In August 2010, sometime after quitting my job of ten years. After being bored for most of those ten years, I didn’t care that I didn’t have a plan or anything else lined up. My general goal was just to find something that I loved to do. That shouldn’t be too hard, right? There was a short-lived endeavor into the field of Early Childhood Education, where I quickly learned that I am not cut out for either being back in school or being surrounded by a roomful of children who aren’t listening to you. There were many, many breakdowns after endless hours of searching on Craigslist for something, anything, that looked interesting. There were innumerable conversations about what path I wanted to take, and how to get there when I didn’t actually know what or where that path was. And I’m not even sure how it happened, but at some point I decided to start my blog.
Here’s the first paragraph from the very first post I published:
“After ten years at my boring job, a false start into the world of Early Childhood Education, and countless hours of crying, soul-searching, and more crying, I’ve begun to accept what I have probably always known…that what I really want to do is cook.”
Now, that being said, I still don’t really even know what that means. Okay, so I want to cook. But I don’t want to work in a restaurant…I can’t imagine worse hours. Catering sounds like a blast and I love planning parties, but again, nights and weekends are too precious to me. So what does that leave? Well, so far I’m just taking opportunities as they come and I’m loving it. Would I be interested in cooking for a party for 50? Sure. Would I like to cook a dinner to benefit a charity? Of course. Would I like to create recipes for a certain product? Why not? Would I be interested in writing a cookbook? Absolutely! Alright…that one hasn’t happened yet, but a girl can dream, right?
A lot of great things have happened as a result of having this blog, both inside and outside the kitchen. In the kitchen, I’ve pushed myself to try new things: ingredients, combinations, techniques. I’ve cast cookbooks aside and everything you see here is an original recipe, which makes me very proud. I’ve gained confidence and grow more comfortable in my abilities every day. And being confident and comfortable in the place you love to be is a fantastic feeling. Outside the kitchen, it has opened doors that I never expected. One thing I never knew about blogging was that you could make money doing it, and I didn’t start it for that reason, but it is a nice added bonus. I’ve also been invited to some fun events that I wouldn’t have otherwise even known about. And I’ve met some truly wonderful people…the food blogging community is a great one to be a part of.
So, even though I have my moments of feeling completely unmotivated, and even if I’m not quite sure where I’m headed with all this, I’m loving the “getting there.” I have a perfect excuse to cook a lot and eat a lot. I’ve come to enjoy writing more than I ever thought I would. And at the end of the day, I found my “something” that I love to do. It doesn’t get much better than that…
