Deborah went online to research different dating sites. She suddenly decided that ours was the one to try. Even so, she wasn’t at all confident that anything would happen.

Dennis signed up because he was looking for companionship, not a hook-up. He was willing to take a chance on finding someone who could be his true partner in life.

Deborah had been a member for a grand total of four days when she came across the profile of someone called “Smoli.” Smitten by “his pretty face,” as she calls it, she sent the guy a Flirt.

Smoli was Dennis, of course. He’d been on the site for two whole weeks when he received the Flirt from “SBFTX,” Deborah’s rather unusual handle. He was very pleased. “I thought she was beautiful, and fell in love instantly,” Dennis recounts today.

Once they got on the phone, the duo discovered that there was another reason for their attraction. They loved to hear the other speak! Says Deborah, “He has a clear, beautiful voice, and a direct way of speaking.” Dennis says it was “her proper use of the English language” — which is very important to him — that was most impressive. “Her clear voice was so easy to understand,” he tells us.

While Deborah and Dennis hadn’t known each other long, they’d already zoomed right past a roadblock that so many couples experience — communication.

They also couldn’t wait to meet face-to-face. Their first official meeting was at the Fargo, North Dakota airport. Deborah discovered that Dennis not only looked exactly like his online picture, but also that “he was very handsome!” Dennis again marveled at how beautiful she was, saying, “I loved her full lips and big eyes.”

Their first date was a trip to his church. “Everyone at the church treated her well,” remembers Dennis. How sure was he that they would go out again? Pretty sure, as it turned out. “We were married two days after our first meeting and the day after our first date!”

Well, it didn’t really happen that fast. Dennis had proposed before they even met in person. Both singles felt that the connection was that strong. The only obstacle was distance. “Being separated was very stressful,” Deborah acknowledges. “I lived in El Paso, Texas. Dennis had retired as a commercial farmer and lived in Fargo.”

But that’s all behind them now, because the couple quickly figured out how to make it work. Finding love has changed Deborah’s life in all manner of ways, she says. “He is the most loving, kind and generous person I have ever met, and my world is now complete…we are enjoying the life of a retired couple.”

Love has taught Dennis how to enjoy life to the fullest. “She is a very faithful and spiritual person. And she makes my world rock!” He shakes his head in happy amazement. “Now I’m learning how to dance!”

Deborah has a piece of advice for all the online daters looking for love. “Don’t look for material riches,” she says. “Look for a man who is honest, hardworking and kind.”

Dennis echoes her sentiment. “Don’t look for money. Look for love.”

The post Success Story: Two Days, One Date and a Wedding appeared first on Love is all colors.

This wasn’t the first dating website that Amy had used. “I started online dating a few years back, as a way to meet people,” she informs us. “I was hopeful I would find love… or at least new men to date.” So she decided to sign up once more, and became “Scout97” on our site.

Jimmie had also tried other dating websites in the past. “I tried online dating to increase my dating circle,” he explains. Was he confident he would find love through a website? Heck yeah. “I was optimistic!” declares Jimmie.

Amy had been a member for approximately six months before she found Jimmie’s profile. “I was attracted to the smile in his profile picture, and what he wrote,” she says. She thought they might be a match. He possessed “many of the qualities I was looking for in a man,” Amy reveals.

Jimmie had been off and on our site “for roughly one and a half years” before they met. After receiving the fateful Flirt from Amy, he responded with an email. “What sparked my interest was her profile picture, and her profile information. It seemed like we had a lot in common.”

Amy agrees. “After speaking on the phone at length several times, I was ready and looking forward to meeting in person.” Given all their promising interactions thus far, Jimmie was ready too. “I felt eager and ready to meet,” he says.

They decided to meet at a restaurant halfway between their homes. “We shared an appetizer and talked for several hours,” Jimmie recalls. “I found her attractive and our conversation just proved there was a connection here.”

At their first meeting, Amy thought, “He is so handsome!” And she was pleased to find that he had no hidden surprises, personality-wise. “We had spoken on the phone quite a bit prior to meeting,” she reminds us. “He did a thorough job describing himself and what he was he was looking for. I was 100% sure we were going out again.”

Jimmie would raise no objections to that proposition. In fact, “we talked about going out again the following weekend,” he points out.

Did they each have a “type” before they met? “Jimmie is my type!” Amy exclaims. “I just appreciate how much of a thoughtful, kind and true gentleman he is.” Jimmie answers the question quickly and without hesitation. “Amy is my type.”

