I love you because...

Lars and I talk every day. Some days it's just texts, a lot of days it's on the phone, and a few times a week it's a video chat. Inevitably, there are two things that we say to each other several times a day:

I love you &

I miss you

Serious Topics

One fallacy of communication in a long distance relationship can be the lack of discussion concerning serious topics. In general, as compared to geographically close couples, long distance couples communicate in a manner to accentuate positive affect and minimize differences. Long distance couples are more likely to have greater topic and conflict avoidance, and most importantly, less discussion of serious pre-marital questions. (Stafford, Laura “Geographic Distance and Communication During Courtship,” (2010) Communication Research, vol. 37 no. 2)

Long Distance Relationship Statistics and Facts

This is my first time making an infographic, so any advice or comments you have are appreciated! 

Making Visits Count

You're finally together. So how do you most make those visits count? Here are a few tips from both of us after a recent visit together:

Valentines from afar...

From Susie:
We decided to write this post together because, well, it's valentines day, and it's romantic. We aren't together today, but lucky for us, we will be tomorrow night! Lars is coming to Vermont this weekend. We've both said in previous posts that we make a goal to see each other once a month, so this is our february visit. Anyways, valentines day...

Balance

This post will be more about our relationship in general, but I wanted to bring up one of my favorite things about how us.

No matter what it is, money, time, or effort we make an effort to always, always, always make it balanced. 

Long Distance Dating Rules

1. Trust each other 

You're probably reading this, and thinking to yourself, duh. That's an obvious one for any relationship.

But for a long distance relationship to work, trust has to be a huge priority. Jealousy is going to play a role in any relationship. You need to both know, with certainty, that neither of you is going to do anything you wouldn't want your significant other to know about.

When you talk to each other, you will tell each other about people in your lives. And you need to know that just because one of you is spending time with someone that you could be attracted to that it is platonic and will not undermine your relationship.

I wish I had some good tips for building trust. It is difficult to do when you are not near each other. That's why it's a really hard one for long distance. You have to speak with both actions and words, and speak with sincerity.