MarkInTx -- UPDATE

[MarkLeftTX]

Hey all,

I used to be very active on the boards... I've been gone a long time. In fact, I've never been on this board before, but I wanted to say hi to some old friends, and it looks like this is about the only game in town these days.

I used to go by the Name of: MarkInTx.

I met and married a woman from Kherson, Ukraine in 2002.

So, a quick update for all of the guys I knew from on here before:

Viktoriya and I are set to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. We left Texas a few years ago so I could take a new job... A hard decision to make -- but made easier by my wife's support.

We moved back east, and it has been great. I miss Texas sometimes (but never in the fall!)

Viktoriya will be taking her citizenship test soon.

She really never misses Ukraine, and truth be told, if she didn't have to take her son back home to visit relatives, she'd be fine going back to Ukraine once in seven years or so. Her son will graduate from High School next year, and plans on joining the Marines.

Anyway... just wanted to say Hi...

-Mark (no longer in Texas)

[KenC]

WOW,
Now that's a blast from the past!  Glad to hear all is well for you and V.  Don't be a stranger here.
KenC

[Muckraker]

Mark, glad to hear you and yours are doing well. Hope you will stick around.

Muck
(Not in Texas anymore either).

[Shadow]

Hi Mark,

Good to see you are still around and doing well. 

[diverboy70]

I'm glad to hear about your lucky story!

[Jet]

Hey Mark,
Great to hear from you again!

[MarkLeftTX]

Hey all,

Thanks for remembering me :-)

Ken -- don't know if I will be a stranger... but I got out of the "habit" of posting on here, and my life quickly filled in the hole with other things... Now I'm not sure I have time to post here much! Besides, my experience is so out of date by now, I'm not sure I have much to offer...

Muck -- where did you move to?

Shadow -- thanks for the kind words

Jet -- Good to see you still around too...

Yep, things are going well here... Still happily married, but to be honest, I think that has a lot more to do with two people just working things out than any culture tendencies. My wife is from Ukraine, but is not a reason why the marriage works, or an excuse as to why we have issues from time to time... other than the really cool accent (and the occasional funny Ukrainian expression) we're just a married couple.

We're looking foreward to Vika getting her citizenship. If all goes well, she may even get to vote in her first presidential election -- now that is cool!

BTW, politically, my wife is somewhere to the right of Rush Limbaugh. Funny... she's an ex-communist, but she has absolute comtempt for "Liberals." Go figure... And don't get her started on the illegal immigration issue -- she has no patience for anyone telling her how hard it is to learn English...

Also she REALLY likes Sarah Pallin... she admires a tough woman who still looks like a woman. (She's not so keen on John McCain who she sometimes refers to as "the shrimp.") Interesting times, to be sure...

I will try to post a current picture when I get a chance...

Thx

[BillyB]

We left Texas a few years ago so I could take a new job... A hard decision to make -- but made easier by my wife's support.

Hi Mark, Based on the things you've said about your wife over the years, I think you got a real winner of a wife who supports you and stands by your side. I remember you mentioning that she walked through the snow to write letters to you everyday when corresponding. That's true dedication and devotion.

[tfcrew]

Hey Mark...
Been a long time but.. we   all seem to be gathering again.
Where 'back east' did you go?
Take care now.................
Karl

[zebrazeb]

wow.  talk about old memories.  I just happen to log in tonight, and see some old names.....

WE actually just moved (again), this time to Chicago area.

Hello to all those whom might remember me, and hoping everyone is doing well.  Now that we are settling into new place, would love to meet some locals to Chicago.

[Gator]

Hi Mark,

Of course I remember you - a "hockey player" with a lovely UW.

You were one of my heroes when I started this over 6 years ago.  I then went by the name of Bucky at RWG.

Good to hear from you.  Please jump in every now and then.

[BillyB]

wow.  talk about old memories.  I just happen to log in tonight, and see some old names.....

WE actually just moved (again), this time to Chicago area.

Hello to all those whom might remember me, and hoping everyone is doing well.  Now that we are settling into new place, would love to meet some locals to Chicago.

I remember you Zebrazeb and I remember the website you sent us at that had some photos of you and your wife. Isn't this at least the 3rd time you've moved since you've been at the forums. How does your wife handle all the relocating so much?

[MarkLeftTX]

Gator: You are too kind (I'm a hockey player the way Charlie Brown is a football place kicker :-)

BillyB: You have a good memory... yep, she will be the first to tell you that she was the one who made our correspondence courtship work (not that I'd be foolish enough to disagree with her!)

ZebraZeb -- Moving is fun, isn't it? Viktoriya jokes that she would have moved less if she had married someone in the Military... let me see... we've moved 5 times in six years? Crazy, but there it is...

TFCrew: we moved to Virginia... for now...

Hope everyone is doing well...

