Relationships are hard. Long-distance relationships are even worse.

When I have to go more than a day without seeing my boyfriend, I almost can't bear it.

But now, with hundreds of miles between us and weeks between visits, I'm barely hanging on to my sanity.

It's moments like these that I praise the creators of FaceTime (shout-out to Roberto Garcia).

I've had friends who went to different colleges or lived a ways away, so I didn't really think this would be much different.

Boy, was I wrong.

I know it could be worse. We could be in different time zones, countries or even halfway across the world from one another. But those few hours feel eternal, especially on cold nights when I'm cuddled up in bed with his face displayed on my little screen.

Distance also has its own set of rules in real life that are very different than those I learned in math class.

You see, I was always told that distance made things appear smaller. However, it seems to have the opposite effect on disagreements. Small issues now seem monumental and completely unmanageable.

Our growth process seems to be suffocated, like there's a knot in our hose.

It's a funny thing, but it seems the more distance between two people, the tighter the reigns on their boundaries become.

There are a lot of things we would never think of doing when we were together (and within the same jurisdiction), but suddenly we have all this space and free time and it's as if the lines are a little blurred.

To make up for the distance, there are many things we have to overcompensate for. We talk more, we're more lovey-dovey (totally vomit-worthy at times), we put in more effort and give each other as much attention as possible.

When trying to focus on classes, extracurricular activities, social lives and maintaining our sanity, expending so much energy into our relationship can be very stressful.

And, of course, we mess up because we're only human.

Relationships are hard, but the best ones are worth it. And no matter how often we mess up or fall short, no matter how many times we feel like we should just give up, we're given a million more reasons to stay.