Ain't Misbehaving...

Dear readers,

"I don't stay out late,

Don't care to go.

I'm home about eight,

It's just ME! and my radio..."

I sing along to Ella Fitzgerald in the shower, and once the music's died down and I'm warm and dry in my pyjamas, I see a text from my fiancé. There's a cute video of a baby bat, followed by 3 heart-warming words: "Happy Valentines' Day".

As our day comes to a close we exchange messages, talk about how our respective days went. After all, we haven't actually seen each other for over 2 months now, and we have a lot to catch up on. Then come the inevitable goodnights, and we both count ourselves lucky that we're another day closer to seeing each other again.

For the past few years, Euan's job has forced him to work abroad, for weeks or sometimes months at a time. Just a couple of years ago, my own career took me a few hundred miles away from home, for a whole year. So we're used to spending long periods of time apart from one another. It isn't easy, but being the optimistic and helpful pair that we are, we thought we'd share some tips that we've learned for coping with long-distance relationships.

1. Communicate This is the key to any successful relationship, but especially to a long-distance one. When your partner is away, you can't communicate by touch or body language or a single look. So keep communicating, as often as you can. We use Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger and Google Hangouts to talk as often as we can, to ensure that we don't start to drift apart emotionally. These tools have also been really useful for wedding planning together!

2. Plan

If your partner is planning to return at some point (say, if they're working on a 6 month project and will be back when it finishes), make some fun plans for their return. This will give you something to look forward to, and will keep both your spirits up. We've got nights out, days out and time booked off work all planned out, and it's helped us to get through the worst times.

3. Give

If you aren't able to text every day or Skype every week, sending a gift to a loved one who's far away can let them know that you're thinking about them. These are particularly effective if your partner is abroad, and might be missing their home comforts. Consider sending something to remind them of home as well as practical gifts; pairs of slippers, a nice scarf, premium shower gel (remember to tape up the lid!) and sweets all make lovely gifts that will boost morale for both of you.

Euan and I do these things on a regular basis, and they help to keep our relationship strong. Until he returns, I'm going to focus more of my posts on disability issues and career stuff, rather than outfits or Blues Reviews, simply because dressing up and going out are things I usually do with him. I've bought a few new dresses which I plan to review, but they'll have their debut in April, when my man is home and I have reason to celebrate.

Until then, it really is just me and my radio...

Thanks for reading,

Rebecca