darling notes.

Happy Wednesday! I hope you're all chipping away at your to-do lists...I made some progress yesterday. {woohoo!} As promised, here is another charming couple to add to the {distance makes the heart grow fonder} series. Ron and Jen {from Darling Notes} met in elementary school. Though their romance didn't bud until a few years later, it is so special to see how their relationship grew over the years. Be sure to read on and see one of their photos from elementary school. Pretty precious, if you ask me...

Name: Jen

Significant Other's Name: Ron

When did you start dating? May 9, 2003

At what point did you begin dating long distance? Our long distance began when it was time to go back to school in August of 2003.

How did you fill your days while you're apart? We were both full time students, so school took up the bulk of our time. I was also working a part-time job and kept busy with different activities through my sorority. We both had a busy college experience, which was helpful in navigating our long distance years.

What did you find most difficult about being long distance? It was difficult to not be together for the little things, like going out on dates, giving each other a hug or just holding hands. We had to rely on phone calls and emails to stay connected.

How did long distance change your relationship? The first few months of our relationship were not long distance and we saw each other every single day. The biggest change was not being able to do normal day-to-day things with one another. We learned to trust one another completely from the very beginning of our long distance relationship, something we learned was very important. We also came to understand the significance of solid communication.

What do you enjoy most about the time you have together? While we were in our long distance relationship, it was so exciting when we got to visit each other. We would do a mix of fun things (like day trips) and normal things (like going out to eat together or going to a movie). Being apart made our time spent together during visits so much better. Since we are married and living together, we love spending time with our dog, Bean, exploring our new hometown of Chicago, hanging out with friends and family and taking trips.

What sacrifices have you made in order to make things work? In the beginning, we put so much emphasis on each other that we (sadly) missed out on some fun times with friends we made in college. We soon realized spending hours on the phone with each other every day was not going to help either of us enjoy our time in college. We had to create a balance between time spent talking to one another on the phone and time spent with friends in our own collegiate circles. It was hard to do at first {since we wanted to talk to one another every second of the day}, but we just adjusted!

How has your life changed now that you're back in the same place? Life is so much better when you get to spend every day with the person you love! When we first starting living together, we loved that we could do “normal” things like go grocery shopping or watch a TV show together. The sad goodbyes were no more! It was nice being able to tell him something fun about my day right away, as opposed to trying to remember it to tell him later on the phone!

Give your love to Jen today! She and Ron have one of those romances which was truly meant to be :) Thanks again for sharing your story, Jen! See you back here tomorrow!