How did/do you deal with the distance?

Phone calls, lots of emails and instant messanging. The thing I used to do when we couldn't talk was make a card. I had a bag of paper, stickers and paper scraps. It was fun and kept me busy until I felt better. Kepping busy with work helped a lot.

Oh yea, we dated 3 years before getting married June 2005. Looking back the time has flown by!

Communication - lots and lots of MSN'ing, emails, and phone calls. We speak every single day, usually for about 1-2 hours. Emailing is great because he can email me from work and I can respond from uni - so we are able to keep in contact for much of the day.  It keeps that connection there. And when we phone (usually about every 2-3 days) its so wonderful to hear him on the other end of the line.

I think it also helps knowing that there is an end in sight. We are five weeks apart from getting six months together, and then its only seven more months until I can move to London for good. (Just need to finish uni.) If it seemed like it would be an LDR for several years, it would be much more difficult.

I'm telling you, you all need to get on Skype!  Back around the time that DF and I started talking seriously, a friend directed me to www.skype.com and we both downloaded it.  It has been such a godsend!!  If you both have it on your computers then you can talk for as long as you want to for free.  The download was free.  I only had to buy a microphone I could use for my computer.  The sound quality is better than our phones and there is no delay in speaking to each other.  I absolutely love it.  There have been several times lately that I've started talking to DF and been so tired that I fell asleep (stupid time zone difference!).  When I stirred in the morning, I heard him saying, "good morning, sweetheart."  Wow, that brightened my day right up!  He had stayed online and was still there when I woke up.  It felt so nice.  Dang, I can't wait to be married and not have a stupid ocean between us!  Anyway, even if one of you can't use skype on your computer, you can buy credits and call a landline for only 2 cents/min.  I have loved the freedom that it has given us to be able to talk for free though.  Sometimes, I'll admit we get a bit cheesy.  For instance, when we started talking again, we decided we needed a "normal" date and so we both put in a copy of the same movie at the same time and watched it together with a few random commentaries here and there.  We would have never dreamed of doing something like that if we had to pay for every minute we spoke.

We also IM a lot, which helps me emotionally, but it hasn't helped my work efficiency much at all.  I've been excited b/c we planned on cashing in my frequent flyer miles to bring him out here for my last 4th of July in the States, but I just found out all the frequent flyer flights are taken up for months.  I probably won't get him out here until August, which will make for four months apart since our engagement.  I'm pretty sad about that.

This has also been a difficult weekend for me because his parents are visiting.  I'm very happy that he is having a good visit with them--they haven't always been as close as he would like, but it has been hard for me because he's been away from home all weekend.  I'm surprised how much I find myself missing talking to him and sharing with him.  It's funny, I was perfectly content with my life last year, but now I find myself wondering how I did it all these years without someone to come home and share with.  He did call for a few moments and commented on how seeing his mum and dad, his brother and partner Sarah, and him all alone while they ate at a nice restaurant made him miss me all the more.  Oh, roll on October!!!