It has begun.

For months now, I have been doing a "long distance relationship," but not really. While at the beginning of summer, I thought I would never see my Prince Charming, but in fact we have managed to see each other almost once a week. Wow, I drove to SC entirely too much this summer, (but totally worth it!) So while we have had the joy of starting our relationship actually spending time together, I now realize summer is almost over and I won't be able to drive back and forth as I please, and neither will he. Sigh.

I cannot believe it is almost August, where did summer go?! In just a week I will be moving into a new apartment, most likely the last place I will live in Auburn. Talk about a reality check. After that, the chaos will begin. A week and a half of sorority recruitment, my last one ever, and I will officially start my senior year of college. OK, senior-ish year, so I'm doing an extra semester, I get an extra football season!

Needless to say, the upcoming fall is bittersweet. I will want to treasure every moment with my friends, doing the things I have taken for granted over the past four years. The most difficult part will be knowing that my best friend is 8 hours away. He will go back to school (prison) right after I do, and after that, who knows when we will be able to see each other. He will be busy playing toy soldier, and I'll be experience my senior year of college, two lives that don't exactly overlap.

I guess you can say that this reality has finally hit me. I realize that it will be a true LDR, more time spent apart than together. And my ever so logical father has already informed me that, "You can't be driving up every weekend to go see soldier boy." Yes, Dad, I realize. While it will be tempting to hop in my car and go visit, since he can't exactly come and go as he pleases, but I have to accept that's not logical.

I knew when I met him, my life is in Alabama, his is in South Carolina. So yesterday while I was bored and feeling a little sad over my recent revelation, I decided to Google, I was sure someone had some great LDR advice, or stories that would comfort me. Well, while I did find some helpful hints (but nothing I didn't really already know, use Skype, talk a lot, etc.) there was also really crummy advice!

1. Have a "movie date." Pick out the same movie, pop some popcorn, curl up on the couch, get on Skype and 1-2-3- PLAY! Ta-da, you're watching a movie together. Orrrr, you're feeling like an idiot.

2. Daily Report Cards. (Note: this would be a good idea if you were in separate countries and phone use was limited.) At the end of the day, type up a synopsis of what you did. Include as many pictures, videos, etc. of your day! Yeah, I pretty much do this on the phone already, minus the pic messages.

3. Spend 1-2 with no communication. Take a few days and completely cut off all communication with each other, no phone calls, texts, e-mails, nothing. Doing this will make you miss each other and remind you why your in it. Um, every time I hear my sweet toy soldier on the phone, I am reminding why I'm doing this, I'd rather not ignore each other, but thanks anyway!

So since my search left me with nothing, I came to this conclusion. Jump in head first. Just figure it out as you go along. I may be biased, but we have a great relationship, we will be able to figure this LDR out. I didn't say it was going to be easy, but I know it will definitely be worth it.

My senior year is supposed to be the best, and I'm going to make sure it is. I want to enjoy every piece of Auburn before I leave and return home to my beloved SC.

21 going on 12

In high school, I did some baby-sitting just like most girls do. I remember one particular horror story that I will never forget. I was at the beach and a family friend asked me to watch her children at the pool for a few hours. No problem. Well, it was a 9 year-old-girl, a 7 year-old-boy and a 2 year-old-girl. Sounds like a handful, right? Well, to make it even better, the 2 year old (who obviously can't swim) didn't have any floaties with her, so I literally had to hold her the entire time. She was absolutely convinced that she could swim and she didn't WANT me to hold her. She kicked, screamed, hit, yelled, anything she could do to get me to let her swim. Well, as the person in charge, I knew if I put her down, she would drown. Needless to say, it was a very long afternoon. She thought I was being mean by not letting her swim on her own, but I was simply protecting her! That was my job, to watch the children, make sure they didn't drown!

Lately I've been realizing that we never grow out of that. A 2 year old thinks they can swim, a 16 year old thinks they rule the world, and a 21 year old thinks they are an adult. I have two brothers and we are all at different and interesting ages. My older bro is 22 and my younger bro is 17, leaving me in the middle at 21. Even though my oldest bro is only a year and a half older than me, I always thought he was sooo cool and mature (yeah, right.) I always thought, in a year when I am that age, I will be grown up too! But the older I've gotten, I've yet to feel "cool" and "mature". My younger brother provides a lot of entertainment because as a 17 year old between high school and college he obviously thinks he's grown up and invincible. I know that I know better than he does, but he thinks he knows everything, and there's no telling him otherwise!

You know how it goes, you think you know everything, and your parents laugh at you. The older you get, the more you realize that your parents, in fact, aren't crazy and that they actually DO know what they are talking about. (I hate that I'm admitting this.) I think the older you get, the more you realize you know nothing and have nothing figured out.

I thought at 21 I'd be all grown up and have it all figure out. HA! Nothing could be further from the truth. I don't have all the answers, I'm still making mistakes, I'm still figuring things out. But I keep having to remind myself that it is OK to not know everything, and it's always OK to ask for help along the way. No one can get through life alone, that's why God gave us a family. No matter what you do, they will always be there for you, and even when you don't think so, they might be able to help you along the way.

I don't think I'll ever have all the answers, I'll always be a 2 year old girl trying to swim when I can't, but I know that I have people in my life to stop me from drowning. So I'd say I'm doing just fine.