Hello 2015!

Happy New Year everyone!! Good Lord has this been a year! Looking back on everything that's happened, it's hard to believe that it all happened in 2014. At the same time, this year seemed to fly by. 

I turned 20, Dan and I made it "facebook official" that we're a couple for the 4th time, I spent Easter with him. I got promoted to full time at my job. My dad moved up north and I moved in with my mom again. Dan surprised me at the end of August, I spent Halloween with him. We started putting together ACTUAL REAL LIFE PLANS TO MOVE IN TOGETHER!!! (Can you sense my excitement??) 

And finally, I wrapped 2014 up by spending it with my family and my boyfriend. We didn't do anything crazy, we just hung out and watched the ball drop, but being able to spend the last seconds of 2014 and the first ones of 2015 with them made it the best thing ever. 

This upcoming year is going to bring a huge amount of changes. And I literally mean HUGE changes! Like, moving to a new state kind of changes. I've been waiting for 2015 to come for such a long time that it's hard to believe it's actually here. This is the year Dan graduates college, this is the year my sister graduates high school. This is the year I pick up my life and move to a whole new state to start a life with the guy I love. I'm scared out of my mind, but I'm equally as excited and anxious for it to happen. They say if you're dreams don't scare you, you're not dreaming big enough. Well, my dreams must be freaking ginormous because I'm terrified. But that's a whole new blog post down the road a bit. 

Here's to 2015 - may it be the best year yet!

Christmas Wish List

In lieu of the approaching Christmas season, everyone has been asking me what I want for Christmas. I'm having a hard time answering this because I don't really want anything. The things I want for Christmas are coming, but not for a few months yet. I want an apartment, I want things for the apartment, and I want enough money to move into said apartment. I want a new car, I want money to pay off my car and get a new one. So overall nothing people could really give me. But there were a few things I was able to come up with:

1. A new winter coat // 2. an iPhone 6 (I know, I know. I'm not getting this lol) //3. Books! (if you would like my book list, feel free to ask) // 4. A calligraphy set // 5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas the book // 6. A weekend trip to Chicago

I know, the iPhone and the Chicago trip is a bit of a stretch but you never know lol. Some other things I would definitely not be opposed to:

• a Torrid giftcard
• a Barnes & Noble gift card
• money, because bills
• a new car 
• a gift card to some place that sells stuff for apartments. So like, anywhere.
• Christmas decorations that I can use next year when I'm in my own place
• a passport, or the money to get one
• Something personalized/engraved
• Jewelry, because I'm a girl and it's a typical want for us female-folk

I feel bad asking for money, but I'm at a point in my life where it would really solve about 99% of my problems. But that's nothing new or special to any other adult out there. Ultimately, I just want to spend time with my loved ones. I want to see their faces as they unwrap the gifts I've gotten for them and I want to soak up as much time with Dan as I can before he goes back to school. I try not to make it seem like I want too much, because Christmas is the time of year to  be thankful for what you have, and to spend time with family. I really only made this list because people keep asking me for one. 

Back To School Care Package!

I know it's already about halfway through September, but I wanted to wait for Dan to get this before I posted it's contents all over the internet. 

Back to school sounds kind of.. elementary school-ish, but that's what this is. Dan just started his senior year of college, and I put together a little care package to kick off the school year. If anyone needs a little inspiration for their own back to school care package, check this out! 

As you can see up there, I got him a bunch of food/snack food that he likes. So there's a box of pop-tarts - the thing he has for breakfast every day. I also got him a 3 pack of gum, lifesaver mints, and a box of beef jerky, although it's hidden under the gum. 

He's also a fan of Tangled, though I'm not sure he would admit that out loud. Hehe. I was at the Disney store a couple of weeks ago, saw Pascal and knew I had to get it for my man. 

Now for the letters :) 

In the "Open Me Right Away" letter, I wrote out a brief summary of all the stuff I got him, and what all of the letters were for, 

This group of letters is set aside for the first of each month up until May. They're little encouraging letters to remind him to stay strong and that I love him. 

This group of letters took some prep. I wrote out a  bunch of letters for him to take advantage of as he needs. I've seen this idea on Pinterest before and I've been wanting to do it for a while and I finally got the chance too :) The ones I did were:

Open when...

- you need to know how much I love you

- you miss me

- the distance is too much 

- I'm mad at you

- you're mad at me

- you're sick

- you're stressed

- you need a boost/encouragement

- you had a bad day

In each of them I put some sort of encouraging note, and a few bible verses for him to look up. In the "miss me" one I included a small USB drive with a bunch of songs that remind me of him, and all of the pictures we have together so he can look back on them and smile. 

