Friends Close By, Friends Across the Country!

Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire

May 27, 2012

It was a fun week that started with a much anticipated return to the mountains and ended with yet another blogger meetup.   Everyone blogs for their own reasons and some bloggers have no desire to ever take their writing beyond the words they write and the online friends they make.   I am so respectful of their choices and always honor that.  On the other hand, many bloggers are anxious to meet in person when circumstances work out for that to happen.   Every single real life encounter I've had with another blogger has been a joy I wouldn't trade for anything and this one was no different.  Becca and I realized fairly quickly after we found each other's blogs, that we lived VERY close to each other.   But as irony would have it, our SPOUSES met before we did!!  Turns out they teach at the same college!!  Becca'a husband normally teaches at one of the satellite campuses, but his summer class has been at the main campus and again, what are the chances that his class would meet in the classroom directly across from Bill's office?  Once the two of them met, Becca and I figured we'd messed around long enough and promptly set our own date to meet for coffee!  Becca blogs at http://rebeccamcneill.blogspot.com/ and I can assure that once we sat down at Panera Bread, there was not one single lull in the conversation. When I got back in my car and realized 2 1/2 hours had passed, I was blown away.  I would've told you it was much less time that that. It FLEW by! Through this blog, I am confident I have gained yet another friend and I am so grateful.  Gaining real life friendships wasn't something I planned for or anticipated, but has proven to be one more delightful surprise brought to me courtesy of Gains and Losses!!  Oh and did I mention the fact that Becca is a AVID hiker!!   Ohhhh, the possibilities................   

Meeting Becca got me thinking again about my Friend In Every State Project.  This wasn't or isn't something I plan to focus on, but it is something that is important to me so I thought it time for an update.  If you aren't familiar with the project, please click on and read the above link!  In a nutshell, when I was a little girl, I always had the dream of knowing somebody in every state  (I've always been a travel geek!).  I had a huge map of the US on my wall and tried so hard to find pen pals whereever I could.   Not so easy back in the late 60's pre-internet!   I'd long forgotten about the dream until I started realizing how many states (provinces and countries) from which I was already corresponding with fellow bloggers.  And so the goal to find a blog friend in every state was born!

If you read Gain and Losses regularly and have not identified yourself, please let me know in which state you live!  As promised from the beginning, this is just something fun for me.  I will never do anything with the information other than enjoy your blog (if you have one), hope that you will continue to enjoy mine and from that, try to learn more about what life is like in your neck of the woods.  Yes, I love meeting other bloggers and yes, I love to travel.   But I promise I'll never appear in your state unless you invite me!!!

You can find specific information about ALL states by clicking on the link above,  The following list are the states in which I do NOT have a friend (or at least one who has identified themself).  I know people are reading from most of these states, but am most anxious for it to be a reciprocal relationship.  Truthfully, I want to be reading at least one BLOG from each state, Canadian province and as many countries as possible!

COLORADO

DELAWARE

GEORGIA

HAWAII

IDAHO

IOWA

KENTUCKY

LOUISIANA

MAINE

MARYLAND

MASSACHUSETTS

MICHIGAN

MISSISSIPPI

MISSOURI

MONTANA

NEVADA

NEW HAMPSHIRE

NEW JERSEY

NEW MEXICO

NORTH DAKOTA

OKLAHOMA

RHODE ISLAND

SOUTH CAROLINA

SOUTH DAKOTA

WASHINGTON

WEST VIRGINIA

WYOMING

If you see your state here, PLEASE leave me a comment and tell me if you are a regular reader and the state in which you live.   If you don't want to leave the info in a comment, send me an email at lifethroughsharonseyesATgmail.com.  Be sure that I have a link to your blog so I can follow along with your story.   If you already are a regular reader and you follow a blog in one of these states, do me a favor and put a bug in their ear.  Yes, I could go searching and eventually I'd find someone in every state.   But before doing that, I really want to see what happens by just patiently waiting!

I'd love to reach this goal by the end of the year.   Help me fulfill a little girl's dream!  (How's that for shameless begging?)

When this posts bright and early Monday morning, I'll be well on my way to a favorite hiking trail.   It's an oldie, but goodie that I haven't hiked in several years.   It's also at 5500', so hoping for cooler weather.   Look for a report in a few days along with the next installment of  "what sort of controversy can I stir up today?" 

What made you smile today?