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<span style="font-style: italic">She still looking for Mr Right</span>
Somerset woman has no regrets after failing to find Mr. Right on Web site
By MARY ANN BOURBEAU
GANNETT NEW JERSEY
Neenah Pickett met a lot of wonderful people in her yearlong, online, quest to find a husband. But 52 weeks later, that perfect man still is elusive.
Determined to find a husband by the end of 2009, Pickett, a 43-year-old media consultant who lives in this Somerset County community, created a Web site called 52weeks2findhim.com. Her strategy was to connect through an interactive Web site with as many people as possible by going public with her search. The site was successful, with nearly six million hits and averaging 14,000 new users each month, but none turned out to be Mr. Right.
"There's no way I would have kept at it for 365 days if I hadn't received all the encouraging e-mails on a regular basis," Pickett said. "I even had people stop me on the street and in restaurants telling me they were cheering me on."
Social-networking sites appear to have taken over for bars and clubs as the No. 1 place to find a mate. Pickett had tried the dating sites, but then decided to take her search a step further. She sent her Web site link to all of her friends, who then passed it on to all of their friends in the hope that someone would find a match. Potential suitors were able to see photos and videos and learn all about Pickett on the site, where she wrote about herself and her goals, and chronicled each date she went on.
She did numerous interviews and even appeared on ABC's Good Morning America to talk about her journey and herself. Pickett enjoys hiking, bicycling, traveling, movies and reading. She was looking for a man between the age of 38 and 50 who is laid back, has a sense of humor and who shares her Christian faith. She went on more than 30 dates in 2009 but none panned out.
"I loved the journey; I truly did, but I would have liked a slightly different outcome," she said. "I'm disappointed for me, but not just me. I heard from many women who wanted my happy ending because it would have given them hope for their own journeys. I just don't want them to give up on love. I haven't."
Pickett gave herself weekly challenges in order to open herself up to new experiences and have fun in the process. She spent time at a bowling alley and a golf store, took part in a fundraiser with farmers and went to bars, church outings and barn dances. She said she stalked guys at bookstores, invaded firehouses with cookies, acted helpless in the men's department, visited a barber shop and took a class at Home Depot. She also traded places with married moms as three of her girlfriends spent a week online trying to find love for her.
She heard from not just men but thousands of women along the way.
"There are women who are in relationships now because of my journey and those who started to date for the first time in years because they said I inspired them," said Pickett. "They inspired me to keep at it even when there were times I want to throw in the towel."
Pickett does feel good that she challenged herself to go beyond what was easy and comfortable for her, and has no regrets about her journey.
"I don't regret spending the year the way I did," she said. "If I were worse off for it, perhaps. But a lot of amazing things happened along the way which I'm so grateful for. So if you can glean something good from a situation, then I don't consider it a failure."
Pickett was a bit overwhelmed by the big response early on and wonders in the back of her mind if she may have missed that special person.
"I'll always wonder if there were guys I overlooked that I should have considered or guys I dated when I should have passed," she said.
Though she is disappointed that her experiment didn't result in true love, but she hasn't given up hope.
"I pursued something that was really important to me and it didn't happen," she said. "I never lost hope. There were moments when I thought, 'I'm crazy. This is never going to happen.' But that would only last for a moment and then hope would come back."
As Pickett said in the beginning, if she didn't find a husband in 2009, she is going to take a year off from pursuing love.
"I'm looking forward to the break," she said. "But I still believe in the journey toward love. I didn't find the person who was right for me, but I am more confident in the possibilities."
[img]http://cmsimg.app.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bil...18&Border=0[/img]
Somerset woman has no regrets after failing to find Mr. Right on Web site
By MARY ANN BOURBEAU
GANNETT NEW JERSEY
Neenah Pickett met a lot of wonderful people in her yearlong, online, quest to find a husband. But 52 weeks later, that perfect man still is elusive.
Determined to find a husband by the end of 2009, Pickett, a 43-year-old media consultant who lives in this Somerset County community, created a Web site called 52weeks2findhim.com. Her strategy was to connect through an interactive Web site with as many people as possible by going public with her search. The site was successful, with nearly six million hits and averaging 14,000 new users each month, but none turned out to be Mr. Right.
"There's no way I would have kept at it for 365 days if I hadn't received all the encouraging e-mails on a regular basis," Pickett said. "I even had people stop me on the street and in restaurants telling me they were cheering me on."
Social-networking sites appear to have taken over for bars and clubs as the No. 1 place to find a mate. Pickett had tried the dating sites, but then decided to take her search a step further. She sent her Web site link to all of her friends, who then passed it on to all of their friends in the hope that someone would find a match. Potential suitors were able to see photos and videos and learn all about Pickett on the site, where she wrote about herself and her goals, and chronicled each date she went on.
She did numerous interviews and even appeared on ABC's Good Morning America to talk about her journey and herself. Pickett enjoys hiking, bicycling, traveling, movies and reading. She was looking for a man between the age of 38 and 50 who is laid back, has a sense of humor and who shares her Christian faith. She went on more than 30 dates in 2009 but none panned out.
"I loved the journey; I truly did, but I would have liked a slightly different outcome," she said. "I'm disappointed for me, but not just me. I heard from many women who wanted my happy ending because it would have given them hope for their own journeys. I just don't want them to give up on love. I haven't."
Pickett gave herself weekly challenges in order to open herself up to new experiences and have fun in the process. She spent time at a bowling alley and a golf store, took part in a fundraiser with farmers and went to bars, church outings and barn dances. She said she stalked guys at bookstores, invaded firehouses with cookies, acted helpless in the men's department, visited a barber shop and took a class at Home Depot. She also traded places with married moms as three of her girlfriends spent a week online trying to find love for her.
She heard from not just men but thousands of women along the way.
"There are women who are in relationships now because of my journey and those who started to date for the first time in years because they said I inspired them," said Pickett. "They inspired me to keep at it even when there were times I want to throw in the towel."
Pickett does feel good that she challenged herself to go beyond what was easy and comfortable for her, and has no regrets about her journey.
"I don't regret spending the year the way I did," she said. "If I were worse off for it, perhaps. But a lot of amazing things happened along the way which I'm so grateful for. So if you can glean something good from a situation, then I don't consider it a failure."
Pickett was a bit overwhelmed by the big response early on and wonders in the back of her mind if she may have missed that special person.
"I'll always wonder if there were guys I overlooked that I should have considered or guys I dated when I should have passed," she said.
Though she is disappointed that her experiment didn't result in true love, but she hasn't given up hope.
"I pursued something that was really important to me and it didn't happen," she said. "I never lost hope. There were moments when I thought, 'I'm crazy. This is never going to happen.' But that would only last for a moment and then hope would come back."
As Pickett said in the beginning, if she didn't find a husband in 2009, she is going to take a year off from pursuing love.
"I'm looking forward to the break," she said. "But I still believe in the journey toward love. I didn't find the person who was right for me, but I am more confident in the possibilities."
[img]http://cmsimg.app.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bil...18&Border=0[/img]
she must be really picky. 
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