I was really excited about this one, and I'm glad that it's not something that he goes through all at once, that the letters will last him a while. And he liked it too :) 

If you guys have any other suggestions for care packages, feel free to drop a comment :) I'm always looking for more ideas! 

9 Months

First of all I'm going to clear up the fact that the title of this post does not actually indicate that I'm pregnant. So family, if you're reading, get that thought out of your mind! 

I had the best surprise of my life this last weekend. Dan was packing his stuff to move back into his dorm, I was home alone because the rest of my family was house sitting for my uncle and I wanted to skype. But he said he was too busy to. On Saturday, I went to work thinking that I wouldn't be able to talk to Dan for a while because he was going to be moving his stuff into his dorm. So I was just sitting at home waiting for my mom to come pick me up so I could go help house sit. They finally got to my apartment and told me they needed my help carrying groceries in because they went shopping.

So I went outside...

Rounded the car...

And saw Dan standing there! 

It was.. the best day ever. I had day dreamed about something like that happening for the longest time. (The last 3 years, to be specific) So we got to spend one last weekend together before school started. And it was wonderful! We didn't have anything planned and we still had a lot of fun. We went out to eat the first night we were there, and then we had both gotten nominated to do the ALS ice bucket challenge so we recorded that together. We got to sleep all curled up and snuggly together, which was my favorite part. 

I wouldn't have traded that weekend for anything in the world.

But he's back at school now, and today was his second day of classes. 

So this marks the beginning of the end. We've been at this long distance deal for 3 years now and the end is finally in sight. We have to get through this next 9 months before we can start taking the next step, and it's going to require a lot of patience. It's not going to be an easy 9 months, but we've come too far to give up now. 

For my sanity, I hope it goes by quickly. 

May 9th, I'm ready for you. I've been waiting for you for a very long time and we're almost upon you. (That's his graduation date, if you didn't put it together yet) 

the gorgeous flowers my love got me while he was here <3

As Of Today...

I have loved you for 1,662 days.

That's equals out to 4 years, 6 months, and 19 days.

You've been on my mind for 39,864 hours,

Which means you haven't left my heart for 2,391,840 minutes,

Meaning that 143,510,400 seconds later, I'm still thinking of you and loving you with everything I have.

If I live to be 100, I will have loved you for 30,749 days

That's 84 years, 2 months, and 6 days.

If I live to be 100, you will have been on my mind for 737,976 hours,

And in my heart for 44,278,560 minutes.

Meaning that for 2,656,713,600 seconds, I wouldn't have been able to stop thinking about you and loving you with all of my heart and soul.








The Upper Penninsula - Memorial Weekend Recap

So I haven't been the best blogger, I know. I've been super busy! I spent all last week with Dan doing a whole bunch of different stuff, and then on Wednesday we decided that I was going to take a spontaneous road trip up north with him and stay the weekend. His dad lives up there, so it was mostly a trip to get him up there before he has to go back to Detroit for his internship.

So when we got there, his dad had a bonfire going and his aunt and uncle were up there. So all hung out for a while before everyone headed inside for bed. The next day I took a sauna (having a Finnish boyfriend has it's perks).

After that we took his 4-wheeler to go exploring around the area. And let me tell you, it gets really dusty out there. A lot of roads out there are dirt roads, so riding the 4-wheeler around, you kick up a bunch of dust and you get kind of dirty. For future reference, ya know. 

We stopped on a bridge that went over the Escanaba River, and then meandered under the bridge to continue exploring closer to the water. 

After we explored around the bridge we continued on our merry way to Boney Falls and the Boney Falls dam.

We finished our day off with watching both Madagascar movies. Because we're actually little kids. :)

On Sunday we went into town to spend a little time with Dan's grandpa and uncle. They live right on the Escanaba river, and they've got the most beautiful backyard. Dan did a little fishing while we were there, but didn't catch anything. 

After we got back from that, Dan and I loaded up the 4-wheeler again and took off, heading for a place to go fishing at. 

See a little peek of the river in that last picture? We found this cool set up way back in the woods, but the bugs were so horrible that we didn't stay for very long. We spent most of our time cruising around on all these back roads, and it was a really fun time. When we got back we took turns in the sauna again and watched a movie before bed time. Which I ended up falling asleep during. But can you blame me, with all the adventures going on here? 

Monday morning I got all my stuff packed up and said goodbye before I headed out. Leaving sucks, and it gets harder every time. At least I have a bunch of good memories to reflect on until I see him again. At least I got this pretty picture on the way home:

I took it as my own personal message from up there that soon we won't have to say goodbye anymore <3 

Holy Hill

Hey guys! I'm sure you're all wondering why I haven't been blogging this past weekend. No? Well I'm going to tell you anyway. This is why:

He's home! He got in on Friday night, so between spending time with him and (unfortunately) still having to work, I've been busy. Yesterday (Sunday) we decided to take a trip up to Holy Hill with my sister and her boyfriend for a double date of sorts. Holy Hill is this huge church around where I live, with Friars and everything. If you want to check it out, go here. Note: I'm not Catholic, I just really love the church.



