My daughter asked me several years ago, “So, mom, how exactly do you find a husband? Do all the boys line up and you just pick the one you like the best?”

If only it were that easy. I didn’t want to scare her with the harsh truth about dating. While yes, dating at times is fun and exciting, the truth is that a lot of the time it’s really not that fun.

For example, I’ll never forget the one and only blind date I ever went on during my dating life. After lots of nagging from a friend I agreed to dinner and games with her brother. It lived up to be every bit as awful as a blind date is rumored to be. I still can’t play the game Taboo without fearing someone will stick that awful buzzer in my ear.

Or, then there was the time when I carefully selected a great outfit, spent an hour on my hair, and did all of the other typically pre-date primping only to find out that my effort was all a waste. We ended up driving an hour in the back of a pickup truck to a double feature at the drive-in. Needless to say, by the time we arrived at the theater both my hair and my desire for a second date with this guy had gone with the wind.

While I’m ranting about unpleasant dating experiences, there was also the guy who took me night skiing. Sounds romantic, huh? I’d never been skiing before –ever – and this guy took me on an expert slope. I knew I was in trouble when we got off the ski lift and I couldn’t see the bottom of the hill. His idea of teaching me to ski consisted of yelling, “Turn! Turn!” while he zoomed past me on his snowboard.

All of my pondering bad dating experiences have made me grateful that I’m married. This week I celebrated another wonderful year of marriage to my husband. I really didn’t marry him to get out of dating, but it sure is a nice perk.

Also this week I get to watch two of my favorite people tie the knot. On a whim I set them up on a date and several months later they’re getting married. It’s a pretty amazing thing to watch two people find their way to each other.

I’m not sure how I answered my daughter’s question about how you snag a man. But I guess the old adage really is true, “You really do have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your prince.”

Question: How did you meet your true love? What’s the worst date you ever went on?