They consider themselves lucky — there were no particularly daunting obstacles to overcome during their romance. “Just making time to be together,” Amy sighs. “I live an hour away,” Jimmie explains. “I drove down every weekend so we could spend it together.”

Jimmie “popped the question” outside one of their favorite places to be together — Comerica Park in Detroit. The things this pair have in common include a love of baseball, carousels and barbeque!

Amy and Jimmie acknowledge that love has changed their lives. Amy says she’s “excited about the future and what it holds for us as a couple,” while Jimmie confesses that he feels “like a better person, and a better man,” since he met his betrothed.

Amy has something she wants to pass on to others looking for love online. “My advice is to be open and not afraid to reach out to someone whose profile interests you, or whom you find attractive. Taking a chance and sending a Flirt may lead you to love!”

Jimmie preaches patience. “Online dating is not a sprint, but a marathon. You’ll soon find what you want and don’t want in a partner.”

The post Success Story: Love Is a Marathon appeared first on Love is all colors.

When James noticed a user with the handle “SweetSmart32,” he took a look at her profile and was struck by their similarities. “Her profile was very upfront and honest and exactly what I wanted in a partner,” he says.

The reason James joined our site was because he didn’t think he’d meet someone like that in a bar or supermarket. “I always found black women beautiful and wanted an interracial relationship,” he says. Still, he had some trepidation about online dating, saying he found it “somewhat sketchy” but “had faith” that our site could be the one to match him up with someone special.

The gal behind username SweetSmart32 was Racquel. “I always wanted to date interracially,” she says. She thought Internet dating was the answer. “I was confident but unsure because I was worried there would be a lack of honest profiles,” she admits.

Despite their concerns, the duo stuck with it on our site. After a year or so, James noticed Racquel and sent a fateful Flirt. “I replied with an email,” Racquel says. “It was the perfect profile, except for one thing he had listed.”

That one thing must not have mattered much, because they began communicating and positive first impressions quickly solidified. “We talked about everything and had so much in common,” marvels James. Racquel agrees. “Our connection was very strong.”

The decision to go out on a date was an easy one. “He picked me up to go to the movies,” remembers Racquel. What really surprised her was what he brought to her front door. “He had roses!” She tells us her first thought at seeing him was, “This guy is so sweet and he looks just like his picture, but even better in person.”

James’ initial thought was, “WOW! She is beautiful and has a lovely smile.” The rest of the date went very well, from his perspective. “When we got out of the car at the movies, we started dancing in the parking lot!”

There was no doubt they’d go out again. “He was everything I was looking for in a person,” says Racquel. His genuine nature and generosity were the qualities that most impressed her. James saw the same traits in Racquel and adds that her “loving, accepting heart” was something her dating profile couldn’t capture.

They say there were no significant obstacles in their path and their relationship progressed without setbacks. When did Racquel realize this could become a lifelong partnership? “When I was away from him, I realized just how much I truly missed him,” she says. James was on the same wavelength and proposed in her church parking lot. Overjoyed, Racquel couldn’t say “yes!” emphatically enough.

Love has changed her life “magnificently,” says the now-married woman. “I smile every day and think of how blessed I am to have found my one true love,” reflects Racquel.

James reports that the happy couple is doing “amazingly well” and adds, “I smile all the time and feel the love every day.”

Here are Racquel’s words of advice to those who haven’t found their life-partner yet. “Be honest and don’t settle for anything less than you feel you are worth,” she says.

James believes that transparency is vital; it certainly helped him with Racquel, who valued his straightforward approach. “Write a very honest profile,” he advises. “Don’t hide what you look for in a partner.”

Happily, these two are done looking!

The post Success Story: Keeping It Real Led to Real Love appeared first on Love is all colors.

Before she began her online dating endeavors, Sanettra was “only somewhat confident” that she’d meet her match on our site. Still, she stuck with it, waiting three years for the right guy to come along.

Conversely, Greg had a pretty easy time of it. “I expected to find a mate, but I was surprised at how quickly I found Sanettra,” he reveals. It’s true — Greg was only on the site for two weeks before noticing Sanettra’s profile!

What got him to sign up here? “I wanted to find a black woman and thought this was a good site for that purpose,” says Greg. “It was not the first such site I’d joined.”

Sanettra felt similarly. “I was interested in finding an interracial relationship,” she tells us. “This was the first site I joined.”

