Rainbow unicorn farts.  That's my life.  Seriously, honestly, lately, despite me being unemployed and super bummed about that, I feel like my life is all sunshine and rainbows and lollipops.  Last year, at this time, I couldn't have imagined it.  Last year at this time, I was miserable.  I wondered what was wrong with me that I couldn't find someone that I wanted to be with, who also wanted to be with me.  I wasn't willing to compromise what I wanted.  I wanted someone who would be available to me.  I know that sounds simple, but it wasn't such a simple task.  Some men I was with weren't able to commit to a relationship with me for one reason or another.  Some men I was with were emotionally unavailable.  Some men I was with felt like being available meant being around once a week, at best.  I didn't want that.  I wanted a committed relationship with someone who wanted the same things that I did.  A fulfilling, intellectually stimulating, committed relationship.  A family someday with kids.  But, last year at this time, I didn't see that on the horizon.  I remember having conversations with my friend Abbey about being ok with being alone forever.  I remember agonizing over what was wrong with me.  Hyperanalyzing every thing I did, thinking "Maybe this is it.  Maybe I'm alone because I'm too much of a tomboy."

Then along came Matt.  The weekend before I met Matt, I was house sitting for Abbey and her girlfriend while they took a vacation with their daughter to California.  I had an extra credit opportunity that I had to go to.  It was a screening of a movie on opening night of a film festival at UCCS.  I went.  Alone.  I didn't know a soul there, and everyone else was there with dates or groups of friends.  I drank a beer by myself, ate a falafel ball, watched the movie, and went home, depressed.  I had been exchanging emails with Matt on match.com for roughly a week.  That Sunday, he suggested we meet up to go get something to eat, and I agreed.  So, that Friday, we agreed to meet at a sushi restaurant, and "if we didn't hate each other" (his words), go to see Zombieland.

Our first date was....interesting.  He told fairly intimate details of his life.  I told how I got stabbed in the face.  He said he was sardonic in high school.  I said he was probably just mean.  I kept waiting for him to ask me questions, but sometimes we just sat silently.  We both laughed a lot during Zombieland.  I didn't even shake his hand when we agreed to call it a night.  But we planned for a second date.

And now, I find myself in the best relationship I've ever had.  The sardonic, quiet man from that first night turned out to be amazing.  Honest, funny, goofy, incredibly intelligent, loyal, well versed in many subjects, caring, involved, handsome, with integrity.  He LIKES having me around.  He wants me around.  He's committed to me and to us.  And, he thinks I'm something special.  Says I'm the best and most important thing in his life.  He's willing to help me reach my dreams.  I don't know what else I could ask for.  I'm the first girl he's ever brought home to meet his parents.  And now, after 9 months, it feels both like just the beginning and like he's been in my life forever.