Meet Jeanelle and Barry who were looking for love online on MySpace.

Both single, the two were hoping to meet someone to build a relationship with, but weren’t searching in the same zip code range. Barry was searching for girls in his zip code in Arizona and Jeanelle was searching within 50 miles of her own.

One day when Barry was online, his computer crashed causing him to have to restore his data. When he logged on to his MySpace page his search had mistakenly changed to include Jeanelle’s zip code. Barry told Jeanelle that her picture was on the second page of the results and although he kept looking for a few days, he kept going back to view Jeanelle’s photo.

For three days Barry read over Jeanelle’s page and wondered if he should reach out to Jeanelle and start a mixed-race relationship. Both Jeanelle and her friends were African-American according to the photos that Barry had viewed. Barry wasn’t sure if Jeanelle would be interested in meeting a white man for a serious relationship.

Barry emailed Jeanelle a sweet email welcoming her to Arizona and said that she could email him anytime. The two emailed each other for a month before they spoke on the phone and then talked via phone for an entire month before they met. They both wanted to make sure they were building a friendship before jumping into an intimate relationship.

What really made Jeanelle fall in love with Barry is that even after she told him that she had two sons and MS, he still chose to be with her. She knew they were really in love. After the two months of courting, the two finally met and one year later on the anniversary of their first date, they were married. “He’s my best friend and because we became friends first, we remain friends through any challenge we face,” said Jeanelle.  “Online dating can be successful when both parties go in wanting a friendship before they become intimate.”

Congratulations to Jeanelle and Barry who teach us that true friendship is the basis of a long term and loving relationship.

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Julie Spira is an online dating, netiquette and cyber-relations expert. Visit CyberDatingExpert.com for dating advice and where you can sign up for the Weekly Flirt. Like us at Facebook.com/CyberDatingExpert and follow @JulieSpira on Twitter.

Who says you can’t fall in love online during Valentine’s season? Meet Jamie and Howie, who met on JDate.

Jamie joined the Jewish singles online dating site upon a New Year as one of her dating resolutions. Shortly thereafter, she started chatting with Howie, who had never been married.  Howie and his dog Spot had been on-and-off JDate for 12 years.  His profile said, “Love me, love my pet.”

The two met in-real-life just two weeks before Valentine’s Day. Jamie said Howie put her through a rigorous test and she passed with flying colors.

Both having a passion for travel, they went on several cruises together. After a romantic trip to Hawaii, Howie proposed and the two became engaged. Together, they built their dream home and just celebrated their four-year anniversary. Jamie is the founder of LA Girl Secrets.

Congratulations to Jamie and Howie on finding love just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Julie Spira is a leading online dating expert and the author of the bestseller, The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online. Visit CyberDatingExpert.com for dating advice and to share your online dating stories. Follow Julie on twitter @JulieSpira and like her at Facebook.com/CyberDatingExpert

This week’s Cyber Love Story of the Week is one where I’m proud to share, as I’ve known Tammye for over a year. Find out how an online flirt, initiated by Tammye, followed by her cancelling the date, eventually led to a marriage proposal. Here’s the story of Tammye and Scott.

He Said:

I had been dating online for about a year. If there was no connection, I just moved on. Most profiles and pictures were a lie and I was ready to give up on the entire process. I have never been one to go to bars, so dating online was my only real option. I had put a 25 mile limit on my search radius. Somehow Tammye came up within that search. She sent me a flirt. Tammye was 25.9 miles away, although she was just outside my criteria, I was impressed by her profile. She was articulate and I liked that. I answered the flirt. We set up plans to meet for coffee. Tammye cancelled [I still swear that she said due to a spider bite on her face]. That was my final straw … I was done. I was frustrated with the whole online dating thing, but Tammye and I remained Facebook friends. I watched her posts and the events she attended, she captured my attention. In one of her posts, she mentioned Italian food, I told her about a great spot for real Sicilian lasagna, and Tammye said “All you have to do is ask”. The date was set, June 15^th at 6:30pm. She was late, one of my pet peeves. I ordered for her.  She texted me when she arrived in the parking lot and I went out to meet her. As I waited to greet her, in my mind I saw her float above the ground, wearing a long white dress [come to find out it was a short black & white polka dot one] it was as if I had known her all my life.