So that’s how “Iya33” (Sanettra) and “SlowLover4U” (Greg) found their way to the same site. Greg marked her as a favorite and Sanettra returned the favor. What was it about her profile that sparked his interest? “Sanettra was very clear about who she was, and the qualities of the person she was seeking,” answers Greg. “I felt as though she had written her profile just for me!”

He wasn’t alone in that assessment. Sanettra thought that Greg’s profile did a fine job of representing him. “The profile was very conversational in tone and I very quickly felt that I knew him,” she reports. “The most impressive thing to me about his profile was the clarity of Greg’s description of whom he was seeking, and his presentation of who he was.”

Sanettra and Greg started to communicate frequently. “After exchanging emails for about a week, we traded email addresses and phone numbers and began having daily phone calls, some of which lasted into the wee hours of the morning! Once we began talking on the phone, I knew that Greg was someone I wanted to meet—and soon—because our conversations had such a nice flow.”

We asked what convinced Greg to go out with Sanettra in person. He says it was “About 15 or 20 hours of intense phone conversations, during which we talked about all of the issues that were really important to us. We couldn’t find any real disagreements. Sanettra is also such a beautiful spirit that I just knew she was the one for me!”

There were some logistics to figure out first, though. “Since we live 200 miles apart, Greg agreed to come visit me,” Sanettra relays. “Of course, I was excited to meet him and was very appreciative of his willingness to drive so far. The instant we met, I knew that I had not made a mistake in meeting him at his motel. He was a complete gentleman and very calming to be around. I was very happy that I had agreed to meet him. After going out to dinner, we spent the evening in our motel room talking, getting to know each other, and eventually falling into each other’s arms for a wonderful kiss. I knew then that we were meant to be together.”

Here’s his account of that evening. “We met after about two weeks, on New Year’s Eve (12/31/14),” Greg begins. “I drove to Sanettra’s hometown to meet her, having already pretty much concluded that she was the one for me. We had dinner together and then talked about everything under the sun until the wee hours of the morning on New Year’s Day. By the end we were very comfortable with each other and it just kept becoming clearer and clearer that we were meant for each other.”

Sanettra certainly has a clear recollection of the impression Greg made on her, at the start of their date. “I was struck by how tall and handsome he was, and how he carried himself as a gentleman,” she says. Greg echoes the sentiment. “I was struck by how beautiful Sanettra was, how her in-person voice was even more beautiful than her phone voice, and how her smile was every bit as attractive as the one in her profile picture.”

What surprised Sanettra most about the date was the degree of familiarity they felt, despite being virtual strangers at that point. “My first-date jitters disappeared and I became completely comfortable and familiar with Greg,” she notes gratefully.

Greg was surprised, as well. “We were unable to find any ‘red flags’ to being in a relationship with each other, and in fact we found that we were perfectly matched in so many ways.”

After that, Sanettra was confident this wasn’t the end of the line. Was she certain there would be another date? “100% sure!” she laughs. “I never wanted to be away from Greg ever again.”

Did Greg want to meet again? “Without question! Our meeting only confirmed what I already knew — that Sanettra is the one for me.”

We asked if there was anything they discovered about each other that their profiles didn’t prepare them for. “Not really,” says Sanettra. “Greg’s profile was very complete and left me feeling that I knew him well.”

Greg answers the same question: “No. Sanettra’s openness and honesty in her profile gave me a very clear picture of who she was.”

Today they are happy as can be. “He is 100% of what I was looking for,” gushes Sanettra. “He is exactly the man I have imagined, and he is literally my dream come true!”

“Sanettra is a perfect match to my ideal woman,” Greg declares. “She is literally the answer to my prayer.”

The only challenge they faced in the early days came down to basic logistics. “The distance,” says Sanettra. “But we’re working out how to combine our lives. We considered ourselves a couple from almost the first night we met.”

“The #$%^&* distance!” exclaims Greg. “If it weren’t for that, we’d be living together already!”

This hurdle didn’t stop the duo from wanting make a commitment to one another. “By the end of New Year’s Day, we had decided that we wanted to be in each other’s lives for the rest of our lives,” Greg reveals. “That may seem crazy to those around us, but we are very clear that we are meant to be together. We went shopping for an engagement ring the next day! The ring arrived but we decided to wait until Valentine’s Day to slip the ring onto Sanettra’s hand.”

