Something I'm Good At

So I have seen these "Blog Everyday in May" posts floating around my blog list, and decided to jump in today. The theme for today's post is "something that you are good at or know a lot about". I know a whole lot about financial aid and college admissions, but I'm not sure that's what y'all want to hear about. So I decided to go with something that has dominated the last seven years of my life. 

Long Distance Relationships 

Oh how I wish I knew absolutely nothing about these. Sadly, my husband and I have spent countless months apart, and at last calculation have spent over 2 years of our relationship in different countries.Now with deployment, that number is only increasing. I think that experience gives me some sort of knowledge.

So here are some things that I have learned. 

1. Your relationship will live or die by your communication 

Get really good at showing that you love each other without actually being in person. Whether it's letters, Skype or just texting; you need to know what works best for y'all. We both prefer chatting online, so that is what we do. Even now during deployment, 99% of our communication is FB chat. 

2. Find a way to spend time together even though you're apart. 

We used to have coffee dates 800 miles apart. We would both go to Starbucks or Barnes and Noble, and read the same book. This allowed us to have something besides how much we missed each other to talk about. Figure out what works for you. 

3. Send pictures of your day 

Sometimes it can be hard to know what your significant other's life is like without you there. I loved getting a glimpse of the daily stuff. 

4. Do normal things when you are together. 

There can be a lot of pressure to make every second you can spend together memorable and fun filled. This creates serious expectations that can be hard to meet. If you want to chill on the couch and watch ten episodes of How I Met Your Mother, than do it. Just do whatever makes you both happy. Not what will look awesome on your instagram feed. 

5. Figure out what the end goal is. 

This was the hardest part for me. I was very happy with college and grad school. Figuring out how to adjust my plans and life to finally put an end to long distance was challenging. If you eventually want to actually be in the same place, you have to be proactive. I will never suggest that you compromise what you want and your goals, but figuring out how to balance your goals and your relationship can be really hard.

Yay for awesome writing prompts. I don't think I will participate every day, but I love Jenni's ideas for different posts throughout the month. Definitely go and check it out here.