Bonus Post: The blogosphere

I'm feeling schmoopy. Thanks alot LiLu!

I'd like to take a moment to pause and talk about....the blogosphere. When I started blogging in spring of 2008 it was going to be for one 60 day challenge in the summer. After the challenge was over, I had a couple of "regulars". Really nice people who found me on the interwebs and left encouraging comments. I felt connected to them, even though I had never met them. I kept checking back in after the challenge, doing a post here and there. So when I did another challenge in early 2009, of course I felt the need to blog about it! This is where the magic started to happen. This is where I found other wonderful blogs. I found Lilu, who is a twenty something blogger in DC and is, I think, the only one on my blogroll that isn't a Bikram blog. I fell in love with her honesty, her humor, her TMI Thursdays and a bunch of cool blogs on her blogroll. Her comments section each time she posts goes over 100. Yes, she is wonderful. Read her. If you don't you're missing out. Love your face LiLu! Smooches! **throws yoga outfit at LiLu** **ahem** **smoothes out hair and composes herself**.

I found Hannah who inspires me to love, to write, to breathe, to live, to fly. This is a 20 something Bikram yogi in Boston who writes what I feel and brings me near to tears on a regular basis. If she ever shut down her blog I honestly think I would feel the loss, as if I had lost a very close friend. She is amazing. Read her. But make sure you have a box of tissues handy as she forces you to delve deep into your inner self, all by her vivid imagery and beautiful soul wrenching words. I believe she will write a book someday, become a famous author and we can all say we "knew her when".

I met Dancing J who lives 30 minutes from where I spent my high school years. Who shares my insane infatuation with Bikram Yoga. I actually might meet her in person! She may come out to visit teacher training and stay with me. Possible road trip for her! **crossing fingers, crossing everything to be safe!**. She is the one person I could meet in person and "talk shop" with for hours and hours, neither one of us getting sick of it. I just know we would be breaking out into a standing bow while standing outside of Tart, my favorite frozen yogurt/fresh fruit shop. Yes, her excitement and dedication is contagious and her blog rocks. **please come to Vegas, pretty please!!**

I met Mei (recently!) who will be the first blogger I meet in real life. She is coming all the way from Malaysia to teacher training and will stay with me a few days before and after training. I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. Read her blog, she's funny as hell! She makes me want to jump up and down with happiness like a 6 year old. I have a feeling I will feel 20 years younger when she gets here **clapping hands with glee, jumping up and down with excitement**

I met Duffy who is so pragmatic, so insightful, so steadfast, so solid. He brings a much needed male viewpoint to some of our more emotional posts and is a faithful reader to our silly bikram girl blogs. He inspires, encourages and keeps us grounded. **raises glass, toasts Duffy**

I met the Missus **bows with respect**. This is one of the first blogs I added to my blogroll. She just moved to Toronto and blogs about all sorts of things, and yes she does Bikram. She's got fashion, she's got style.... **vogue**

I met Jen who is currently doing her own Bikram challenge (go Jen!!) and has written me some very very nice comments. One in particular I will never forget, she wrote that my post really showed some personal growth and she was happy for me. That was when I had my "ah ha!" moment with comments. When I realized, wow, there is a community out there and we all care about each other!

I met Ellen in Hawaii, who also loves Bikram and seems to struggle with some of the same things I do. She actually was one of my first commenters and I immediately related to her after checking out her blog.

I met another Jen that holds a very special place in my heart. Her teacher training blog is the first blog I ever followed. Her blog is the reason I started my blog. I didn't know what a blog was until I stumbled upon Jen's blog. I don't even remember exactly how or why I found it, but once I did, I was hooked. I read her daily entries as if I was a starving person. Blog! Bikram teacher training! Pictures! Details! I was in love. Thank you Jen. Someday I will come take your class! **already threw yoga outfit at LiLu, so throws bra!**

And I saved this one for last. They always say "and last, but not least....". Oh yeah. This one is the one. This person is the first person to comment on my blog, she found it right away. She has followed my challenges, my heartbreaks, my yo yo weight, everything. She was my first blog friend. CJ. I have repeatedly, via email, spilled my guts to this woman. She is a bikram yogi, she likes to make lists, she is intelligent, forgiving, understanding, insightful, chock full of great advice. Corva. Thank you thank you thank you for making my blog real. You helped to breathe life into something I wasn't even sure I knew I was going to do with!

So LiLu, this is your fault you know...all of this schmoopy stuff. You started it! All kidding aside, I'd like to thank each and every person that reads this silly stuff I post. Thank you for rooting me on, for believing in me, for encouraging me, for caring about me. I appreciate all of you and hope to meet soon, in "real" life. In the meantime, keep blogging..........