On January 20, 2010 I opened up FFF on WordPress. I had sporadically blogged my competition prep for a couple months previously on a different blog, but wanted a fresh start with a site that reflected me more fully. Faith Fitness Fun was born after much time and consideration. With my first post I shared a chicken enchilada recipe.  I had no clue where that original post would lead me.

In the early months, I shared a lot of emotions revolving around trying to conceive our second child – not being able to pursue fitness goals, seeing another negative test, and sharing how I handled it all.

Eventually, we received that positive test and it thrilled me to share it with all of you. I even created a special vlog for it!

Over the course of the year, I documented various fun times – like our annual trip to Daytona Beach and a special trip to Philadelphia for a friend’s wedding.

In September, I started up the 30 Days of Self-Love here on FFF. It was such an amazing time of reflection and sharing. Now, the posts will republish one topic each week to continue these important discussions.

In October, I joined the Exposed Movement. I took an image of me in a bikini and imposed text over the image to show my true identity.

I also celebrated my little M’s second birthday. Hard for me to believe she is already a toddler!

I shared some posts just for fun over the past year – like my “dirty little secrets” or a video of me doing Turbo Jam while pregnant.

I openly discussed personal topics without hesitation: my period, my relationship with my dad, my weight pre/during/post pregnancy, and my experience with competing in a fitness competition.

I let the pregnancy emotions pour when I faced difficult moments with pregnancy body image and being told I couldn’t workout.

Although I covered my share of emotional or more serious topics, we had lots of fun here too. I hosted a holiday blogger gift exchange, told interesting stories about crying at Walmart, registered for my first blogging conference, and was featured in Fitness magazine.

As the blog grew, FFF branched out into new places – like applying to be a Team 4all blogger in 2011 (find out in a few weeks!).

I ended out the year on the highest of notes and welcomed the much anticipated baby B into my arms on 1/11/11.

I can’t wait to see where the future of FFF goes. Over the past year I have experienced so much through the blog. FFF has honestly brought so much to my life. More confidence. More growth as a person. More friendships. More hope. More passion. More fun. I’m ready to embrace another year – lived of course with faith, fitness, and fun. Who’s with me?!

Today’s Flashback Friday will continue with my travels, since you all said you enjoy them. I enjoy writing them as well. It is fun to relive such an amazing trip. It is also interesting to read through my travel journal and see some of my thought processes. I have something to discuss that bothered me when reading through my entries. First, let’s look at all of the pictures and the fun stuff. Today’s flashback is to our week in Rome. Love.

We spent a good deal of time in Rome because there is just too much to see! I mean, you can’t go to one of the biggest empires EVER and not take time to explore it. From the many churches to the colossal historic ruins and monuments, we had plenty to keep us occupied.

Our first day we hit up most of the major tourist attractions. We started off at the Trevi Fountain and tossed the obligatory coin into it. It is said that if you toss a coin over your shoulder into the fountain you will return to Rome before you die. I certainly hope that is true. I want to go back to Europe so badly!

After stopping there, we headed straight to the Pantheon. I had no idea it used to be a pagan worship arena.

History has never been my strong point. Although seeing things in person definitely makes them more interesting. A reason I would love to go to Israel. The only history that truly fascinates me is in the Bible and it would be so cool to see that region up close and personal. But Italy sure does have cool history too. Evident in the ruins and the Colosseum…

It feels like you’re on a movie set because it is so hard to wrap your mind around the fact that these are the real deal.

The remainder of our time in Rome, we simply enjoyed the city and explored, as well as took some day trips I will share next week. We loved visiting the many beautiful churches. I’m not even talking about St. Peter’s Basilica yet. That’s part of next week too. There are so many gorgeous places of worship. The detail and art masterpieces within the walls seem more like museums than churches, but there are people praying and worshipping all around as well. I loved it.

I admit to doing some silly sightseeing as well. I was reading Dan Brown’s Angel & Demons book during my travels and had to check out some of the locales from the book. Like this statue that, in the book, pointed to the next point on the “path to Illumination”. It’s a good book. I highly recommend it.

There is one highlight of Rome that sticks out to me. That was the one fancy dinner we took on the entire trip. We had a strict budget for most of the trip, but when we saw this nice Italian restaurant that made their pasta fresh daily right outside the Pantheon, we took up the splurge. I remember we shared some fresh lasagna & ravioli, a delectable salad, and a bottle of the house white wine. All with the Pantheon front and center.

I’m just sad I didn’t know the importance of food pictures then. I have none to share of what was hands down one of the best meals of my life. No, I’m not exaggerating. Italians know how to do pasta right. Seems like a “duh” thing to say, but there really are no other words to explain it. Fly to Italy now and experience it! If only, right?

This part of our trip was fabulous. Every day was an adventure. What saddened me while reading my journal was the fact that I didn’t seem to live it fully with that mindset. While I obviously enjoyed myself, I still made comments in my journal about wishing the time to pass quicker or other negative things. There were things about missing Peter and my family with a countdown of how many days until I could see them. Instead, I should have simply recognized I would see them soon enough but may not ever come back to Italy and then reveled in being there. I griped about how hot the hostel was in Rome thanks to no A/C, windows that didn’t open, and sharing a room with 20+ people. Um, hello??? You’re in Rome and experiencing new things that many don’t get the chance to! Get over yourself!

And what really pissed me off? During the passage that described the fancy Italian dinner I complained about feeling fat after the meal and how “luckily we walk a lot to burn off all those carbs”. How sad! I probably enjoyed the meal more remembering it than I did during it because I obviously had some anxiety. It saddens me that my negative relationship with food affected such a special moment in that way. I’m thankful I can now enjoy food with minimal issue, but who knows if I will have the same chance to taste such a delightful meal in a once-in-a-lifetime setting? I missed the full experience of it by worrying unnecessarily. My point is, don’t allow anxiety, worry, and stress to keep you from the current moment. Live life in the present. Really savor the life you are experiencing. Right now. Don’t give yourself a chance for regrets and don’t get caught up in negativity. Blessings surround us every moment. Open your eyes to them and live.

• What is a moment you missed experiencing fully because of worry or negativity?
• Have you read any of Dan Brown’s books? Would you have played the total nerd and gone looking for some of the places described in the book too?
• What is one of the best meals of your life?

Come back later for my post on last night’s Flavors of Forsyth fun!