I chose not to title this page “Our love story”…not only because everyone in the world would have, but because how my husband and I even ended up together, I don’t know! It was really tough and nothing close to your typical “fairy-tale” love story. It consisted of 3 long, dedicated, up and down years that somehow ended up in our favor. Let’s just say, there is no doubt in my mind that Blake and I were meant to be together. Now onto how this realization came to be!
Blakey and I are what feels like a lifetime apart in age! Haha. 11 years to be exact. I’m sure you can imagine a 29-year-old attempting to date an 18-year-old and all of the struggles that came with that alone. On top of that, we lived in completely different states, him being in California and me in Utah. Anyone who’s had to do the whole long distance thing, you get me! Fortunately, Blake attended college up in Utah and had a ton of friends that he would visit regularly.
Let’s back up to the night we met…
Blake had just flown into Utah for the weekend and all of his friends were begging him to go with them to Area 51–80’s dancing, something they had always done in College! Blake couldn’t believe they were even asking haha, he kept telling them they were too old and how embarrassed he was about it! Somehow his friends convinced him (I still believe it didn’t take much convincing…based on his vicious dance moves that night..) And so they went! On my end I was in a similar position; I had recently gotten out of a long, rocky relationship and my friends were saying that I needed to “get out” and have some fun! This was my first dance/club experience and I was very skeptical and honestly still so sad about the break-up and didn’t want to go! But I knew exactly what my ex would be doing, and it wasn’t sitting home alone feeling sad about us, so I faked it and went! That night was seriously one of the best nights of my tiny 18-year-old life! I felt so grown up and free! As well as very dirty and scared for my life haha! That place is no joke! Fast forward, I had to of given my number to over a dozen different guys! I was on a roll! Feelin good, you know just filling the canteen with all of the lost time! The night was coming to an end and as I was walking out, some guy stopped me, I turned kind of thrown off, and there was Blake. He grabbed me and held me tight, and the whole world stopped. Every sound, person, vanished and it was just us. Looking into each other’s eyes, letting our emotions do the talking. He went in for the kiss and…
…yeah that’s not at all what happened. But close!
He grabbed me and said that he loved my hair–which was long down my back at the time! I smiled, and knew instantly that something was different about this one; he was older, more mature. I signaled to my friends 10 more minutes as Blake led me over to a quieter corner to chat. Long story short, we exchanged numbers and I told him a bunch of us were meeting for food and that he should come. He told me he’d text me, we shared a dance or two and that was it. My friends and I went to Denny’s and Blake was the only guy who got my number that didn’t show up that night, sneaky bugger! He told me later that he knew everyone that would show up would be all of the guys I talked to that night, and he chose not to come because he wanted the opportunity to stand out. Well, his plan worked!
The next day I received a text that said, “Hi Demi! It’s Blake, from last night at 80’s. Not sure if you remember me, but I’d love to take you out!” before I could even finish reading the text, my phone rang:
Me: Hey!
Him: Okay that was unlike me, I didn’t mean to basically ask you out over text. I hope you didn’t take that the wrong way! I’m way more old-fashioned than that.
Ummm, okay you gentleman! Was my first reaction. The conversation continued and we set up a date for that night. Dinner at the Copper Onion and hot chocolate to follow. I remember feeling so surprised with how well I was being treated. Not that I’d been treated necessarily bad by other guys, but again, something about being with him was just so different. Maybe it was the upgrade from Chik-fil-a to the Copper Onion, but mostly I think it was his perfect behavior and how much he genuinely cared to get to know me. I was so comfortable with him, almost as if we’d known each other forever. We both had such different lives and were in completely different stages of life and yet we both understood each other perfectly. That night he made me forget about my break-up for the first time and it was such a relief! It was such a heavy burden I was carrying, and somehow he brought perspective. He knew things I didn’t, he had a way of making me feel safe and comfortable; he made me feel like it was all going to work out. Nothing about that night felt manipulative, all genuine intentions to get to know one another and lend a listening ear.
On the drive back from Salt Lake to Orem where I was living, we literally planned our lives out with each other! Bucket list and all! He told me he wanted to fly me out to CA to show me around, go to Disneyland, surf, eat good CA food; I was floored. Fly out with a complete stranger?! After one date?!? Was this guy NUTS?? But nothing about it scared me other than that I would lead him on by going. I really liked Blake, he was an instant friend to me. But I could sense that he already cared about me more than a friend and I didn’t feel that way toward him and didn’t want to hurt him. I didn’t commit to anything, he dropped me off and we agreed to stay in touch.
Side note: When blake picked me up/dropped me off from my parents, I lied and told him I lived with my sister so that I didn’t have to introduce him to my family! Haha! it was so bad! and that whole story is for another day…
Blake flew home and we instantly became addicted to talking to each other. No matter how much I fought my feelings for him, I loved knowing he would always be there for me. Whether it was hearing me vent about my ex, or talking about dates I would go on, he was there for me for everything. No jealousy, no judgment, nothing but pure kindness and support. I didn’t feel I deserved that kind of treatment, but the truth is, that is how someone who truly loves and cares about you SHOULD be treating you. From the moment I sensed his feelings for me til now, nothing but selflessness. That’s the kind of awesome person, husband, friend he is and I know will always be.
