Dating Bradley...err Badly.

One thing I've realized is that I am really bad at dating. If you look at my track record of relationships you will see that my dating skills are nonexistent. Truly and honestly, I do not know how to date. What is dating? I have technically only had 2 boyfriends, besides my now fiancé (muah muah muah, much love to ya baby). One relationship lasting for a month (I was broken up with on my 18th birthday...thanks again for that one Pat) and one lasting for four years.
The month long relationship mainly consisted of me playing chauffer and buying things for him. [Exhibit A as to why I am bad at dating] We would talk on the phone and he would either tell me about all of the alcohol he was consuming at the time or pass the phone off to his friends for me to talk to them instead. And would you believe that when he broke up with me (ahem, on my 18th birthday) he sprayed a napkin with his cologne and handed it to me saying, "This is something to remember me by, smell it when you miss me." I'm happy to say that the very next day I made a small bonfire in my best friend's drive-way...smell THAT sucker!
The four year long relationship consisted of me molding, changing, and shaping myself as a person to match the person that he was, or at least the person that I thought he wanted me to be. [Exhibit B as to why I am bad at dating] That is probably the only reason the relationship lasted as long as it did, I didn't know how to function as an individual anymore and I was scared to try. That is one thing that I now know is in the top 5 things dating should NOT consist of. Actually, I learned a lot of "should not" from that relationship...nothing against him or anything. So while I now know what dating should not consist of, what SHOULD it consist of?
I think dating is the process of finding the type of person that you do or do not want to be with. But what does the process involve? I personally know that when I am attracted to someone and they become an interest of mine it is difficult to slow myself down enough to not want to call them or talk to them every second of every day. I do know that this is called "obsession" or "infatuation" and definitely not called "dating”. I also know that it is a huge deal breaker for a guy. What is too much? How much is too much? How often is too often? How soon is too soon? [Exhibit C as to why I am bad at dating]
My newest relationship (with whom I will be marrying in approx. 90 days...Exhibit D as to why I am bad at dating) has been the closest I have come to what I think dating should be. Sure, we are moving at the speed of light, but that is because this is one of those "special cases" relationships. You know what I mean, the ones that you feel an immediate connection and you just know this is it? Yes, we've set a date and we are buying a townhouse and I've got my dress. But one great thing about us is we haven't stopped dating each other in the process. We're planning our life, and gaining tools to help us build it...but we're still taking the time we need to get to know each other and learn each other’s personalities and quirks. It's really actually pretty cool. We’re learning to celebrate our differences and encourage each other’s dreams. We’re learning to adopt each other’s hobbies, but learning how to keep our own. I’m really trying to learn how to remain independent, but show him that I never want to live my life without him. I’m learning to be confident in his love for me, even if he’s not feeling exceptionally romantic. I’m learning that faith doesn’t just apply to my relationship with God, but it applies to my relationship with him as well.
Most of all I am learning that sometimes it takes dating badly to learn how to date at all; But that maybe at the point that I know how to date, I won’t have to anymore.