Three

Today at work, I didn't wear earrings. This made me self-conscious all day long. It always does. I feel naked without earrings. It's amazing, because when I don't brush my hair, I'm totally unfazed.

I've had this blog for three years now and it's cathartic to periodically transcribe tidbits of my life; even if most are random glimpses of various days with no rhyme or reason, like my evident delusion that earrings drastically improve my appearance.

My first post, January 3, 2010 came just two days after I started dating my current boyfriend, Stephen. We went to Red Robin and a movie, which is basically the grandest thing you can do in central PA, especially when you're stuck at Bucknell for a tortuous slew of winter-break basketball practices. We've been dating for three years now.

One school. Four states. Two jobs. Three years.

clearly didn't brush my hair that day

So, I wanted to give a shout-out to Stephen in this post for sticking with me for one eighth of my life! (Correct me if I'm wrong, math minor. I busted out Excel for that one but you know I suck at fractions.)

I'm not going to shower him with compliments, because that's not his thing, so also an additional shout-out to all my friends out there in long distance relationships :)

This week, I was in Chicago and he was in California (both for work). So, although we are usually a 12-hour drive away from each other, we were now TWO TIME ZONES apart. Cue the violinist. I have a new found respect for people in relationships crossing time zones and certainly military couples.

First off, I just recently learned time zones. I'm serious. Next job interview:

Them: What's the most important thing you learned at your last job?
Me: Time zones and how to iron.

I must say I'm a quick learner because I've really got them down now. When I woke up at 6:30 central I was fully capable of subtracting two and realizing it was too early to text good morning. :(

I know, how nauseating that I found that sad. Keep it together, Joyce. But it gets worse, since he gets notified of my tweets via text message - I couldn't tweet until at least 9:30am. THE SACRIFICES I MAKE.

But in all seriousness - long distance is hard. There's a reason you have friends who have broken up "because of the distance." With Stephen, there's no doubt that it's worth every minute of every phone call and every penny of every plane ticket. I sincerely hope every girl I know can find a guy who treats her the way Stephen treats me.

Happy (late) 3 year anniversary, Stephen! I love you.