On the Road Again

Last night I headed out onto the highway to see my guy. I was originally planning on sleeping in a little this morning and then leaving later today at a reasonable hour but I just needed to get on the road. I ended up packing my car last night pretty late (well really late) for a considerably long drive of 5 hours. However, if you've ever been in a long distance relationship you would understand. There are truly no words to describe how much you can miss a person. After spending over a month apart I couldn't wait till Friday. I couldn't wait till the morning. When I'm going to see him driving at night doesn't really bother me. The anticipation of seeing PK is always enough motivation and excitement to keep me awake.

So now I'm here and I can't tell you how good that feels.

It might be a little crazy taking off two days of school with finals looming but I'm in desperate need of a break. Honestly it felt really good to just up and leave. I was getting overwhelmed with my workload and the amount that I was starting to miss PK was dragging me down even further. I will still be able to stay on track here even if it is a few hours away from school. When he's in class I'll be cranking out a paper and studying for a test next week. There's nothing like studying with him. It makes me feel like we're a normal couple!

If I could give anyone advice on a long distance relationship it would be: it's possible. There are so many negative assumptions of the feasibility of long distance relationships in college. If you're committed, there's no reason it can't work. It is hard. I can't put into words how hard it is to go through stressful days or even happy days without having your best friend there to share it but I can tell you it is worth it.

Here's to a weekend of pure bliss,
Emily

Relationships trump Spanish papers.

So I'm type A. I'm constantly moving, constantly working, constantly go-go-go and it's hectic. In the midst of school and life in general I easily get caught up in work and meetings that I fail to put my true priorities first and focus more on the busyness in my life. I've been working more on taking a breath. Because quite frankly sometimes I just need to chill out. The work will get done, it always gets done but I need to quit putting off the things that are truly important.

Yesterday I got some time to really step back and reflect on a lot, mainly focusing on everything in my life that is good. I thought about everything in my life that is rewarding and everything that I want to hold onto. And this is something that I think I need to do more often. I've never been consistent on journaling or keeping a diary but I do need to work towards a way of stepping back and checking in on my life. I think sometimes we get so caught up in jobs and school and work that we fail to recognize when things are falling behind and most of the time it is the most important things that we push aside.

I'm personally at fault about pushing relationships aside in order to focus on work. I push conversations to the next day and I opt out of social events with my girlfriends to finish up projects that I could work on later. However in doing so, I take little steps away from these relationships and I underestimate the toll that this takes. I need to stop assuming that these relationships will stay strong even if I'm not making deliberate efforts to strengthen them. This is such a faulty way of thinking and I'm working on changing this. We can't build and keep relationships if we don't work at them.

Friends, family and significant others trump work any day so why are we focusing so much time on work?

My problem is I need to breathe. I need to take a step back and call my dad on the phone. I need to walk to my friends house and vent on her couch (wine optional). I need to Skype my boyfriend and simply smile. Because ultimately, at the end of the day that spanish paper didn't really matter and that budget project was just a grade but these relationships I'll have for the rest of my life. And that, is what I need to be focusing on.


Feeling grateful,
Emily