[AnastassiaAsh]

Hi new/old guys! I remember your user names pretty well from the other board, but i don't remember your stories unfortunately. We are all glad you emerged back here. It's really nice to hear some good news from couples several years later.  And maybe you have heard about me and my story too. I was going by name Anastassia Wasem back then... I moved too, from Bellevue, WA to Indiana, PA, near Pittsburgh.

Mark, do you mind posting a link of your pics or your story?
And don't forget to post some in the thread Pictures of our members and their ladies. 

[MarkLeftTX]

Anastasia... I do remember you :-)

You are moving very near where I grew up... drop me a PM and I will tell you some of the area's secret places... good food, and good places to go.

Now that we are in Virginia, we get to Pittsburgh fairly often. My wife loves some of the places around there... mostly the outdoor things.

Posting a link to my story is a problem because all of the boards I posted it on originally are now gone. I could look around old computer systems to see if I have a copy, but I really don't know if I do. These boards used to be part of my daily ritual, but I haven't posted in a very long time...

I'm going to try to show some pictures here, but I am not sure if it will work...

This is from a cool place in PA: Ohiopyle



This is actually Viktoriya's car... although she still doesn't have a license... long story...



OK... not my Ukrainian... this is my German... Shepherd... But I love this picture...

[Jumper]

Hey Mark,

Cool to see you two are still going well
thanks for the update!



Dennis! (zebrazeb)
wow that is a blast from the past 
Tanya and i are in the chicago area,,maybe we will run into you guys!
(you were in norcal before?)

[MarkLeftTX]

Thanks AJ.

Hey, those picture links worked... cool...

So, here are some more...

Viktoriya at my favorite park in PA:



Us at an Arts Festival (that's a big dog)



Viktoriya getting ready to Kayak -- something she discovered last year and loves!



Me at a water park in PGH (If I look exhausted, its because I am!)



And Viktoriya in her "Gouchos and Boots"



OK... that's probably more pictures that anyone wants to see!

I'll stop now... I mean, 6 years, we have a lot of pictures! At least I only bored you with the ones from the last 7 months or so... I'll post some more after we go to the Renaissance Faire... Viktoriya has a Gypsy outfit set to go for that... should be good phot ops there :-)

[KenC]

Mark,
Are you kidding?  We all love looking at your photos.  You two have not changed a bit!  If you get a chance, take a look at my trip report ten years late.  Don't blame you if you don't read it all at once, because it is a novel with lots of comments.  (Some even welcomed)
KenC

[MarkLeftTX]

Hey Ken,

I will try to get around to reading your novel :-) Things are incredibly busy, so I really haven't had much time. I will log on to here and then find myself buried with email and work, and never get around to doing anything more than loggin into the welcome page...

As for looking the same... either you are being gracious or your poor eyes are going ;-)

As Indiana Jones said in the first Raiders: "It ain't the years, it's the miles..."

[Muckraker]

Hey Mark,

We moved to the Orlando, FL area, but we seem to spend most of our free time in Tampa so we may as well just move there next.  My full update is in my trip report "Vladivostok" - including pictures of our two kids! 

Muck

[MarkLeftTX]

Hey Muck... very cool. Looking forward to seeing the new pics.

I'm still trying to talk Vika into going to Orlando... actually, it isn't Orlando she minds... she just thinks she'd be bored out of her mind at Disney World...

DW is actually one of the coolest places I've been (I did a job there in 1988 for the opening of MGM). I'm still working on her...

Hey Mark,

We moved to the Orlando, FL area, but we seem to spend most of our free time in Tampa so we may as well just move there next.  My full update is in my trip report "Vladivostok" - including pictures of our two kids! 

Muck

[TwoBitBandit]

Hey Mark,

Good to see ya out there again.  I always enjoyed reading your posts on PL.

My life has filled with other things too, so I don't post much on these boards anymore.

Glad to see that you're still around and life is good for you.

[Ooooops]

I'm still trying to talk Vika into going to Orlando... actually, it isn't Orlando she minds... she just thinks she'd be bored out of her mind at Disney World...

Sorry to barge in (I'm new here   ), but I think she's right.   You are better off going to Universal Studios in Orlando - much more fun for grown ups.   

[Gator]

Sorry to barge in (I'm new here   ), but I think she's right.   You are better off going to Universal Studios in Orlando - much more fun for grown ups.   

Agree.  The Disney rides are for wimps.  Never threw up on them. 

My Moscow wife made me ride the Univ Studios Dueling Dragons twice in a row (yes, both dragons).  At the exit, deposited my lunch behind the bushes. 

Even more thrilling rides at Busch Gardens in Tampa where my older son once worked as  supervisor of the "vomit brigade".

[KenC]

Just a small side story regarding Disney World.  I took Lena there when she first arrived in America.  She wasn't all that impressed and was almost sad.  She kept thinking how much she would have liked to have had the experience when she was a child.
KenC