I’m going to sum up the next 3 years to come because they were long, they were hard, and I’m sure I will go into more detail about it down the road. I like to be real. I know how social media can paint this perfect picture of what your life is like, and I hope we all know by now, that isn’t always the case. I like to think of it as a photo album. You want to remember and share the good times, that’s how I view social media. But that’s why I love writing and blogging! Because you get to see a whole other deeper side of my life, which is imperfect at times. And I’m okay with sharing that side because that is real life! And it’s beautiful to me.
The next 3 years were complete dedication, love, forgiveness, selflessness, kindness and frankly perfection on Blakes end. Like I mentioned earlier, he was the perfect friend to me. The problem? He was falling for me hard and I wasn’t on the same page, but I was loving the special treatment I was receiving that I’d never experienced before–terrible I know! So I stuck around and tried to fake it. Guys, I get emotional thinking about how unconditionally sweet and kind Blake was to me even when I couldn’t reciprocate! He is so perfect haha. But that’s the kind of guy he was and is and I’m the luckiest person in the world that we ended up together. I ended up flying out to CA and had the best time ever, met his parents (Like WHAAAA?! He never introduced anyone to his parents before) And to me that was just normal! Ahhh so much of this is so sad… I had a great time but I was majorly stuck on my ex. I flew home and he would come to visit me every chance he got. We became official and about a month later I broke up with him because I just couldn’t do it to him anymore. The feelings for me weren’t progressing and I didn’t know why; he was amazing and everything I should have wanted. But I didn’t feel I deserved it and I wasn’t ready to move on. It was so hard to see how much that affected him so early on, I knew he cared about me a lot…but that’s why I had to do it! I couldn’t drag him along anymore. That was the first time in history Blake Corbin cried over a girl, but not only that, the first time he told anyone that he was falling in love! I had thrown that word around like it was nothing, and here was the sweetest guy on earth who never felt that way about anyone, falling in love with me! That was a miracle in and of itself.
Blake agreed to give me my space like the gentleman he was, while continuing to be there for me if I ever needed anything. Literally. I remember the night after I broke up with him I was in my room and I started crying wondering what in the world was wrong with me for letting such a good guy go! I kept convincing myself that I couldn’t force my feelings just because on paper everything seemed right. Which is where I stood…but I knew something was so special about him so I kept in contact with him. I went on dates, smooched a bunch of random guys, talked with my ex and did what every young 18-year-old should do, live and experience the dating life. It didn’t take me long to realize just how respectful and incredible Blake truly was. A couple dates with Mr. WRONG and some late night hook-ups later and I was crawling back to Blake praying that my feelings would progress so that we could be together! But no way, that would have been way too easy! And we all know life isn’t supposed to be easy…When I think of the first year of Blake and I’s relationship the only word that comes to mind is HELL. I had never been more confused in my entire life! My head said, do not let this one go; while my heart was set on making things work with my ex. It was a daily battle and it started to take a serious toll on our relationship. Although Blake continued to show patience with me, I was beginning to lose hope. I more often thought about how I was going to break up with him than how I was going to make things work. Everyone in our lives began to be both confused and concerned, as were we.
Somehow, with the potential Blake saw in me we pressed on. I prayed and prayed to feel good enough to be with someone like Blake, to know if he was who I should be with, and to move on from unhealthy relationships in the past. We had amazing days, and there were days I would break down and cry in confusion. But on those hard days, I was reminded of an experience he and I shared the first trip out to CA.
To keep it brief, we drove to the Newport Beach LDS Temple and just sat on the temple grounds. It was beautiful, I was in heaven! Everything about it felt right and I remember the thought of Blake being my husband coming to me and then me pushing it out of my head as fast as I could haha! But I couldn’t deny the effect it had on me, I teared up and quickly wiped away the tear before Blake could see. On the drive back to his house he looked at me with tears in his eyes and asked me, “Did you feel that, or am I crazy?” Crap! I thought to myself! I nodded yes and then changed the subject as quickly as possible!
Although that tiny little feeling/confirmation/whatever you want to call it, was often forgotten and pushed to the wayside; there is no denying the power it had in my ultimate decision to marry Blake. I found myself crying, until I couldn’t cry anymore, praying to God to give me a sign! To give me something! But he already had. I truly believe that Blake and I needed to go through what we did in order to be the couple that God would have us be. It wasn’t easy, in fact, it is probably one of the hardest things I’ve gone through, but it was what needed to happen in order for me personally to grow and become who I am at this moment.
Most everyone I know asks why I didn’t just break up with Blake and move on if I didn’t care about him. I believe that something much greater than he or I played a huge part in that! Blakey boy is the love of my life. I love and respect him more than anyone on earth. He is the rock in our relationship and I am a better person because of him. Our relationship is nowhere near perfect, but we have come so far and that’s what this life is about! Progression. We have so much fun together and are blessed to be able to work side-by-side on so many different things! He is my biggest supporter in everything I do, and I hope he knows I am his #1 fan. We share the same love for movies, food, traveling, making memories, the gospel of Jesus Christ, music, dancing, the ocean and much much more! It’s not about finding love, it’s about creating it. And that is exactly what we plan to do for the rest of forever.