Dating in D.C.

Yesterday I went to the single's ward in Arlington, VA. It was really fun and really nice, especially since I've been going to a family ward. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my ward! There is no other ward in the whole world quite like the Capitol Hill ward in Washington D.C. However, it was nice listening to the talks and lessons because these people are in the same stage of life as me and I can relate so well. (I even went to marriage prep with my friend Jill who is engaged! Ha!) The lesson in Relief Society was about desires and also about being happy with your life now and not being sad all the time because we are not married. (Sounds a lot like President Uchtdorf's talk from the day before!) It was a great reminder. We also talked about things we could do both temporally and spiritually to increase our chances of marriage. (I know right?) Well, I for one I have not seriously dated anyone since my divorce. Or anyone besides my ex-husband for that matter... And I'm thinking... that's gotta change! I definitely needed a lot of time (a few years...) to heal and be ready but now I think I am ready to start dating again. I've already had a few offers since I've been here in D.C. The men here just appreciate what I have to offer more than the men in Utah. Haha! Here are a couple of gems:

Story #1:
I was on a walk with the twins and our lovable black lab Spud. We were walking past a huge black guy and I didn't want to show that I was intimidated or nervous (even though he definitely made me feel that way!) so I looked him in the eyes (first mistake) and smiled (second mistake). It was like 11 in the morning and I was wondering "why isn't he at work? What is he doing walking around here? Doesn't he have somewhere he's supposed to be?" You may ask, "well why were you walking around the middle of the day?" And if you asked that I would say to you because hello! It's my job to take the babies out and about every day on our daily walk!!! Duh. Anyway, back to the story. So I looked at him and smiled trying to be brave and he says (looking at the twins), "Can I have one?" and then without missing a beat..."Can I have you?" Well, how are you supposed to react in that situation? Laugh of course! I didn't know what else to do so I just started laughing and kept walking past him. But apparently it wasn't a rhetorical question and he called out "Well?!" I just kept walking and laughing until we were out of sight. I was very grateful to have Spud with us even if he can be a chicken sometimes.

Story #2:
It was a Friday night. I had no plans. So I decided the only thing for me to do was to go to the mall. Not the national mall... but a regular shopping mall. I suppose it would have been cooler to go walk around the national mall but I chose to check out the Pentagon City mall. It's accessible by metro (you don't even have to go outside of the metro to get inside!) So Friday night. Me by myself at the mall because I'm awesome like that. I went into any and every store that looked interesting because that's the right you have when there's no one else with you to say, "oh I don't like that store, let's go here instead". I wandered into Yankee Candle and proceeded to sniff EVERY SINGLE type of candle. And I was enjoying it too. All of a sudden I heard, "I like your earrings". Now to be fair, they were pretty awesome earrings. My friend Rachel Fisher bought them for me and they are super cute owl dangly earrings. As I turned to see who complimented my dangly owls, I had to look down because it was a kind of short scrawny guy. He walked up to me with no shame and said, "How old are you?" I told him I was 25 (and I was not ashamed!) He informed me he was 23. Looking back on it, I guess he was making sure I was "legal" and not under 18 before he went too far. Actually he sort of just ran everything together, "Hi my name is so and so , I'm 23 years old, can I be your boyfriend?" I had the feeling I wasn't the first girl he said those exact words to that night. At least he's trying unlike some guys I know. Haha! I didn't want to hurt his feelings so I (lied) said that I already had a boyfriend. He was concerned that this boyfriend didn't treat me right and kept saying, "but does he treat you right? I'll treat you right!" all the while touching my arm (awkward!). I assured him that my boyfriend did in fact treat me well and I even went so far as to say, "we're very happy together. It's going really well". Haha! Oh man, what was I supposed to say? "No my fake boyfriend I made up not to hurt your feelings doesn't really treat me well"? He tried to give me his number "just in case" but I turned him down and he left me alone to continue sniffing candles. It was a fun night.

My uncle Jason told me to stop being so picky as far as boys are concerned. But I'm pretty sure those guys need a girl who has a little bit more in common with them. Plus I don't date non-members. Sorry guys! Haha!:) And that's been the extent of my dating life here in D.C. Let's hope me moving to a single's ward will have some better results.