I tried it a little while I lived in Houston, but I never did really meet anyone I really clicked with. There were a couple guys I talked to, but things ended up falling through. Besides, they both lived so far away (across town takes about 2 hours & I'm lazy.) Then life happened & I moved. I got on a free one where I live now & met every creep in town! Now I am registered on a bunch, but I'm not paying for service yet. I haven't decided which one to go with so I'm just looking around for now. So far I like EHarmony the best.

A few years ago it seemed like all the creeps & weirdoes were doing the online dating thing, but I think now it's pretty normal for everyone. Good luck!

BTW - Intellius.com gives you criminal background checks. It's a thought.

Hipi

When you wish upon a falling star, your dreams can come true. Unless it's really a meteorite hurtling to the Earth which will destroy all life. Then you're pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for. Unless it's death by meteor.

I have a girlfriend that is very religious and cautious on who she dates. She uses eHarmony as they have to pass the personality test prior to getting to her. I would suggest that you try that website.

I had tried internet dating in the past. I had lots of dates from it, but no keepers. I have friends that did find their mates on the internet, so I wouldnt NOT try it.

Good luck. I find that most men are sharks as your rev. pointed out.. but this site will match you based on answers you both give to a questionairre.. It weeds out most of the sharks!

you gotta kiss alot of toads before you get the prince, RIGHT Disney????
I did online dating and that is how I met my SO. He is terrific except...the issues mentioned in previous post.
anyway I went on a LOT of first dates, mostly at coffee shops on a saturday afternoon..safe... met a lot of nice guys who I am still friends with and a few LOSERS..(fore finger and thumb in the shape of an L on my forehead) but it was fun and quite an experience
I say give it a try and just be safe!!!

“You will never be on top of the world
if you try to carry it on your shoulders.”

internet dates. She has not been very successful. She always ends up with someone crazier than her....

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain."

My neighbor is my very best friend. She dates from the internet, and I cringe when she tells me she's meeting so & so at so & so, only because I worry about her. This forum makes me really think twice about meeting folks. We all sound really normal, but do we really know for sure?

So, far she hasn't found love, but she has gotten alot of free meals. She is now seeing someone from out of the county and it becomes a real challenge for her to let her trust down. I think the best way of meeting people is from friends who have friends, who have friends, ect. Church, even with the sharks, could be valuable.

Good Luck, if I think of anyone, Ill let you know. What type of man are you interested in? Besides all a baggage LOL

Stepwitch
Thank you Disney for portraying a positive image on all stepmothers!!!!

Hey you know what!!!
I got the perfect guy for you ..lol..
My Brother
He is single and having a hard time meeting a nice lady, he has 3 kids that live up north so there is no misunderstanding with x anything, He loves kids and is a VERY hard worker,, and not to mention.. pretty hot( well for a brother ..lol).
He lives here in Florida..are you here in this state? he has been going through the whole date thing and unable to find a decent girl, their all wild and he is settled and more about working for a living and being a family guy.

" Smile"
I got your love connection hee, hee

you had me at Florida!!!
too bad I am not looking .just my luck!

“You will never be on top of the world
if you try to carry it on your shoulders.”

lol, yeah.. he could use a nice lady for sure. He is SOOO funny. His personality is GREAT!
The thing is his looks match it( hard 2 find).He even went on a dating site called plenty of fish tring to meet someone decent. He just moved here to florida about 2 months ago. He is a excellent cook, great dancer( I've seen girls wanna fight over him at the club over it..seriously), he is just one awsume guy.
he loves blues..plays with his guitar every night, him and my B.F and other brother like to practice and jam out together, he is drug free and a social drinker..he's got it going on!!!
Wish I could find that someone to introduce him to.

I was a member when you didn't have to pay for people to write you, only to initiate emails yourself. So I didn't pay.

I met several men online, but never in person.

