Blaine - In December of 2017, I accepted the Assistant Coach position at Pepperdine University, taking a leap of faith on a coach, program, and athletic department that I had no ties to. When I moved to California, I didn't know anyone other than my childhood friend, Ian, living a few hours south in San Diego. I remember the first day I went to our athletics office, January 2nd, 2018. Some of the administrators were showing me around and they took me to what would be my office. As they opened the door, I had to consciously keep the fake smile on my face as it was about the size of a bathroom stall and looked like it hadn't been updated since the Malibu campus was built in the 70's. Already somewhat deflated, they went on to add salt to the wound by telling me I share the office with the Women's Assistant Coach. "Oh great", I thought. It was a couple of days before we were actually confined in that little space at the same time since the Men's and Women's teams schedules rarely overlapped. This girl walks in without knocking as I'm on the phone, and next thing I know I have a little pug dog licking my calves and shedding all over my backpack. At this moment, I'm about to lose it. Two people and a dog in this little tiny dungeon, "what am I doing here?". I think she could tell I was annoyed and she introduced herself, asking if it was okay for her dog to be in our office. Not wanting to completely break her heart immediately, I obliged and next thing I knew I was a dog sitter while she ran around the office to do stuff. It was then that I slowly began to get to know Katie, starting our first conversations with having mutual friends back in the Southeast and slowly progressing into our faith, family and lifelong goals. We began to hangout outside of work, with our first date being at Wood Ranch BBQ (pictured above) right down the road from my apartment. I knew she was the one when she pounded an 8 oz. filet before I was halfway done with mine! All joking aside, it was Katie's joyfulness, compassionate heart and gentleness that I fell for. It was so cool to me that God sent two people across the country to share and office and meet each other, no coincidence about it. So thankful for Katie and excited that the best is yet to come! BW

Katie - It was just another casual day at Pepperdine, so I thought, when I was introduced to this tall drink of water from Atlanta, GA that was going to share my 10x10 ft office space with me. And let me tell you, I wasn’t upset about it. 😜A few weeks later, Blaine slid into my Instagram DMs and asked which church I attended (smart), which sparked the beginning of our friendship. We went to this Young Adult ministry at our local church a couple times and got an occasional coffee, but not much else. I was becoming drawn to Blaine. His quiet but joyful demeanor was hard to resist. His work ethic and passion for his team and job was contagious. He was a positive influence on me from the beginning even before our relationship formed. I suddenly wanted to be at the office every single day just to see him. April 18th, 2018 was the day that changed everything. We were both in San Diego at the West Coast Conference Championship and Blaine’s team had just won by a landslide. The women, on the other hand, had just lost in a devastating playoff. Walking back to the parking lot, I saw Blaine and went to congratulate him. He leaned down to my midget level and gave me the most unforgettable, caring hug I’ve ever had (second to my mom) and asked me if I was okay. I will never forget that hug for the rest of my life, it was the moment I realize I had to have this man forever. Lots of prayers later, here I am on the journey of a lifetime with a man who loves Jesus, loves me, and loves my pug. I am so thankful God loved us enough to write our special story and cross our paths the way he did. I am so blessed to be Blaine's woman forever.

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