it worked for us :)

Another Top 12 the Most Beautiful and Famous Ukrainian Women (Just Started)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:34:00 +0000

I have created already a Top 12 the Most Beautiful and Famous Ukrainian Women. But time went by since then and new beauties of Ukrainian background (or born in Ukraine) became famous worldwide, so, now I see, it is about time to start another Top 12 the Most Beautiful and Famous Ukrainian Women. So far I have only three girls in my list, but, as I said, the list is just started and more amazing and popular Ukrainian girls to come.
Here is my beautiful three (in alphabetic order by last name):

Vera Farmiga

Photo by: Csztova

Vera Farmiga is a known American actress and director. She was born in New Jersey. Vera is a one of the seven kids of Ukrainian immigrants Mykhailo, a computer-systems analyst, and Luba Farmiga, a schoolteacher. Vera did not speak English untill the age of six. Vera also was a professional folk dancer in Ukrainian folk-dancing ensemble, Syzokryli.

Vera made her Broadway debut in 1996. Since then, she started to appear in television and movies. One of Farmiga’s big successes was her appearance in the horror-thriller Orphan (2009). This movie is about a couple who, after the death of their unborn child, adopt a mysterious 9-year old girl. Orphan received lots of reviews, mostly mixed or average reviews, and made $76,699,632 million worldwide, Wikipedia says.

Farmiga starred with George Clooney in comedy-drama Up in the Air (2009) and she was nominated to Oscar in March 2010 as Best Supporting Actress. Earlier Vera got a Golden Globe Award for the part in the Up in the Air.

Here is a video of Vera Farmiga telling that she is proud of her Ukrainian heritage:

Stefania Fernandez

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Stefania Fernandez won a title of Miss Universe 2009. She represented Venezuela, her homecountry, but, according to Wikipedia, Stefania herself is of Ukrainian, Russian, Polish and Spanish Galician origin. Stefania’s father is Carlos Fernandez and Stefania’s mother is Nadia Krupij Holojad, a woman of Slavic origin. The interesting fact is that new Miss Universe’s birth name is Stefania Fernandez Krupij. The last names Krupij and Holojad are very common in Ukraine.

Also, curious fact is that Stefania won a crown of Miss Universe Pageant 2009 exactly on Ukrainian Independence Day, which is August 24!

Erin Karpluk

Photo by: Thehearttruthcanada

Erin Karpluk is a Canadian actress of Ukrainian descent. Erin was born in Jasper (Alberta) to a high school principal mother and a father who worked for the railway, Wikipedia says.

Erin Karpluk began her acting career in 2000 and the biggest Erin’s success so far is a role of Erica Strange in CBC television comedy-drama series Being Erica (started to shoot in 2009 and did not finish yet). Being Erica is very popular in Canada and distributed by BBC Worldwide to 29 more countries. There are three seasons of this television drama and forth one, final, to come.

Here is a trailer of Being Erica:

Ukrainian Wedding Music

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 18:44:00 +0000

I would like to introduce you my favorite Ukrainian wedding music. So, down below you can listen to some songs which are being played at almost every wedding in Ukraine. Of course, there are more of them you can enjoy at typical Ukrainian wedding party: I am posting now few very common, which are my most favorite ones, at the same time :)
The songs are performed by the Express band and… big thanks to Zakharii for his amazing slide-shows!

P.S. I got a very nice comment for this post – from Ed (thank you, Ed!). Here, what he wrote, “They are truly beautiful songs especially for such important event like weddings. So the question is; how and where I can find a good Ukrainian wife?”

Well, Ed, I am Ukrainian wife myself and I am happily married to my Canadian husband, since 2007. My husband and I met online at this source. It worked for us, it worked for friends of ours, so, we hope, it will work for you, too!

Ukrainian Girls Really Knock World Out!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 03:34:00 +0000

A lot of poems, songs and novels describe an incredible beauty of Ukrainian women. But a one man in this world wrote just two sentences… and he said everything in those two lines. Paul McCartney the legendary “Beatle”: “Ukraine girls really knock me out. They leave the west behind”. I think, this is the best world’s saying about Ukrainian women. Ever.
P.S.
There are beautiful girls and women from the Western Ukraine on this slide show. Nine of them are happily married: five of them met their husbands online on this website.
“Solovij Halychyny” (“Nightingales of Halychyna”) the vocal trio of the Ternopil Philarmonic Society is singing on a background of the video.

Read also:
Ukraine Got The World’s Hottest Head Of State?

