Reality Sets In...

I just got back from spending a nice, relaxing weekend with Kara down in Indy at her house. That all sounds fine and dandy; however, now I have to get back to work at school, with my entrepreneurial business, with VUTV, and getting my résumé and demo reel put together within the next month so I can start sending them out to potential employers.

Why am I complaining so much right now? It's simple, really. I'm trying to express the biggest difficulty with a long-distance relationship for me. Leaving Kara (or having her leave me) is never easy, but it is all the more difficult when I have to finish multiple graphic design projects, edit 4-5 different video projects and TV shows, take tests and quizzes, and get worry about trying to find a job come May. It would be a lot easier to say goodbye to Kara if I could just go play video games, watch movies, or go golfing all day. But that just isn't reality.

In a way, I guess you could say that I have come to associate Kara with weekends, because that is usually when I get to see her. That is to say, when I see Kara, I feel like it is a mini-vacation, regardless of what homework or video projects I have to finish. It is like there is a weight lifted from my shoulders when I see Kara, which is why I am so excited (yet dreading the long wait!) to see her in a couple of weeks.

Until then, I will just have to be productive and work hard on my video projects, VUTV, my résumé and demo reel, as well as my homework.

Time Flies Even When You're Not Having Fun

Somehow it has been eight days since either of us has blogged! Which makes me feel better in a way because that means it's only been 10 days since Jeff and I have seen each other, and I'm leaving in just two (long) hours to go see him!

I cannot tell you all enough how much easier life would be for me if Jeff and I were in the same city. I don't want to complain about my life too much (it's not bad at all), but every little thing wouldn't seem so bad if I had him to come home to. Obviously, we try to talk as much as possible, but the phone just isn't the same, and our schedules simply do not coincide! It's so frustrating for me that I start to fall asleep around 10pm and Jeff is just starting on his homework or is still at one of the many meetings he has to go to every night.

I have been emotional the last week. Last weekend, I went back to Bloomington for a night to see Ashton, my roommate from last year. It was very sad. Driving into campus was difficult because I felt like I had never left. I had to force myself to avoid North Jordan Avenue and Kappa Delta because I knew it would be impossible to not go inside and stay forever! I had an awesome time with Ashton and her boyfriend Michael talking and drinking and going to Nick's and Kilroys (not Sporttttsssss-haha, inside joke, I guess). It was just hard because I had no where to go. I hung out with my brother at his dorm and at Ashton's apartment, but I didn't have a home there. It was very weird.

I also realized that I take all of these things and internalize them and then it just shoots out of me at random times. For example, on Sunday morning after I slept from 10pm-11:30am (clearly enough sleep - clue #1 I am sad/lonely), I woke up to find that my mom had made french toast for everyone and didn't wake me up. I freaked out. I mean, I threw a bonafide tantrum. My mom said if I were three years old and acting like that, I'd be sent to time out. I replied that if I were three years old, she would have made me breakfast. Haha. Really, though, I was mad/sad because I was lonely and they had gone out all night Saturday leaving me alone and left out.

Then, things that don't even happen to me make me sad. On the Biggest Loser premiere, there was a woman whose husband, 5-year-old daughter and 2.5-week-old-son were all killed in a car accident. I sobbed! And, as I'm sitting here anxiously awaiting my day to end thinking about it, I am tearing up a little! As if that weren't enough, I finished reading My Sister's Keeper last night...saddest book ever, and I won't spoil it for you because it was also a wonderful, thought-provoking book. Anyway, I had sad dreams all night because of it. I don't remember them, but I remember the feelings I got from them.

I'm pretty much going no where fast with this post, so I'll try to get on track. Jeff is so busy that I think he forgets what a sensitive person I am and has teased me a lot for being sad for no reason. That added to the fact that I feel like we haven't talked very much in the last 10 days just really adds to my sadness, so it's a very good thing that I'm traveling up there this weekend. We won't have as much time to spend together as we did over Labor Day, but I'm sure it will be wonderful anyway.

This Week In Review

As you guys have already read from Kara's post, we had an awesome weekend together over Labor Day. She came up Friday before I had to go to my class, which was awesome because she was able to sign the package when my new computer and her iPod Touch arrived!

Kara already gave you the recap of the weekend, so I will just tell you that all-in-all, it may be one of the best weekends we have spent with each other. However, with any great weekend comes the brutal aftermath.

What aftermath you may be asking? Well first off, I had a blast with Kara this weekend. But now that she is gone, I miss her that much more. If that wasn't enough, I also have had to play catch up on homework, work for VUTV, and work on my résumé and job search as I prepare to graduate. That is part of the reason I have been so slow to write a new post for the blog (which I am very sorry about!).

