Countdown continues....

First off, happy birthday Aunt Joan! I hope you have had a wonderful birthday, and will have a wonderful year.
Secondly, in 18 days, I'll be in Oregon. And I cannot wait. This is insane. I've never been so happy. And he's 2,000 miles away. We're getting through it, though, so that makes me feel as though this year will fly by and then we'll have three months to see each other everyday next summer. It's not at all like my last long distance relationship, where I was basically single the entire time. We see eye to eye on almost everything, he listens to what I have to say, we don't fight, and if we do have an argument, he calms me down and then we talk it out. Strange, I know.
I'm keeping all major Jewish holidays this year. I explored a little bit of Judaism second semester of last year. I went to services, plays, and met a considerable amount of nice people. So next weekend is Yom Kippur, and I'll be fasting for 25 hours. I will allow myself water, though, because since I'm not technically Jewish I can make my own rules. My friend Becky is actually Jewish, so it'll be nice to have someone to guide me through my quest for religion.
Emily Bates, from St. Louis, came up to visit me this weekend and brought some of my stuff with her. It was fun, but a little strange, because her name is still on the door, as though she should have moved in.
In our crazy last few weeks in Colorado, we foolishly overlooked the two hour time difference and how it would affect our life. It's weird, but so worth it. I wake up to his text messages and I fall asleep to his voice, and my obsession is completely returned by someone who's not a no-good white-rapper-wannabe. It's nice because he's actually in college, learning things, and getting out and meeting people.
He'd be so mad if he knew I was typing this, but one of the last days that I was in town, we were having a picnic in the park, spending the afternoon sprawled out in the grass with just each other, and that's when it hit me that I wouldn't be able to do that anymore. My head was turned away from him, and so when I suddenly got silent, he knew, but wasn't sure. I saw the grass and the sunshine and I just lost it. He asked me what was wrong, and once I knew I had to answer, I started crying. He let me cry for awhile, telling me all the things he knew I needed to hear, and when I finally looked up, there were tears in eyes too. When it was time to go, we just got up, and left. It was the second most beautiful afternoon of my summer.
Mike likes him. I like that. Mike is very protective of me. I can't even wait to see Fruitypants in Chicago!!! Maybe it will kick-start his college application process. But even if it doesn't, it's weird not having Mike around. We're completely different, that much is painfully obvious, but him and I are still super close. We get each other, even though we definitely didn't hang out enough this summer, him and I are still playing the games we used to play over the dinner table when we were twelve.
I know, you're all sick of hearing about young love, but I'm ridiculously happy. And you have to read about it.