I knew the moment I saw her I had found the one, I proposed on December 30, 2010. She said ‘Yes’ ~ three times. I never want to be without her. We have everything in common. She is my life mate.

She Said:

In December of 2009, out of sheer frustration, I joined an online dating site. I had just set up my Facebook account and one of their sister sites was Zoosk. I was dutiful and filled out the questionnaire, trying to be thorough yet interesting. Just let me say, you have to go through a lot of frogs before you find you find your prince. Having deleted my way through a few dozen or so gentlemen, and I use that term loosely, there was only one man that stood out, Scott. I was very hesitant, but we made plans to meet for coffee. Call it a mid-life crisis, but at the time I was determined to experience all those things that I didn’t have time for or money for in the past. I had recently taken up Kick boxing lessons, and a few days prior to our meeting, I took a punch to the eye. A swollen, black-purple-and-blue eyeball never makes a good first impression, so I cancelled. Scott and I never rescheduled the coffee meet up, however we remained Facebook friends for 6 months. In May of 2010, having found out it was my birthday, Scott invited me to dinner. We made plans to meet once again. This time the date was kept. We have been inseparable ever since. He means absolutely everything to me.

Scott and I just celebrated our one year anniversary; we are engaged and will be wed in March 2012. You really can find love online!

Congratulations to Tammye and Scott, our Cyber Love Story of the Week.

Do you have an online dating story to share?

Julie Spira is the author of the bestseller, The Perils of Cyber-Dating: Confessions of a Hopeful Romantic Looking for Love Online. Visit CyberDatingExpert.com for online dating advice and to share your online dating stories. Follow Julie on twitter @JulieSpira and at Facebook.com/CyberDatingExpert

Click here and let the flirting begin>>>

On the one-year anniversary of the online dating site Cupidtino, where Apple enthusiasts, find each other, we’re happy to share one of their success stories, Jesse and Curtis.

Jesse, a woman from Northern California had initially emailed Curtis when he was in Palm Springs, CA. She noticed he was in the military and asked him what there was to do in Palm Springs in her initial email. After a few weeks, Jesse gave Curtis her personal email address so they could communicate off the site. He asked for her phone number and began communicating with her regularly.

Their first date was at a Starbucks, where they met in the middle with their MacBooks in tow. They continued their date for the weekend wine tasting, visiting Hearst Castle, and their love affair began.

After eight months from when they first started communicating, including the time when Curtis was stationed in Japan, he was discharged and moved to Silicon Valley to be with his sweetheart.

Congratulations to Jesse and Curtis, our Cyber Love Story of the Week, who kept their love of Apple at the top of the list while looking for love online and didn’t let distance get in the way. And of course, congratulations to Cupidtino on celebrating their one-year anniversary as an Internet dating site.

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Click here and let the flirting begin>>>

Kristina was on Match.com for about four weeks when she met Tom.

“I had been messaging with a few other guys and met only one other in person. When I received Tom’s first message I just had to respond,” said Kristina.

Tom’s message read something like this:

“Hi, I am looking for a good looking girl who doesn’t talk, has lots of ex-boyfriend drama and only eats salad at dinner. From your picture I see you are good looking and noticed you are a Mets fan, which is a bonus. Let me know if you are interested. If not, good luck in life and stuff. –TOM”

“When I clicked onto his profile his main quote said, “Three Words: NO BACK HAIR.” I have a weakness for cute, funny guys and he had me at that. Then I went on to read his absolutely ridiculous bio which was all made up, but very well written! I was laughing so hard and messaged him back right away,” added Kristina.

Their relationship worked right from the beginning and instantly clicked. The two were engaged nine months from their first date. Tom’s proposal was perfect and sentimental.

“The beach had always played an important role in my family’s life from the time my parents met at Jones Beach in the 1976,” said Kristina.