Finding love has turned Sanettra’s life upside down — in a good way! “It has given me someone with whom to share the rest of my life,” she beams. “I have found the man of my dreams and going forward I know that we will be successful, since Greg gives me the space to be exactly who I am. I feel so completely understood by him. I appreciate the fact that he loves me the way I want him to love me. I love him the same way, and it is mutually satisfying.”

Greg is happy to reflect on his relationship. “It has brought a calm to my spirit and a confidence not previously known. I now have brand-new dreams for the future, each of which is made sweeter by the knowledge that I’ll always have someone with whom to share those dreams.”

Here are Sanettra’s suggestions for singles. “Follow your heart. Don’t be discouraged, because you will get discouraged sometimes. If you read a profile and it resonates with your heart, give that person a chance. If you don’t feel the resonance, be gracious in your refusal and move on to the next profile.”

Greg believes that Step One is self-awareness. “Be very clear about who you are and who you seek,” he advises. “Write a profile that is a love letter to your perfect love. Do not try to attract everyone, because you are seeking your one and only. In fact, your perfect profile will repel everyone else and leave only your true love left standing.”

Whether you search with a fine-toothed comb or cast a wide net, the only way to find what you seek is to look and look some more!

The post Success Story: No Red Flags Here appeared first on Love is all colors.

CJ thought we were his only hope of meeting the person he had in mind. “I got tired of little response from other dating sites, and I wanted to find a women of color,” he explains. To be honest, CJ was “not confident” about his prospects though.

The woman he would connect with also sought out our site as a new avenue for romantic possibility. “I wanted to meet someone whom I would not normally meet, because of location or association,” says Phylicia. How optimistic was she? “I was confident that I’d find someone,” Phylicia says with a big smile.

She was right to be positive. Four days after posting her profile (username: “QT4Sweetie”), she spotted “Sun_Up” (CJ) on our site and sent him an email. “I didn’t read his profile. I just looked at his pictures,” she admits.

CJ didn’t mind! “She looked really cute and I wanted to meet her,” he says. They moved on from that email to their first hello hug in no time at all. “We only had one phone call before we met,” says Phylicia. “I don’t like to waste time!”

Laying eyes on him in the flesh during their first few moments together, she remembers thinking “He’s cute!” CJ’s internal dialogue was enthusiastic, to say the least. “OMG! WOW!”

After that experience, there was little doubt in anyone’s mind — they would see each other again. “The first date lasted ALL day… I was pretty sure we’d go out again,” Phylicia says with a wink. And how did her man feel about it? “After the first date, I never wanted to leave her side,” says CJ.

It had taken a while for CJ to figure out what he really wanted in a partner. “I didn’t realize she was my type until I got to know her and realized what I had been missing out on,” he says. Today this duo feels destined to be together. “He’s my type exactly,” says Phylicia. “I’m excited for my future.”

As he got to know her better, CJ began to appreciate things about Phylicia that weren’t in her profile. She was also a positive influence in all phases of his life. He says he was happily surprised to learn “how she would change my life and make me a better man. I’m also much happier and have a more positive outlook.”

With any luck these two won’t be back on our site, but they appreciate the struggle of those who are still looking for love. “I think the key is to have fun,” observes Phylicia. “I think most people forget to have fun. Remember that everyone is looking for the same thing… Love!”

CJ wants single folks to “stay open minded.” And despite the fact that Phylicia picked him because she liked his photo, he doesn’t think that’s always the best policy… “Pursue someone whom you truly want, and not just someone who has a nice picture,” CJ laughs.

The post Success Story: She Didn’t Need Another Phone Call appeared first on Love is all colors.

When “Pita70” met “Prof8t,” they shared more than an Internet connection. These singles clicked, in a big way! But what drew them to post profiles on our site? Lupita (aka Pita70) sought “a new experience meeting people” and thus we were her first online personals service. Anthony, the man whose handle was Prof8t, tells us he had “no time” for traditional methods of meeting women. Still, he was “very skeptical” that a dating site was the answer.

Less than a year later, he found Lupita’s profile. By then her membership was about six months old. He thought she seemed like “a classy woman,” so he started typing up a message to introduce himself. “He contacted me first, by email,” Lupita recalls. She could tell that he was a “very educated man,” something she liked.

After some “long conversations by email,” Anthony fell silent for a while. Lupita was disappointed; she had been hopeful they would at least test the waters with a date. Then, happily, he popped up online again. “He mentioned he was still interested in meeting in person, after he’d disappeared for a couple of days,” says Lupita, rolling her eyes.

