Chronicles of Online Dating: Episode 1

I recently posted about venturing back into the world of online dating sites again. I asked your input and whether or not you'd care to hear about my adventures. All of the responses I got were interested in hearing about my experiences.

So, let the chronicles begin!

After stints on both eHarmony and Match.com, I decided to switch it up and go for Christian Mingle this time. I do know someone who met their spouse on this website, so I decided it would be worth it to at least try.

Besides, it's only like $30 for one month. I know eHarmony is some exorbitant amount for one month...like $60 or $80 or something crazy. I can deal with $30.

After the labor and toil that is actually creating my profile, I was ready to "mingle".

Oh, I should mention that at the point I was creating my profile my creativity level had sunk to a new low. So, I decided to reactivate my Match profile and copy most of the free-write bio section info into my new profile on Christian Mingle. Is that bad? I figured I got some pretty good hits using that at Match, so maybe it would work for me on the new site.

Downside- After briefly reactivating my Match profile long enough to get the information,  I came face-to-face with my ex's profile. Yep. It was right there on my home page as a "new match". Sigh. Is this how my new adventure was going to start?

Downside 2- Of course when I saw his profile, I had to snoop.

Downside 3- That butthead has photos on his profile that he CROPPED ME OUT OF!!!!! Hello? Isn't that one of the cardinal rules of online dating? Don't ever put an obviously cropped photo on your profile because it's always assumed that the person cropped out was a previous significant other.

Commence Match profile DEactivation.

End rabbit trail.

A few days after everything was up and approved in my profile I started getting "hits". Now, for every normal and decent communication you get a few creepers. Honestly, within the first few days I wasn't impressed with what I saw. Lots of older, creepy men "smiling" at my profile. Yuck. But, whatevs. These are probably the guys that smile or communicate with every woman on there. You know, the "super users". :) The guys who explain how well they will treat a woman in broken English and/or using text lingo.

"I luv 2 watch NASCAR and go 2 chruch. If u want 2 kno more, msg me."

Yeah, hooookay.

After a few more days, I started getting communications from [seemingly] normal, interesting guys.

Fast forward through the whole Christian Mingle message system to the exchanging email addresses dance and we arrive at where I am now. I may or may not have a date this weekend with someone I've been communicating with. Of course, I will be completely safe with this...because this ain't this girl's first rodeo, when it comes to online dating. But still, it gives me a sense of hope. And excitement.

Am I really going on my first date in well over a year? Quite possibly. You'll just have to tune in to the next episode of the Chronicles of Online Dating to find out what happened. :)