It’s 2017 and like it or not, interracial relationships are becoming more and more common. As a product of an interracial relationship, it's a little hard for me to have a relationship that wouldn't be considered interracial.

Unless I find someone with similar racial makeup, I am eternally dating outside of my race. I have had boyfriends here and there, but none that I've taken too seriously.

With that in mind, I have learned a lot from my experiences in my current relationship.

1. Interracial dating isn't normal for everyone.

I always forget that not everyone has been as exposed to interracial dating and marriages as much as I have. When I met my boyfriend the idea of interracial dating was just that, an idea. I had to learn that he wasn’t as used to people giving weird looks or weird comments because it was all normal for me.

2.There is a lot of judgment, and it's not going away.

Even though we are in 2017, and the statement “Love is love” is printed on every social media platform you can think of, it is still hard us to love who we want to love without judgment. People continue to stare and pass judgment and make it seem as if we’re in a petting zoo. It is just something I’ve learned to ignore.

3.People will ask questions.

Now that I am on my own, I have had to adjust to random questions about my race, my relationship, and why I chose to be with my boyfriend. Even though a lot of questions tend to be phrased a little awkwardly, it usually doesn’t come from a hateful place; people just seem to be curious.

4.There will never be equally perfect lighting for couple photos.

Being two completely different skin tones, taking a photo in direct sunlight doesn’t always work for my blonde, blue-eyed, fair-skinned boyfriend. Just like taking pictures in the dim lighting of my dorm room doesn’t always turn out the best for me. Sometimes the lighting just stinks all around. It’s a constant struggle to find the right camera angle and lighting to take an Instagram worthy photo.

5.There are things about each other that we will never understand, and that's OK.

My boyfriend and I are completely opposite. There are some days that I have absolutely no idea what he is saying, and all I do is smile and nod and vise versa. However, we’ve come to appreciate our differences and even learn from them. There's honestly nothing I love more than watching his eyes light up when he gets excited about learning how to wire an elevator even though it all sounds like utter gibberish to me.

6. Family time is a mess, to say the least.

To say we come from completely different families would be a gross understatement. We essentially came from polar opposites. Sometimes that’s not always the greatest when it comes to going to each other’s family functions. Sometimes it’s a complete culture shock and we have to take a minute to debrief, process, and dive right back in again. I’ve never felt more comfortable yet uncomfortable in a room full of people in my life and it’s very confusing,

7. In some cases, friends and family aren't as supportive as we thought (or hoped) they would be.

I had to learn and accept that friends and family don’t have to accept and like who you’re in a relationship with. On both sides of my relationship there are issues with friends not liking the significant other, making questionable comments, and sometimes straight up pretending that they don’t exist. It’s an everyday thing to remind each other that their opinions aren’t the end all be all of the relationship. (Even though their acceptance would make things a lot easier.)

8.The only opinions that matter are ours.

There will always be people that want to give their opinions, and they will, but the only people in this relationship are my boyfriend and I. We are the only two that actually matter. As he says to me all of the time, "As long as we're happy, nothing else matters."