self diagnosis

I have diagnosed myself with androphobia, or the fear of men. So if some guy says, "Hey Jaimie, do you want go out?" I can reply with, "No thank you, I have a bad case of androphobia" and move on with life.

So this tactic was going fine and well until ehow had to go and get all psychological with me by saying that "While many phobias can be relatively harmless and easy to deal with, a fear of men can really hinder possibilities in life and inhibit many opportunities for happiness and success."

Uh, do you get where I'm going here? Ehow is telling me that this phobia might actually stop me from moving forward and having possibilities in life. Uh yeah, that is no bueno. So I've been working on it.

Some steps that have helped me combat man fear in this past month include -

1 - I went on a good snowboarding date. I went snowboarding with a legitimately nice boy that I didn't know all that well. Unfamiliar men sorta freak me out but this guy was awesome. Kudos for meeting new cute boys who enjoy listening to Ingrid Michelson, appreciate ihops all you can eat pancakes, and share in my love for the ski resorts.

2 - Paper roses from Michael. My dear friend michael made paper roses for all of the girls in our ward on Valentines and attached a cute little poem along with them. Sweet huh? But of course I lost mine before it ever made it home. Finding out about this tragedy, Michael hand delivered me another and visited with me for a good while at my house. It was nice to catch up with him because Michael and I were really great friends over the Summer.

This picture is called, "Look, Michael's rose. But where is Jaimie's head?"

Followed by "Nothing beats smelling a fake rose"

(I really try hard to give you guys visuals on all of the posts if you couldn't tell by now)

3 - I've gone on 5 dates with 3 different guys in the last month. That is good for me because I have been avoiding dating like the plague. Like seriously avoiding it. But I realized its time to get over my androphobia and face life head on.

And the last thing to help my man fear. Drum roll please.

4 - Dane Hess, my very best friend in Taiwan. We left the country on not so good terms, of course it was my fault. It had been a couple of years since I've seen him until last month. We got together as a group and went to a restaurant called "Africa" in SLC where we ate Etheopian food with our hands. Nothing beats getting down and dirty while eating food. Anyway, it was really really good to see him again. All of the awkwardness felt after our parting was gone and it was just joyous to see somebody that knows me so well and that I have had so much fun with during such a big part of my life. Here is Dane -

Just kidding. That is some squid on a stick.

Here's Dane

And

(sometimes I made him braid my hair. Not because I couldn't, but because it was more entertaining if he did it. But he doesn't know that so don't say anything)

So I guess the point of this whole blog is that - I've had my share of loser men in the past but that shouldn't stop me from recognizing the good ones that are in my life too. I do not need to be afraid of the unknown and can trust the future because the majority of people are good. And to all of the great guys in my life who are helping me defeat my androphobia, thank you.

Loves