When you're in your thirties and single, dating can be exhausting. I mean, really exhausting. We spent our single years in the times of match.com and tinder and God knows what other sites and apps we tried. There comes a point where you feel like, this is impossible, it's never going to happen. And that's where we were both at in March of 2015.

God/the universe sure has a sense of humor; that’s why we have something as goofy-looking as a nose right in the middle of our human faces, that’s why healthy foods taste like weeds and unhealthy foods taste like chocolate/ranch/sour cherry… and that’s why you have to stop looking for your dream girl before you can find her. I was on several dating sites, but at this point, I had given up to a point of spending an average of 10 seconds a week looking at them. I couldn’t tell you why I decided to check out Hinge on this particular Sunday evening, just like I couldn’t tell you why my first match was a girl without any common acquaintances. The point of Hinge is to match you with someone who knows someone you know; then, you can get to know one another by telling stories about that common friend. But we didn’t have that, and I had no idea why I was matched with her. But she was intelligent, driven, and well-spoken in her biography, and gorgeous in her pictures. I was cautiously optimistic, and I knew by now that anything other than a thought-provoking, playful introduction would yield absolutely nothing. Even a thought-provoking, playful introduction might yield nothing but a waste of two minutes, but let’s give it a shot anyways. One more time. “Hey there, Jacqueline! I have a question for you… what is the nerdiest thing about you?” Then I went on with my life, not expecting to hear back. It took all of ten minutes. “... Jacqueline Sent You a Message.”

I had heard of this dating site, Hinge. It matches you with friends of friends on Facebook. Sounds cool, right? Well, the first time I tried to sign up, I was denied. Rejected. I didn't have enough friends whose other friends were using the site. A few years later, I had heard that Hinge was becoming more popular and it was attracting both women and men who actually want relationships (opposed to hook ups), so I decided to test my fate and try again. And this time, I got in! I spent a couple weeks on Hinge but it was seeming to be the same boring selection of men who couldn't hold a conversation to save their life. Until one night, I got a message with the question, "What's the nerdiest thing about you?" I admired the creativity, but I didn't know how to respond. The monologue started in my head, "What IS nerdy about me? I write for middle aged millionaires for a living... no, that's boring. He's probably looking for an answer that makes me sound like a hot nerd. What IS a hot nerd? Maybe I shouldn't answer..." I took another look at his profile. It had pulled some information from his Facebook page and under "job" it said "Fatty's Big Chance". My immediate thought was, "What the heck is 'Fatty's Big Chance'? A restaurant? Great, just my luck, he probably works at some burger joint." But, I couldn't resist his smile. So, I took a deep breath and in true Jacqueline fashion, I wrote a novel for a response. I provided not one, but three examples that I thought might demonstrate what's nerdy about me. After I hit send, I was sure he wouldn't respond. Who wants a girl who writes her own version of War and Peace in response to a simple question? But, to my surprise, he sent a thoughtful paragraph back! I will never forget the moment that I started reading his reply: I stopped what I was doing, pulled up a chair, sat down, and thought, "this is going to be good!"

Want to know what happened next? Think you can guess what Jacqueline said are the THREE nerdiest things about her? Don't know what "Fatty's Big Chance" is? Stay tuned. We'll find ways to clue you in between now and "I do".