I am just now catching up on everything, while also getting really excited about VUTV (the student run television station at Valpo that I am a co-founder of). I already have one show in production, and have been asked to be the host for two other shows that may happen in the near future.

I have also been asked to record a segment from my radio show (GrecANDSchoeck - follow us on Twitter!!) for SourceStock, which is a the biggest concert in Valparaiso every year. SourceStock is put on my WVUR, the student run radio station here at Valpo, and is a really big deal to not only VU students, but also the entire town and community.

So, I guess I got on a rant about all the things going on in my life, but that is why I have been slow to post here at the blog. I should hopefully be able to be more consistent now that I am falling into my school routine. The only problem is that I don't get to see Kara for two another week or so. I feel as though the real emotions of missing Kara will start to come out early next week and continue to grow as it gets closer and closer to seeing her again...but that is the way it always is.

Amazing Weekend!!!!

Oh my gosh, this weekend was so much fun! Even if we hadn't done anything, I still think it would have been great just because we were looking forward to it so much after not seeing each other for 2 weeks!

A recap...

I arrived in Valpo Friday afternoon. Even though I took the day off, I went to the dentist in the morning to get my two of my teeth bonded and one filed down (long story), but it was quick and I was on the road by 11am! So, by gaining an hour by heading to the region, I arrived 12:30pm Valpo time! This gave us a little over an hour of hang-out time before Jeff had to go to his one and only class. We weren't feeling like cooking Friday night, so we went to Don Quijote, as Jeff said we would. I wasn't very hungry, but we got tapas (Jeff ate most of them) and a HUGEEE pitcher of white sangria (soo good, I really want to try to make it myself soon). I was not prepared for it to be so large, but we almost finished it, and according to Jeff, I was fairly tipsy. I beg to differ.

We watched like 10 movies on TBS, HBO, etc. over the weekend, so that's what we did Friday night. I can't remember all the movies - Failure to Launch, I Am Legend, a little Mean Girls, Baby Mama and many more. Saturday morning, we got up and made breakfast and basically just hung out all day. We went to Fridays for lunch, went grocery shopping, made tacos for dinner, and went and saw All About Steve with Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper. Bradley Cooper makes this movie a little comical, but I wouldn't recommend it all. While it has a nice message, the plot is totally unrealistic and un-funny. (The funniest part though, was a line by Bradley Cooper's character, Steve. Sandra Bullock - Mary Magdalene Horowitz, a Jewish/Catholic crossword creator, is constantly quoting famous people. She asks Steve if he knows who said something, he doesn't know, but the answer she says is, "Jesus." He asks, "Did Jesus tell you to come here?" because she is a socially awkward girl who he thinks is crazy and is basically stalking him. Pretty funny when said, maybe not when written. Oh well.)

Sunday was relaxing with more eggs for breakfast, more movies on tv, and our leftover tacos for an early lunch. We worked on the websites for my friend Stacy's and my new card business - SK Cards. (See twitter.com/skcards and skcards.blogspot.com to learn more!) Then, we headed over to Crown Point to see my mom's extended family. My mom's cousin lives there and was throwing a birthday party for her dad (my Great Uncle George). My grandma was also attending, and her birthday is also this week, so I wanted to go since I never get to see her, and Valpo is only about 20 minutes from Crown Point. It was a nice time, the Serbians treated us very well, and we really enjoyed the food - especially the delicious steaks!

After the cookout, Jeff and I headed to Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, MI for an impromptu meeting with his sister Jen and brother-in-law Chris. We had a few drinks, Jeff dabbled in 3-card poker, and we all played our hand at Roulette (my first time ever gambling). Only Jen won at Roulette, but Chris won big right as we arrived at 3-card poker, so he called us his good luck charms! It was a nice evening - we all had dinner together in the casino, and Jeff and I headed back to Valpo. We were evidently exhausted from the day's events, as we layed down at 10pm to take a nap and didn't wake until 8am! At least we got some good sleep in!

Monday was pretty uneventful, as we were bummed our extended weekend was over. Jeff had class at 2pm, so we just hung out in the morning and went to lunch at a pizza place. (Jeff will have to remind me of the name, but it was really good!) After lunch, we had about an hour to kill, so we watched tv and I went through Jeff's iTunes to decide what I wanted to take for my new iPod! Jeff just ordered a new Macbook Pro and got a free iPod touch with it, so I am the lucky one who is taking it on! I'm excited to download all my music on it tonight when I get home - Thanks Jeff!!

