Top
Search TNTML

<editorsnote> Hi, I'm Jen Friel, and we here at TNTML examine the lives of nerds outside of the basements and into the social media, and dating world.  We have over 75 peeps that write about their life in real time. (Real nerds, real time, real deal.) Sit back, relax, and enjoy some of the stories!! </editorsnote>

 

 

Powered by Squarespace

Entries in broken engagement (27)

Sunday
Jan152012

#NerdsUnite: Confessions of an Unwed Bride (Never go through a man's phone because you will find what you are looking for)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet by buddy Julie! She's my roomie, we met on Craiglist, and she is 1,000 flavors of everything awesome sauce. The reason why she had a room in her apartment however is a mighty long story. See, Julie was dating a duderino for 8 years. Yep, they were engaged to be wed and all that snazzy jazzy stuff. Now the engagement is off and Julie is attempting to heal from her loss; these series of posts are her best attempt. HIT IT JULIE! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @ItsMeJoolie

@ Angel's Knoll, downtown LACatch up on the story: read my reservations about writing out this story and here's Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V  and Part VI of our ending.

I do not want to write this. Every piece of my soul does not want to revisit this right now. There are so many details that I've left out of this story. Heartbreaking details, little shitty things that he did to me or even good moments, like when I got home from Florida he came by the apartment unannounced, listening to the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack because he just had to see me. Some of these things I've pushed down and haven't thought about in some time. But uuuuuuuuuugh, here we go.

Mid January 2011

With my brother gone it was such an adjustment, being alone in my apartment. I can't even remember this time period, like at all. I do know that no matter how fucked up things were, the dude and I missed each other. How could we not? We'd been together for 7 years and lived together for most of those years.

We decided to go out on a date.

My ex had totally succumbed to Los Angeles btw. This was evident months and months ago but he was still very seduced by it. The money, the excitement, the fancy and the idea that he could finally afford a bit of it. That said, he took me out to a fancy pants place for dinner. He picked me up and I'm almost positive he didn't really care for my outfit. Poo, and I had tried, but winter dressing was still super hard for this Florida girl. I couldn't figure out how to look sexy in the winter time. Now, I get it, you just have to suffer and be cold. Anyhow, we go out to dinner and it's a fucking disaster. This was totally my fault. I couldn't NOT talk about our situation the whole entire time. I don't know what else I was supposed to discuss, I was a wreck.

Afterwards, it was so freaking weird. We went back to our friend's house where he was staying (her roommate had just moved out). He was sleeping on a blow up mattress. I spent the night there and it felt so good to have sex and to sleep next to him.

But then, I just couldn't help myself. Of course I couldn't. I was full on pycho at this point in the game, having been dicked around and lied to so much. He left the room to use the bathroom and without even the slightest hesitation, I picked up his phone. Oddly, I didn't go to the text messages between him and her but to the ones between him and a dear, mutual friend from college. BAM. On December 22 he texted him:

Sealed the deal.

That was the day after he had been at the SLS. So there it is. They finally did have sex. He actually hadn't been lying about that time when he accidentally got so drunk that he crashed at her house back in November. He waited until we were technically broken up. Uh, thanks? I guess. But it super hurt because the 21st was just two days after I left for Florida, when we'd had that great weekend together, when he had held my face in his hands and told me, "I think we are going to be okay."

He walked back into the room and I confronted him. I honestly do not remember whatever bullshit he said to me. But instead let's flash forward to when he finally admits what happened between them. We're in our living room and he's on the couch. He looks beyond uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that I know he is about to break my heart. I can tell he doesn't want to anymore, but he will. I grill him about that night. He tells me that she picked him up and she came inside. I flipped out here, "how can you even let her into our apartment?!". He said they split the dinner bill and that their intention for gong to dinner was to talk about how they could continue to work together and just be friends. "Bullshit! Who goes to The Bazaar at the fucking SLS hotel to talk about friendship?!?!"