When they went out, Anthony was impressed by how Lupita expressed herself. But that wasn’t her only appealing attribute. “She looks most pretty in person,” he says with a wink. Lupita wasn’t disappointed either. “He is a handsome man,” she says. “And I felt very comfortable in his company.”

Time flew by and before this duo knew it, their date was drawing to a close. “I didn’t want the night to end,” says Anthony. “It felt really good talking to each other.” Would they meet again? “I knew it right away,” he says, smiling. Lupita was “very sure” there would be a return engagement.

While dating profiles offer a snapshot of someone’s personality and priorities, it can’t tell the whole story. As their relationship progressed, Lupita and Anthony learned a lot more about one another. “He is very organized in everything he does,” she says, a quality she admires. “She is not a materialistic woman,” Anthony says appreciatively.

Did they find exactly the person they were looking for, or is this match more of a happy surprise? “She is the woman I always wanted to meet,” Anthony confirms. Lupita thinks that Anthony is the type of person any single should be looking for. “He is the ideal man whom every woman wants to have!” she declares.

With no major speed bumps in their path, the pair found themselves in a new stage of their relationship. “We went to have dinner at the Japanese restaurant where we had our first date, where we met for the first time,” Lupita remembers. “He asked the waiter to take a pic, but his plan was to propose and give me my engagement ring!”

Their relationship has changed things for Lupita “completely.” She says that “love is everything,” so now she feels fulfilled. This is new territory for Anthony. “I never felt love like now, for Lupita,” he says, getting a bit misty-eyed at the thought.

The happy couple advises online daters to “ask questions about everything” and “don’t play games.” And don’t panic if someone you just met “disappears for a couple of days.” They might just be busy, like Anthony was!

The post Success Story: Where Did He Go? appeared first on Love is all colors.

When Rebecca joined our site, she was following in a new family tradition. “My sister met her partner online, so I thought I would give it a go,” says Rebecca. “This site was the second one I tried.”

When Roscoe signed up, he was aiming high. “I was looking to meet somebody and eventually find the woman of my dreams,” admits Roscoe. This was his second experience with online dating.

While Rebecca was “not very confident” when she posted her profile (“Miss_Becky” was her handle), Roscoe was pretty sure he’d find somebody special. They actually signed up around the same time; a week after Rebecca joined and two months after Roscoe did, the digital sparks began to fly.

Roscoe (aka “MixedNSweet3”) reached out to Rebecca via email message because her profile really spoke to him. The “photo was the first thing” to catch his eye. “I was impressed by how beautiful and sweet Rebecca looked,” says Roscoe.

Once they started communicating, it was Rebecca’s turn to be impressed. “Roscoe was very well spoken, and he was very respectful,” she tells us.

What made them decide they were ready to meet for a date? “We had been chatting online for awhile and then spoke on the phone,” explains Rebecca. “We just couldn’t wait to meet and get to know each other better.”

Roscoe’s perspective on that is pretty similar. “We were messaging for awhile and it just got to the point where I felt it was time to meet and take her on a date,” he says. “I really appreciated how honest and friendly Rebecca was.”

When the day of their date rolled around, Roscoe started scoring points with Rebecca right off the bat… “When Roscoe picked me up from my house, he arrived at my door with chocolate and wine,” exclaims Rebecca. It was a gentlemanly move, but his efforts were not in vain. “My first thought when Roscoe knocked on my door was that he was very handsome and sweet for bringing gifts. I was impressed.” Roscoe says he will never forget “how beautiful she was in her dress and how amazing she smelled.”

Their magical afternoon was just beginning. “We went for lunch at a nice Italian restaurant on Lygon Street and finished the date with a walk in a park overlooking the city,” continues Rebecca. “It was the most amazing feeling meeting him for the first time!”

Let’s get the male perspective on this. You have to be feeling pretty good about someone to bring them gifts on the first date, and Roscoe sure was. Making the lady feel special was his mission. “I met Rebecca at her house with gifts on arrival, then took her to one of her favorite restaurants, where we had a nice lunch,” remembers Roscoe. “I couldn’t wait to kiss her, so when we left the restaurant I asked her for a kiss and it was amazing!”

While they expected to pick up where they’d left off on the phone, it still surprised them how well they got along in person and how fun their day together ended up being. Saying farewell was bittersweet. “I was sure I wanted to see Roscoe again,” says Rebecca. Roscoe couldn’t wait. “I was already thinking about it,” he laughs.

