The story of how we met, Part 1

Today is our first wedding anniversary! I can't believe how fast it has gone. But, I can believe that we made it through what is sometimes called the toughest year of marriage. I find that hard to believe sometimes. I think that's probably the case if you're not used to your partners habits and you find out that they don't clean. Fortunately for me, my husband loves to clean. Yay! Not every day is perfect, but it has been wonderful being married to my best friend and I'm thankful for him everyday.

I was living in my tiny studio apartment in Wrigleyville. A bustling and uber cool area of Chicago...that never sleeps. I was pretty happy here, despite the horrific parking situation and drunk wannabe jocks. There was always something to do and a new beggar to call me horrible things when I didn't shell out the cash. One particular night I found myself without plans, but itching for something to do (I didn't even have cable for goodness sakes). So, I got a cat. And I named this gray striped cat Pumpkin. What can I say? Cats are good substitutes.

But, on another lonely night a few weeks later (this happens a lot in a studio apartment-you can't get away from yourself), I did something I SWORE I would never ever do. I would NOT become one of those weirdos. I was perfectly content to live the rest of my life partner-less if I had to...even with 20 cats in tow. I filled out a profile on what I thought was the only respectable dating website, Eharmony. This is probably not true, but their commercials told me so. I filled it out just for fun. I love taking quizzes and as a bonus I wanted to see what kind of goobers came up. Alas, no matches. Not one. Really? Really? Am I that incompatible? "That must be why I am 26 and dateless", I thought. At this point, I think I turned off the computer and went to bed.

The next day, I had matches! Apparently, it just takes some time to sort through all their members. It would be really nice if they'd tell you that. Since, I was doing this just for fun and not seriously (or so I kept telling myself so as not to feel desperate), it wasn't too big of a deal that I wasn't interested in any of the matches. Until I found one guy who I had so much in common with-he was also a graphic designer!

Well, turns out, that guy was a jerk. After going on a few more dates with three other truly awful guys, I was at the end of my rope (and by truly awful I mean one guy dumped me because he wasn't getting what he wanted after a few dates). I needed to find someone more compatible with my values. But, I had no more matches and I was so used to going on dates every weekend that I couldn't stand not having one. And it was getting close to Christmas so I had pretty much make peace with the fact that I'll have to wait until next year.

Then, a 29 year old guy from Evanston sent me a message. I was only dating guys in the city and wanted to keep it that way. But, he looked pretty cute. However, he had one thing on his profile that I wasn't quite sure about. He liked computer games. But, one of the previous guys I dated rode a bike suitable for a ten year old, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow!