a tale of three dates

In the last two months since I called off my wedding, I've made a vow to be more open to different experiences. Who knows what could possibly change my life for the better? I feel like I've been missing out on things, not fully enjoying the real "college experience" and being out on my own. So, among other things, I have gone on three dates with three different guys in the last two weeks. If nothing else, I ended up with some fun stories to tell.

Date #1: A 24-year-old recent UGA grad. Blind date, actually, and from this experience I have learned that blind date = bad. Never again will I put myself through that horror. We met for coffee at Starbucks at 8:30, and I was gone by 8:45. This guy barely looked at me when he talked, and when he did look at me, it was a little south of my eyes - if you know what I mean. It was so awkward and awful that I texted a friend in the middle of it and had him call me with an "emergency" so I could have an out. Now I admit that I don't have that much experience with first dates, but I don't think that's the way it's supposed to go.

Date #2: A 27-year-old law student. This one was really cute and pretty easy to talk to. We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant downtown, and had a really great time talking and getting to know each other. We didn't stay very long because he had to go back to class, but hopefully we'll have another chance to hang out sometime soon. I've been getting occasional text messages from him, just sweet things like asking how my day is going. It's cute. :)

Date #3: A 31-year-old small business owner. He comes into Papa John's to order pizza every Tuesday, which is how we met. We went out for coffee after I got off work this past Tuesday night. We met at the same Starbucks where I went on the first, horrible date, but this one was much better. We sat there talking and drinking white mochas (yum!) until the place closed. We really didn't want to end the night, so we went back to my apartment where Tyler and his friend Marcus were hanging out. When my date walked through the door, he was immediately "attacked" by Chloe. Thankfully he didn't run away screaming. We sat out on the balcony with Chloe while Tyler and Marcus watched a movie. He finally left around 2 am. And yes, there was a little goodbye kiss. :)

Of all three, the last was definitely the best. I don't know if I'll see any of them again (well, I know I definitely won't see the first one), but it has been an interesting experience.

so close, and still so far

5 months from today, I am supposed to be getting married. 5 months from today, I am not getting married.

I don't know what happened. Maybe it was the stress of the wedding itself that tore us apart. Maybe it just never would have been right. Either way, here I am alone again.

I have to try and trust that God will lead me through this, that He will eventually bring me someone I really will spend the rest of my life with. I've been praying about this situation, and God has answered my prayers (well, some of them at least) in the most amazing way. Someone I thought was gone from my life forever is here again, and I couldn't be happier. An ex boyfriend and I started talking again a couple weeks ago. I prayed for God to bring him back into my life if it was right, and there he was at Water's Edge the next night. We talked then, at church the next Sunday, and in the parking lot of Chili's until 1 am the Tuesday after that. It was so wonderful to be there with him, spending time together and having fun conversations like we used to. Of course, at least one of those conversations centered around what went wrong, and what it meant that we were speaking again. I told him flat out how God answered my prayers, that I missed him, and that I wanted to give our relationship another try. And guess what. He didn't run away. In fact, he told me how sorry he was for how much he hurt me. He told me he wanted to be friends, for real this time. He held me in his arms and apologized for not being there for me, promised he wouldn't disappear again.

If that means anything, I don't really know. But every time I pray about it, I feel God telling me that this time it's going to be different. My ex said he wasn't ready for another relationship right now (and neither am I), but let's keep getting to know each other again and see where things lead. So at least that door is open. It's better than things have been between us in the last 3 years. I want to be with him again, that much I do know. I've always wanted to be with him. I think, now that both of us have had time apart to grow and figure things out, being together again would be amazing. I think we could actually make it work.

For now, I'm headed off to church with Tyler. I'll see my ex there, and hopefully we'll get to spend some time together. I just have to keep praying and trusting God that wherever this goes, it's going to be for the best.

During summer session, UGA is almost surreal. It's this huge campus normally teeming with students rushing from class to class, but from May to July it's quiet and almost relaxed. I can normally hear 5 or 6 conversations going on at once at Jittery Joe's, but right now I hear nothing. Total silence, except for the occasional cough or tapping of a keyboard. It makes me want to stay here all day and just escape everything.

