Did you get it yet??

So I think it is kind of funny how Heavenly Father works. He will keep teaching us a lesson until we get it.

Well as you know I have ventured off in the uncharted waters of online dating. And since I am 30 I started thinking, well maybe I am just being too picky and that is why I haven't gotten married. So as I start talking to some people I think well I can over look this and I can over look that.

I taught the Young Women on Sunday about Marriage Standards. I gave them a Big Hunk and I said that although we are all wishing and hoping for the Big Hunk, I then pulled out these cute little sun glasses that I got from the 99 cent store with a little quote tied onto it saying "Look closely as you "eye" your prospective marriage partner. You will be yoked together for eternity. Be sure your "eyes" are on the same goals" I talked to them about setting goals like getting married in the temple and how I haven't compromised on that standard

Then the other day I caught myself trying to give a guy a chance, he was a member but hasn't been active for a while and started becoming active again recently, but obviously he can't take me to the temple. I was talking to my sister and she said the funniest thing. "Erin, I wish I could plop my brain in your head" Long story short she gave me comfort in rejecting someone because they don't currently have a temple recommend.

So needlessly to say I think the Young Women Message was for me just as much as it was for them. And it is like Heavenly Father is saying to me, "Duh Erin, Did you get it yet?" Yes, Heavenly Father, I got it. I started looking at guys profiles and if they say under the temple status side, "temple worthy no recommend, rather not say, etc." I don't even give them a second glance.

Top 10 Ten Reasons Why Online Dating Sucks

So I go back and forth between online dating. I sign up for a month and then I will walk away from it. I have always had mixed feelings about it. So just for your enjoyment pleasure I have made a list of Top 10 Reasons Why Online Dating Sucks.

10. Creepy guys from random countries try to get you to be their VISA ticket to the USA

9. Guys who are old enough to be your dad keep looking at your profile . . . REALLY?? You honestly think somone 30 years younger than you would be interested in dating you??

8. Instead of getting rejected just by one guy you get rejected by several a day. Whether it be that they look at your profile and don't do anything or you message them or flirt with them and they never send a response back. Great for the self-esteem. If you didn't feel bad about yourself before it sure will make you feel even worse afterwards.

7. You thought that dating in your ward was slim pickings try online dating . . . even slimmer than your ward

6. You can invent whoever you want online. So you may think you are talking to a real nice guy but really he's a creeper

5. Sometimes you get a guy who initiates contact with you and then once you start talking to the guy they go mute and you have to create the whole conversation. (Try IM'g with someone who doesn't help you carry on a conversation)

4. Guys online are just as challenged as guys in real life (meaning they are lacking a lot of social skills)

3. Essentially you feel like you are part of a Breakfast Buffet, They can puruse all of the pictures and pick which ones they like and don't like just like you would the Breakfast Buffet

2. People keep telling you that Online Dating actually works, including well meaning family members who just want you to be married and happy, but so far you've tried and you have yet to meet the man of your dreams.

And the #1 Reason why Online Dating Sucks is Online Dating isn't really dating . . . you still aren't going on dates. . . . so what's the point.

This isn't to make anyone who has tried and enjoys Online Dating feel bad. This is just from my personal experinece and I am venting.

No need to worry

Apparently I made some concerned about me after my last post. Let me rest everyone's worries. . . . no need to be concerned. The non-member boy mentioned was a flirtation and it was already on its way of ending the day I wrote the last blog entry and I thought I had conveyed that by what I had written, but I guess I hadn't. For sure the flirtation is over and done with and I won't be giving a second glance.

Ever since I was a little girl I dreamed of getting married in the temple. Now that I am working in the Newport Beach Temple every Saturday, the goal to have an eternal family is even more clear and stronger than ever before. I love going to the temple. The gospel is so important to me that I can't imagine my life without it. Tonight I was at the temple subbing for another sister and I sat in the session thinking how blessed I am that I get to come here. I then later sat in the Celestial Room and felt such a calm peace over what I am working on in my life right now.

As mentioned in my previous blog entry . . . I am dreading the evil 30th and sad about being single during that birthday. But I know that not finding "the one" is out of my control and I really can't do anything about it. My job is sometime not so great, but I have tried to change that. However, the job market being what it is . . . this too has become something that I can't control.

So I decided a few months back to work on things that I can control to make me more happy in my life. I started working in the temple back in April so that I might have an opportunity to draw closer to my Heavenly Father. I never imagined the blessing I would have by working in the temple. The spirit is always so strong and it is almost as though I feel the same way I did on my mission. I love it. Not only that, but I can pray and contemplate about things every week for 6 hrs. I have never done that before. So after my last blog entry the fact that I am living in California and not somewhere there are more single "temple worthy" boys came up again. I promised a certain someone that I would take it to the temple and carefully contemplate and pray about the matter because I haven't done so in a while. I loved growing up in Utah, but it has never felt like the place for me. I have always felt like a fish out of water there. I can't really explain it. So many people have asked me why I feel the way I do. But I just do. I have felt more at home here in California then I have ever felt. Yeah, I miss my family and friends terribly. I cried the day I left last week. Because I can't be around my best friends (my family) all of the time. If I could magically transport them here I would in a heart beat. Anyway back to the praying today about where I should live . . . I said to Heavenly Father . . . I really don't feel like Utah is the place I need to be, but if you think that is the place I need to be, I will do whatever you want me to. I got the distinct impression that Heavenly Father felt that it doesn't really matter where I live. I felt that He was happy as long as I was happy. Sorry Family, that means I am staying in California for now.

