Do you ever feel like after years of confusion, you’re finally doing exactly what you’re supposed to be doing?
Because that’s how I feel.
Almost exactly one year ago, I started this blog. I wanted to give myself an outlet for my writing and photography, a place to share my recipes, a way to inspire others to lead healthier lives through fitness and nutrition. What started out as a simple hobby has become so much more — it has become my passion.
During college, and in the many years that followed, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew was that I loved to write.
I love the way beautiful words can paint a picture in the mind. And the way reading about food, such as a juicy pear or hot homemade bread, can immediately make me imagine exactly how that food would taste and feel in my mouth.
During college, I decided to pursue my love for writing in the form of journalism. In the summer of 2003, before my senior year, I interned at a tiny newspaper in rural Kentucky. Due to the small size of the paper, I was afforded the luxury of spending my internship actually getting sent out on assignments, instead of just picking up coffee for the real writers.
I loved my time at that newspaper. I was sent out around town, my aim to find fun “people’s interest” sort of stories. I interviewed residents at an ice cream shop on “National Ice Cream Day.” I wrote about new walking trails being added to the area (a front page story!). I attended a children’s community outreach weaving class, talking to the kids and writing about their experiences there. I even got to write a special column about my experiences studying abroad the semester before in Australia.
When I graduated the following summer, I was offered a job at that little newspaper, but I knew I wouldn’t be happy living in such a rural area. I applied and applied and applied to DC area newspapers, magazines, and TV stations, with no luck. Eventually, I got a job working in PR.
But I was unhappy. I knew PR wasn’t for me, but I didn’t know what was. I wanted to be allowed to be creative and free with my writing, not restricted by press release formats and endless client approvals. I jumped around from job to job for 5 years. As I did, my interest in food writing and nutrition grew. I spent more and more of my free time reading food blogs and magazines and started doing a lot more cooking for myself. Little did I know, I was finally on the right track.
In the fall of 2008, I decided it was time to cash in on a long-standing pipe dream: teaching English overseas. I spent an amazing 9 months in Prague, Czech Republic, teaching, traveling, and, of course, eating.
While in Prague, I started my very first blog, called “Czech Anne Out.” It was a wonderful outlet for me to start writing more again and to share my growing interest in photography.
When I returned to the U.S., I decided it was time. Time to pursue my dreams of a food-related career and go back to school to become a Registered Dietitian. I signed up for prerequisites, started studying for the GRE, applied to schools, and worked part time as an editor.
And I started this blog. Finally — everything was starting to fall into place.
Friends ask me why I spend so much time writing, cooking, and photographing for this blog, and I say, simply — because I love it. I love making others drool when they see my food photos, I love taking the time to craft a perfect post, I love spending hours dreaming up and then bringing to fruition a new recipe creation, I love angling my camera to just the right angle and hearing the “click” when I finally press the button.
In short, I love food blogging.
I think food blogging was what I was searching for all those years that I wanted to write, but didn’t know how or where to do so in a way that would make me happy. I want to be an RD not necessarily so that I can counsel clients… but so that I can write about food and nutrition, just in a more knowledgeable way. And I can’t wait to do so.
