A letter to our readers!

A letter to our readers seems fitting for the last day of the "Blog Everyday In May" challenge...

Dear readers, 

The "core four" blog kick off was about a year and a half ago around Christmas time. December of 2011 was an intrusive and funny time in our "core four friendship" when all 4 of us seemed to be running in separate directions and living very detached seasons of life. Lauren was married and living in Denver with her brand new husband and learning new roles as wife and career woman working as a proposal coordinator at a construction company. She was doing the 8-5 desk job with benefits thing and coming home to make dinner for her husband. I couldn't believe how grown up she seemed. Gaby was about 3 months away from being engaged and very in love with her sweet soon-to-be. She was job searching and living at home in Colorado Springs. I traveled down to see her often and listened as she was getting all her ducks in a row and dreaming about a future with Mitch. Her life was dreamy and full of newness. Erin and I were living together in Fort Collins, but our lives and schedules looked a lot different. She was waitressing and working at a women's shelter and we would sometimes plan to eat breakfast together in passing as I was getting ready to leave for class and she was coming off a long night shift. Sometimes we would try and meet up at the gym before she would go home and go to bed during the day and I went to school. Her hours were insane, and I watched as she look for sanity among a crazy sleeping pattern and sought more stability in her career, but she was happy and life was exciting and ever changing. I was doing the student thing. Waking up and going to class, working at the same restaurant Erin was at, and praying desperately for some direction on my quickly approaching future. 

A few highlights of our friendship during that crazy year! So thankful for our intentionality in such a busy season....

Nick and Lauren's wedding 

Gaby's surprise engagement party

My birthday in Breckenridge weekend getaway

Denver day!

Erin's birthday dessert night at D bar

Linger bathroom photos... every time.

Wine Tasting 

Kansas weekend getaway 

Wedding dress shopping for Gaby

The four of us shared a love and passion for fitness and Lauren, Erin, and I had just finished another half- marathon. Health and wellness seemed to be our "common thread" amidst the chaotic differences in lifestyles. I knew that if I called Lauren and couldn't relate to much of what her life looked like at that time, at least we could talk about what we made for dinner or how many miles we got in that week. (Not that we've ever been desperate for things to talk about.) I knew that if I called Gaby and she was filling out a job application we could talk about a new recipe and I would feel like I was on the same track. I knew that even if I hadn't seen Erin that morning for breakfast before class because she was running around from job to job, I was sure to connect with her at kickboxing on Tuesday night. Fitness was such a great avenue of discussion, escape, freedom for our friendships. 

Rock and Roll October 2011 

It was a few weeks before Christmas and we had finished having our annual gingerbread house party at the Braverman's house. We decided to kick off a friendship/fitness blog that night. It felt like a uniting and purposeful activity for us. We did it as an avenue to talk about what we were passionate about and to hold us together as friends living completely opposite lives with completely opposite schedules. We did it for us and for growth and for our friendships. 

The night we decided to start a blog! 

Our heart was never to spit out facts about fitness because we know so much or prove anything about how close we are as friends. Our heart was not to brag about how many races we have run or tell you how many gourmet meals we can whip out in a week. Our heart was to be unified, sharing fun posts about what we are so passionate about. 

As the "core" still finds ourselves in different seasons and cities we truly have found ourselves to be unified. We share many common threads not just fitness, but an eager heart to grow in the Lord, to serve, to work hard, to love well, to walk side by side in relationship, to host, to give, to be purposeful in word and action, to challenge, to be authentic and to be humanity laid bare. I hope you have felt this in the progression of our posts and the evolution of our new blog kick off as "The Serendipitous Girls." We hope you have seen Godliness represented well. We hope you have seen hardship represented well. We hope you have seen growth represented well. Fitness is wonderful and we all really do get together and talk recipes and workouts and cooking and races, but we also just get coffee together and cry and complain and encourage and edify. We are journeying together and documenting along the way. Thanks for being our readers. For reading our helpful posts and our not so helpful seemingly "life journal entires." Thanks for being our friends, our acquaintances, and complete strangers. WE LOVE YOU and you make us feel special when you look at our little blog we have become quite fond of. 

That caps the "Blog Every Day in May" challenge. Happy June friends. Can't wait to talk summer memories with you all over the blog and lots and lots of iced coffee. 

~ Mekenzie