Everyone has ideas in their minds of how they believe a long-distance relationship goes. I have been told "you know you're going to break up being that far apart, right?" and "someone is going to cheat on someone else first, you're halfway across the country how can you trust them?" It is mind blowing the lack of faith people have in a long distance relationship. How can I trust them? I've been dating my boyfriend for over a year and yet people still believe I shouldn't have trust in him because we're not together. I trust him with my life; he is my other half. This is what people believe a long-distance relationship is. Mistrust and breakups. I'm here to say it's not.

Long-distance means being able to look forward to getting in my bed and having someone to talk to over Facetime. Every night without fail I can tell someone about my day. If I ate food I did not like that day, I constantly have someone to listen to me talk about how terrible the experience was. He's there to hear everything I need to say, regardless of how simple or weird it might be.

Being so far apart all the time gives me something to look forward to. I never thought I would be excited about a date like March 10. There is absolutely nothing going on that day that I would typically be excited for. I get to see him. That's just about everything I need. I have countdowns, bright colored events on my calendar and reminders in my phone just set to when I have the opportunity to be with my person again.

It means I get to love my boyfriend and appreciate every moment with him just a little bit more. Every kiss and hug is just pure bliss because I know I won't have any for weeks at a time. The moments we share together will always be in my head replaying whenever I need them to remind me how nice each moment was. Every moment is important and we always find a way to make them worthwhile.

Despite the fact that we might not be home for special occasions, we can still find ways to make those special occasions good. Sending each other cute gift boxes to celebrate and an endless amount of calls and FaceTimes that day is one of the easiest ways to make me smile. It is the second best thing to actually being together.

Speaking of gift boxes, looking forward to receiving and watching your significant other receive care packages or gift boxes is an extra special feeling. It is very comforting to know that your other half picked out food and other goodies for you to have and enjoy. Watching your person open a box of gifts that you specifically picked out for him and have been waiting for him to open never fails to make me happy. These gifts are some of my most cherished things while we're away.

Choosing to be in this relationship is still the best decision I made regardless of the fact that we spend so much time apart. I absolutely love my relationship and I still would not change a thing even knowing what we've been through. The famous phrase, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" has been working pretty well for me. Being apart gives me the opportunity to see how much we've grown and how in love with each other we are. We will continue to defy what everyone believes about our relationship and what everyone tells us is going to happen. This is our normal and we will continue to have a strong relationship.