As they got to know each other, they realized the only thing in their way was one long road. “The main obstacle is the distance,” laments Rebecca. “We live about an hour away from each other.”

Still, there’s no way that’s going to stop them. More dates were shared and new memories made. “On our third date, we spent an afternoon watching the sunset on a hot summer night on the beach,” Rebecca reminisces. “I just knew he was amazing and this was becoming something very special.”

“There are countless moments when I knew this relationship was special,” agrees her man. “We had some of the most incredible dates I have ever been on! I knew she was someone special when I asked her to be my girlfriend on Boxing Day.”

Rebecca never wants this feeling to end. “Finding love has made every day just a little more special, like when I wake up to amazing text messages every morning. It’s the little things Roscoe does that make life better every day!”

Roscoe says that Rebecca brightens every day of his life, too. He feels very fortunate. “It’s just incredible knowing there is somebody who loves and cares about me!”

Rebecca wants readers to know that finding a match takes work. “I was lucky on this website; I found Roscoe quick, but I had been on other dating websites where you had to be patient and put time into chatting to meet genuine people. Not everybody wants what you want, but in time you will meet somebody special and it will all be worth it!”

Roscoe also preaches patience, acknowledging that he and Rebecca were very lucky to meet so quickly. “Don’t expect to find somebody who shares your interests straight away,” he says. “People on dating websites have different interests and it takes time to meet that special somebody.”

But the reward can be spectacular, as Roscoe and Rebecca will attest.

The post Wine and Chocolate Will Impress a Lady appeared first on Love is all colors.

Working on her MBA in San Diego, Basawa hoped to find someone who would appreciate and respect her goals. With that in mind, she signed up with an online dating service…but was disappointed when they let her down. She joined another…and, again, they failed her. So then she decided to try us. “It was my third site but, honestly – I had no hopes,” Basawa laments. Not even a little confidence in our capacity to help? “Zero,” she laughs.

A medic in the U.S. Navy, Antonio had also tried other sites. “I wasn’t expecting to find love here.” But six months after signing up, he stumbled across the profile of a girl with a beautiful smile. He was instantly intrigued by her Indian background and down-to-earth attitude.

So it was Antonio who made the first move? Basawa nods. “He contacted me first, through instant message.” And how long had she been on the site up till then? “Hardly five months.” She of course looked at his profile, and found that she appreciated “his expectations.”

Basawa admits that there was something else she liked about him. “His interest towards me,” she smiles. “And his optimism!” As they started chatting, Antonio also found something to like that went beyond her profile. “Her innocence, and the trust she had in me.”

Antonio came out to San Diego for their first date. The first time he saw Basawa in person, he thought, “Oh my God… she looks like an angel.” Basawa thought Antonio “was even cuter face to face!”

He stayed seven days, and according to Basawa, they “went to the beach and to restaurants, and even worked out together at the gym.” Antonio reveals that they also “spent one whole day playing at Dave and Busters and then went go-carting.” Sounds like fun!

More importantly, this match was perfect. “I was so sure that we were going to end up getting married,” Basawa declares. “He had so much patience, and was a true gentleman.” Says Antonio, “She was the person I had been dreaming about all my life.”

That said, Basawa admits that there were obstacles at first. “Of course my mom wouldn’t agree because Antonio’s a Christian, and not Indian.” Antonio gives us a rueful nod. “Gaining the trust of her mom WAS a challenge!”

And don’t forget that this was a long-distance relationship — Basawa was studying in San Diego and Antonio was a medic in Chicago.

But Antonio knew it would happen. “One day we were having a conversation about fathers, and she told me the story of where she came from and what her life had been like. I was so moved I decided that even if it didn’t work out for us, I wanted to be her friend and offer any kind of support she needed.”  But then, the very next day, “We proposed to each other at the same time.” He laughs. “That was the happiest moment ever!”

Love has completely changed Basawa’s life. “I have nothing…literally nothing…to worry about except my educational goals.” Antonio reveals that until now he feared he’d never have a committed relationship. “But now I know I have a long-long commitment to my angel,” he says, giving Basawa a kiss.

When asked to give advice to other online daters, Basawa is quick to answer. “If you like someone, don’t be shy to express it. You might lose someone who could change your life forever.”  Antonio simply adds, “Just be genuine and open to each other.”

The post The Angel and the Medic appeared first on Love is all colors.

