Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

For the last two weeks, I have had the people I love the most come and visit me in DC.  Two weeks ago, my Mom and sister came for five days and I was able to take a day off from work to spend extra time with them.  We had a blast and I was soo happy to see them.

Brenden came this past weekend for less than 48 hours.  We hadn't seen each other since mid-May so he was due for a visit.  While the weather was gloomy, we had the best weekend.  The best we had had in a long, long time.  Before we went our separate ways this summer it seemed fighting was the only way we could communicate.  I was dreading the distance.  I thought, if we can't communicate when we live two miles away from each other how the hell are we going to be able to communicate 1,200 miles apart?

The distance made us realize we had to work on our biggest problem, communication, or this was going to fail.  I would not wish long distance relationships on anyone.  However, after these last eight weeks, I would say it is worth a shot.  Before May, I was the most skeptical person when it came to long distance relationships actually working.  I've had plenty of people who have dealt with long distance to show me it can work but I never had enough faith in myself or someone else to actually make it work.

The key to making the distance work is communication.  That's all it is.  And of course a little give and a little take.  B and I were able to have longer conversations without fighting because the only connection we have had is talking to each other.  Before you leave each other, make sure you have a date set for the next time you are going to see each other.  It makes the 'good-bye' or 'see you later' a little easier.

My best friend, Holley and her husband Zack, and my parents were both excellent role models in making a long distance relationship work.  I have been so lucky to have them help me through this distance and provide me with tips on how to make it work.  It is possible.  Now with (hopefully) only ten months left in our year apart we will be able to stay together and be a stronger couple because we challenged our relationship.

If you have tips on how to make a long distance relationship work, please leave your tip below.  I would love to have some more insight to this.  It has only been two months into this long year for us so we still have many more hurdles to jump over.  If you have questions about making your long distance relationship work, I am no expert by any means, but I am willing to provide the  best insight I can. 

Human Touch

In a lot of my classes over the course of four years at Auburn, we have talked about the world become globalized.  Some may ask, what is that? What does it mean?  The world we live in has become so connected with countries and people that live on the other side of the globe.  Our world really is flat.  A conference call can be done with headquarters in Japan and a company in the United States within seconds.  Making it so managers do not have to visit headquarters or CEO's never have to check up on their individual companies.

To me, this is a lazy excuse.  We has humans (leaving businesses out of this) think it is just okay to just text one of our best friends to see how they have been.  We think because we are friends on Facebook and see all their posts that we are somehow still be emotionally connected to that person.  How is our friend we are stalking suppose to know we actually care if all we do is 'like' a status and never actually have a real live conversation with that person?

Telephones (meaning picking up the phone and having a conversation) have become extinct to some people.  This is a huge problem.  Especially because our alternative is texting and driving.  You can't tell me that you get the full idea of what someone is trying to get across is a lyrical status, a silly Tweet, or a text message.  And you definitely can't pay full attention when you are driving (well at least you shouldn't be).  One thing I am trying to make a habit of is not using my phone in the car.  It is extremely hard!  I am still guilty of using it on occasion but the more I think about how important an actual conversation is with someone the less my phone matters to me.  Talking to the anonymous world of Twitter is not the last point of contact I want to have before I die.

Let's not lose connections or relationships with someone because all we do is "talk" online.  We'll lose sight of who people really are when all we do is look at what they post on the internet.  This goes for people and businesses.  One of the most important things I have learned in the past four years as a Hotel and Restaurant Management major is that human touch (not a physical touch) is the most important part of a guests' experience.  It should be the same for a person to person contact as well.  The human touch experiences mean much more to a guest (or person) than a reply to a Facebook post.

Disclaimer: I am not saying that all of social networking is terrible because everyone knows I use every bit of it.  However, if that is the only form of communication you have with someone you might want to reevaluate that relationship.

To reconnecting with the world,

Kayla

Let's Catch Up

A lot has happened since my last post on February 1st.  Birthday's, Anniversary's, Holiday's, and Races!  Let's start from the beginning...

February 10th was Brenden's birthday.  He turned 22 and like any college kid just wanted a relaxing night not to worry about college and life.  Well, on Friday Brenden accepted an offer from a company in Arkansas and has an official start day for May! I am very excited for him and proud that he secured a job way before graduation.  And I might be a little jealous. :/  Before the job offer, Brenden kept telling me he has always wanted to see Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw in concert.  The first few weeks of January, I found out Kenny and Tim were touring together this summer and just had to get tickets for him for his birthday.  So I did.  But the concert is in Atlanta... and he just accepted a job in Arkansas.  Let's just hope he can some how make it there because he was very excited about the tickets (at least he acted like it!).  

After a fun night with friends, we made our way to Birmingham were I was running my second half-marathon on Sunday.  We made it to Birmingham and had the opportunity to hang out with my family and see my friend that set Brenden and I up.  It was so great to see her and spend the night at her cute little apartment in Birmingham.  

Sunday morning, bright and early, in the freezing cold, my Dad, Katherine, Allison, Allison's little brother and Dad and I ran a half-marathon in Personal Record (PR) times for all of us.  I cut 23 minutes off of my time from last year and was able to keep up with my Dad which is an accomplishment in itself.  Allison, Jacob, and Katherine completed their first ever half marathon in 20 degree weather with a wind chill of 15 degrees! It was such an accomplishment for all of us and I, for one, could have never cut that much time off of my first one if it hadn't been for the love and support from my family and friends.  Also, I never could have kept a 9:17 pace if it wasn't for my Dad's competitive spirit and drive to push me to be the best he knows I can be.

After running two half-marathons, having support is definitely a key component in running the long distances.  You don't realize how big of a factor that little emotion has on someone.  Knowing that people want you to succeed and do well makes a world of difference when you do anything but particularly long distances.  Now I am trying to decide, "What's next?" Another half-marathon, a full marathon, or a sprint triathlon? Decisions decisions.  As my sister would say, I am mentally ill!! :)

After running and driving back to Auburn shortly after the race, Brenden and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary of dating.  This sounds silly as I type it (like I'm in high school or puppy love) but to me it was something to celebrate.  I'm not big on Valentine's day so our celebration was just on Sunday night.  I got a gorgeous watch and stylish sunglasses from Brenden and I reminded him of the two tickets I gave him on Friday. :)  Brenden made an excellent steak dinner and we were able to talk about all the changes that are soon to happen to the both of us.

In all of my classes, we are reminded constantly "there should be an action plan for any event, it should be updated regularly, communication is vital, and recapping is of the utmost importance".  That's kind of how our talk was on Sunday night.  What's going well, what can we/I improve on, and what is coming up that we need to plan for.  The past two years have been a growing period for the both of us (he is going to be so mad I'm writing about this on the Internet).  We have developed as young adults and are about to embark on a big step into our adulthood.  We still have a lot to learn about each other and we continue to do that everyday.  I've heard before, if you can make it to the two year mark, you can make it forever.  I don't know how true that is but I sure hope it is. :)

Until next time,

Kayla