I loved reading all of your comments about blogger meet-ups. I would love to be one of the few of you who had the chance to go to different blogger events and meet quite a few friendly faces. And I have to say, I love the idea of an Atlanta blogger meetup. We need to start planning that! I wouldn't mind organizing it for sometime in the next couple of months, if anyone who would be interested in going can email me ideas or suggestions on where to meet, etc. Lastly, those of you who haven't met someone yet, I'm sure you will soon. And thankfully we have the blogs to connect even across many, many miles of distance. 🙂

This brings me to today's post. Don't you just love when the reality of something far exceeds your expectations? That is what this blog is becoming for me. I first started this blog as a place to get my thoughts out on the numerous things that run through my mind. I had no expectations except to write and express myself since it is something I have always loved to do...and also to keep Peter from going crazy having to listen to all of my ramblings in detail over and over and over again. There is something about writing that brings clarity, perspective, and a release.

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In January of this year I began posting regularly, and more than just my sporadic posts on my competition prep diet + workouts I had previously done. Since then, I have seen numerous benefits to the world of blogging and even my humble blog that is in the mix. It has far exceeded any expectation that I ever had when starting this thing out.

Without a doubt, the biggest blessing I have experienced is the relationships. Being able to connect with like minded people that I don't come into contact with often in my everyday life is amazing. I can share things here that I would never share elsewhere. You all know my deepest feelings of my relationship with my father, things only a handful of other people know about. You knew first that Peter & I were trying to conceive and the emotional battles that has brought me as well as the growth.  I can share my passion for random things like a new workout and know that you all will be just as nerdy  excited about it as I am. Being able to have so many virtual cheerleaders cheers me up every single day.

Meetup with Em

Meetup with Lindsey

Meetup with Mandy (who I met from the Oxygen forum & is now a best friend)

Meetup with 2 Other Awesome Ladies (no longer blog/journal)

And there are other things I never knew would come from blogging and pouring my heart out to anyone who stumbles across Faith, Fitness, & Fun. Things like helping people to change their lives for the better. Even in the last week, I have had a good handful of emails from people with such moving comments or questions reaching out for my support. I don't know why they choose to reach out to me, as I don't consider myself anything special, but I do know that I am thrilled to support anyone who needs it and help them to reach their full potential as the amazing women they are. From faith to fitness to emotional struggles to pregnancy and beyond, people are relating to me and I am proud to lift them up, in the same way they are lifting me up as well. I thrive on taking the time to reach out to them and give them the advice and care they are looking for. It blesses me more than anything.

Keep Each Other Strong

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Even better? I am learning a ton from your blogs as well! Amazing recipes, workout ideas, experiences on things like becoming a personal trainer, confidence boosters, etc, etc, etc. The list is never ending. I cannot rave enough about all that your blogs have taught me. Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful insights and helping me to grow and accomplish new things. Thank you!

learning through the computer & your blogs

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And lastly, something else that is beyond my expectations are the new goals I have. I want to share my Triple F Philosophy with as many people as I can. Knowing that the blog can be a platform to do so excites me to no end. I think how I would love to do things across the spectrum from big to small. Write a book, contribute articles to magazines, speak in my community or church about these topics I am passionate about, start up programs at local gyms for young girls and/or women to promote self respect and love, etc. The notion that my blog will just help me develop to possibly pursue these goals in the future astounds me.

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I know those ideas are lofty ones and I'm not assuming I will do any of them. I know my blog isn't anything spectacular or as well read as some others. BUT...Who knows where the future will take me. Who knows where this blog will take me. I have no set expectations, but I know the reality will be better than I could imagine. After all, it already is. And I have YOU to thank for that.

And the answer to yesterday's Fun Fact Friday is.....#1!!!!! Most of you picked #2. Ha. Fooled ya! I cannot still do a backhandspring thanks to the injuries I got the summer before my senior year of highschool when I was hit by a car. So, I have in fact traveled to more foreign countries than states in the US. I have been to 14 countries (Canada, England, Sweden, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Jamaica, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Aruba, Barbados, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica) and only to 6 states not including my homestate of GA and if you include DC (Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, both Carolinas, and DC). I will be adding one more state in a couple of months when I travel to Indiana to visit my pal Mandy. 🙂 I would love to go to New York, Hawaii, Alaska, and California. But more so I want to go back to Europe!!!

Now onto the benefits of blogging 😀

One: You can learn about great bargains! I heard that Publix was having a BOGO sale on Morningstar products from Melinda at Fit and Fabulous, so I was able to stock up for a good price. Thanks lady!

Two: You can hear about different products or varieties of products that you haven't tried yet and get to enjoy them. Example - one of my Morningstar Farms products. Gracie from Girl Meets Health mentioned the Asian burger from Morningstar Farms in a recent post and it sounded good, so I got a pack. I decided to try it for my lunch today.

Morningstar Asian Veggie Patties

On a sandwich thin with Newman's Own Light Sesame Ginger Dressing, topped with greens/onions/cucumbers

All Set Up

Bite It!

Review: This little patty had lots of flavor and I enjoyed it. I do think it would be better in more of an Asian inspired dish than as a sandwich, like I ate it. Maybe atop a stir fry, as a base for lettuce wraps, or crumbled and wrapped up with some veggies in a rice wrapper?

Three: You can pick up all sorts of fabulous recipes and meal creations! One of my favorite recipe creators is Jessica from How Sweet It Is. Her recipes always look so delicious and utterly amazing. Normally they are things that I don't trust myself to make because I screw up often in the kitchen am not as good a cook as she is. But, yesterday she posted a recipe for PBJ muffins that looked simple enough that even I could handle it. I emailed the recipe to the hubs and he was all over the idea of trying them out. So, we did 🙂 Follow along on the visual journey of our baking Jessica's fabulous adaptation of a recipe.

Muffin Man pours the batter

homemade fresh jam from my SIL

spooning jam into center of muffins

Finished Product

I had one for a pre-workout snack this morning. It was very yummy! I didn't taste the peanut butter as strongly as the jelly, though. So, I did as Jessica recommended and added a light smear to it. Perfection! And it gave me nice energy for my workout - 15 min on the crosstrainer along with a 45 min spin class.  Once again, the recipe can be found HERE.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend so far!!! Mine is nothing special, but I sure am enjoying it. Hubby is going to a bachelor party tonight (it's a tame one...so I'm not worried about boobies and asses being all up in his face or anything), so I will be home alone with the baby girl just relaxing away. It will be nice. Talk to you all soon!!!

And is anyone else having issues with their Google Reader? Mine is not displaying any of the blogs. Poo! I want to do some visiting!