What a difference a bit of time can make..

Hello batfans,

It's been awhile since I've updated the blog. I'm sure you're wondering what has been going on in the world of insane internet dating that I seem to find myself in on a constant basis, and well-I suppose it's time to tell you.

I'm with someone. Yes, that's right, I'll say it again-I'm no longer dating, or looking, or even considering looking.

How's this, you say? What in the world changed, you ask? I'll tell you if you have some time, because this is going to likely turn into one of my famous novellas. So grab yourself a cup of something warm and wonderful and sit back to read the story.

As you all know my focus for internet dating was to meet people for friendships, and hope that down the line sometime one of those relationships would develop into something more substantial. I will tell you that I did not deviate from that plan, but there are times when you cannot escape fate. There are definitely situations in life that you look back on and think "if not for a divine hand, that never would have happened"-and that is what I think about my current situation.

We'll go back almost four years ago, when I was new to the Eugene area. Using the internet was the way that I networked myself when I moved here. It worked decently, and I have maintained quite a few friendships over the years from that point in time. One of those friendships was with a guy I met online, Nate.

Now, Nate and I talked online for awhile back in the day before we met face to face. At the time, I was hung up on one of my most recent epic failure relationships, so I was not in a good place to date even though I think Nate would have dated me in a second. Being the type of person he is, though, a friendship was all that we had and he never pushed for more.

We were friends for about a year before I was in a place where I was ready to date seriously. At that point in time, as luck would have it, Nate was recently single after a rather nasty toxic situation he was in, so we did date very briefly. I will tell you that it was wonderful and I don't think I can look back on many dating situations that did not pan out and say it was a good experience, but the time I spent with him was definitely worth it.

Unfortunately, batfans, Nate was not ready for anything serious because his emotion was still tied up in his ex, so we stopped dating and he tried to fix the relationship he had just gotten out of. Now, I will not lie and say this was a painless experience for me-I knew how unique Nate was and I admired him greatly, so I was hurt when this happened..but first and foremost I was his friend, and he was mine, so I accepted his decision as gracefully as I could muster (though I did suggest rather forcefully to him that the relationship he was going back into was not good for him, as a good friend should) and we reverted to being friends.

The months went by, and his situation got worse rather than better..but in the meantime I met my most recent ex, and our relationship started. Around this time, Nate's toxic situation ended permanently. He'll say that looking back, if I had been single at that point in time he would have asked for a second chance because he realized what potential we had as more than friends, but..that is not what happened. Instead, he saw that I was with someone and respected that fully-and due to circumstances in his life moved to California to try to get his life back to where he wanted it to be.

We did not have much interaction for the next year, the person I was with was very jealous so any male friends caused arguments, and Nate could see that I was still with someone (God love myspace!) and, being true to his nature, he respected that by keeping some distance so as not to interfere with what I had going on. Instead he worked on the issues that caused his life to spiral out of control, and stayed single for a year and a half to work on him.

Let's fast forward now, to the point where I am single again. One of the first people that I reconnected with was Nate. It was just a hi, how are you, type of situation at first-with laments about how much we missed each other's friendship. It quickly grew to spending hours talking, catching up, and musing about the past. From there it became obvious that we had both changed quite a bit, and that those changes seemed to make us even more compatible than we were before.

Nate let me know that he would be up in October, and offered one day during a discussion about how my daughter loves bulldogs, to give her a puppy from an upcoming breeding session from his bulldog-on one condition, that I let him take me on a real date when he was here. I accepted that, because what harm could one single date do yes? especially with someone I consider a good friend.

That made me stop and think. What would it be like to date him? We continued talking, more and more each day..and then it was crystal clear that yes, this is the type of person that I want to be in a relationship with. Here is someone who knows me, who I know-who does not have anger issues (not even a little, I have never seen him angry at me in the three plus years we've known each other, even when I may have deserved it!) who's likes and dislikes are very similar to my own, and who holds the same beliefs as I do.

So, here we are-both of us eagerly awaiting a visit he will be making mid-september ..and waiting even more eagerly for him to move up here in October.

I never would have foreseen this, and I don't think that it was a random situation by any sense of the word. I believe that God watches us closely, and of course gives us freewill, but once in awhile you are in a situation and if you listen very closely you'll hear that little voice that says, "This is a gift I have for you, please accept it". That is how I feel about Nate. What a beautiful little gift, no matter the outcome, God has given me. The opportunity to date someone who is a true friend, first and foremost.

Now that I'm done being somewhat sappy and moon-eyed...What does this mean for this blog??

Well, it means that the focus will change a bit. I will likely still chronicle the journey (Sorry Nate, that means that I'll be poking fun of situations we find ourselves in! Hah!) because I enjoy the creative outlet. You'll likely have to listen to me run on, and on, and on, about Nate's incredible talent musically..because he's really really really really fantastic. And there may be times where this isn't as humorous as it was in the beginning, but it will still be uniquely me.

I hope you'll continue to follow, God only knows (literally) what is to come-but I am looking forward to it with a smile on my face and joy in my heart.

Until next time-laugh more. Life is far, far too short!