Growing up, I can guarantee that all of us have at least watched one movie where the boy goes off to war and the girl stays home writing letters to the boy.

The boy gets the letters, reads them, writes back to her, and then by the end of the movie, he comes home safe and sound and they live their life together happily ever after like the perfect little fairy tale. This is far from the truth.

As a marine girlfriend, I can tell you that everything in the movies is false. To those who don’t believe me and think that it's easy, here are 10 reasons why a military relationship is anything but a fairy tale:

1. It can (and probably) will be long distance

If you don’t live on base with him, then chances are, you're hundreds of miles away in your hometown, waiting for him to come home on leave. This isn’t easy. Yes, we can FaceTime at night and text when we can, but or some the distance is a deal breaker and can be difficult to handle at times.

2. You will be constantly judged

No matter the situation, married with children, not married with children, married with no children, in a relationship, whatever it may be, people will constantly judge you. They will tell you that it’s not worth your time or struggle. People will also tell you that he’s cheating on you if you don’t live on base with him. Then there’s the old, "Why did you get married so young?" Take a step back, this is my relationship, after all - not yours. So, who asked you for your input? Not me.

3. You move where the military sends you

You want to live in sunny California? Too bad, here’s rainy Washington. You don’t get much (if any) say where you want to live or move. The military will tell you where to go and you have no choice but to go there. That’s great, isn’t it?

4. Once you’re settled in and unpacked you move again

Just got all settled into your new house after months of unpacking and getting it to look how you wanted it to? Well, it's time to pack up again and move to a new base, new house, and unpack and redecorate all over again.

5. You get so used to moving that you just keep half of your stuff packed anyway

Looking for that one shirt? It's probably in one of the boxes you keep packed because you never know when you could just up and move again. You also just got so tired of packing everything up that keeping half of it packed is just way easier and you’ve just become lazy too.

6. Missing someone has a completely new meaning

You will miss them so much that it might physically hurt you; to the point of aches and chest pains just thinking about it. You want to cuddle at night? Well, they’re not here so the cat is the next best thing for the next six months.

7. You WILL doubt yourself

You will have the days where it all seems too much... That you think you can’t do it anymore or you’ll think, "Am I doing this right? Is my relationship just as good as my friends’? Am I good enough to be with them?"

8. You can’t let them see you break down

This is because you must be strong for them. You don’t want them to see you struggling or upset. You don’t want them to think that you can’t do it or that they aren’t taking good enough care of you. They have enough to worry and stress about so you have to make it easier on them by being strong.

9. The future is ALWAYS uncertain

You have no clue where or when you’ll move next. You have no idea when or if your significant other is going to be deployed. You also don’t know for how long, either. Everything about your future is uncertain and is in the hands of the United States armed forces.

10. You will most likely dislike the military

After everything you and your significant other went through, you’re finally free of the military. You will most likely despise the military for all the hell you guys have gone through. It wasn’t easy at all and you will always remember all the struggles you guys have gone through the past years.