Well it has taken me three years to get to 1000 posts. First of all I would like to thank a few people for the many things they have taught me in three years.
JP thanks for working so hard to keep such a great forum running. I know you think things get a little uncivil sometimes, but there has to be some bumps in the road or the journey would be uneventful. When I question someone it is not because I am trying to start something it is because I don't understand or have seen/heard different. Anyways, I just wanted to thank you for dedicating so much of your time and money to running such a great place and I hope that a little fire here and there doesn't discourage you from thinking you have a great place here. This place I consider to be a circle of friends that are here for support when things aren't going our way or a cheering section when they are. I hope that I can give back to this place half of what it has given me and I hope to help half as many people as the amount of people that have helped me. Thanks for making this a great forum and I hope that you aren't afraid to keep letting it evolve and grow into somewhere we can all be comfortable having discussions.
Mahler, you my friend always find a way, a story, a phrase, a word or some other means to keep me going everyday. Thank you for the weekly motivators. I read them several times a week and often use some of your knowledge to pass on to friends and family. Some of them I print off as reminders to get my butt in gear and others I forward as some of lifes lessons that we all need to learn. I hope that as I age, I age as gracefully as you have and that I soak in half the knowledge that you contain. You are an inspiration to many on this forum and I hope that you know that. I look forward to meeting you next year at the summit along with
MANY others. Take care of yourself I want to witness that 400+ pull in person next year.
Fish, Redlefty, ninja and Gobbla. Fish thank you for always keeping the mood lite around the forum. You are a very strong person and an inspiration to many for the things you have overcome. Red, you are a one of a kind and the forum would be much duller without you. Your one-liners and photoshopped pictures are something I look forward to. You are a great father and husband(or so it seems) and a lucky man that has a loving family. Ninja, you are definitely one of a kind. You are never afraid to make an ass of yourself to get a few laughs out of people. It takes a lot of humility to do things like that and you are a good person for keeping the mood lite. You are also not afraid to call BS when something seems out of line and not afraid to stand your ground.(Although you take to many post to do it whore:p ) Gobbla, when I first started reading your posts I couldn't help but do it while the whole time I was hearing them read by Dale from King of the Hill.(I was disappointed when you changed your avatar as the current one doesn't have that effect) But, I want to thank you for standing up against something that bothered you and thank you for trying to give us normal forumites a voice again. Hoorah for the revolution(j/k JP).
Lisa~, thanks for always being here to answer questions and always provide great links where I can find my answer backed up by facts.(and usually with pictures for slow thinkers like me) Thanks for the time you spend here and thanks for doing it for free without pushing product. Your awesome!
LD, you are full of knowledge and witty replies. I don't know what your plans for the future are, but I do believe they are somehow connected to fitness/nutrition. In my mind, although you don't have the "letters behind your name" you are a "budding professional" and will one day no doubt be an expert, if not in your own way right now. I have learned a lot from you and hope I can return the favor. Good luck in all that you do.
To everyone, thank you all for being here for this past 14 months of my deployment as I have relied heavily on you all to be my link back to the place I call home. I am proud to be a part of a place that seems to hold the highest standards of posting and treatment of its members. I can also say that I have never seen a group of prouder parents(I fit quite nicely in here) than the group that resides here. Thank you all for your continued support. I am proud to serve a country that is home to such fine people.(I know, I know, we have some decent canadians around here as well:p )
Also, I wanted to include a few links to some good things going on here at JP's in my opinion. One, if you haven't already, everyone should take a look down in the livin large forum and sign up for the
61 day challenge as the more participation it gets the better. Also, I wanted to mention
this thread as there had been some of the best discussion we have had in a while going on there. Yeah it has been a little heated at times, but that shouldn't detract from the overall topics at hand. Get in there and give your .02 cents.
Now I would like to close with some of the things I have done just in this last year since I have started really participating here in the forum. I deadlifted for my first time. Last time I pulled for max(back in November) I pulled 350lbs. Thats more than I ever cared to. Now, I want to pull 500 and won't stop until I do. I'm benching 245lbs., yeah, that is week compared to some, but hey, I'm just getting rolling good. My squat is back close to 300 lbs. Up until about 8 months ago, it had been a long time since I had squated, period. Now, I am going deeper, with better form and squating more than I ever have. That sounds like progress to me. Well, I have babbled on enough. I hope that you all can gain as much from here as I have and I hope that I can give back twice that.(I would settle for breaking even as I have received a lot and have some catching up to do) Again, Thank You All and God Bless You All. Hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend!
jj