Side note: I'm super pissed that the SLS is where all of this went down. They worked up in the Valley and they usually hung out there.  But for this epic occasion they came down to my ex and I's hood. I yelled at him for the fact that I have to drive by that hotel all the fucking time (like every time I pick someone up from the airport). I used to cry when I would drive past it. Now I just look at it and think about how far I have come.

We get to the meat of the conversation. What happened afterwards. He claims they came back here and parked her car in our carport -and that in her car they went down on each other. He looked so upset. I stopped crying. Now I knew he was full of shit. Sure, that can happen. Two people could just go down on each other, buuuuut no. I look at him and tell him that. Finally, the truth comes out. I go back to balling. He swears up and down that they had sex in her car. To this fucking day he will NOT tell me where they had sex, really. Because we allllll fucking know that it was in my bed. ::shudders:: And we allllll fucking know that that hairclip was hers. Hence, my letter to her and all women.

Okay, so for a lot of you, the story would end here. You would be done, right? Fuck that guy, fuck this shit, kick him to the curb. But goddamnit, I was not about to let this stupid bitch steal my man from me, ruin my life and all that we had together. People will fuck up. You will fuck up. If you really love someone, fucking fight for them. Remind them that you love them. Now of course, there is a point when you do have to recognize if it's a losing battle, if they do not care, you have to weigh if it's worth saving. I was going to say I do and I don't take that lightly. Even with how torn his heart was, he didn't want to throw in the towel and have regrets either.

We both feel like we have to try and make it work. Try before we let go. 7 years together is a long time. Longer than most of you reading this can understand. It's not something you toss away, because relationships take work. And until you've been in one over 5 years you don't even know what that really means.

January 14-17

We decide that he will stay the weekend since we have Martin Luther King, Jr. day off. Some time together to see if we want to get back together and try to make it work. I was so nervous about this weekend and sooo looking forward to it. Haha, and of course, he got sick, so it wasn't as great as it could have been. One of his favorites movies off all time is 500 Days of Summer and he was watching it very often during this period. I thought that going on the 500 Days of Summer downtown LA tour would be a great way to spend some time together. Oh, it was. It was so nice. We had a really good time.

That was Monday. On Thursday, he moves back in.

Up next: I fight for my fiance, my life; go crazy fighting and lose anyways.

#nerdsunite

 Click here to follow Julie on Twitter

Monday
Jan022012

#NerdsUnite: Confessions of an Unwed Bride (2011 - The Worst AND Best Year of My Life!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet by buddy Julie! She's my roomie, we met on Craiglist, and she is 1,000 flavors of everything awesome sauce. The reason why she had a room in her apartment however is a mighty long story. See, Julie was dating a duderino for 8 years. Yep, they were engaged to be wed and all that snazzy jazzy stuff. Now the engagement is off and Julie is attempting to heal from her loss; these series of posts are her best attempt. HIT IT JULIE! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @ItsMeJoolie

What an epic year 2011 was for me. The lows could not have possibly been lower and the highs made me excited to be alive.

A couple things that happened to me in 2011:

  • My fiance calls off our wedding
  • I return my wedding dress (something no one should fucking have to do)
  •  I lost half of my stuff when my ex moves out
  • I have to leave work to sit in my car and bawl in the middle of the workday
  • Jen Friel becomes my roommate

And THEN all of these awesome firsts happened in 2011:

  • Skydiving
  •  Single for the first time in my adult life
  • I have a group of female friends
  • Got acupuncture
  • Joined a book club
  •  Sang karaoke for the first time (Oasis' "Don't Look Back in Anger")
  • Visited Las Vegas and played BlackJack
  • Went to Pilates and cardio barre
  • Danced onstage with Prince
  • Met friends from the internet
  • Online dating
  • San Diego Comic Con
  • Started seeing a therapist
  • Went to Self Realization Fellowship and Against The Stream Buddhist Meditation Society

My favorite thing that happened to me this year?
I start my own blog and writing for TNTML. Becoming a part of the TNTML community and meeting so many of you guys has by far been the best part of 2011 for me! So thank you, thank you, thank you!