Now engaged, Hollie and Greg can reflect on how they got here. Their path to happiness began with the decision to join our online personals site, obviously. But this was not Hollie’s first go-round. “I had done one other site before, a site I had seen on TV,” she recalls. “I noticed every time they matched me with someone, it was someone who was the same race as me! So that is what brought me to you.”

She wasn’t particularly exuberant about her prospects, at that point. “I knew I wanted to find love, but I hadn’t been successful,” Hollie concedes. “I knew not to give up!”

Greg, on the other hand, wasn’t bound and determined to find The One. “I wasn’t looking for love,” he admits. “I was too busy enjoying meeting new people and enjoying the ride. Finding love on your site caught me by surprise!”

He had plenty of experience in these waters. “I was a dating site vet!” he laughs. “I had tried almost everything, and I was doing really well with it. In fact, online dating for me had become like a treasure trove of casual dates and flings. So when I met Hollie, I had to take a breath and realize I was onto something new here – I was actually falling in love.”

A few months into their memberships, Hollie spotted Greg’s profile (username: “Tatted_Teach”) and reached out. “Hollie emailed me,” relays Greg. “She was living in Phoenix at the time but she was considering moving to Philly and Atlanta, so she said on the site that she had those cities in mind.” (Greg was in Philly.)

We asked Hollie what was it about this guy that stood out to her. “Greg’s profile was very interesting! He had it listed that he was in a band, but he was also a teacher. I liked the juxtaposition of the two things. He seemed like someone more interesting than most people I was meeting.”

When Greg reviewed Hollie’s profile (username: MsHollieBaby), his reaction was favorable. “Hollie seemed full of personality in her pictures,” he notes. “Her profile seemed like someone with whom conversation could really flow.”

Sometimes singles are reticent to take the next step and meet in person, and these two took their time getting to know each other first. “We had been messaging for weeks, and then talking for a month on the phone,” Hollie explains. “So I had a chance to get to know Greg that way, and I wanted to see if all that matched up in person.”

Greg nods. “Our messages on IDC turned into phone conversations. I remember one night I had a date over and when she went to bed, I snuck downstairs to call Hollie. I knew then that this was something that was a lot bigger than what I had been used to in my dating life.”

The big day finally came. Date Number One! “I met Greg at the airport in Philadelphia,” Hollie begins. “We had a whole weekend together where we spent time at his place and also had a few outings in the city.”

Greg continues the story. “I picked up Hollie from the Philadelphia Airport, where she had flown in from Phoenix. I prayed, ‘I hope this goes well, because if it doesn’t, we’re stuck with each other for the weekend!’ But from the moment I saw her at baggage claim with her luggage, it felt right.”

And why was that? Greg chuckles. “I was relieved that our heights were relative to each other, and that one of us wasn’t grossly taller or shorter than the other!”

Hollie’s recollection of her first thought is, “His car is dirty!” But that didn’t detract from their dynamic in person. She was surprised “that we were so compatible. Our connection from online, to the phone, to Skype, was just as good in person.”

Greg is in full agreement. “There was no awkwardness. Just as we flowed in messaging on the site, and then just as we flowed in conversation on the phone, so too did we flow in a great way face to face.”

So that went well, but were they certain they should do this again? Hollie giggles. “I was pretty sure, because I flew back out two weeks later!”

Even then, Greg had a feeling his days of being “man-about-town” might be coming to an end. “I knew we would see each other again,” he says. “I called my mom after the airport to say that I had just had a really great weekend with Hollie.”

As things progressed and new facets of each other’s personality revealed themselves, this only strengthened their bond. “He is very considerate. That was something you can’t really determine online,” Hollie says.

Greg too was pleased to learn new things about Hollie. “I am appreciative that she is so open-minded. Different things about my life and interests weren’t a hard sell. I had found someone as multifaceted as I feel I am.”

Was Greg the kind of guy Hollie thought she would end up with? Heck no! As she puts it, “He is the extreme opposite of the type of people I thought was my type! For example, I usually dated men who were very corporate/business-minded people. Greg is very loose, creative. So even on a surface level, that is different. I never dated a musician, and never had thought I’d want to! (Especially the type of music Greg plays!) I found appreciation for the contrast there, in how different he was from men I had previously dated.”

