You Thought I *Quit* Blogging? April Fool - Joke's On You!

Oh I SO had you with the quitting thing!  I can't believe you all fell for that!  ;)

OK, so maybe I did quit.  But now I'm quitting the quitting.  I'm coming back!  I did need the break and I did need to feel like I had really quit in order to get what I needed from that break.  God always knows what He's doing.  :)

My blog may not be exactly the same going forward (for example, there will be less recipes posted because you already have my best recipes in the recipe index!), but it will reflect ME.  Coming up soon, I'll do a reintroduction post for you so you'll have a better idea of what you'll find here.  My posts will be about a variety of subjects and probably won't appear every day.

I'll work on updating things a bit over the next couple of weeks.  I hope you'll stop by and say hello! I've also got a new "gig" that I'm happy to tell you about!  I'll be a contributor over at Pennies and Blessings!  Mandy just relaunched the site today and has a great team of contributors there to help you save money!  I'll give you a heads up when I post (only once or twice a month), but I'd love it if you'd stop by there today and tell Mandy hello and congrats!

Did I catch you off guard?  We'll see who even notices this post - LOL!  Though my subscribers and followers didn't drop much in the almost 4 months I was gone, I'm sure that many readers are long gone.  And that's OK - I'm not all about the numbers, but I am about the friends!  Welcome back to those of you who couldn't stand to be without me (Kim) and welcome to the rest of you too!  :)

Have a fantastic weekend friends!!  By the way, have you played any tricks for April Fool's Day?

Summer Blog Break

Better grab a chocolate and have a seat - this post ended up being a little long!  :)

Blog breaks happen in so many different ways - a few days off here and there, a planned week off with guest posts, an unexplained absence, and then there's mine.  I've decided to take the Summer off from blogging.  The idea came to me a while back and then I firmly decided on it in May.  I tried to wrap up all the posts I wanted to get done as soon as I could in June.  My original thought was to take off June, July and August.  But it will still be a long break - the rest of June and all of July and August.

Why the long break?  I've been blogging consistently for over 2 years - most of the time 5 days a week (I have over 600 posts here which amazes me!).  I'm feeling a bit burnt out at the moment.  Not burnt out from my blog friends and readers, but burnt out because I've started feeling "obligated" to blog.  It would be fine for it to be an obligation if it were my job and helped support my family in some way.  But my blog is just a hobby and I really don't feel led to make it more than that.

I'm also not a good multi-tasker - I can only focus on one thing at a time.  So if my blog is "dazzling" you daily, then you can be sure that nobody is being "dazzled" by the condition of my home - LOL!  I have many things going on this Summer - enjoying the company of my son, getting organized, taking a Summer trip, finishing projects, spending time with friends, trying to eat healthy, exercising, etc.  For me to really make those things happen, I need to step away from blogging for a while.

I feel relieved that I won't have to try to blog or arrange guest posts while I am on our Summer trip - it definitely interferes with that vacation feeling.  And it turns out that the laptop has to go away for a while for some minor warranty repairs anyway.  So my timing is good!

Don't worry - my blog will still be here!  Recipes will still be here!  And maybe you'll find time to dig through past posts and learn something new about me or find a great recipe that you missed.  I will work on making recipes more accessible.  You can already get the chocolate recipes from my sidebar, but I need to work on making the dessert recipes easy to find.  I also plan to put all the tea posts together so you can find what you need.  And you can always use the search bar if you're looking for something specific.  As I add these things through the Summer - they'll appear on my sidebar and maybe I'll put a brief message on top.

Unfortunately this means that I won't be hosting Chocolate Fridays or Dessert Fridays through the Summer.  You can still post chocolate recipes though - I'm sure your readers appreciate it!  There are plenty of other places to link up your delicious recipes like:  Foodie Fridays, Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap, Tasty Tuesdays, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays - just to name a few!

Now you realize I may change my mind at any time - LOL!  I could get to August and just HAVE to tell you about something great or share a recipe.  Or not.  In which case I'll post in September, Lord willing.

I should add that I probably won't be on Twitter either.  I haven't tweeted in over a month.  It started as a little break by accident and then I decided to wait until somebody tweeted me a question or comment that I had to answer.  Didn't happen.  I think that confirmed that I didn't really need to be on there even though I have some lovely friends there.

