Four Years....

Everybody's got a story. 

Everybody. And no one can tell that story quite like you.

That's what I started doing four years ago today when I decided to put my thoughts to technology. 

Actually, that's a lie. For crying out loud, I'm already telling porkies and I barely made it past the first couple sentences. My mind's moving faster than my fingers and I'm getting ahead of myself. 

Let's start again. 

When I created my blog four years ago, I did so for two reasons. 

A. To show certain whinging friends of mine (and they know who they are) that baking isn't as hard as they constantly complained it was. 

2. To create an online recipe journal of sorts with step-by-step instructions for my littles that they could reference time and time again. 

That's it. That was my main objective. Funny enough, it actually took me months to push that publish button. It was a terrifying concept at the time. Writing it was one thing; knowing it was about to be exposed to the world was quite another. 

You see, I had ZERO confidence in my ability to blog when I began. In fact, I had no idea what the hell I was doing. I am not an overly confident person to begin with, so you can imagine I didn't feel I was up to snuff with some of the already cool kid bloggers out there. Could I really pull off a "Triple Decker Double Dark Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownie Snickerdoodle Cookie Cheesecake Pie" and then photograph it to look like it should be in Gourmet magazine? 

The funny thing about that last statement, before the pie I mean (but HELLO! Who's up for some of this? Damn....) is that I'm not one to compare myself to others in general and I'm not someone who usually cares what others say, do, or think. I mean, I care, of course I care - I'm human, but I can't control what others say, do, and think - people will do that whether one likes it or not, but in saying that, I also knew that if anyone said anything negative about my blog, especially charging right out of the gate post, I would be absolutely crushed. In fact, aside from three people, I didn't let anyone in on my 'dirty little secret'. Looking back, it was clearly a self-preservation tactic that I perhaps took way too seriously.

But eventually, I found the ladyballs to persevere. Since that day, I haven't looked back. 

Not once. 

As I have travelled on the blog path to word domination *wink*, my confidence improved, my expectations changed, my desires increased, and my needs evolved. Unfortunately, with all the super good things blogging brings, the bad, the ugly, and uncertainty also come along for the ride. Jerks.

Despite the many, many lessons I've learned throughout my journey, it always came back to one important factor.  

The relationships. If I could make that one little sentence flash in brightly coloured twinkle lights, I would do it in a New York minute. 

For me, it's all about the relationships I've made. I adore people. I have been so blessed to have met some of the most FANTASTIC folks from all over the world because of my blog. Readers like YOU who give me purpose. Bloggers that inspire me to do better. Companies that give me opportunities to show what I can do. It's always really been about that, it just took me some time to realize it. 

It no longer mattered that my photos weren't magazine material, I didn't give a shit that Google didn't do what it was supposed to - I honestly hand-to-heart have no idea what SEO's are or what all that mumbo jumbo truly means. All I know is that I'm real and I am connecting with you on a personal level. If I've made your day with a story or recipe, then I'm a blogging success story. Period. 

And like everyone, it's so nice to connect with people that get you and your passion. It's even nicer when said folks do as one does. Several years ago, I was overly blessed to have met some lovely bloggers that live in my own backyard. Ladies I lovingly refer to as my foodie girls. These amazing souls polish me and make me shine - and I love them to bits for it. 

We recently got together for an après-Christmas potluck to celebrate the good things in life and celebrate what makes us, well, us. While there's so much I adore about them collectively and individually, the thing I love about these girls is that get me. They also get the frustration of the unstable, unpredictable world of blogging. 

But more importantly, they get the necessity to enjoy a drink (or two) before noon every once in a while...

Their absolute and irrevocable love of food mirrors mine....

They not only understand the unspoken word that no one eats until the last photo has been successfully taken and documented, but also understand it could take twenty minutes before we actually do eat....

But when we do, it's going to be almost as incredible as the company itself...

  

Despite the fact we're all very different in personality and blogging technique, one goal remains the same; we all want to reach out to our audiences. We want to bring our readers amazing food, helpful techniques, sound advice, and smoother experiences in the kitchen and in the home.

So you see, making lasting relationships with you has been the most important lesson I've learned on my journey thus far. 

Because without you to share it with, what's the point?