Meredith Esparza: Mr. Darcy did NOT Ruin My Life!

Welcome Meredith Esparza to Darcyholic Diversions!

Hi, Darcyholics!  I am very happy have the lovely Meredith Esparaza to Darcyholic Diversions.  I have gotten to know Meredith through HER blog and am very happy to have her visiting MINE today! I am excited for the opportunity to get to know a little more about her today.

I have posted all the winners for the June giveaways. Don't forget to read all of the July posts!  Many opportunities to win this month!   Comments are your entries to WIN those giveaways!

There is also an update to the Decatur Book Festival Jane Austen:Then And Now tabs above.  I hope you will take an opportunity to visit the overall event information and the FAQ.  We are currently at 16 authors planning on attending or participating remotely with us! During the month of August we will be featuring many of the authors that are going to be at the event.

Upcoming Guest Posts Are As Follows:
July 17--Lori Smith
July 20--Bernadette
July 24--Barbara Tiller Cole: Christmas in July
July 27--Amy Cecil
July 29--William Deresiewicz
July 31--Maria Grace
August 3--Wendi S.
August 5--Laura Dabundo
August 7--Moira B.
August 10--Barbara TC and the DBF
August 12--Cynthia Hensley
August 14--Colette Saucier
August 17--Regina Jeffers
August 19--KaraLynne Mackrory
August 21--Sally Smith O'Rourke
August 24--Amber Godat
November 2--Amy Patterson
November 13--Karen Doornebos
And Many more to come!

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Comments on Meredith's post will be entries into the monthly drawings here at Darcyholic Diversions.  Entries will be based on comments on blog posts; but additional chances will be given for joining this site, tweeting this post, Joining this site as a member via Google Friend Connect (GFC) (See the left hand column on the blog to join!), sharing this on Facebook or your blog, Friend me on Facebook, clicking 'like’ on Barbara Tiller Cole, Author's Facebook page, Join Darcyholic Diversions Facebook Page or following BarbTCole on Twitter.

Mr. Darcy Did NOT Ruin My Life!

Can falling in love with Mr. Darcy give you unrealistic expectations?  Skew your perceptions of love?   Ruin you for all other men??

I don't know about you, but when I discovered Jane Austen during my awkward stage, my perceptions about love, marriage, and life definitely underwent a change.  As a teenager, witnessing all the unhappy and unsuccessful marriages around me, I used to vow that I would never get married.  Why bother with marriage when all couples did was bicker and divorce?!?  

As you can easily imagine, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Knightley, and Captain Wentworth soon helped me change my mind.  Having observed the “marriage of true minds” and unions of “perfect happiness” Jane Austen gives her characters, a desire to experience the same grew within my heart.  I decided, I would like to marry one day, but only to someone like Mr. Darcy.  The question is...would I ever FIND my own Mr. Darcy?

I knew for a fact that there were zero Mr. Darcys in my high school so I decided to not even bother looking for him there.  I didn't want to end up finding a bunch of Willoughbys, Wickhams, and Collinses!  No thank you!  I felt it best to leave the timing up to God, after all, His timing is perfect.  Therefore, I prayed about finding my very own Mr. Darcy, and decided to remain single until he came along. 

When I was twenty, this persistent, charming, and confident fellow music major started paying me a noticeable amount of attention.  And unlike other guys, he wasn't easily deterred!  At first I was wary, he seemed like a nice guy and all – definitely not a Crawford or Willoughby – but I wasn't sure he was my Darcy.  After all, I was only twenty!  And still in college!  Was it really time for me to find the man I'm supposed to spend the rest of my life with???

God's answer for me turned out to be “Yes!”

And so, dear readers, “I married him!” (after a couple years of dating, of course)  My husband, Pedro, is indeed my Mr. Darcy and he makes me feel cherished and loved every day when I'm in his presence.     He loves me and appreciates me like Mr. Darcy loves Lizzy. (Yay! I found it!)  What I love most about Mr. Darcy is that he loves Lizzy “just as she is” - with her impudent manner, prejudiced misjudgments, and petticoat six inches deep in mud! 

Now, I call him my Mr. Darcy, but in actuality he isn't 100% like Mr. Darcy.  My husband isn't really the proud, haughty, silent type.  He is tall, handsome, honest, and honorable like Mr. Darcy, but deep down I think my husband is really more like Mr. Bingley!  Just look at the pictures, you can tell he is an easy-going, fun-loving, and affable Charles Bingley!

Falling in love with Mr. Darcy when I was sixteen definitely changed my life.  It made me realize that marriages can be happy and long-lasting, and that life without marriage was not for me!  Mr. Darcy inspired me to wait and find an Austen hero of my own – not in situation or disposition, but in devotion and appreciation.  While I don't think falling in love with Mr. Darcy can ruin your life, I do believe it can change your life, for it certainly has changed mine.

Has Mr. Darcy changed your life?

Bio: Meredith Esparza is a music teacher living off the coast of North Carolina with her very own Mr. Darcy.  She is a long-time admirer of Jane Austen and an avid reader.  Her blog, Austenesque Reviews is devoted to the reading and reviewing of numerous Jane Austen sequels, fan-fiction, and para-literature.  Currently she is hard at work planning her annual blog event, Austenseque Extravaganza, a month-long celebration of Austenesque novels and authors, which will be in September of 2012.  She hopes to see you there!  Visit Meredith at her blog Austenesque Reviews, follow her on Twitter as @austenesque and on Facebook as Austenesque Reviews.