Pretty awesome, huh? I really wanted to go inside, but there was a concert going on in there so we couldn't get in. If you want to see the inside, the website has a bunch of pictures. Since the church sits up on a bluff, the view from there is pretty spectacular. But even more so than that, the right tower you can see in the picture up there is open for people to climb. Let me tell you, I'm not afraid of heights, but climbing all the way up there is a little nerve-wracking but completely amazing at the same time. And the view, oh man.

It's one of those places that really make you think about how beautiful the world really is. When we look at it from the ground, we tend to miss the big picture. When you get to experience a view like this, though, you get a whole new perspective. 

Once we got back down from the tower, we checked out this area where it gave the whole history on the place, including the very first relic that was constructed in 1858. The cross was carried up the hill by the first reverend and his son-in-law. 

And then of course, there were some goofing offs after we left the park :)

I'm so in love with this guy.

LDL: The Ups of A LDR

May is finally here! I spent the first part of April wishing it would hurry up so I could get my butt over to Michigan, and then after I got back, I spent the rest of the month wishing it would hurry up and end so May could come because May means Dan's done with school and he's going to come back home for a little bit before he starts his internship. So I'm sorry, April, for wanting to rush right through you.

Although for the first day of May, the weather is terrible where I'm at. I won't even show you a picture, it's so bad. Overcast and rainy, ahhh hello May!

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I brushed on why LDRs royally suck, and I don't want to give anyone a wrong impression of them if you've never been in one. Believe me, I can't tell you how many times I've been asked why. Why I'm putting myself through this, why I don't just give up and date someone who lives closer to me. Why why why. I'm not saying LDRs are all rainbows and unicorns, because they aren't. LDRs are very hard and they take work; but that's not to say there aren't definite plus sides to all of this. List it up? Sure, why not!

1. LDRs help you to appreciate what you have

I have friends that take their SO for granted, and it drives me bat-shit crazy. I have to hear all about how they have to put up with this stupid thing that so-and-so does that irritates them and all I can think is "God, I would love to have to put up with that as long as it means I'm with him". I would rather be with him and be annoyed than not with him at all. It almost makes you love his "annoying" quirks. And I do, I love everything about him, even the things I hate.

 

2. It gives you something to work for

A bunch of people I know are just kind of existing. They go to work so they can pay their bills and that's it. Being in an LDR, it really gives you something to aim and work for. When I'm standing in line at the store, and I'm really being tempted by a candy bar, I'm more apt to put it down and think that it's an extra dollar that I could put towards moving out by him. It gives me a reason to get out of bed instead of hitting the snooze button and calling into work "sick".

3. You can do your own thing

What do I mean? Well, I can get stuff done without getting distracted. Does that sound bad? I hope not. If he was around, all I would want to do is spend time with him and do stuff with him and just be with him. I wouldn't get anything done besides show up for work. Maybe.

 

4. There's more than just the physical stuff

I know of couples that thrive off of the physical stuff in their relationship. In a LDR there is none of that. Thanks, Captain Obvious. But really, you learn to connect in a much deeper way. I love him for him, for who he is and what makes him him, not just his body, which I think a lot of people lack these days, especially the younger ones. He knows me, he knows exactly who I am and there's something about that that's just so powerful and awesome. He's my best friend before anything else, and that's the most important thing.

5. It's still exciting

I still feel like I'm in the honeymoon stage sometimes. We've been together for about 3 years now (on and off) and usually by this time most couples are past the giddy stage. I'm not. I still get butterflies when I'm on my way to see him. I think LDRs are great for keeping that spark alive, which is ultimately the key to keeping the relationship going.

6. The commitment is awesome

There's a certain level of commitment that comes with a long distance relationship. LDRs aren't for the weak, they aren't meant for little flings. If you're going to put all of your time and effort into making this work, you better be committed. And you have to expect the same from your SO. You two are in this together, for the long haul. You don't get into a LDR if you don't want to be together for a long time.

_____________________________

Again, there's a ton more I could list here but I won't make this too long. I hope that all of these ups outweigh the downs for you. I know they have for me. This is what I tell people when they ask me why I put myself through the struggle of a long distance relationship. There's no one else out there in the world that I want to be with. And if that means I have to spend 95% of my time away from him, then so be it. He is worth it, what we have is worth it. Whenever I'm having a rough day, that is what gets me through.

Have a great Thursday, guys. Friday is almost here!