How to Spend More Quality Time with your Boyfriend over College Breaks

The idea for this post started when I realized how much I was going to miss Justin over Christmas. We have been together for almost three years but this will be the first time we haven’t spent Christmas together. I know that this is something I definitely shouldn’t be complaining about, and to an extent, I’m not. I know we're lucky that we get to spend SO much time together. It's unusual for a West Point relationship. This isn't the first or last holiday that we will spend apart, but there is something that hits you when you realize that you're going to be spending a major holiday away from your future spouse.

I didn't experience what it's like to have a long distance relationship in college but I know that there are a lot of you out there who are going through that, with the added stress of it being West Point, so I figured I would dish out some #realtalk today about soaking up the time you DO have with your significant other rather than spending all of your time thinking about how short that time is or how you have to share your significant other. 

Schedule out time for just the two of you

The holidays are busy with a capital B. If you have a short amount of time to see your significant other, it can seem impossible to get in time for just the two of you. This is why scheduling time where you can go on a date or just sit around and watching Christmas movies is key during the busy holiday season. One of Justin and I's favorite things to do during the holiday season when we want some alone time is to go to dinner and the movies, just the two of us.  

Read a personal development book together

Justin and I have had the book 5 Love Languages: Military Edition on our list for quite a while now and I finally made the last minute decision to purchase two copies (thank goodness for Amazon, right?) just before he left for Alaska for holiday leave. Since we were going to have a few days apart over the Christmas holiday, our plan was going to be to read a section or chapter and then discuss it in the evenings. Bet you can't guess which one of us forgot their copy...

Unplug for an hour

Justin and I both have a terribly bad habit of spending too much time on our phones when we're together. We have actually made a pact that from now on when we are at dinner together, we will not be on our phones. When you have a such a limited amount of time together it is even more important to spend that time being present and focusing on each other. My goal is to get actual conversations going instead of having Justin show me 100 different memes over cheese fries.

Do something the other enjoys

We are selfish, it's in our nature. One of the best ways to spend a little more quality time with your significant other during the holiday season is to do something that the love. Bonus points if you plan this as part of their Christmas gift! One of the things that Justin loves to do in the winter is to go snowboarding. Before we started dating, I had never been snowboarding once in my entire life. Now that he's taught me, I love it AND it's something that we can do together every year!