"Oh the Places You'll Go..." & what God will teach you!

In case you didn't catch it in my previous blogs, I'm in a long-distance relationship right now. This is a first for me, so God has taken the opportunity to teach me a TON recently! For those of you who know what it's like to be in a long-distance relationship, you will be able to empathize with me; for those of you who have never shared the experience - it's not easy, but I believe long-distance relationships build character and create a special bond between two individuals. I also believe that God uses those types of relationships to bring His children closer to Him through the process. It has taken me a while to get used to being 7 hours away from Adam, but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it; at least, I think so...Here are some things I feel like we have learned through the process of developing a strong, God-centered, incredibly unique relationship while living 430 miles apart:

1) You have to have a large amount of monthly minutes and unlimited texts on your cell phone or you end up with a very PRICEY phone bill

2) You may be in the middle of a long-winded, incredibly wordy, but super good story when your phone rings in your ear and you realize your significant other had a dropped call, and you had been talking to nothing but silence for the past 5 minutes

3) Skype video chatting is only fun if you have a webcam with a good microphone. Otherwise, sudden, loud static interrupts your conversation every 3 minutes and 30 sec and you have to hang up and call back. There are also those video calls where the other person freezes up momentarily in a weird position...


4)You don't have the luxury of seeing the person every day. As a matter of fact, depending upon our schedules, we are lucky to see each other once a month

5) The positive side to not seeing the person very often, is that it's virtually impossible to become too dependent upon the other person

6) Communicating through snail mail or FedEx is no longer a thing of the past

7) You think of creative ways to have fun while being miles apart (i.e. online scrabble, the chicken dice game, battleship, muting the microphone and watching online TV shows while video chatting, playing "Guess what animal I am" while making a random animal face...remember the picture of Adam above?)

8) On the nights where you may be too busy to talk at all, a simple text that says, "Goodnight. I miss you!" speaks volumes

9) You realize that driving for a total of 14 hours (or 18 if you get lost....) just to see the person for less than 24 hours is better than not seeing them at all

And, the best thing I've learned thus far through my long-distance relationship with Adam....
10) When we do finally get to see each other, every minute we're together is a chance for us to grow closer together - an idea I feel gets too often taken for granted in non long-distance relationships

East Coast to West Coast to East Coast

TO THE WEST...
A few weeks ago, I went on my desperately-needed vacation from work. I got a week and a half of time to do whatever I wanted. So, the first part of my time off, I went to Newport Beach, CA to visit my best friend! It was the best week I had had in a long time. The weather was amazing, and the beach was beautiful! I had so much fun meeting Matt, Jessica's boyfriend, and getting to know him. I'm so happy she has found such a great guy. God knows both of us have battled through thick and thin in our past relationships. I pray for them all the time, and I know God will bless their relationship immensely. My favorite part about the trip was spending quality time with Jessica and being able to share pieces of our hearts with each other. We go through these phases where we both get really busy and since we are both terrible at calling each other, we'll often go weeks or longer without contact. However, I know she is a genuine friend because we never have any problems picking up right where we left off when we do finally connect. The only drawback is that we always share with each other the latest dilemmas or struggles we have been facing, realizing halfway through our stories that we had been struggling with the same things at roughly the same time; it just took us so long to contact each other that we realize our similar dilemmas after the fact. However, it is still incredibly comforting to know that someone is going through the same struggles I am, and because of that fact, we don't feel so alone. I am so blessed to have Jessica in my life. She is one of the most beautiful women I know, and her heart for God and people speaks volumes about the incredible woman of God that she is. Even if we do live on completely different sides of the US, we know that we are just a phone call or text away (most of the time) from providing encouragement for each other. We have both grown so much as people the past couple of years and I cherish her Godly insight and advice, especially because I can always trust that we are most likely going through the same thing! I love you Jessica!!!

OH LA!

MATT AND JESSICA

TINY SURFERS AT SURF SCHOOL...SO CUTE!

AFTER DINNER IN DOWNTOWN DISNEYLAND



BACK TO THE EAST
The latter part of my vacation, I headed back east to what I think is one of the cutest towns ever - Annapolis, MD - which is also where the US Naval Academy is located on one of the most beautiful campuses I have ever seen.
THE VIEW FROM CAMPUS

I went to visit Adam for a few days in Annapolis, then we headed to his parents' house in Bethesda. He gave me the most amazing tour of campus! I love listening to Adam talk about the Naval Academy because he is so passionate about it. I think it is such an honor to attend a service academy, and I have no doubt that each graduate develops strong character, perseverance, great leadership skills, courage, and an unsurpassable respect for his country. Well, I know at least one person who possesses those qualities ;) as well as my friend, Aaron (USNA '05), who passed away back in May, doing what he was most passionate about - flying in the Navy.

While I was in MD, I also took my first trip to Washington, D.C. I didn't get very many pictures of the city and historic landmarks because it was pouring the rain while we were there. We ran in the rain from the subway station, to the Smithsonian Museum, and then, to the National Air and Space Museum. We had no umbrella, and it was so fun! I hope it will be sunny and nice when I go back to D.C. for my marathon at the end of October. I'll see plenty of the city's sights on that day...26.2 miles of it! I can't wait!
WET WITH RAINDROPS

Our time together was short, but we packed in a lot of activities. He also took me to Covenant Life Church where Joshua Harris preaches!! That was so cool, and he gave an awesome message, which I mentioned in a previous blog. The last day I was there, Adam took me to a beautiful park on the Potomac River. Words cannot describe it, so check out the pictures:
THE RAPIDS

HARDCORE WHITEWATER KAYAKERS

I had the most amazing vacation and did so many exciting things. It's too bad we can't be on vacation all the time; but...sooner or later, you have to come back to reality. However, I'm thankful for the time Adam and Jessica took out of their schedules to allow me to visit! MISS YOU!!