American Idol’s Contestant Inessa Lee Met Her Husband at the Same Site I Did!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 21:16:00 +0000

So, today is February 14, 2011, and I just got to know, maybe, the best media news I have heard at this Valentine’s Day: that American Idol’s contestant Inessa Lee (at the picture above) is originally from Ukraine (the city of Zhytomyr) and she met her husband at the same site I met my hubby, besides, where I helped out four friends of mine to find their destinies :)
Inessa Lee got married to an American guy she met on this website and she moved to USA in 2009.
“Inessa tells us the Internet love gamble paid off for her ... even though her attempt on "Idol" didn't”, the TMZ said.
Well, at least, it is very good to know that her marriage is working out, this is the main thing.
Speaking about musical career, Inessa is only 22 years old, so whole life still ahead of her and lots of time to build up her success as a singer.
So, Inessa Lee is married to her American husband since 2009… My friends Tanya and Bill whom I helped to met through this amazing website, are happily married since 2006; my husband and I are (we met at the same source) still in our honeymoon since 2007 :) ; my best friend Olya got married to her American husband Jim in 2008 – I helped them to met through this website as well; then there were Halya and Tony – they got married in 2009, Nadia and Richard – got married in 2010. I am very happy, that ALL of our marriages successful; and I also glad I got this so exciting hobby of mine which is matchmaking! (Yes, it is only my hobby, not an occupation - I am a freelance journalist).
Back to Inessa Lee, here is her personal website where you can get to know more about her.

Open Letter to Oprah after Watching Ukrainian Mail-Order Bride Episode at “Marriage around the World” Oprah’s Show

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:02:00 +0000

Hi Oprah, hi HARPO team, thanks for the wonderful show about marriages around the world!As a Ukrainian women and mail-order bride as well :), I have lots to say about the subjects of your show.
I was listening to Ukrainian mail-order bride Lera's story and to the women with opposite opinions about Lera's story. I appreciate very much Lera's honesty when she explained, why she decided to look for husband abroad: "For me, it was an arrangement where someone would help me get a visa and perhaps a green card, and a husband comes with the deal". Well, girl was 19 years old and she wanted to live better life, than people around her, what's wrong with that? So, in such a young age she has chosen her way, which actually was a big risk and a big lottery at the same time: I have read plenty of stories about Slavic women which got married abroad and were abused by their foreign husbands or even killed. I would say that Lera won a jack-pot, finding a nice man who love her and care about her, and I am personally happy for her!
Also, other Ukrainian women in Oprah's show were offended that Ukrainian woman was represented to the world only on Lera's example, which is not making an objective picture of Ukrainian woman at all. Their arguments were that not all the Ukrainian women are like Lera: most of them are care about good education and good jobs and about becoming SOMEBODY in a society, so they are not only dreaming about "prince on a white horse" who will come one day and will give them EVERYTHING.
Well, guys, I can say about my life experience. I am originally from Ukraine. Living in Ukraine, I actually became SOMEBODY in my career and in eyes of local society, but I was INCREDIBLY UNHAPPY in my personal life: that's why I signed up to online dating website. Not in my 19 years old though, like Lera: in my 19th I was working for getting my university degree and for building my career (I am a journalist); well, I had lots of hardships back that time, such kind of hardships, than, I am sure, Lera did not experienced even close, but... I did not have a single thought that I can solve all my problems by escaping from my country.
