How to keep in touch with your long distance loved ones

When I was dating my husband a zillion and one years ago,  we were separated by about 2000 miles during the summers. Mike and I met in college, I was localish {living only about an hour away} and he was from out of state. A hot Seattle guy plopped down in rural Indiana. We talked on the phone nearly every day. And before the invention of e-mail {see, I told you it was a zillion years ago!} we wrote letters. Some old fashioned folded like origami love notes, some poetically spoken love sentiments from cards from Hallmark, and some goofy on everyday paper letters. After we got married, we settled down in Indiana. Not long after my parents picked up and relocated to Southern California for a job opportunity. When graduation came around, we left some amazing college friends behind and settled for life on the West coast by his family. I did my best to keep in touch with our out of state friends and family. We called weekly, we sent e-mails, we wrote letters. Over time, all of the friends started getting married, growing their families and some even started settling on all ends of the ocean.
I started a family blog to keep our friends and family up to date. There is something about seeing photos that makes you feel that much more connected to our daily life, that descriptions in an e-mail or a phone call aren't able to do. I know that for many, Skype is a lifeline to be able to connect them with their families and loved ones near and far.  For years, our cousin Michelle was stationed with her husband in Japan.  My husbands family is very close and we make every effort to keep it that way, especially as we all get older and have kids. All of the cousins were gathered at a cousin dinner but one. Cousin Michelle was in Japan. We didn't want her to miss out on all of the fun and noise, and thanks to Skype we were able to include her in our evening. Skype is able to connect families near and far. This video is a pretty cool representation of that. http://skypestaytogether.com  I can't believe how far technology has come in just a few years. It's so amazing that we are able to bring people closer together even when they are far apart geographically. Thanks to Skype, people are connecting with their loved ones every day. How do you stay connected as a family? FTC DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENT Holy Craft aims to provide unbiased editorials. However, I wish to disclose that from time to time I may receive free products or other compensation from companies for blogger reviews.