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend. There were no stresses, no arguments, and we were just very happy together. It makes me miss him even more now that we have another 2 weeks apart, but we are definitely falling into a routine of Jeff being at school and me working at home, which is good. I always look forward to seeing Jeff and wish I could see him more, but I think it's good that we have lives separate from each other - it gives us more to talk about and a different perspective to see the world from.

Weekend Preview

So, Kara is coming up to Valpo to visit me this weekend and I am super excited! What's even better is that it is pretty much a four day weekend because of Labor Day. So Kara will get up here around 12 or 1 p.m. tomorrow and be able to stay until around that same time on Monday!

I have high hopes for this weekend seeing as it has been two weeks since I have seen Kara. I just want to be able to spend as much time together as possible, no matter what we are doing. But...I do have a general idea for the weekend's activities.

Tomorrow night will start with a nice home cooked meal that Kara and I will conjure up as soon as I get back from class. After that there are two options we could go with. We can either go to a movie (or two, seeing as Kara wants to see two different movies), or have a nice night in and maybe rent some movies or go through my personal movie collection.

Then Saturday will probably be a team effort of Kara and I setting up a Twitter account and Facebook Fan Page for her new card company that she is starting up with her friend, Stacy. We will also look into starting a blog and a website for the card company (hopefully making it an e-commerce site, but I will have to do some research before getting too in-depth). Saturday night I plan on taking Kara to Don Quixote, which is a wonderful Spanish restaurant in downtown Valparaiso that reminds Kara of her semester spent abroad in Spain during her junior year at IU.

As for Sunday and Monday, I plan on just getting as much QT (quality time) in as possible. That is always my general plan when Kara and I get to see each other because we continually have to make up for lost time. I'll do my best to write a review of how the weekend went come Monday night or Tuesday.

I hope you all have a great Labor Day Weekend!

Time Management

I like Kara's previous post and I thought I would give it a shot to explain how I handle seeing my Kara, my friends, and my family. A little preface to start though, this post may sound a little cold as if I view spending time with my friends, family, and Kara as a matter of time management, and to a certain extent that is the case; however, I do not put restrictions on the time spent with them.

Anyway, I try to maximize my time with Kara in any way possible. She usually makes this easy for me by sending me emails with her schedule for the month, that way we can plan the weekends we will be able to see each other as well as the ones we won't. Once I know which weekends I will be seeing Kara, I can talk with my friends and family and see which weekends I can spend time with them. And then I try to optimize my time during the week so that I can spend time with my college friends.

It's really an in-depth procedure I go through to accommodate everyone in my life... including myself. Haha ok so maybe it's an in-depth procedure that Kara does for me to accommodate everyone in my life. Either way, I am always trying to maximize my time spent with Kara, my friends, and my family!

Friends

I have no clue what to blog about, but my vice president is out of town and my president is on a conference call, so I thought I should take the opportunity.

Jeff and I haven't seen each other for a while, so there's really nothing to report on our relationship. In fact, he has started school and is busy with all his editing and tv station stuff, and I go to bed at 10:30pm (only 9:30 Jeff's time), so we've only been talking a couple minutes here and there every day. We have also both been spending a lot of time with our friends, which is a very good thing.

While I always look forward to the times that I get to go visit Jeff (especially this weekend, as I have a four-day weekend!), I sometimes feel like I'm missing out on things at home. I know I could be sleeping in, helping my parents around the house, seeing my brother at school, and going out with my friends. I was able to go out with friends both Friday and Saturday night last weekend, and it was so nice just to hang out with the girls, go to the bars, and talk all night, just like old times.

I think when you're in a relationship, especially a long-distance one, balance is the key, as we've both said on many occasions in this blog. Moreso, though, I think you have to be willing to give some things up. Obviously it would be nearly impossible for me to keep up with all my friends from Indy, all my friends from out of town, and Jeff, so some people/activities become more important than others (not that my feelings for any of these people have changed, but there's just not enough time in the day). I'm getting much better at keeping up with people as I get more acclimated to my work schedule, and I definitely want to spend at least one day every weekend I'm in Indy with my friends.

The truth is that my family, Jeff, and I come first - and I need to find a place for everything and everyone else. (And work, which I'd love to not have room for!) On the other hand, I don't want to be in a relationship that causes me to lose my friends because that would be an unfulfilling life. I am glad that for right now, Jeff and I really do have our own time and are apart from each other so we can make sure that we always have our friendships, but at the end of the day, he is the only one I want to talk to.

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On a totally unrelated note, last night my friend Stacy and I made baby shower invitations for one of her friends, which is now the beginning of our card business! This is more of a hobby turned into something we thought we could actually do, so stay tuned for information about our upcoming website, twitter page, and facebook page and what you can order from us!