It’s been a long time One Sweet Slice, but I think the moment has finally arrived.  Two years ago Trent and I closed our bakeries with the intent to regroup and focus on our family.  We have four young kiddos and running two bakeries with Trent having another full time job pushed us to our limits.  We needed to take a step back, re-evaluate our priorities and set realistic goals.  The past 24 months were spent reading, cleaning, cuddling, washing, listening, yelling, playing, traveling, laughing, working, remodeling, crying, driving, cheering, learning, helping, organizing, painting, and exercising.  I did about every “ing” you can think of……….except baking.

I sold most of my baking and decorating tools, boxed up my recipe books and started saying no to any one other than immediate family that asked me to bake.  One Sweet Slice was a thing of the past.

  

And yet. . . there was a huge part of me that began to miss the  fast paced atmosphere, pressure to perform, creative outlet, the feelings of accomplishment and of course the amazing people I interacted with every day.  I missed my network of wedding friends and professionals, complaining about crazy brides with other decorators, talking with clients about the life events they were celebrating, laughing with customers, and pushing myself to get out of my comfort zone and build something bigger.  Sigh.  No matter how hard I tried to distance myself from my baking past it kept creeping back in.

The Mommy Blogger

Blogging.  That was the other “ing” I tried to get away from.  Trent has been trying for SIX years to convince me to start a blog.  At one point he was so desperate he started a blog pretending to be me!  The paragraphs were loaded with words like, “so fun” “cute” and “super.”  I don’t really talk like that. . . do I?

 

 

I’ve been able to meet some pretty amazing bloggers over the past few years and I totally should have started then, when I was around people who know what they were doing!  The biggest thing that held me back then, and still has a grip on me now, is straight up FEAR.  The online world of blogging is extremely competitive and intimidating.  Starting 10, 8, or even 6 years ago there would have been some mercy extended to my attempt at blogging and blundering at photography.  In 2017, if photos aren’t properly lit, or  the title to a post isn’t super witty, or if it’s an idea that’s already been done, your blog will be lost in a sea of super cute awesomeness.  

Then I started to come across quotes like this:

 

 

 And this:

 

 

And finally this:

 

 

Not sure who you are Rachel Huber, but your fear quote was just what I needed to read.  

I’ve emailed, called and texted my blogger friends to try and discover what the secret is to blogger bliss is.   Their answers were all the same, “JUST START!”  So, that’s what I’m doing.  It’s not pretty, I’m still learning how to work my camera, and I’m trying to understand blogger etiquette. I have a lot of learning and failing to do but I’m going to stop worrying about this:

 

 

And start doing more of this:

 

 

Grab something sweet, subscribe, and come along for the ride.  See what I mean, every blogger says come along for the ride.  How about jaunt, undertaking or escapade.  Ha! Now I’ll have Madonna’s song stuck in my head all day.

I’m pretty sure I already did 4-5 big blogger no no’s in this post.  Just. . . just comment and let me know. Let’s watch One Sweet Slice grow.