Then I had my heart broken by a three year relationship (long story- he was married and thought he was on his way out, then decided to stay there and I had to move on.)

So I decided to try yahoo again. I met a really neat guy who seemed perfect online, witty, flirtatious (without being crude) intelligent, pursuing a law degree at a very well know school about an hour from me. He came from a UU famliy (Unitarian Universalist faith, like myself and VERY rare around here) was divorced, no kids, lived in a blended family growing up. He seemed perfect.

I met him for one date and ended up getting a little too friendly (boys were at their dad's.) So I sent him home. He was obviously disappointed, but not seemingly deterred. I did feel that we didn't click like I thought we would when we were chatting. But we set up a second date where I would come to his area.

When chatting a few days later he got on the subject of how I could stay the night at his place when I went up there for our date, since it was an hour away. I said I could, but didn't want to imply by that I was ready for something more than a date.

His response?

"Well...how soon would you be ready?"

My friend was in the room while this chat was going on and I made this buzzzzzzzzzzz sound like we were on a quiz show and told her WRONG answer!

Then when I didn't write anything back he added, "Ha ha just kidding."

The chat went on with him saying things like, "I think when people wait a while for intimacy, they build up a big hype and then are disappointed."

Ummmm....for a future law student you are not making a very good case for me to sleep with you. Do it sooner because if I wait it will be disappointing????

No thanks. I'm not 19 anymore. I know what happens when I jump into bed with a man I barely know. I know that he does not magically fall in love with me and call me begging to see me again. I know as a matter of fact that I may never hear from him again!

So... a few days pass and I don't hear from him after this chat. Then I email him on Sunday to ask if we are still on for our date Mon. I don't hear back....

THEN Mon I get an email from him saying that he spent too much time having fun going out with friends over the weekend and needed to work on a paper instead of our date. Could we reschedule another time?

Ummmm...sure we can. By the way, as a single mom working full time while doing my own college work (not LAW school I know but still!) who managed to get all MY assignments done, I really didn't sympathize with his distractions keeping him from studying over the weekend.

So I joined yahoo officially, paid the 20 bucks and started going through my delete bin of all the guys who had written me that I discounted due to some "obvious" flaw.

I found this Army major single dad who lived 20 mins from me who was conservative and therefore I had never responded to him. BUT...I did think that his graduating from West Point meant perhaps he would be a little more discreet about when it's proper to ask a grown woman to spend the night.

I emailed him and met him within a week (I wasn't wasting all that time chatting to be disappointed again.) I met him out, waited til he pulled up before walking into the restaurant so I could get a look at him first. He was way shorter than his profile said (5'6 compared to 5'8") which put me off a little, as did the khaki pants and way too shiny shoes...but...

He bought me dinner...
He was engaged an interested in what I had to say...
He laughed at my wit (especially when he asked how "liberal" I was since it said so on the site and I replied, "I was wondering why you wrote me...I thought maybe you misread it and thought I was a LIBRA!"

And after my having already told him of my first internet date...Mr. "No means No Joe" as well now affectionately call him...

Late in the evening he ASKED to hold my hand.
The next morning he called me at 7 am to tell me he had a great time.
He brought me a warehouse club sized box of choc covered pretzels and a bouquet of wild flowers on our first date.

Oh- but being that he was a dad too I introduced him to my kids on our first real date. I actually did that on purpose after dating a couple idiots in their 30's-40's who didn't have kids and were always anxious about meeting them. He met my mom too as she was watching the kids for our date

He was very interested in me, so attentive of me, so sure of us from very early on. He told me soon into our dating that he thought he could fall in love with me, but no rush on my part-take my time.

I didn't lag very far behind him. Though when we were living together a year later I read him an email from a friend of mine who also rarely dates. I had said, "Man....I don't think I'll ever fall for this guy. Do you think it's wrong to keep dating him just because he's nice and I like him???"

She said she would smack me with a frying pan if I didn't.

