Online Dating

One year ago I had the following conversation with my wonderful grandma.
Grandma: "N..., have you ever tried online dating?"
ME: "Nope, I don't want to pay for it."
Grandma: "Oh, it isn't free?"
ME: "Not the good ones."
Grandma: "Well how much is it?"
ME (totally guessing): "Um like $15 a month?"
End of conversation. I didn't think anything of it until I received a letter in the mail from my sweet grandma. Enclosed was $15 and note that said, "I bet you know what this is for, don't you." It was pretty hilarious and I still smile when I think back to that day. Well finally after 2 weeks of deep thought, I decided to use Grandma's money for what it was intended. It just happened to be Feb 14th when I created a profile on an LDS singles website. I literally only used the site for probably a week. The day I signed up was the same day I met the man who would later break my heart. During our relationship, I kept thinking how grateful I was for my grandma sending me $15, as funny as it was. Without that, I would have never met the man I was planning to marry.
Well, even with my limited online dating experience I still have an opinion about it. How do you use plain text and a few photos to grab someone's attention over all the other girls that are probably on there? It seems that maybe a possible answer is to perhaps exaggerate. So that leads to the question how do you know what is true? That is the problem, you don't know what is true. All you can do is hope that that person is being as sincere as you are. I would imagine that it becomes frustrating.
Online dating sites have this feature where you can send "flirts" to people on the site. In my opinion, sending a flirt is like saying "hey I'm interested, but not enough to really get to know you unless you ask me something about me because I like to talk about me." In other words, it is lazy and not very genuine. I would know, because I was the best at sending flirts. Mostly because I didn't spend a lot of time on the site looking at profile's, I would just look at the ones that had already viewed my profile. So basically I hadn't put much effort towards the experience.
I guess my point would be that if you ever considered online dating, don't be the lazy flirter.

2013 and the Number 13

I've been thinking about my blog and what to do with it for quite a while. I've now decided to continue to blog. It's more for myself regardless if anyone reads it or not. I also decided to put a sort of theme to it and that is my thoughts on everyday occurrences, mostly. So... Here is the first post of 2013!
I really love the number 13 and, well, lucky me I was born on the 13th. If people can get past this false superstition (most people have NO CLUE where it originated), then they can see the importance this number has had in religion and also in our country. I am going into this year with hope knowing that things can only get better. I have hopes of chasing my dreams, reaching my goals, and not letting anyone stand in the way of that.
Most people who read this know that I was engaged to be married and he called it off two months into the engagement. Looking back and seeing where I am now, I realize that before this experience I was way too willing to give up on what I, Natalie, wanted and what my dreams were. I had this idea that as long as we loved each other, we could chase his dreams and I'd be happy. In reality, I could have been happy because I usually am no matter what. I just didn't realize the regret that I would have had for the rest of my life. Regret is one of those things that I've tried to avoid ever since the regret of not pursuing a college softball career like I should have. As I begin again to chase my dreams, new and old, no man will ever have the power to tell me I can't. I've always been a strong, independent woman and this hurt has done nothing but made me stronger. The thing I think that this man finally figured out was that I wasn't going to change and become the woman he thought I should be. I wasn't sitting at home waiting for him and cooking him dinner all the time. I was doing things that I wanted to that were going to help me reach my goals. It wasn't until the sorrow and hurt had began to subside that I realized he had been trying to change me. As I chase my dreams, no man will ever have the power to change who I am.
3 months ago I moved to a new city. I have very few friends, know very few people, and am scared everyday. The thing this city has is opportunity. Opportunity to reach my goals and chase my dreams. I just hope that when opportunity knocks, I answer. My 2013 goals are:
1. To get a job I love. Yeah this is vague, and it is sort of on purpose. I have more specific goals pertaining to this that I have written down elsewhere.
2. Find a way to live in the city of my dreams, Park City.
3. Attend the temple once a week.
4. Conquer my fear of falling. This is a fear that keeps me from doing a lot of fun things in life. Sometimes it becomes quite irrational, so in the words of Bob Newhart, "STOP IT."
I recently went out on a couple dates, assuming that is what they were.. He did pay so I'm calling them dates. It is hard to explain the emotions and internal battle that I experienced. Let's just say that after date #3, I cried my whole drive home. I was struggling with not knowing what he was wanting from me, thinking that I was just going to get hurt no matter what, knowing that I wasn't ready to trust again especially a man, knowing that he was the first guy I had gone out with since my engagement and was not anywhere close to being ready for a relationship, and that I didn't know him well enough to spill all these beans. I then discovered my 5th goal, to learn how to trust a man even just a little. And don't worry, this particular man has backed off by his choice and to my relief.
So, happy birthday to me and may 2013 bring much joy and opportunity!

Here is a link if you want to learn about the number 13 and the United States of America.  But perhaps only I find it fascinating when we relate numbers to history. There is the nerd in me :)
http://www.plaintruth.com/the_plain_truth/the-number-13-and-the-united-states-we-are-lost-israel.html

Winter, Holidays, New Year, Birthdays

First off... It is the end of December. 55 degree weather is NOT acceptable. I tolerate 80 and 90 degree weather just so I can get to the 20 and 30 degree weather. Now where is it?? All I want for my birthday (other than a date :)) is COLD weather and snow. It is only 2 weeks away and so far the forecast is not looking good.
Secondly, I love the holidays. I love any excuse to hang out with my family, and the holidays are great for that. However, the older I get, the more reality hits when the holidays roll around. The reality that oh hey, you're still single. I've always been the first to joke about me still be single and hardly going on dates, but secretly, it isn't so easy. I just decided that it is better to joke, laugh, and be happy with what I'm blessed with than to dwell on it. Especially when I just realized that I'll be spending New Years with my parents and/or aunt. What 25 year old wants to do that? Really, I'm just grateful that my parents will hang out with their 25 year old daughter.
And Lastly... 2012 could be "My Year". The year I find my dream job or at least find out what my dream job is. The year I find that man to spend eternity with. There is so much to look forward to in this new year. So Happy New Year to you all!