Ok so the other thing that I decided to focus on that I knew I could control. I have been hesitant to write about this for quite sometime. . . first because I don't want to get on my soap box about the matter. . . second because I am so afraid of failure I didn't want to mention this part of what I am working on for fear I would fail and have to tell everyone about my failure. Anyway I have always struggled with my weight and honestly I haven't really liked my appearance because of it. I have tried a million different things to try to lose weight and I even took a nutrition class while I was in college. It wasn't that I didn't know what I was supposed to do . . . I just wasn't motivated enough to follow through. Yeah sure I would get motivated for a week or two. But then something would come up and I would fall off of the bandwagon and never get back on. So after I started to work in the temple I started to notice how the weight felt while standing on my feet all day. I was starting to not fit any of my clothes anymore . . . I have refused to go up a size for quite some time now. So finally got sick of it and decided to make a stand. I was no longer going to let my weight bother me. My roommate had joined Weight Watchers a few weeks prior and she loved and told me all about it. I have had 2 friends who have lost a significant amount of weight being on their program. And the whole idea that most fruits and veggies were free made it even more appealing to me. . . especially the fruit because I have always had a sweet tooth. Anyway to make a long story short. . . I have been on Weight Watchers for a little over two months now and I can happily say that I have lost 15 lbs since I started and I am still going strong. Yeah sure . . . I have my rough days or weeks, but I keep picking myself up and keep going. It makes me think of just like the gospel. Anytime we make poor choices, do we give up and say oh well??? No, we pick ourselves back up and keep going.

I love you guys and am so grateful for everything that you are and that you do for me. Again I am sorry if I concerned any of you, but rest assured . . .there is no need to worry.

Dating

So I am approaching my 30th Birthday at the end of the month and honestly I have been dreading this day for the last 6 months. Being 30 and still not married was definitely not part of my plan when I was thinking of how my life would be when I was a little girl. The church has noticed that people are getting married later and that is why they have been talking about it soo much the last few years.
My family is very supportive for the most part, but occasionally I will feel pressure from a few of them. Asking me if I am getting out there. Telling me that I should join lds dating websites, to go to as many activities as possible, moving where there are more members (ie: not in california), etc. My sister even as cute as she is, she even told me that she put my name in the temple so that I will find husband.
The thing that I really didn't think about until recently what being 30 and single means is the type of people that are available to date. Unfortunately the first thought that comes to my mind when I meet a guy around my age and single is, Are you divorced and if you are what happend (because obviously something must be wrong with you.) The second thought that comes to my mind if they haven't been married is, If you aren't married what major issues do you have because you aren't married yet. Sad, but true. Then you start to think . . . well should I go for a younger guy. I have never been interested in younger guys. Being the youngest of 5 I have always dated older than me . . . the one exception was Jared and he was only 2 days younger.
With all that being said, one of my friends thinks I am going through a mid-life crisis. There is a guy at work that I started to flirt with a few weeks ago. He isn't a member of the church, he is 5 years younger than me, has a tatoo, and a lip ring. Not usually the guy I go for. Part of me wants to pursue it because he's a really nice guy. But then at the same time . . . in the back of my mind I am thinking . . he's not a member and I want to get married in the temple. I have all of my Young Women's teachers lessons repeating like a broken record in my head. "You marry who you date" I have never dated a non-member and all of the sudden all sorts of things come up that I never had to deal with. Like how do I set up ground rules for him and how do I keep him from not crossing any of my lines. I take my covenants very seriously and I try my very best to live the gospel. Today we went to luch together and he kissed me for the first time. Of course he tried to put his hands where they aren't supposed to be and I kept moving them away and saying no. Then you have to talk about the whole garment issue. I am starting to see why people are saying it is hard to date outside of the church. But I started going into this thinking I wasn't really expecting to marry him and that I wasn't going to take it seriously. But being 30 and still single . . . should I really use my time dating someone that can't take me to the temple.

Dating

So I was talking to one of my mission companions yesterday, and I told her about my initial hesitation of creating a blog because I always felt that I should be married and have children and talk about all the funny stories about my kids, but the stories I have a single person is only about dating, work, and roommate dramas. She reminded me that sometimes those are the best stories to read about.

Being the ripe age that I am I have had my fair share of first dates, both good and bad. I went on another first date this last week and once again you go through the typical thoughts . . . Did he like me? Will he call again? Do I want to go out with him again? Did I do something incredibly stupid when I was with him? You know us girls . . . we tend to dissect it and over analyze it to death that you get to the point that you aren't really sure what to do any more. So the question is . . . . how do you just go with the flow and let things come as they come and not do the typical dissection and over analyzing of things.

I was talking to my mom today and her response was to keep myself busy with something else and let it go at the pace that he wants to set. Yeah right. Like I am going to be able to keep myself that busy that I can keep my mind from wandering and thinking about things.

The ironic thing is every time something comes a long I always think man this is a pain and it just complicates things. But then when they go a way after about a month you start wanting to go out on dates and have the attention. It is like you purposely give yourself amnesia of all the complications so you will continue to go out on first dates and then when you do start dating again not only does your amnesia go away you wind up having a crystal clear memory of all the previous relationships you have had and you start to worry about other stuff too. But at some point you have to get over yourself and just let things go. It is a vicious cycle but we all have to go through it. Otherwise where would we be as a population. =)