When the year started I was broken and lost. Over the year I slowly picked up all of the pieces of my life and held them in my arms. You cannot, even if you want to, put the pieces back together the way that they were. The best part about losing everything and starting over is the opportunity you have for transformation. You can make your life better than it was before. What have you always wanted to do but didn't? Now's the time to get started on you.

So that's what 2011 meant to me. Working on me. Rebuilding. Turing towards the universe and opening up to possibilities. I used to be sad that I barely had any friends in LA. So when I realized that I was going to be alone, I made a decision. Meet people. Talk to everyone. Ask them questions. I have more friends now than I have ever had before. Yeah, it was that easy.

What wasn't easy for me was dating. Having never really done it before, it was a huge hurdle to jump over on the way to being healed. I was beyond nervous for my first OKCupid date, but I got through it and went on a bunch more. I'm happy to report that even after having my heart ripped out of my chest, I am able to crush on a boy.

The most important part of losing everything was the self reflection. Why did my fiancé feel like he needed to look elsewhere? What was my part? It does take two to tango after all. Ohhh shit, maybe my lifelong depression? Which brings me to the MOST IMPORTANT THING LEARNED IN 2011:

Happiness is a state of mind, not a set of circumstances. It's a choice.


There will always be things in your life that suck. You lost your job, someone hit your car, hell if you're in the WeHo/Hollywood area, maybe that batshit arsonist set your car on fire. There will always be some bullshit taking place in your life. Your job is to deal with it all the while focusing on the good in your life. Your cute dog, your partner, your house, the job that you love, whatever. Focus on the good. I flipped a switch in my brain and when things go wrong or I’m not happy with something I use the skills I have learned in meditation. When I meditate I smile and go through a picture slide show of everyone in my life and I think about how grateful I am that they are in my life. Negative thoughts creep in, you acknowledge the thought and then MOVE ON!

Even though 2011 was character building, I hope 2012 has much shallower valleys! Now that I've built my life back up I have to refocus, paint the house and plant some flowers. I've spent most of this year eating like shit, smoking cigarettes and drinking. Ooooh the drinking. More drinking in 2011 than all prior years of my life combined. I am not a rock star and will never be, but I've been trying to prove to everyone that I am. So in 2012 I want to continue to have adventures but also balance out. Chill out on the smoking and drinking. And ya know, maybe eat a freakin' salad.

Love you guys!

#nerdsunite

 Click here to follow Julie on Twitter

Sunday
Dec182011

#NerdsUnite: Confessions of an Unwed Bride (Yeah, I'm writing a letter to your boyfriend)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet by buddy Julie! She's my roomie, we met on Craiglist, and she is 1,000 flavors of everything awesome sauce. The reason why she had a room in her apartment however is a mighty long story. See, Julie was dating a duderino for 8 years. Yep, they were engaged to be wed and all that snazzy jazzy stuff. Now the engagement is off and Julie is attempting to heal from her loss; these series of posts are her best attempt. HIT IT JULIE! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @ItsMeJoolie

Read my reservations about writing out this story and here's Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV of our ending.

Although it was a strained week, the week my ex's dad was in town was actually a really good week. We had no choice but to act normally and his dad is amazing at planning out vacations so unlike most people that come to visit that have no agenda, he had all these great plans and awesome places he wanted to visit.

I told my ex that in order to move forward I felt as though I needed to tell her boyfriend what was up. I couldn't deal with the idea that he had no idea and she was just playing him. Also, their whole office knew and he was friends with a lot of the people they both worked with, so I felt like I should bring him out of the dark. He wasn't against me writing to him, so I went for it:

I got out of yoga and he called me right at two. Such a weird conversation. I believe we spoke for about 45 minutes. The oddest part about the call? His lack of shock. He told me that he was pretty sure that she had cheated on him before and went on to say that he was 90% sure that one occasion was with one of her college professors and how it sucked because he was friends with the guy. He went on to explain that she has this certain energy that seems to draw people in. The way he explained it really made it seem as though my ex wasn't that important to her, that she had a pattern. I almost felt like I was counseling him. Super weird.

