Then...
- Tristin: 12 years old; Cory: 9 years old
- Tristin: Salt Lake City, Utah; Cory: Sandy, Utah
Now...
- Tristin: 29 years old; Cory: 33 years old
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Tristin: Event Planner; Cory: Design Manager
My Story...
As an only child, Tristin has felt awkward for most of her life. Usually spending her free time with her imagination and playing in her grandmother’s garden. She never had any friends growing up. The one friend she did have in 6th grade told her that once they get to Junior High they were no longer going to be friends because she didn’t want to be seen with her. Junior High was miserable until her first best friend Leah came into her life. But after a short year together, Leah moved away. High school wasn’t any better. Tristin had one close friend she hung out with on a regular basis but she was still unable to fit in anywhere. Finally when she accepted her first job, she met her life-long friends Cassidy and Nichole, who helped her grow into herself and taught her that not only is it okay to be awkward and different, it’s actually preferred. Uniqueness was in. Despite their friendship, Tristin thought she was still too awkward and would never get married or find someone who wanted to be with her romantically. But several years later she met Cory, who was just as awkward and quirky as she was.
Growing up, Cory was always a creative child and wanted to make friends. Which he did but when he got to middle school they mostly all disappeared. He tried to find his way in different groups but never quite fit in and was always on the outside looking in. Desperately wanting to be included, he even tried to join a gang but was bullied out of it after a failed tattoo attempt in a typing class, then wanted to be straight-edge skater, then a hippie and finally a pretty boy jock. It wasn’t until a couple years after high school and some major problems that he found out who he was. Which was a mix of all those things he tried in his teen years. He finally made some friends who he is still close to today just by being his creative, weird and awkward self. Despite discovering who he was, he was told by many girls that he wasn’t “boyfriend” material. He accepted this and when he finally got married for the first time he was told he wasn’t “husband” material. After that crushing blow, he soon met his wife Tristin who was just as awkward and unsure as he was. They found more than a spouse in one another, they finally found their best friend.