Before my good friend Mandy left this morning, we made sure to fit in a girls’ dinner out. It was just what I needed!

I love doing the mommy thing, but going out with a good girlfriend sans kids is necessary at times. We had to dine somewhere close, so I knew just the place. Where else than my favorite Mexican joint? Cheeky!

The restaurant had a 45 minute wait, but we didn’t mind. It gave us plenty of time to chat and catch up. And to get hungry. Chips and salsa were consumed…

I opted for 3 of their little tacos for my dinner. One pork; one fish; one crab cake.

Yum! It had been too long, Cheeky. It had been too long. And I certainly hope it doesn’t have to be too long for me to see Mandy again!

Here’s a little interesting fact some of you may not know. Mandy & I are great friends…and we met online in a fitness forum. The first time we ever met in person, she and her family came to stay with our family for a long weekend. We instantly hit it off in person, just as we had been for a couple years online. Our husbands said we were basically the same person…and we laugh at our husbands’ numerous similarities. Also, Makenzie & her daughter love all the same things. It was a friendship meant to be. It just goes to show that our relationships and friendships we develop via the Internet (hello…so many fabulous bloggers!!), are just as real as any friendship elsewhere.

I certainly value my friendships with people like my sister, my pals from church, and friends I went to school with…but those people I have grown close to online still mean just as much. In all honesty, you all probably know more about my life than others since I’m sharing here twice a day, almost every day. In short. I love you guys and you are very real friends to me. And thank goodness for Mandy, because if not for her Peter might still think its all “so weird to have friends online”.Then I would have missed out on meeting so many awesome people!

Question of the Evening – When & how did you start building relationships online? Summer 2007 when I joined the Oxygen Magazine’s fitness forum.

I really feel I cannot say it enough. I love you all!!! Katy, Caitlin, Chelsey, Gabriela, Allison, and a good handful of others were tweeting with me today about their excitement for baby B’s arrival. Over recent weeks, your many comments showing support and friendship have meant so much to me. I have seen a pretty sizeable increase (to me) in readership and subscribers over the last week or two. [Side note: Hello to all you new readers!!!!] I feel incredibly loved. It humbles me and rewards me to be in the midst of so much encouragement.

I completely credit all this to the anticipation of Mr. Baby B and his first appearance on FFF. Believe me. I feel it too! I cannot wait to give that update and share the whole experience here with all of you. So at the risk of sounding desperate and pushing you all away, I have to say this -

I will still need you!

After Baby B’s arrival and the anticipation dies down, I hope you will continue to read. You motivate me to continue the blog, which allows me to grow as an individual. As I adjust to two children, I know this outlet will remain a great source of friendship. I will need you. As I work towards my many goals over the course of the year, knowing you all are there cheering me on will inspire me. I will need you. As I share my life, my passions, my heart, my all…I will need you there because a large part of what makes blogging so enjoyable is you. The community. The relationships. The friendships.

Even when you don’t have the chance to comment, seeing that people are stopping by to check in on me makes me smile. Knowing all of you out there care enough to want to either visit, provide an ear to my random ramblings, or share some of your own insights brightens my day. 

I do have some fun things coming up here on Faith Fitness Fun as well.

• new blog header design and official customized logo for the blog!
• plans to regularly post short video clips of favorite workout moves to really share my love of fitness (perhaps a weekly feature :))
• more recipes to go along with my goal of one new recipe each week
• more of my meal/snack ideas with a weekly feature – to depict the possibility of losing weight without deprivation
• Body After Baby progress and complete honesty on the journey
• more little M and baby B antics for all the kiddo lovers out there
• and of course…more of the same fun and musings you already enjoy since I refuse to change the whole premise of this site! 😉

Thank you for everything you have given me so far. I hope we can continue this path together in the future of Faith Fitness Fun. It’s going to be a good one…and it wouldn’t be without you. Pssst…did you catch my special message for ya?

Question of the Evening – What does your blog and its readers add to your life? Have you ever posted something that made you feel incredibly vulnerable? I feel pretty vulnerable after this post, for sure. I hope it didn’t come across as whiny, but sincerely showing my gratitude for your involvement here.