Elaine: On Blake's first day working at Kohl's, I happened to also be working that day and was tasked with training him on the cash register. I remember thinking he was really funny and very easy to talk to! Blake: Elaine trained me on my very first day at Kohl's. She then kept asking me to cover shifts. One day she texted me stating she felt bad and wanted to hang out. We never stopped hanging out.

Elaine: I was already in the process of joining the Navy when I met Blake, so deciding to move forward with that after we started dating was a very difficult decision for me. We had only been dating for 6 months by the time I had to leave, but we decided to give long distance a try, and agreed to let our relationship run whatever course it was meant to run without pressure. Blake: Honestly looking back I am not sure what I was thinking, but I sure am glad I did. This was a gamble both Elaine and I were willing to take and it paid off. Even boot camp alone was stressful and I wasn't even the one going through it! She would send me the sweetest letters, I never regretted waiting for her.

Blake: Now that I had an inside person in the military I had the resources... to learn about drugs? Honestly, why doesn't pharmacy school have a marketing class... Elaine: Being back on the same coast as Blake was great, and we were finally able to see each other much more often! However, Blake still had to do four years of pharmacy school in North Carolina, and I had to stay in Georgia for the Navy. For some reason this felt tougher for me than when I was all the way in California :(

Blake: Elaine: After six years of being long distance and feeling like our relationship was only growing stronger, I knew getting engaged was a pretty sure thing, but I remember still being surprised!

Elaine: I separated from the Navy in April, and Blake graduated pharmacy school in May. After 9+ years of dating long distance, we are finally living together! It felt like this day would never come, but I can say with 100% certainty that the wait was worth it.