I feel like I have spent this entire week trying to catch up from being gone for five days. Amazing how much can pile up in just a short five days.

This is not a complaint though, for my time away was well worth anything I had to face when I came back. I don’t think I can even describe how good the time was.

The super quick background to this trip: Over a year ago, I met and started dating a great guy. It turned out he was in the Coast Guard and due to move across the country before we’d even been dating a year. I had commitments here still. There wasn’t much chance of me moving with him. This left us one of two options – breaking up or trying long distance. That was one of the hardest decisions ever. Long distance came out ahead – which is where I stand right now – in the midst of a long distance relationship that spans from the East Coast (SC) all the way to the West Coast (CA). The story is much longer than this, but I wanted to condense it for you. This trip was our first time seeing each other since he moved in May. We figured it up – that’s five months apart.

I flew out to Arkansas to visit him while he was on leave to visit his family. It was a fun trip full of family time. Several of his family have October birthdays and so do I so there were celebrations all around. It was nice to be welcomed into everything once again (my first visit to Arkansas was back in May when he moved).

Some highlights from the trip (in no particular order):

1. Arriving at the airport and hearing “Charleston!” as I got off the escalator. Standing by a giant display of places to visit was J, smiling at me.

2. Going to the art museum which was full of some impressive art… (That is NOT a real man.)

3. Celebrating with his family.

4. Meeting more of the family that I didn’t get to meet in May.

5. Seeing him.  This alone could have made the entire trip.  Words can’t even describe that feeling.

I’m back in SC and he’s back in CA…facing this whole long distance thing again. It’s certainly not for the weak of heart. There is nothing easy about parting ways even if it’s only temporary.

Sorry for the sappy blog post – just wanted to share a bit of my trip with you.

I’ll be back on the road tomorrow – this time travelling to a Renaissance Festival! More on that when I return Sunday!