I've been having a lot of dreams about my wedding lately. Dreams where everything goes wrong, like the most recent one in which I forgot to have my dress altered, there was no wedding cake, and another reception was going on where ours was supposed to be. I know these are completely ridiculous things that would never actually happen (even I, in all my ADD moments, would not forget to have my wedding gown altered), but I still wake up in freak-out mode. Then I see Mike next to me, sleeping peacefully with our puppy laying on his chest, and everything's better, at least for a little while. The thing that scares me is it makes me wonder if getting married is really the right thing for me right now. Maybe it's just pre-wedding jitters, I don't know. I hope so. The wedding is 6 months from tomorrow and I'm nervous that it's creeping up on me so quickly. I'm afraid we won't be able to get everything done in time, or something will be overlooked.

I just want December to be here and the wedding to be over with. I'm trying to deal with it all by just picturing myself with my new husband on our honeymoon, enjoying Disney World and looking forward to our new life together.

puppy update!

Mike and I picked up Chloe this morning, and she's doing great. We had so much fun playing with her and getting her used to her new home. After she sniffed everything in the apartment (and got sprayed in the face with water a few times for trying to get into the garbage), we took her out for a little walk and she met another neighborhood puppy. Hopefully soon we'll have some nice weather so we can take her to the dog park.

She really is the sweetest thing ever. She's so smart, too. She can already sit on command, and she's learning how to shake. The only thing we couldn't get her to do was take a nap! She was having too much fun playing and running around. 

Here are a few pictures of my little cutie:

You can tell just by looking at her how curious she is.

She's very affectionate, and likes to give hugs.

She also loves licking people...

...sitting in laps...

...and playing with Mike. :)

I'm sure there will be more pictures to come soon!

Thanks for all the prayers over the weekend, because it worked - Chloe is coming home tomorrow! 

I was a nervous wreck yesterday, calling the animal shelter every hour to find out if she'd been adopted. The two people ahead of me either decided they didn't want to or couldn't adopt her, or found another dog first, so now she's mine! Mike and I played with her a good while yesterday after filling out the adoption papers (she had to go get spayed before she could come home with us). She ran right up to me when she saw me coming to her kennel, and had a fun time running around the pen. She took to Mike right away, climbing up into his lap when he sat down to pet her. It was hilarious, actually. She's small, but not exactly a lap dog. We noticed we'll have to work with her on not jumping on furniture - she loved jumping up on the benches. But despite the jumping habit, she's really well-behaved. Unlike my first dog, she didn't go crazy when she saw another animal. Well, except for the Doberman that everyone was barking at! She's already learning to respond to her name, and seems to be pretty good walking on a leash.

Mike and I went to Walmart and Target to get dog stuff yesterday, and I had too much fun. I got her cute pink and blue striped bowls, a pink polka-dotted collar (with matching leash) and a pink heart-shaped name tag. Tyler laughed at me when I came home with all this stuff, but he's excited to have a dog around. 

I guess that's enough about my dog for one day. I'll post pictures soon, but for now here are the other two from the animal shelter website!

Mike and I have been thinking about adopting a dog for a while. My parents have my dog and I can't bring him here with me (something about him being a German Shepherd/Chow mix, the apartment managers won't let me have him...), and I miss having a pet. So today, we went to the Athens-Clarke County animal shelter and found the most amazing little puppy! We don't know if we'll be able to get her, because we're third in line for the adoption. But she's perfect and I'm praying so hard that I can have her. She's a 6-month-old lab/retriever mix, and the sweetest thing I have ever seen:

We were able to take her out of the kennel and play with her, and she was so much fun. She's a curious and playful puppy, but still calm and well-behaved. I'll find out Monday if I get her and, if all goes well, she'll come home with me Tuesday! I hope I'm not jinxing anything, but her name will be Chloe. :)

Pray for me; I know this little girl would make my world so much brighter!