I would say I quite accomplished what I wanted: back in 1990th, I was regional reporter of a big West Ukrainian newspaper and I was paid so well, that my friends-journalists from smaller local newspapers couldn't even dream about. I paid all my bills by myself; I could afford to buy the best clothes and the best shoes which I could find in my city (as you know, appearance is a big part of woman's life, especially Ukrainian woman); I could afford to pay for myself in the fanciest restaurants; I was able to buy many other nice things, but... I was walking by all those stores and restaurants and I felt very unhappy, because a guy, whom I loved so much, was in love with another girl (classic triangle!) It was only thing I couldn't buy: a love! The situation was getting even more complicated because I am "a one man woman": if I love one guy, other ones simply don't exist for me. So, while I spent few years hoping, maybe, something will change and I will get this my THE ONE (that's what I was thinking, that he is the one), I lost men which loved me, because I "didn't see" them and they successfully got married to other women.
By that time I was 35 years old and my clock was ticking badly. Many people started to give me "good advises" like, "Maybe, you should give a birth to a child for not being so alone?" Funny fact, my advisors were not single parents at all: they were married people! I had one answer to them, "No way!" Why? It is because I had in my mind a sad example of my Mom's life. She raised me alone and she lost her health on it. So, I always wanted to have a family first, to have a man whom I would love and who would love me, and than to think about children: if God will bless us with kids, great! If not... well, it His God's will. But I didn't want to be alone anymore, to spend my New Years and Valentine Days in a company of TV only; so, I realized that finding husband abroad is my only chance to get my personal happiness. Why abroad, because in Ukraine to find a single man of my age range (35-40 years old) it is the same that to look for a needle in the Sahara desert :) More than that, it is problem even to find a decent divorced man of this age range in Ukraine. I am not wondering why, take a look at statistic. The population of Ukraine is 45 millions people. 53.7% of them are women, 46.3% are men. So, 7.4% of Ukrainian women destined to stay alone all their life.
So, I signed up to online dating service and I was pleasantly surprised: there are plenty of single foreign men in the age of 40-45! Oh my, in Ukraine man is becoming a grandfather in this age! I am not joking: I met few guys, my classmates, on my 25th high school reunion, and they proudly smiled, "Yeah, we are already grandfathers!" So, I would say, Lera is quite right, saying, that 25 old single woman is out of chances to find a husband in Ukraine. More than that: in the village where I was born and grew up, a girl call as "old maiden" in her 20, if she is not married yet, and a boy call an "old bachelor", if he is not married to his 30.
Ok, back to my story. I spent two years searching for my soul mate online and I finally found him! His name is Ron, he is Canadian of Ukrainian descent and we are happily married since 2007!Except finding a husband for myself, all of sudden I got a hobby of a matchmaker: three my friends-journalists (they are wonderful Ukrainian women) asked me for help to find soul mates for them as well. I am very proud I did it. All my girls are happily married now to their western husbands.
Well, sorry, guys, for taking your time by telling you such a long story: what I wanted, actually, to say, that, for my opinion, Ukrainian mail-order bride Lera in Oprah's show didn't expose in very bad light all the Ukrainian women, on contrary! Look at the Lera herself: she is a gorgeous woman (take a look at the picture below),intelligent, educated, kind and honest, caring about her family. What's wrong with that?
Other thing, that audience of Oprah's show worldwide, maybe, will start to think, that all the Ukrainian women want to be mail-order brides and to escape somewhere from Ukrainian hardships, which is not true.
Next thing is, after listening to the Lera's story, people might think, that all the mail-order brides from Ukraine (Russia, Moldova etc) are singing up for international dating services, because they want free ride to USA (Canada, England, Australia etc), which is not true as well. You can see it on example of my story and stories of Ukrainian women whom I helped to find their destinies abroad. Well, to tell all their stories, we need, probably, to ask Oprah to do one more show :)

Sincerely,

Maria

Beautiful Ukrainian Bride Through The Eyes Of Professional Western Photographer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:55:00 +0000

ZaraZoo is one of my favorite blogs. It created by Stefan Steencamp from South Africa. He runs an exclusive wedding photography business (ZaraZoo is a name of his website and blog).
I enjoy so much, watching his wedding photographs! Stefan’s blog is really feast for the eyes for such a lover of wedding pictures as I am!
Stefan Steencamp and his partner Andre van Niekers covers many local weddings and international weddings as well. One day I was pleasant surprised because I have found on ZaraZoo a wedding with the Ukrainian bride! Her name is Anna and she is married to the Dirk from South Africa.

Wow, these are gorgeous pictures! Stefan has confessed in his post that it was really big pleasure to work with this couple, especially with the bride. “Anna is a natural. She needed no direction from my side - Every pose struck came without me prompting her”, the photographer said.
He also has appreciated very much an incredible beauty of Ukrainian girls. “The girls from the Ukraine are somewhat different to our local South African beauties. These girls are aware of their sensuality and not afraid to show it off. They are stylish, sophisticated and elegant - just have a look at their shoes - those stilettos will pierce a hole through any man’s facade!” Stefan has noticed.

Check out also:
Ukraine Got The World’s Hottest Head Of State?Ukrainian Girls Really Knock World Out!
Ukrainian Women Of Model Quality

Ukraine Got The World’s Hottest Head Of State?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:00:00 +0000

October 2009. I’m having a big fun watching a list of the hottest heads of state at this blog. I think that the authors of the blog had even more big fun, than I do, when they were making this list, because they are warning their readers do not take all this ranking very seriously. Well, I am not, but… anyway, as Ukrainian woman (well, Ukrainian-Canadian now) I am very proud that Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko got a first place of this top! (Although, for my opinion, the President of Argentina Christina Fernandez de Kirchner, which is #5 of this list, look not less hot than Ukraine Prime Minister). So, Ukraine got the world’s hottest head of the state, huh?
Now, speaking more seriously… As Ukrainian woman, I would like to say a big personal “Thank you!” to the Yulia Tymoshenko for the brining a refined, stylish, confident and very feminine image of Ukraine woman worldwide. It wasn’t like this before, I mean, before Yuliya Tymoshenko became a big player on the political stage. Before Tymoshenko’s era almost all the women of Ukrainian authority and policy were looking so matronly, wearing shapeless suits and “iron” perm hairdos. Yulia brought an elegant dresses and hills to the Ukrainian Parliament and Government; her famous braid (take a look at the pictures below)

became a big hit in world’s fashion. Some known designers made their models hairdos for the fashion shows in Tymoshenko style. For example, Moschino did it in his Spring/Summer 2005 ready-to-wear collection;

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then Givenchy (Autumn-Winter 2006/2007 ready-to-wear collection);

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and Oscar de la Renta (Spring/Summer 2010 ready-to-wear collection).

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Yulia’s outfits always being a big subject to discuss in Ukrainian and world’s media. About 50 percents of Ukraine media blame Yulia for her big love to the Louis Vuitton clothes and accessories: for media’s opinion, to dress in Vuitton is too expensive for the Prime Minister of “such a poor country like Ukraine”. Well, I will tell you something. I think the question is not that much in the cost of clothes, as in fact, how they fit somebody. If some oversized madam would wear a world known brand to the Ukrainian parliament (or any parliament of the world), maybe, nobody would even notice, because if woman is shapeless, even the most expensive dress or suit would look like a sack at her. Yulia Tymoshenko got a great body and gorgeous curves, and it is a first reason, for my opinion, why her outfits driving so much attention.
Speaking about Yulia’s favorite fashion designers, Aina Gasse the Ukrainian designer is one of them. Aina created famous grey dress Tymoshenko worn in February 2005 to the Ukrainian Parliament, when she was declared a Prime Minister of Ukraine for the first time. Actually, this grey dress is one of my favorites in Yulia’s wardrobe; take a look at this amazing cut:
My second favorite Yulia’s outfit is this one, Ukrainian-styled, with amazing embroidery. This attire was created by women of Socal disctict, Lviv region (Western Ukraine), special for Yulia.
Now, from old fashioned to the very modern. Movie-star-like Ukrainian Prime Minister going to the meeting with youth; of course, Yulia is wearing jeans, why else do you expect her to wear, going to socialize with young people? Take a look at this picture: aren’t authors of this blog were right? Isn’t she hot? Yes, she is! And finally, I want to share with you one more my favorite picture of Ukrainian Prime-Minister. Here she is, having official meeting with Joe Biden the Vice-President of USA, in his visit to Ukraine in July 2009. I am wondering, isn’t the same meeting, where Joe Biden called Ukrainian women as the most beautiful women in the world?

Here is a video from the meeting of Joe Biden and Yulia Tymoshenko.

Check out also:
Top 12 The Most Famous And Beautiful Ukrainian Women

"When is the right time to send flowers to a Ukrainian woman after meeting online?”

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:31:00 +0000

I am getting questions from western men: when is the right time to send flowers to Ukrainian women after meeting online?
You know, it depends on a situation. For example, my husband Ron sent me flowers for the first time in one week (!) since we met online: it is because my birthday just happened to be that time :)
Another friend of mine got her first flowers from her western boyfriend in three weeks after they met online. Again, it was sent to a special occasion: an International Women's Day which is a big women's celebration in Ukraine.
Another one western guy sent flowers to another my friend after two months since beginning of their online correspondence. There was no special occasion, it just how he felt like :)
So, it is absolutely individual choice for every man, when to make a nice surprise to his distant beauty.
What else western men need to know: you better not to send an even numbers of flowers (2, 4, 6, 8 etc) to your Ukrainian lady, because in Ukraine even number of flowers means a funeral. An odd numbers of flowers (1, 3, 5, 7, 9 etc) mean a life, so it is absolutely appropriate for a gift.
However, if a Ukrainian woman is going to be married to a western guy, she has to learn western standards too and she has to use getting a traditional dozen of roses or dozen of other flowers over here, on the West. I myself am a Ukrainian woman, but since I got married to a Canadian man and moved to Canada, I feel absolutely all right getting dozens of flowers for my birthday or other special occasions.

On the picture above: my Ukrainian friend Lilya just got wonderful roses and bunch of balloons from her distant admirer.