I read this to my then fiancee who said, "And here you sit, in my house on my computer just one short year later. Did you finally fall in love with me, or are you still just dating me because I'm nice and you like me!"

I say internet dating is an amazing way to meet if you really do it in a smart safe way.

Good luck to you!

Peace, love, and red wine

I have went out with people online and its pretty much as the old computer programmers say "GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out." There are lots of wonderful people out there and some you don't want to know (30%); some who would make good friends (50%); and then some who are close (10%); and then there are the "keepers" (10%). Whether you are looking at church or the laundromat or online you still have to have standards:

Mine go sort of like this:

How many times married?
How many kids?
How did the last relationship end?
How is their outlook on life? Positive?
How do they treat others?
If they are parents, what is their attitude about their kids and Ex's?
No drugs or alcoholics
No indications of spousal abuse or criminal records
Are they motivated to better themselves? Or are they happy being a loser?

Yes, you have to kiss a lot of frogs of either sex...

Kevin

I actually met my husband on Eharmony. We have so much in common and get along great. We got engaged after only 6 weeks and were married a year and half later. 2 years later everything is still good. I think that Eharmony's 50 million questions they ask you are helpful in matching you with someone you are at least somewhat compatible with. He was the best hundred bucks I ever spent!

Well, I dont know how old you are but he is 30 years old, age was never a factor here in my family, my other brother has been happily married to his wife for 5 years but been to gether 12 years and they are 15 years apart.They have a wonderful life together. They never had any children but she had 2 when they met.
My brother prolly would locate for the right lady, It would be cool if you both even just got to talk on the phone( it s a start of a connection). Infact he came here on lunch break and I mentioned your story.. he was like " OOH yeah"
I think for the right person someone will move mountains for you. If you would like 2 just talk to him let me know and we can work it out Its a start.. yaaaa never know

I actually met a couple of nice looking, educated professionals other than DH & a couple of loosers.

Had I never taken the chance I would never have met him. He is younger than me ( I always dated older ) & lived 45 minuets away. We spoke for 4 hrs on the phone and I just knew he was special. Our first date was one of the best days of my life. Even after all the shit BM & his family put us through, not to mention my husband's bipolar break down that has been very hard on both of us, I can't imagine my life had I not met him.

I looked at it as an adventure.

on MySpace..we had worked together 9 years ago when he was still married to BM and even wondered back than why he was married to such a lazy blob...but yeah we lost touch for years and he found me on MySpace soon before he divorced...we didn't start talking though until after he was divorced...crazy the way things work out...

But I'm still a chicken though. I guess I'm not ready yet. I love all the success stories and realize that I will never be one if I don't put myself out there and take a chance.

Maybe I'm not so much of a chicken but I don't feel like I could successfully weed out the jerks and perverts and such. I tend to be a little naive sometimes and give people the benefit of the doubt when I should be running in the other direction. I guess for now, I'll just live vicariously through all you successful ones out there that I've read about and in this blog.

MamaJenn24

I had positive experiences and am currently married to the man I met on online. it was a lot of fun and very convenient. )My hubby is a gem although he's learning to tell his S no.) So glad we met and we would not have crossed paths any other way. (It's like meeting someone in the library or in the supermarket. Do you really know them? No. Time reveals all things.)

I recommend internet dating to everyone. Of course, you must be cautious and use wisdom but I believe that's for everything. I did lots of reading on the subject before I did it. I know 2 people that have met there spouses online - very happily married and I have friends that have friends and relative that have met their spouse that way. My boss, met his wife way back when in the personals -- married over 15 yrs - very happy.

"All fair in love and war."

really scared and not a very an assertive happy go lucky kind of person by nature. The VP of my old company recommended and I took a leap of faith in spite of fear. What fun and what great success!!! Like I said I was signed up with 2 or 3 at time and met some nice men then I met the man that stole my heart. Try it you might like it. If you want to email me personally for more info. feel free.