She added, “My father passed away on July 25, 1996. The year following his death, we held a memorial service for him at the beach where he would fish every weekend.  On July 25, 2009, my mom, stepdad, my brother, his girlfriend, Tom and I went to the same beach where my dad fished so we can share the moment with them.”

Little did she know, but Tom had a marriage proposal all planned out and the moment her mom said, “let me get a picture of you two,” that was his cue to get on one knee. Tom began his proposal with, “I know you wanted your family to be here for this moment and I wanted to make sure your dad was a part of it as well.” He then continued to say, “so, do you want to do this?”

Kristina and Tom will be getting married on July 22, 2011—the exact date her parents would have been celebrating their 33^rd wedding anniversary.

Congratulations to Kristina and Tom, our Cyber Love Story of the Week couple who found love online on Match.com

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John had just relocated to Michigan where he bought a new home and started a new job. He didn’t really have time for dating, but still had an online dating profile on CatholicMatch. Curious to see what women were online in his area, he kept his profile active and widened his search to a 500-mile radius.

When John saw Krystina’s profile, he found her to be interesting. He sent Krystina an email to say that he wished she lived closer. He let her know that he wasn’t interested in a long-distance relationship knowing that Krystina lived in Massachusetts. Krystina liked receiving John’s email and sent him a reply, which said, “We will make it work. I will come to you.”

Krsytina kept to her word and did indeed visit John in Michigan. After her second visit to Michigan, Krystina again took the initiative and insisted they take down their profiles and date exclusively. The two created rituals to cope with the long distance relationship including working out at the same time. “Sharing things like these encouraged good behavior in both of us,” John said. These are things we can count on to add stability to our day when we begin a new life together too.”

After 18 months of traveling back and forth and spending a lot of money on airline tickets, John took Krystina to Mass at a shrine near Boston devoted to St. Therese of Lisieux. It was at the shrine that gave her the engagement ring and asked her to marry him. Krystina instantly said yes and together they went to mass as an engaged couple.

Congratulations to Krystina and John, our Cyber Love Story of the Week who wouldn’t let distance get in the way of love.

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After failing to find Mr. Right during her 6-month dating spree on Match.com, Rosalie decided to give online dating one last shot.

When Rosalie received an email from Jeff, who advertised in his online dating profile that “It’s nice to know a cop,” she immediately thought the worst and assumed that police officers beat their wives. Three days later, she agreed to meet Jeff for a drink which started their courtship. After their first date, they began to see each other every other weekend.

Jeff won brownie points after buying Rosalie’s daughter her first designer purse. The following year, Rosalie and Jeff became engaged. The two just celebrated their 6th year anniversary. Together they enjoy quiet evenings at home with their four pint-size dogs.

The happy family can be viewed above, along with Rosalie’s daughter Erika at her recent graduation.

Congratulations to Rosalie and Jeff who prove you shouldn’t make assumptions before putting that date on the calendar.

After looking at the MySpace pages of friends of friends of friends, Nathan somehow stumbled upon Sarah’s page. He found her profile banter funny and witty and sent her a message inviting her out for dinner. After viewing Nathan’s (ahem) “colorful” page, Sarah decided that it would be entertaining to spend an evening with an odd character.

They went to a perfectly normal dinner and chatted about perfectly boring things. Sarah was surprised that Nathan’s online demeanor did not translate into a host of quirky personality traits.

At the end of the meal, Sarah said that she’d like a piece of gum. She didn’t have any, though, and there wasn’t a convenience store around. Nathan, thinking quickly on his feet, popped into a retro toy store and proceeded to buy every pack of gum they had. The duo spent the remainder of the evening sitting outside, chewing piece after piece of odd-tasting gums of a different era. Sarah was won over.

Four years later—and still very much in love—the couple consider themselves not only domestic partners, but life partners, as well. It seems that the relationship has had even more sticking power than the gum. Congratulations to Sarah and Nathan, who prove that sometimes love will find you, even when you aren’t looking for it.

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