I'm BAAAAAACK!!!!!

Hey there!  Long time no see!  I’ve been on a hiatus from this blog (obviously)…but I’ve had a good reason.  Well, reasons.  First…busy, busy, busy I have been!

Second…and probably the most important reason…I had to do some serious thinking about what I wanted out of this blog…why I’m writing…where I want the blog to go.

You see…back in May I went to a one day blogging conference, Bloggy Boot Camp.  A very good friend of mine is one of the founders of Bloggy Boot Camp.  She lives across the country from me, and even though we have been fast friends for over 12 years, we had never actually met in person (long story).  So…the main reason I went was to see her.  But, I figured as new blogger I would benefit from this conference as well since really, I had no clue what I was doing (and still don’t).

The conference was a barrage of information, and honestly left me feeling a little defeated (not because it wasn’t a great conference…it was…with amazing speakers who shared incredible information).  I left feeling like I had no direction and really had no business having a blog.  That maybe blogging was not a good idea for me.  One of the first things they talked about was the “End Game”.  Your end game is essentially your vision for your blog.  Where you want to go?  Do you want to make money, do you want to write for fun?  What is the purpose of your blog? 

I had no end game.  I had nothing.  I started this blog on a whim because I have a lot to say on the topic of real food and healthy food choices in general.  I started it on Blogger because it was free.  I’m a WAH mom on a budget.  I didn’t (and don’t) have extra money to be throwing at a blog.  Then I started thinking…if I made some money doing this, then I could afford to have a “real blog”…meaning self-hosted using Wordpress.  It just went downhill from there for me.  It suddenly started feeling like a job.  I already have three jobs…first I’m a wife/mother/keeper of the house.  I also have two other income producing jobs that I do from home.  I did not have time for a FOURTH freaking job.

So, realizing I was a loser by not having an “End Game” and by using the free Blogger platform (which meant to me that nobody would take me seriously as a real blogger)…I began feeling defeated and decided to take a break. 

Then a few days ago I had an epiphany.  I don’t give a flying shit what people think (sorry if that offends you) (actually...I'm not sorry...if you offend that easily I can't help you, lol).  I don’t care if people don’t take my blog seriously.  I don’t want this blog to be a fourth job.  I want it to be fun.  I want it to be a place where I can share my knowledge and maybe help someone along the way.  I want to know that if I don’t post for a couple of weeks, it’s no big deal.  I want it to be on my terms.  I don’t want my blog to be a source of stress.  What I want it to be is a creative outlet for ME. I don’t care if I make any money.  I just want to let all the pent-up information I have out for the world to read (even if the world is only five readers, lol). 

So there’s my end game.  My blog is not a job.  My blog is not a money maker.  It's my creative outlet.  I can say what I want to say just as easily on my free Blogger platform as I can on a self hosted Wordpress page that I would have had to shell out my hard earned money for.  The words are the same.  I don’t care if I’m not viewed by the blogging community as a legit blogger.  I don't F-ing care.  And that…is the most freeing feeling in the world!!! 

So…enjoy my blog.  I’ll post when I can, and that’s all I can promise you.