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Today is the last day of September. Today marks our first month of Feast of Friends being an active and alive community instead of just being an idea in my head.

Has my first month met with my hopes and dreams of what the site would be? In a word No but Yes. Like most of my life it is full of contradictions and opposing thoughts.

I had to fire my original web designer because he had the ability to create a pretty picture but one that would not work for the user. So a ton of money and time went down the drain but up came experience.

I hired another designer and in weeks he had the site I wanted built, bigger, prettier and better than I imagined. If you are looking for a designer for a site designer, I would highly recommend indigoblues.ca. They worked with me while we built it quickly and right.

I imagined that when I let my family and friends know that this project was completed and had gone live, that they would run in droves to become members and start the ball rolling. I imagined that they would tell their family and friends and so on, just like the hair commercial from when I was a kid.

But the reality is, that some did and some didn't. Feast of Friends did not explode like a crate of dynamite like I dreamed. But the feedback and the steady visits to the site is so encouraging. I know that it will be a snowball and grow steadily and strong and create a wave as it grows instead of a crash and burn of dynamite. Which is a good thing.

I have heard feedback from people imagining all sorts of ways to use the connecting aspect of Feast of Friends for their own purposes that I never thought of. How wonderful to get people together in any and every way that suits their own lives. That is exactly what I wanted and dreamed of.

We are adding a comment section to the blogs and articles. I really look forward to your input and feedback on what we are saying and providing.

Here's the start of a HUGE snowball effect on all our lives as we meet each other and have the times of our lives. (Glass lifted in the air and toasting to you)

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I am happy to say that Sweatpea is our first member to create a group. This member created a book club in Canada and is inviting her family and friends to join her. When she sent me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it thanking me for the site and saying how she is looking forward to meeting other people near her to join her club, I was thrilled.

I knew that being a new site and not having a history with you that it would take some time for you to trust me. We have been told over and over again that if it sounds too good to be true, it is. And here we have started a site designed to introduce people and create friendships and its for free. How would you know that I am not going to spam you or give you those horrible viruses?

I guess in reality you can't know until our site is registered with WOT or another site notifier program. Let me say that I use WOT on my personal computer and I refuse to go to sites that have warnings on them. The idea of Feast of Friends ever being apart of that crowd sends chills up my spine.

I want to say here loud and clear, I will NEVER send spam or attach viruses. I have had my computer crashed way too many times and absolutely despise those tactics. I really truthfully do not understand the point of them, except maybe bragging rights that they were able to accomplish it. Click on our Privacy Policy and you will see that it is a part of our policy.  Our Privacy Policy

I am so excited about watching you create relationships, trying new things out that you only secretly thought about, or making memories that will last a lifetime. I am so excited about that in my own life. We will be growing together and living our lives side by side.

We have some exciting features coming to the site soon that we are working on. I can't wait to for them to launch.

Welcome new members and remember to use our Invite a Friend feature to share this experience with those you know and care about.

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Ok, I admit it. I have for years received daily inspirational, pick me up and motivate me emails. I love the insight and the thought provoking ideas that they give me personally. I receive about 4 of them a day from people that I admire and respect.

Today, one of those emails was so exactly what I am thinking and feeling, that I thought I would share the generally idea with you.

The best things in life are free. Wherever you see laughter, friendship, loyalty and love, there is your treasure.

I am paraphrasing the email but the gist of what they were saying is so true. The things that we look back on and cherish at the end of our lives, is not our things but our relationships.

Let me share a personal story that illustrates this perfectly. My father loved his car. He always loved his cars from his first one to the last one. He never let anyone else ever drive them and was a bit overprotective.

Then he was dying. I arrived to be there for him and was forced to drive his car to get to the hospital. I waited and waited for him to ask me how I got to there and was prepared for his wrath. Instead all he cared about was that I was there.

It hit me strongly in that moment, that the possessions and things that are important to us in our busy daily lives, really have no importance when we are at the end and evaluating our lives.

I ask that you look around at your life now, as if you were on your death bed. Do you see all the "free treasures" of life in abundance for you? Are you surrounded by laughter, friendship and love or are you surrounded by busy stuff that has no real value in our lives?

If you can say that there is room for more free treasures, then I encourage you to get actively involved in your life. Create those treasures for yourself. Use Feast of Friends to your benefit and LIVE A LIFE OF FREE TREASURES.

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There are a series of articles on the web about an email from Facebook explaining to a user why their account was closed. It appears that Facebook is reinforcing their point that the purpose of their site is not for social networking and expansion of friends but instead to connect with family, friends and coworkers that you already know.

I will not post any of the content that I have read because I personally can not authenticate that it came from Facebook. The reason I bring this is up is because it is yet another example of how social networking sites are meant for the purpose of the site and/or are meant to keep you behind your computer, content on knowing who you already know and being who you currently are.

Feast of Friends is the exact opposite of that and for those reasons. Daily I read articles about the decline of our language, the concern over our social skills as a nation and our future. The current status quo is doing nothing to eradicate the problem but instead feasting on the down turn of our society.

Can you tell that I am a little upset at this trend? But that trend is exactly why we are here. Feast of Friends is to reconnect our lives with people, in person, living a life instead of watching others and just talking about it (or typing cryptically about it).

Ghandi said "Be the change you want" and that is what we are doing here. We are being what we want to see on our societies and each of your memberships is proof that there is a need and we are making a difference.

Thank you for living your lives and being members of Feast of Friends. We can and will make a difference in our world and the world of the next generations.