Our Story

My name is Jenica and my husband is Kaleb. We are, wait for it, HIGH SCHOOL sweethearts! Yeah, they DO exist! When I say high school sweethearts, I’m talking together since freshman year. That was 2011 for us. We were fourteen when we first started dating and we are now almost 23 and married for three years! It is crazy to think about how long we’ve actually been together!

In high school we had our ups and downs. Both of us were trying to figure out who we were and where we wanted to go in life. We didn’t have the most supportive friends at the time and ended up breaking up for a bit. It wasn’t very long that we weren’t together though. We realized that we we’re young and in love and ended up sneaking behind our parents backs that entire summer before I left for college and he went to basic training! There was one time (actually a couple times) I told my mom I picked up a shift at work, put on my work uniform and parked my car at my work, and Kaleb came and picked me up! It was by far a summer I will never ever forget. We went camping together, stayed at our friends houses together, went to amusement parks together and more!

Summer had been getting close to the end, and Kaleb was preparing to leave for basic training and I had to get everything packed to move into my college dorm. Things were getting real and very emotional. We still had not told either of our parents about our relationship at this time, which made it even more hard once he was gone!

My first couple weeks at college were a mess! Kaleb was off to basic-training in San Antonio with no phone! I had no way to contact him to get his address! He was to send it to his family, who at the time, still did not know of our relationship, so I wasn’t able to get it. I was heartbroken, depressed, and focusing on school was a struggle. I felt as though I was in a very dark place. Then one day, I remember looking over at my phone, and an unknown number showed a crossed the screen with the location “San Antonio, Texas”. I can still feel like way my heart fluttered when I saw this! It was the first time since he left that I heard his voice and it was the most amazing feeling! Then and there, I knew we were going to be okay, no matter who tried to step in our way!

Towards the end of his training, we were actually able to exchange a few letters to each other! Basic training came to an end, and I unfortunately was not able to go to watch him graduate like some girlfriends get to. Still, neither of our parents knew about our relationship, but it wasn’t long until we let them know, and I finally was able to see him first thing when he arrived home! He moved to New Mexico after he graduated tech school and this is actually when my traveling journey began! I would fly to go see him every opportunity I was given, whether it be spring break, thanksgiving break, or Christmas break! One thanksgiving break, I actually drove down there and was meant to surprise him, but I couldn’t resist! I still to this day cannot believe I drove 24 hours for a four-day break. The things we do for love.

The Summer of 2016, I had been told great news that I was accepted into the prestigious University of Michigan. I was currently going to Ferris State University to obtain my degree in dental hygiene. Here, it was only an associates degree with a two-year waitlist, and if you wanted to obtain your bachelors, that was going to be even longer. At The University of Michigan, I was guaranteed a bachelors degree in 3-years! To me, this was a no-brainer. This meant I was that much closer to graduating and being able to spend the rest of my life with my love.

It was while I was going to U of M that I took my road-trip down to see him in New Mexico actually. It just showed that any chance that I was given to see him, I was willing to take. It was during this year that we also received the news that he would be going to South Korea for a year tour, but this would be followed by a three-year tour in a base of his choosing. So there was both good and bad news with this, but we stayed positive. I was able to focus on my schooling while he was in Korea, and we would be rewarded in the end!

Nobody really quite knows what it’s like to be in a long-distance relationship until you’ve gone months without actually seeing them. You don’t really understand long distance if your loved one is an hour away from you, goes to another college in the same state as you, and you can drive to see them every weekend. That isn’t long distance. I can’t tell you how upset I get when I hear people say “the distance is so hard” yet they get to drive an hour to see each other every weekend, get to go on dates and lie next to them at night every weekend. You don’t really understand. You don’t realize how good you have it.

I have now finally been able to join him in England after 4 long years of not being together. The long-distance did make for some fun vacations and definitely made traveling a bit easier for us. We got married in April of 2017, a month before he left for Korea. I wasn’t able to be with him, go on dates with him, cook him dinners or lie next to him every night like others had the opportunity to every single day. Honestly, you don’t realize how lucky you are. Don’t take that for granted. People would always make comments to me like “Why don’t you move where he is at?”, “You can always go back to school later”. Blah blah blah. But, being the strong, driven women that I grew up to be, I have continued getting my education and I did finish school first! Truth is, you never really know what curveballs life will throw at you and honestly, I would rather push through and get the hard part over with first. No need to rush through life. These chapters are very important pieces of your story.

One night, my husband and I were talking about the positives and negatives of the long distance over video chat, and he made a comment that stuck with me. “The time we do have together means more than if we had spent every day together”. It had been hard trying to get through the long distance, and the many other obstacles we have had, but we have always pushed through. Because of this, I believe we are much stronger. We made it through and we are now able to be together, and are traveling the world together. We never take any moments for granted while we are with each other, because we spent too long being separated to not enjoy every minute together.