I don't think anyone wakes up one morning and says to themselves, "I think I want to be in a long distance relationship."

No one really plans or intends to find themselves hundreds to thousands of miles from the one they love most. It just kind of happens.

And while no long distance relationship is truly "ideal" there is a lot of beauty that can be found within the intricate (also read quite challenging) pieces of one.

1. Reunions... They are the very best. And you countdown every single day (minute) between them

Embracing the one you love for the first time in months is better than anything money can by, hands down.You can't seem to get enough of them and it's just the sweetest to be reminded of how much you adore the person you have been separated from.

2. You look forward to your daily FaceTime calls

Seeing and hearing your significant other at the same time is as good as long distance gets, and you take full advantage of it. God bless the creator of FaceTime.

3. Airline tickets are... expensive... but worth every penny

Flying isn't cheap. And it isn't always the most convenient... Hello getting stranded in an airport, layovers and lost baggage...But you continue to buy the tickets and put up with the not so superb services because it's more than worth it to spend a few days with your favorite person.

4. You know each other's schedule... To the T

You write down their class and work schedules and come to know them by heart... And you also take advantage of filling their free time that they would have spent napping with a mid-day phone call just to hear their voice.

5. You pretty much text all. day. long.

There's always a "good morning" text and a "good night" text and a few hundred in between. You pretty much tell each other every detail of your day and it is awesome.

6. Your biggest arguments are over the other being "too busy"

For. Real. It's already hard enough to miss being with your love... Add in missing them in the forms of texting/calls. That brings the challenge to another level.

7. You can tell how the other is feeling simply by their "texting tone"

You know how they text... And if they simply say "ok" or even worse "ok (with a period after it) you know there's something up.

8. You miss everything about them

Everything. Looking at them. Seeing them smile. Holding their hand. Their hugs. The way they walk. Simply their presence. Everything.

9. You learn to love even when it's really difficult to. And you learn to extend grace even when you really don't want to.

Let's be real, sometimes it's hard to love. And it's ever hard to forgive. Especially when you're a thousand miles apart and you're upset. Really upset. But you do anyways. And you never regret extending love and grace. Ever.

10. You learn to put their feelings and needs before yourself sometimes because relationships aren't always 50/50, some days it's more like 90/10. And that's the true beauty of love.

Let's be REALLY real. This is reality. Some days you will give 110 percent. Others you will be lucky to give 10 percent. And that's OK. Because when you find a love that's real... You realize just how beautiful it is to love unselfishly, unconditionally, and without expectations.

Long distance relationships are not for the faint of heart. They are hard work. They take laying your needs down sometimes. They require setting aside time and sometimes not doing something to do so. They take looking beyond yourself, making time every day even when you're busy, extending the kind of grace you would want extended to you, and loving harder even on the roughest of days.