Mr. Right

About a year ago I was going to write an entry about a new adventure I was taking in life. I never got to the that entry, so now, a year later, I feel it's time to update this blog as I should have then.

After several months of considering the option, and several years of the idea in the back of my mind, I decided to enter the world of online dating. It was not without some fear and nervousness that I headed down that path, but head down it I did. The story of how I got started is somewhat funny. As previously mentioned, I had thought about the idea for awhile, but had not ventured out there yet for fear of the unknown, fear that I might not be able to present myself as who I really am, that someone might get a completely different idea of who I was only to be disappointed when they met me. My friend (roommate at the time) came home one night and told me a group of her friends had given her the mission of signing up with a dating site by the next time she met with them. As she perused a site I jumped on my computer and looked at the same one. We discussed the site and before I knew what I was doing I had signed up. It was a much less painful process than I imagined, and soon I was looking at possible matches and dreaming that one of them might be "Mr. Right".

The next month was unlike any before in my life. I received daily lists of matches. I received a few emails, made contact with a few guys, but none of them seemed to be right, and nothing came of it. I think those first few weeks just got my feet wet, let me know there were guys out there and that dating was a possibility. Still, as time went on I grew a bit discouraged. By this point I was fully invested in the idea of really meeting someone, rather than just needing a change, which I think pushed me into it more than anything in the beginning. Life in the real world had gotten more stressful which only added to my discouragement. I remember praying one night that God would bring the right guy SOON. Funny thing about God...He doesn't always choose to answer our prayers right away, it's really up to Him and His timing....but sometimes He does.

That night I received a "wink" (the way you initiated contact with someone on that site) from a guy I'd not talked to before. I cautiously checked out his page, not yet convinced that just because I'd prayed for someone soon God was really answering so quickly, but intrigued about who this guy might be. He wasn't like any of the other guys who'd contacted me. He had interesting hobbies, and his statement was that he was basically just a nice guy. I scoffed a bit at that. Was there such a thing as just a nice guy? Still, I was interested and I winked back, and waited. His reply came in the form of an email the next day, and I responded, and this continued for a couple of weeks. My nervousness grew with each day as I slowly started to invest in this relationship. The day we met for the first time was the most nervous I have ever been. It was, after all, my first official real date ever, and at 28 years old, no less. It was a good date, with some awkward moments (like me bringing up his ex and practically falling down the stairs at the movie theater) but it was nice. I didn't expect to hear from him soon, or maybe ever, but I received an email less than two hours later.

Funny thing about life, you never see what is coming next. I wish I would have posted that entry a year ago. I think it would have been ever more joyful to post this one now, now that I can say I did meet my "Mr. Right" and that he is more right than anyone else ever could be. We're not perfect, but we both know that, and we fit well together. I can't imagine loving anyone any more than I do him (corny, I know, I know) but I also know that years from now I will love him more. And I'll have the chance to see that happen for sure since he asked me to marry him just a couple of weeks ago.

It feels strange to post this entry along side other posts I've written of sadness and loneliness, hurt from another relationship that I don't even think of now, but in some ways it helps me to remember how much has happened in the past year, and how quickly a year goes by. By this time next year if all goes well, I'll be "Mrs. Right". Maybe I'll remember to write another post then.