July 24, 2011 was just an ordinary day, but little did I know that it would be one of the most special days of my life. After being on and off JDate for approximately two years, and having gone through two relationships, I was confident that there was someone out there for me. Since JDate had worked previously, I figured why not give it another shot? Of course I was quite cynical about the entire process the third time around but realized this was important to me, so I decided to give it another try.
On April 27 2011, an extremely sarcastic and witty gentleman caught my attention. We instantly moved our conversations from JDate to Facebook®, and I quickly realized that this gentleman could really hold my attention (pretty rare nowadays). Push comes to shove, and due to numerous circumstances, we didn’t have our first date until July 24, 2011. The date went extremely well and could have lasted all night, but I happened to be exhausted after a long day at the beach, so I cut the evening short after about three hours. The mystery man, Alex, called me immediately following the date, and at that point the texting back and forth continued endlessly.
On July 28 2011, I celebrated my birthday and received beautiful flowers in the mail from Alex, stating that he hopes that he could celebrate my birthday with me and wishes me all the best. I was blown away. It was extremely sweet and unexpected. I wondered, how did he find my address? Later, I came to find out it was found through a Google search! In any case, we finally scheduled date number two. I can’t say that this date went as well.
Alex had just flown back from a business trip to California and was a little “out of it,” let’s say. He did manage to bring some cute/thoughtful accessories, including wine from California and a bottle of sangria that I absolutely loved. Needless to say, I was still very “weirded out” by the date, and as we hit massive traffic on our way to my house, I couldn’t wait to get home.
After that date, I refused to go on date number three. My best friend, who is now my maid of honor, told me, “Stop being so snobby. You had a great first date, give him another chance.” Well, she happened to be right. Since that day after, every time we saw each other, things just seemed to get better and better. Everything just flowed and had the right fit. You know what they say, “life is like a jigsaw puzzle; the pieces will find themselves when they are right for one another.”
Alex and I planned our first trip to Spain after being in a relationship for one month. Things quickly started to come together for us, and before we knew it, we were shopping and looking at rings! On Dec 31, 2011, about five months after our first date, Alex and I were on a trip to Cancun, Mexico. When the clock struck midnight, Alex got on one knee and proposed. I was blown away! Both of our families knew that we would end up together and were ecstatic when they heard the amazing news.
Recently having a conversation with Alex, he had told me that on our first date he knew I was “The One” and had even had the conversation with his friends as they continued to laugh at him. I can’t thank JDate enough because I met the most incredible man in the world, who is now my best friend and partner in crime. I didn’t think that I could ever find him, nor did I think that people so cute, intelligent, witty, sarcastic, fun, interesting, creative, sweet, loving, dedicated, trustworthy and positive existed out there. We are planning a wedding at the end of this year and cannot wait to start our lives together. We now try to share our experience with as many people as possible because we want others to have the same opportunity to embrace something as special as we feel every day. Once again, we don’t have enough words to say to thank JDate for helping us find one another and turning our lives around.
Juliana and Alex
Fort Lee, New Jersey