Going abroad for the semester is full of new sights, new sweets and new stories to tell, but the abroad experience does not have everyone’s name on it.  Some apply for the passport while others just pass all together on the international experience.

But what happens when our friends go abroad without us?

How do we possibly survive when our closest pals board those planes and we are back in the states being red, white and totally blue?

Let’s put those old words into practice and let the distance make our hearts (and friendships) grow stronger through these simple ways to survive the semester apart.

My best friend Skype: We thought Jefferson was pretty clever with the light bulb, but this innovation blows electricity away. A free service that allows people to communicate through web cam, this handy messenger has changed the face of long distance relationships and is easy to use as well. Grab a cup of coffee and make a date with your friend abroad to catch up face to face.

Traveling pants and other random belongings: Sewing the gap between countries can be so much easier when you form a common thread; a journal that you pass between friends, a shirt that gets mailed from person to person… all of these things can be mailed back and forth to one another in order to keep in touch with something tangible. Currently, my best friend and I purposely leave juicy stories out of our emails and write them in a journal that we mail back and forth to each other. It makes for something exciting to look forward to in the mail.

Growing closer by growing apart: I took for granted the fact that I could call my best friend at a second’s notice to meet up and talk on campus. Now that she is gone I realize the amount of time that I have on my hands, no longer filled with coffee dates and shopping excursions. Instead of wallowing over the open gaps in the planner, fill those slots with new and exciting things you have always wanted to do. Go out and do things that will make those emails to your abroad buddies even more interesting. Salsa dancing, blogging, pottery painting, meeting new people – the possibilities are endless.

They are off seeing the world, not stopping ours: Seeing your friends off to the airport can be brutal, but as they go off to find some new adventures it is important to carry on and find our own adventures. Don’t stay stationed at that computer waiting for the Skype call or constantly refreshing your inbox to see if a new email awaits. Get out there and enjoy that semester! You’re on a college campus, not in jail! No matter where you are, be it twenty thousand miles away or in the same place you have been for three years, each day holds an immense amount of potential for great things to happen.

It is no shocker, the distance is tough. Some days will hit harder than ever as you wish your friend was there to pick up the phone when you call or meet you to sort through a midterm break down. But let’s pick ourselves up, cheer our traveling friends on and seek our own adventures. With letters and emails and a little care package here and there, our friendships have the potential to go above and abroad.

We’ve all been there; you wake up and instantly feel stabby pains gnawing at your insides, already knowing you’re going to have to do laundry before you throw off the covers to investigate. Or you suddenly sit up a little straighter in your chair, taking a moment to process the fact that yes, your period has indeed started without warning, right in the middle of class.

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to find a pattern, a method to the madness of your menstral cycle? Well, now there is — on the internet, no less! Mon.thly.info is a website that was invented to help women everywhere keep track of their cycles with a super simple, super clean interface.

“Each time you start your period, add the date to your Mon.thly account“, the website states, “and it will use your history to predict the next time your cycle will start. This provides you with a record of your menstrual cycles, which can be an important addition to your medical history. If you want, Mon.thly will also email you a customized reminder before or on your next estimated start date.”

I mean, could you do this on a calender or in a journal? Of course. But who has time to actually write something down by hand? Plus, can the calendar in your kitchen send you emails? Nope. And getting cheerful, helpful emails is always fun — especially when those emails help you avoid inching to the bathroom against the wall in those new white summer pants.

Well, put down that Hershey’s bar, open up that French textbook or get to organizing that closet – it’s time for iCiNG’s Transformation Challenge!

I’ve blogged about iCiNG before, but this time I’m here to encourage – no, challenge – you to take part in this month-long effort to transform your life.

Basically, what you do is pick something (or a few somethings) that you want to change within the next month. It can be something as vague as “Get organized” or as specific as “Get an A on my Art History Final.” Then, head on over to this page to get the basic “rules” and join the discussion.

What’s so great about this challenge? Well, the best part is knowing that there are hundreds of others participating – and encouraging – you to get your life together, in whatever that means to you. You can also sign up for iCiNG’s Transformation Challenge e-mails that give you little doses of inspiration to help keep you strong throughout the month.

So no more excuses, gals. Can’t wait to hear about all your fabulous transformations over the next 25 days!

The tease, in my opinion, may very well be the purest form of foreplay.

So why not participate in some online foreplay? Everything else these days is online. You trust your bank account online. Your private emails. Your social security number. So why not your sexy legs?

I’m not saying that you need to go off and buy a “(your name)inherunderwear.com” domain. However, if you’ve got an appetite at all for building on sexual chemistry between yourself and someone else, why not restructure your approach to the traditional tease? Lets face it: nothing else is traditional anymore, so this doesn’t need to be, either.

Far too many girls, in my opinion, really need to sort out their bunched up panties over matters like this.

DEAR GIRLS WHO ARE AFRAID OF SENDING YOUR DESIRED OTHER SEXY PICTURES OVER THE INTERNET:

You have boobs. You’ve got a vagina. You’ve got an ass. And so does every other girl in the whole wide world. Considering the fact that so many girls in the whole wide world are naked on the world wide web, believe me when I say that you won’t be making headlines IF your pictures ever “get out”. And that’s just an IF.

Don’t get me wrong…being a good Catholic girl can be hot. But ACTING like a good Catholic girl and then surprising your potential or current lover with naughty pictures is even hotter. The internet is making everything easier…and that includes foreplay. So why forgo a prime opportunity to make someone’s morning at the office just a teeny bit sexually frustrating?

It’s only a click away.