Day 9

Ugh. Online rejection is not as crappy as "real life" rejection, but it's still pretty crappy. I sent a little ice breaker to 2 people- 1 closed the match and the other saw it and didn't reply. Granted, there is WAY less at stake here than making first move with the person behind a computer screen, but it still sucks.
I think I want to stick with the don't-make-first-contact policy, but then this stupid quote popped in my head- "Don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game."
Ugh.

Day 8... I think...

I'm beginning to think this is a stretch. Or maybe boys are a lot slower than I am.

This is the first day I haven't had any new matches! But, I'm thinking at 80 people I may be exhausting my resources. However, none of those 80 have followed up on communication. Yes, unfortunately that means cute cowboyish, etc. boy never had that chat with me.

Funny realization! I noticed that I can see who has viewed my profile, and realized I probably look like a creeper because I like to go back and look at people's profile and show them to my mother and they all have access to that information. Oops...

So, I thought I wanted to refrain from making contact first. Thoughts?

P.S. I was asked AT LEAST 4 times today if I'm married/had kids/why not. Yay.

Day 5!!!!

Um, HELLO!!! Super cute, cowboyish, guitar-playing, Christian boy "wants to chat." I'm down!!! Stay tuned!!!!

Day 4

I dislike being mean, but I've made an observation. Out of the 70 something matches I've received, about 9 have communicated with me so far, but they're guys I wouldn't really go for in "real life."
How important do you think it is to be physically attracted to a potential date/partner/ whatever you want to call it?

Day 2-3

The scientist in me is coming out. I want to look at this site I'm using and crunch numbers- haha! Here goes: I've been matched with 68 people so far and about half of them have viewed my profile. 9 of those 32 have sent me icebreaker questions. (Yes I realize 32 is not half of 68, hence the word "about.") And I have a strategy :)
At this point, I'm pretty much answering everybody's questions and trying not to judge them based on a goofy online profile. I was discussing with my dad that a person can be anyone or anything they want to be online and I wouldn't want someone making snap judgements about me based on about 10 things I've posted on the internet. So, this is all about being open-minded. Not to mention patient. Apparently these guys don't answer as quickly as some of us...
If we're being completely real, I'm still not taking this whole thing very seriously. It almost feels like a big game or joke, but an expensive one! Then I think about who is on the other end of this deal, and it's no game or joke to play with people's hearts and hopes. I'm still praying about how this all works and how it will go, so stay tuned!

And So It Begins

I'm getting old. I just turned 24 yesterday and my biological clock is ticking apparently. I would love to get married and have a family but it's looking less and less likely at this point in my life, so I've put a lot of thought into online dating.

I used to laugh hysterically at the online dating commercials and think, "Wow, desperate." Then I moved back to Odessa after college. Slim pickings. I love Jesus, so I'm looking for a man who loves Jesus more than he will love me. Problem is, I also love my church and there are about zero single men my age there. I also work at a very small school with no single men. So, I pretty much have no opportunity to meet single guys because the bar scene is not really my thing.

I'm a bit conflicted because I'm pretty sure God is big enough to bring me whoever He has for me whenever He's ready, but curiosity got the best of me. I made an account on a very publicized dating site and discovered that there are nice guys in my general vicinity that I probably would never meet otherwise. So, I sought the counsel of my parents and a couple of very trusted friends, paid for the subscription, and here we go! One of my advisers suggested I blog about my experience, so that's what I'm doing.

Day 1
Over the last week or 2 I have been matched with about 60 men, and have received icebreaker questions from about 7 of them. There are a wide variety of guys- lots of military and ministry and pretty much all of them claim to know and love Jesus. Some of them are musicians, most of them are sports enthusiasts, and a lot of them seem pretty fun.

I'm feeling pretty optimistic and wondering where all of this will go.
We shall see!