Um...

When people say "stat", what does it mean? Where did it come from? For instance, "I need to milk a cow stat."

"I'm Cruisin"

It has almost been two months since my cruise! I am sad that it has been that long. It was an awesome vacation. I have finally posted some pictures. We made lots of memories.

We dressed up nicely and had delicious food with strangers. I ordered ribs on the wrong night...

We posed for pictures on the fancy staircase...

We got to do one of our favorite things ever! Danced to Michael Jackson. Thriller to be exact. We were pros thanks to our Wii experience.

We went on some shore excursions. The first one we saw some Mayan ruins and flamingos.

The next one we went snorkeling and kayaking. Snorkeling was a blast even though I struggled with my goggles. I kept getting water in my eye. I even saw a swordfish!

We took pictures while we were supposed to be listening to instructions... oops.

We were almost the fastest kayakers in our group. They had a head start, so that is our excuse. We got to kayak by the dolphins. It was sweet.

Harvey ordered hot chocolate at dinner. It was 85+ degrees and she ordered hot chocolate. Apparently 'no thanks' really means 'yes, please' because I got some hot chocolate too. After this night, we were served hot chocolate with dessert the rest of the trip and we didn't even ask for it. *side note* The humidity did amazing things for my hair and my skin.

We asked this man if he would come back home with us. He really wanted to, but then he would have missed his chance to go to his home country. So then we asked if we could hide in his room. He had too many roommates, so we sadly said goodbye. His name is Mohammed. He is from Indonesia.

We watched Bingo... Really, who watches bingo on a normal night, let alone on a cruise?! We got the best seats in the house for the shows because we watched bingo :).

We met this man. He was our cruise director, Tex. He has some awesome dance moves. Our favorite was the sprinkler, shown above.

Bruno was our head waiter every night. Pretty much because we requested him every night. He and Mohammed serenaded us each night at dinner. The wait staff all do a dance or sing a song at some point during dinner. Bruno is from St. Vincent.

I got my fresh fruit for dessert most nights. Along with a scoop of sherbet, usually. I got teased by all the strangers who sat by us. Apparently it is weird to not like cake.

We had awesome towel animals on our bed each night. Most of the time we couldn't figure out what animal it was supposed to be, but they were still CUTE.

Again, we watched Bingo...

Our head housekeeper left us a cute heart on the last night. Special :)


We spent a day in New Orleans. We attempted to find real Cajun food. I'm not sure if we succeeded, but whatever we had was delicious. We also had an awesome cab driver. We should have taken our picture with him.

I'm already looking forward to my next vacation! I would love another cruise. Sleeping on a cruise ship is the best thing ever!

Water

In about 48 hours, I'll be in an airplane for the first time since I was 10 or 12 (I don't remember pre-high school very well). This time it will be without my nervous mother. I'll admit, though, that I am the nervous one now. I'm not nervous about flying. I'm nervous about forgetting to take my pocket knife out of my purse. I'm nervous that I'll pack things in my carry-on that I'm not supposed to. I'm nervous that I won't get to the airport on time. I'm nervous either Harvey or I will forget our passport. I am sure everything will go well and my fears won't come true. But I am my mother's daughter.
I will experience quite a few "firsts" on this trip. My first time in an airplane without my mother, first time on a cruise ship, first time snorkeling, and first time kayaking.
I'm nervous about the snorkeling. I swim okay. I'm just worried about the breathing part. As far as the kayaking, well, I just hope Harvey and I don't paddle in circles.
Despite all the worries/fears, I am incredibly excited. It is going to be a great adventure with my best friend.
On another note, I just happened to notice that, even though I am right-handed, I drink with my left hand. Even when I am drinking out of a water bottle, I use my left hand. Weird.

Checking Back into the Blogging World

Lately I have been given the "parties all the time and needs to get serious with life" label. Well, I have finally finished school, I bought a car, and it is summertime. Therefore, I take advantage of having a reliable car and the freedom to go places and see new things. Here are just a few pictures of my adventures

I've been on a few awesome 4-wheeling rides. This one was right before Brother left for his mission.

Celebrated my two favorite holidays (4th and 24th of July). Shared the experience of the Redmond parade with Harvey.

Took my 3rd trip to Havasupai! It was as awesome as usual. I even got to go to church there.

I met this man and look forward to more fun with him.

Sent Brother on his mission. Sometimes I miss him so much. Yes, both my older sisters are pregnant in this picture. Liz's baby was born July 10th and is very beautiful. Amy's baby girl will arrive in October.

A few other things of note:

• I had my first true boating experience this summer
• I get to go on my first cruise in only 22 days!
• I've started the job application/interviewing process
• I have my first post-college interview today actually
• I live with a Chinese woman who cooks me awesome food all the time.