He asked if he could show her my facebook message so that she could understand that her actions actually effect people's lives. It freaked me out to think of her reading the message, but of course I said yes.

I hung up and I felt as though it was a really great, honest conversation. I had really opened up to him and I felt like he had to me.

About a week later I found out that he didn't believe me.

#WTF

 Click here to follow Julie on Twitter

Sunday
Nov272011

#NerdsUnite: Confessions of an Unwed Bride (PT 3 The Messy Middle)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet by buddy Julie! She's my roomie, we met on Craiglist, and she is 1,000 flavors of everything awesome sauce. The reason why she had a room in her apartment however is a mighty long story. See, Julie was dating a duderino for 8 years. Yep, they were engaged to be wed and all that snazzy jazzy stuff. Now the engagement is off and Julie is attempting to heal from her loss; these series of posts are her best attempt. HIT IT JULIE! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Julie Wilson

At the BiltmoreRead my reservations about writing out this story and here's Part I and Part II of our ending.

Early November

The sad person that picked me up on November 1st quickly went away. The, cold distant person came back. If you are going to get cheated on (hey, it happens) at least the person can get down on one knee, beg your forgiveness, tell you it's a mistake, that will not happen again, apologize profusely, etc. He didn't do this.

November 7, 2010

It's a Sunday and we plan a trip to Venice Beach with a couple of his coworkers. The whole time I kept looking at one of the other couples hanging out that day. They acted like a normal couple, holding hands and walking next to one another. My ex was in no way acting intimate with me. Barely talking to me and certainly not holding my hand or even walking next to me.

The group decides to go into a bar and sit down for a bit and grab a drink. My ex gets up to use the restroom and then the server came over to take our drink order. I order for myself and then I stare blankly at the drink menu for a moment. My ex and I could always successfully order for one another. His coworker looks up at me and says, "He probably wants a hefeweizen." I ordered for him and felt my heart sink. This dude knew more about my fiancé then I did. I couldn't fucking take it.

I excuse myself and go downstairs to call a friend. "Hey, do you know of anyone who is looking for a roommate?" The week prior I had filled her in on what had been going on with us. Her and I spoke briefly about apartment options and then we continue to text back and forth for a bit for the next hour. I had to excuse myself at least 5 times from the group to continue to speak with her. He never even asked me what I was up to. Later he said he thought I was just going to the bathroom. Anyone who gave half a shit about a person would have been like, “What’s wrong with you?”

Venice BeachI've never felt as invisible as I did on that day. I've never been made to feel so unimportant. When we got home I explained this to him and he was clueless. I was totally overcome with sadness and told him that I needed to get away. I planned a trip to visit my friends in Asheville, NC. Los Angeles can be lonely since all of my family and at the time, all of my friends, lived on the east coast. I just needed to be around people that knew me and that loved me. Well, if your partner has just told you that he and his coworker have made out a couple of times in front of a bar, leaving the state might not be the best idea. But I wasn't really thinking clearly at this point. I was distraught and I just knew that I needed to get away.

November 11, 2010

I head to North Carolina. It was so great to see my friends. They were in a long term relationship and had dealt with cheating in their relationship so they were great to bounce things off of and talk with. "If one person cheats do you automatically throw in the towel? Do you give them a second chance? Do you take some responsibility? Maybe they felt you weren't paying attention to them." The trip was a great distraction at first, my friend and I toured the Biltmore estate, it was so beautiful in the fall. The yellow and red leaves were breathtaking. Then Friday night came. I got a phone call from my ex. He informs me that he is going out to the bar after work with everyone from work. I beg him not to. He argues that I am not home and what is he supposed to do tonight? I tell him that he is just asking for trouble by putting himself in this situation. But this version of him is obsessed with going out and partying (This is also part of his attraction to her, she is super outgoing and they rally everyone to go out together. He sees her as a partner in partying). More begging on my part. He goes out that night anyways. I am sitting on my friend's couch thousands of miles away, unable to stop him, and crying. I fell asleep while watching Arrested Development that night. I lay there until my eyes just wouldn't, couldn't stay open any longer.