Before meeting Hollie, Greg was more sure about what he wanted to avoid than he was about what he was looking for. “I wasn’t sure what my type was, other than the fact that I knew on a physical level what I was attracted to (which is what led me to your site). I knew what I didn’t want, and Hollie wasn’t any of those things. So through her, I discovered the things I hadn’t even realized I was looking for!”

But as well as this was going, there was still the issue of geographical incompatibility. Hollie says, “I was in Phoenix and he was in Philadelphia…that is a pretty big obstacle to overcome!”

Hollie would not be deterred by the distance, however, and Greg appreciates that she was the one to relocate for this relationship. “I believe everything happens for a reason, and I feel that I really grew and matured over the course of time it took from when we met to when Hollie made the move from Phoenix to Philadelphia.”

Though she’d been open to Philly from the start, what convinced Hollie that Greg was worth it was how she felt when they were together. “After the second or third visit, just being in each other’s presence and having a good time” told her this was special, she says. “All the laughter! And when I realized I could take off all the makeup and the hair extensions and just be myself, that Greg still looked at me the way he looked at me when I was all done up. Being able to be myself and be comfortable was huge.”

“There were a number of moments when I realized it was special,” Greg tells us. “One of them was the ability to just be who I was, to be goofy, and it wasn’t like having an audience, it was more like having someone join in the goofiness with me!”

At the beginning of this story, we told you that Hollie and Greg are engaged. Here’s how that came about… “I staged a visit to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, that, although it was a fun visit, was actually just a front to propose to her,” begins Greg. “As we were in the Egyptian section of the museum, I asked Hollie to pose for a picture, gazing up at Egyptian palace pillars with her back to the camera. When she turned around, I was on my knee with the ring in hand. We got to share our special moment as if we were transported back in time in an Egyptian palace, just her and I… Well, and the museum security guard!”

Hollie was happy to accept Greg’s proposal. She’s thrilled at how much better her life is with him in it. “I have a partner to grow old with,” she gushes. “When I make decisions, I don’t just think about myself, I have to think about Greg too, because we’re a team.”

Greg’s life has changed tremendously. “What was ‘my house’ is ‘our home,’ now,” he says. “For a long time I was afraid of giving up my space to share it with someone, but now, I have found that waking up and going to bed with someone is really amazing.”

Here’s what Hollie has to say to someone who is still looking for love online. “Continue to be true and authentic to yourself,” is her recommendation. “Don’t give up, there really is someone for everybody, and that someone might not be who you expected them to be. When it comes to all things love, you really have to trust the process.”

Greg chimes in as well. “Be true to yourself, but also allow yourself to be open to the unexpected,” he reminds us. “And have fun with it! Online dating should be enjoyable, it shouldn’t be a headache. At the end of the day, the good dates and the bad dates should provide you with life experiences that can help you forge ahead in your journey!”

For Greg and Hollie, life’s journey has taken a very happy turn.

The post From “My House” to “Our Home” appeared first on Love is all colors.

“It’s produced more happiness!”

So says Jerald of his new love. He says he signed up “to meet the love of my life” and we were his first online dating destination. He was “somewhat” confident that his goal could be achieved this way. And just one month after signing up on our site, he met Honeylene.

She was three months into her membership and had joined the site for similar reasons. Honeylene was here to find a life-long love! When she received Jerald’s Flirt, she inspected his profile carefully. She liked his “cute eyes and nose.” Jerald compliments the sunflower picture she posted.

Their interactions were powerful. Before long, Honeylene found herself thinking, “he is the one I want to spend my life with, forever.” Jerald was ready to move things forward. “I could not spend another day without seeing her,” he confides.

So they met in her native land, the Philippines, and traveled around the country. Jerald struck her as “a very caring man,” exactly what he’d seemed in their communications from afar. She was surprised by “how comfortable we are together.”

Jerald was reassured to discover that “she was as beautiful on the outside as her heart-felt messages were. Still, with any long-distance relationship there are hurdles to overcome. Honeylene cites “traveling across the world, and immigration issues” as the couple’s biggest obstacles.

One day, Jerald let her know that he was ready to solve that problem. “He wrote a proposal in a poem!” she exclaims, swooning. While it was her choice to make, she was glad to get the go-ahead from people who matter. “He was very understanding and very respectful, not only to me but also to my whole family,” she reports.

To singles still seeking their special someone, Honeylene has a few words of encouragement. “Believe in yourself and that God has a plan for you,” she tells our readers. Jerald chimes in with this: “Seek out as many possible mates, so that you can truly find your one and only.”

It worked for them!

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