Most of my relationship with Eric has been a fairytale. We met, fell in love, moved in together, got engaged, had a puppy child, and now we are living happily in the chaotic life we built together. There is just one thing…

We met on eHarmony.

Yep, I’ll admit it. I was desperate. At the time, I had just moved back to Des Moines from Iowa City and I had just broken up with a boyfriend. I had dated most of the other guy friends that I had, and I figured I had nothing to lose. If I met someone, great. If I didn’t, who cares. I was 22 and I knew life wouldn’t be over if I didn’t meet someone online. Also, I noticed that my dog, Tippy, started to look at me with pity in his eyes and something had to change. So what if I wanted to eat Taco Johns and watch Law and Order marathons everyday, Tippy?

He can be so judgmental.

So I decided to join eHarmony. It took me 2 hours to fill out the very in-depth questionnaire. Then I had to do it all over again because I realized I had answered the questions according to the kind of person I wished I was, not the kind of person I actually was.

“Do you like to take spontaneous trips and be adventurous?” I strongly agreed.

Right…

So after 4 hours of filling out the 2 questionnaires about myself, I waited for the hotties to roll in. I posted pictures on my profile of my post-breakup self, which was 30 pounds lighter with blonde hair. Turns out I was mostly compatible with workout addicts with low self-esteem. I must have lied about how often I worked out, even the 2nd time. I chatted back and forth with a few guys, but none of them were worth meeting.

Then an Eric Wagner requested a communication with me. His pictures were cute, he was a Hawkeye, and he was interested. So Eric and I began our communication. After a week of talking 24 hours a day on Instant Messenger, we decided to meet. We planned on going out to dinner, but I thought that was too risky. If I didn’t like this guy, I didn’t want to be stuck with him for 2 hours. I text him one night and told him I was craving ice cream.

I wasn’t.

Up until this point, I had only told my mom that I was even on eHarmony. When I walked out of the house that night, I yelled up to my mom and dad, “Bye! I’m going to Dairy Queen to meet someone I met online! Love you!”

Eric pulled up to Dairy Queen in his black pick-up truck. If you know me, that means that I already loved him. I was sitting on the bench outside and he started walking towards me. Then I remembered.

He was probably looking for a skinny blonde.

I was chubby and brunette now. Oh crap, I thought, I better stand up so he knows it’s me. Are we supposed to hug? Hand shake? High five? I wasn’t sure, but I went in for the hug. We got our ice cream and we sat on the bench outside for an hour talking. When you talk to someone for 2 weeks straight prior to meeting and you know so much about them, you expect to have fireworks when you meet. But, no.

It was super awkward.

We were both so nervous. I kept spilling ice cream all over my dress, but neither of us said anything about it. I just kept trying to play it cool with a huge mound of ice cream on my dress. I invited him over to my house after Dairy Queen. And by “my house,” I mean my parent’s basement. We watched 2 hours of Keeping Up With The Kardashians on my couch. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t the best way to win a guy over.

After the date was over, I was so confused. I liked him so much on eHarmony, but it was so awkward when we met. We decided to plan another date 2 days later at his house, and that ended up being the night I fell in love with him.

He stuffed me with enchiladas, chips and salsa, and tequila.

Enough said.