A Shift

Happy Monday, internet friends! Please enjoy this picture of my painfully adorable baby + a side of under-eye mascara residue from the day before.

Coming at you today with something different. I’m just going to jump right in and share my heart a little bit in regards to this blog. The Garlic Diaries is six years old as of this past September (which is crazy to think about), and it has brought me SO much purpose and joy over these past six years.

I started this blog as young, freshly married, freshly college-graduated little baby at the ripe age of 22. 23? Not totally sure – I’d have to math more than I want to during nap time on Monday, but it was low 20’s-ish. It gave me a hobby/passion to pursue during those years when my husband was in the military, we were moving around, we didn’t have kids, didn’t have a huge amount of deeply rooted friends since we were moving from place to place, unit to unit, etc. And I loved it.

Next phase of life: kids. First was Ford, then Colton, now Harper brings us to a family of five, and they are everything to me. Being a stay at home mom is challenging – it sucks up a whole bunch of energy, can be very isolating until you find your mom tribe, you never really get a break, and your life becomes a giant cycle of tiny humans unapologetically needing things from you at all times, BUT – it is absolutely thrilling to me. I couldn’t love anything more, even though some days it. is. a. GIANT YELLOW STRUGGLE BUS. It fills my heart deeply and makes me feel alive.

So that brings me to the blog now. There’s been a shift happening for a few years now, more and more as I have more kids and those kids get older. I still LOVE cooking – absolutely love it. I love coming up with new recipes. I love sharing those recipes with you. But – I am getting much less fulfillment out of the amount of time that is taking from me. It’s morphing less towards energizing and purposeful and more towards tedious and job-y. I am craving – and have been for a while now – a new breath of life into this space. A shift from just food into a new areas.

I don’t know exactly what that looks like right now. I know that as years have passed and I’ve grown into the person I am right now, though I still have a passion for food and cooking, that passion is deeply dwarfed by other passions – parenting, my family, relationships, and serving others.

That’s the space I want this to morph into – I want my life to be filled with these things. I want my job to be as centered towards serving others as it can be, because that’s what I want to use my life to do. And I do think that providing people with yummy recipes is a form of service, but I want it to be more direct and intentional. I want to encourage other moms who are deep into the parenting journey like I am. Help spouses who are trying to prioritize their marriage when they have tiny people zapping their energy for 12 hours a day. Overall, I just want to encourage, help, and create a community of light and fun and joy and positivity.

I’m sure this will stretch and grow and develop as the weeks and months pass, so it’ll be a journey for all of us together! For now, just expect a shift. It’s not going to be just food anymore (food will still be included, though) – the space is going to change. I would love for you to join me on whatever this journey ends up leading to, and any feedback is more than welcome!

Thanks, friends!