New Year, New Goals, NEW BLOG!!

Yes, you read correctly. Last year, one of the things I was determined to do before I graduated college A.K.A. my “college bucket list” was to start a blog. A blog about what, you ask? Anything, really. As an amateur blogger, I tried my hardest attempted to write as often as I could. Well, those attempts turned out to be rather scattered and inconsistent. As I looked back on my blog and saw the little effort that I had put into a project that I was so enthused about at the time, I was determined to change my efforts.

This is the start of a new year, and one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to put my mind, heart, body and soul into making this blog something I can be proud of. It may not fit the standards or interest everyone who stumbles upon it, but as long as I can find satisfaction and joy in producing it, I will be perfectly content.

Now, what will this blog be about? Food, life, love, mindfulness, health, interconnection, happiness and a miscellaneous assortment of my scattered thoughts. Why? Because I feel that all of these topics have a strong connection to each other…

Imagine sitting in your living room reading a book, watching TV, or having a conversation with a friend. As you are engaging in this activity, your oven is delivering a growing aroma the of warm, decadent, and sweet chocolate fudge brownies that will be ready in a matter of minutes. It doesn’t matter if it’s too cold or warm outside, what time of day it is, or the growing list of things you have to do tomorrow. That soothing sent travels through your nose and into your soul. You breath in and out, taking in the precious joy of simply allowing yourself to savor this very moment. As the timer beeps telling you that your brownies are ready, you pull the steaming pan out of the oven and witness the hot, gooey goodness that lay in the palms of your hands. Not wanting to wait until the brownies cool, you take a spoon and steal a taste. What do they taste like? They tastes like life. Warm, fun, exciting, comforting yet always a little different, and of course, just-plain delicious.

Now I know that life is not always like the taste of freshly baked brownies. Sometimes it’s more like the fiber bars or brussel sprouts you force yourself to eat to stay healthy, but it’s moderation in each of these categories that makes up a whole, complete and able individual. My life has many sweet, juicy, spicy, and adventurous flavors. However, sometimes the flavors I encounter also consist of bitter, overwhelming and inconsistent tastes. Sometimes the good tastes and bad tastes stand alone, and sometimes they blend together to form something that I never could have foreseen. No matter what, I take the essence of all these flavors with a grain of salt and cherish the ability to even taste at all!

I’ve made the decision to keep all of my blog entries from last year even though they may not apply to the topics of this new blog. My old blog, Just Beyond the Horizon can still be read and referenced to. It will serve as a reminder of what I attempted and how I want to achieve a much greater goal starting in 2011. As I publish this post, I am in sitting in a cozy and warm cabin, surrounded by wonderful company, and lots of snow. Happy New Year, Everybody! May this year be filled with joy, love, and of course, great food!

So, follow me as I explore what tastes and experiences that life and food have to offer!