Without a site like JDate, I never would have met Ethan. We were both transplants to Seattle, Ethan relocated here for work, and I was only planning to be here temporarily. Also, our backgrounds and social circles were very different. We’d both used the site for a while before we met and had our share of unsuccessful meetings, but we were both believers that our Beshert was out there, and we never gave up hope. 

I emailed Ethan in June 2008 – but he didn’t even see the message or respond until October. Thankfully, I had accidentally bought a six-month subscription when I meant to buy a one-month subscription. We finally connected in October, and it’s been an amazing journey together ever since. Ethan knew that I was the one for him the first time I kissed him on our third date. He realized then that I was the kind of person who will find a way to bend the universe to get what I want.

When I first spent time with Ethan, I immediately noticed that he was very conscious about how I felt in every situation, and he was polite and warmhearted to everyone. From our wonderful first date adventures to the trips we took together to California, Las Vegas, Israel and Montreal, Canada – both for pleasure and to meet each other’s families – we’ve learned just how much we have in common, even though we grew up on opposite sides of the continent and in very different circumstances.

We were both strong individuals who knew what we wanted, and we’d both dated lots of people who didn’t know what they wanted. So, when we found each other, we started creating a life together from that day forward. We can barely believe that two people as strong as we are could accomplish so much and connect so well, so quickly.

With the passing months, we kept seeing the signs that we’d met our soul mates – whether it was when we realized our birthdays were just four days apart, knocked each other out at Wii boxing at the same time or when we found ways to tie at card games like Rummy 500.

We just celebrated our six-month wedding anniversary and have so much to look forward to as we continue our adventure together.

Stefanie and Ethan
Seattle, Washington