The next day I distract myself by going zip lining. It was an epic adventure (I believe in Zen through adventure, btw. Life gets tough, do something crazy). Later my ex and I talk on the phone. It was a pretty normal conversation. We hung up when he said he needed to get something from our neighbors Danny and Ellen and he’ll call me right back. 15 minutes later he called me back and it was as though I was speaking to a completely different person. It sounded as though he was crying. I asked him what was wrong and I told him everything was going to be okay. He told me that I needed to stop being so nice to him, that he didn't deserve it. My heart sank into my stomach, making me nauseous. He's feeling guilty. Oh no, what happened last night? He tells me that he needs to talk to me but doesn't want to do it over the phone. Well, thanks, but by saying that, I can kinda figure out where this is going. After drilling him for a few minutes, I don't think he intended to do this but he then basically breaks up with me over the phone. Aside from obviously breaking my heart, this really pissed me off. After over 7 years together I deserve much, much better than getting broken up with over the phone! He should have played it cool until I got back into town. I had to go and wake up my friend because I was hysterically crying. She stayed up and talked to me. She gave me a Xanax to help me calm down and I spent another night crying myself to sleep while watching Arrested Development.

November 14, 2010

At this point, I really really did not want to go home, but I needed to be at work on Monday. My ex picks me up at the airport and it was one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life. When I saw him I didn't know what to do. I can't even remember if we hugged or not. The luggage from my flight took an extraordinary amount of time to actually make it onto the conveyor belt. We stood like 10 feet away from each other in silence. It was beyond weird. I couldn't even believe that this was what we had become. Big Boi was standing right next to me and I didn’t even care. (LITERALLY! Big Boi from Outkast was on the flight as we had connected through Atlanta.)

That night he offered to sleep on the couch but I asked him to please sleep with me in the bed. We talked for a bit and finally I remember asking him, "Can you just give me another chance?" (side note: this dude cheated on me because we had grown so far apart and I am asking HIM to give ME another chance. What the fuckity fuck?) I held my breath. "Yes", he said quietly. We proceeded to have super hot, passionate make up sex.

I had no idea that by the end of that week I would learn a whole lot about what had gone down on Halloween and while I was out of town in a crazy night comparable to an episode of Cheaters.

----

That was my past, but here's my present: I am doing great right now. Life is amazing. I look back at my posts from only a couple of weeks ago where I recognize that there is a small chance that we could get back together. I don't want that anymore. I've been dating and it's been fun. I'm excited for the future and I don't need to relive the past.

#nerdsunite

 Click here to follow Julie on Twitter

Thursday
Nov242011

#NerdsUnite: Confessions of an Unwed Bride (What I'm thankful for)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet by buddy Julie! She's my roomie, we met on Craiglist, and she is 1,000 flavors of everything awesome sauce. The reason why she had a room in her apartment however is a mighty long story. See, Julie was dating a duderino for 8 years. Yep, they were engaged to be wed and all that snazzy jazzy stuff. Now the engagement is off and Julie is attempting to heal from her loss; these series of posts are her best attempt. HIT IT JULIE! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's ItsMeJoolie

I have so much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. My job, all of my amazing friends, my pets and all the fun that I have had in the past few months.

But I am most thankful for me. For my strength. For not giving up on me. For not giving up on my life. It would have been so easy to let everything fall apart. To have stayed under the covers crying. To have not gone into work or just given up.

But I didn't.

I took my mess of a life and put each and every piece back together.

I made numerous decisions to work on bettering me, to build out the parts of my life that were lacking. I made the best decision ever; to stop waiting for life to find me and get out there and find life! Run to meet it and give it a high five.

Yes, I do miss parts of my old life, but I love this new life even more. I feel reborn and blessed.

This whole journey is what brought me to Talk Nerdy To Me Lover and to you, the readers. Thank you for all of the comments about my writing and for all of the love.

Be thankful for the good in your life and try to never let the bad overshadow the amazing.

#thanksgiving

 Click here to follow Julie on Twitter