700th post - Reflection on my Ancestry

It's my 700th post!!!  I wanted to do something a little bit different and special to celebrate this blog.  I'm always creating looks and experimenting with different palettes.  Today I want to dedicate this post to all the unique things that make me 'ME'.  Almost a year ago now, my dad and I both took the 23andMe DNA test.  I've always been interested in my ancestry and have always wanted to know 'where do I come from?'.  All I have known up until that point was that my ancestors were Ukrainian, from various regions of Ukraine, but mostly the Galician areas and my grandmother was born in Poland.  On my dad's side, we were told that my great-great grandfather 'came from somewhere' - one aunt said Hungary, another said somewhere from the former Yugoslavia.  The results that I got from 23and Me both surprised me, but also helped me put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Because my dad took the test too, I was able to get the split results to see what ancestry comes from my mom's side and what comes from my dad's side:

Here is my mom's.  Apparently, out maternal haplogroup is: J2b1a  (currently: Dutch, German, Spanish Italian)

Here are a few photos of my grandparents and great grandparents:

My great grandparents (grandmother's parents).  Unfortunately I don't have any photos of my grandfathers parent's, as they both died when he was very young :(

I also have a photo of two of my great-uncles.  One is from my great-grandfathers side (Surname Bazarnyk)

:

and the other from my great grandmother's side (surname: Novocad)

My dad's (paternal haplogroup is): 12b1 (currently: Balkans and Sardinians) 

Here are my grandparents from my paternal side:

I am very blessed to also have photos of my great-grandparents from my grandfather's side (the side that we found out 'came from somewhere' and now we know he had the Balkan/Ashkenazi)

My great-grandmother was originally Yuchmanovich (she was Polish), but we found out that originally it was Ychman (German) - so the Northwestern DNA is most definitely from her side :)

Here is another photo of them (with my great aunts in the background):

I have always been fascinated with Genealogy, Ancestry, where I come from, who I look like etc etc. I know that I've devoted this blog to exteriors and cosmetics, but that is only one side of who I am.  The most important part of who I am, comes from my ancestry.  I've always been told that I look European, but that I could be from anywhere.  This makes so much sense now that I know that I have influences from Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Western Europe (Germany, Italy, Iberia), Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry and Northwestern European.  I truly am an interesting mix!  I'm also proud to know that so many people have migrated from different areas of the world.  It really makes you think about current migration trends and immigration.  I would hope that in today's modern world, we would grow to be accepting of people who need to migrate (for whatever reason).  All those who leave their own land to seek refuge elsewhere or move to start a new life, these people will become someone's ancestors.  I am proud that Ukraine is a land that is so diverse with so many people who were able to migrate there.  I am also proud to have been born in Canada and see further diversity and multicultural beauty all around me.  It's important to be proud of your nationality, but also to understand that there is no such thing as a 'pure race' of people.  We are all so diverse and beautiful.  We need to each embrace our own ancestry and be be thankful and grateful for those who came before us and understand that one day someone will look at us and say "who was that person?" with wonder and 'awe'.  I want to end this post, by sharing a link with you that is very powerful:

It's called the DNA Journey:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyaEQEmt5ls