Didn't mean to post a book my friends!  Thank you for stopping by my blog and for all of your wonderful comments - they make my day!  I hope you all have a lovely Summer - do take time to stop and smell the chocolates in your own lives.  I will try to stop by blogs and say hello as I have time.

Hugs and air kisses to all!!  Have a wonderful Summer!

Too Much Birthday Celebrating?

Spring Break And A To-Do List

Spring Break is finally here!!  My son's school has a 2-week break at Easter every year.  Hubs will also take off a few of the days.  This year, I have decided to take sort of a Spring Break myself!  I am going to take a 2-week break from this blog.  I want to take the time to spend with my family and to focus on getting some projects done around the house.

It's OK.  I'm fairly certain that you will survive the 2 weeks without me.  :)  And it's quite possible that the blogosphere will not come to a screeching halt!

So no posts from me for the next 13 days (I'll be back on 4/12).  But I have a few things for you to do so you don't miss me so much (and because I'm bossy).

I've got a to-do list for you!!  One thing to do for each of the days I'm gone.  Just stop by each day and do an item from the list.  It'll be like I'm still here!  If you haven't been here long, you'll learn a few things about me and if you're a long-time reader, you still might learn a thing or two.

Your To-Do List

1.  Look at my 100 Things list.  See what we have in common (or not)!  I've updated the list with a few notes so it's current.

2.  You might be needing a cake recipe for Easter, so browse through all the recipes from Cake Week last year.  You might find a new recipe to try or just stop and drool a little.

3.  Take Poll #1 over on my sidebar.  I'd like to know how you want me to reply to you - through e-mail or comments.  I appreciate your input!

4.  If you want more background info on me, read through my Slightly Serious Posts.  There aren't very many, so it won't take you long!

5.  Leave a comment on my Reader Shout-Out if you haven't already.  Last count, I was at 7 countries and 25 states.  It's fun to see where everybody is from!

6.  Since I'm on a sort of vacation, you might want to look through some of my vacation posts.  You can check out Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, Lewis & Clark Caverns and Yellowstone.

7.  You might like to browse through the Chocolate Friday Recipes.  All the chocolate recipes are listed and categorized in one spot.  I even updated the list with the 2010 chocolate recipes so far.

8.  Check out my other blogs.  I will be posting on them during the 2 weeks since I don't post as often on them.  My healthier blog is Stop Eating All The Chocolates and I have a semi-secret 3rd blog that you can find and read if you're bored (Kim already found it!).

9.  Take Poll #2 on my sidebar.  I would love to know how you found my blog!

10.  I hope you enjoyed the Etsy shops that were promoted this month!  You can look in my fave Etsy shops for great gift ideas.  I have links to them on my sidebar. 

11.  I haven't mentioned our Basset hound Buster in a while.  You can get your fix of Buster pics by scrolling through the Buster posts.  He still makes us smile!

12.  Take a look at my Blogroll on my sidebar and find a new blog to read!  I enjoy all the blogs there and added a few more from my reader (it doesn't even include all the blogs in my reader - just too many!).

13.  This one's easy!  Leave me a comment telling me how many to-do items you completed and your thoughts!  I'll even count it as a bonus entry in a giveaway coming up after my break!

Did that help?  I hope so!  I hope you have a lovely 2 weeks and Happy Resurrection Day!

Though I won't be on this blog, I'll be posting on my others and will show up reading/commenting on other blogs, facebook, and twitter as I have time.

Thanks friends!!  Have a fabulous day!

Must.Take.Break. :)

I am getting ready to hit the road again to make my way back to CA. We have had a nice trip, but it is time to go and I'm not really looking forward to 2 more days of riding in the car. I'm a little tired and my brain is pretty close to mush, so I have no post for you!

I really must take a bloggy break this week! So that means there will not be a Tea for Two-sday and I don't know yet about Chocolate Friday. If nothing else, I'll just open it up for links. Don't hate me! Take a look around on my blog and find some past stuff to look at instead!

I'll have some posts from the trip for you next week though. And watch - saying that I will take a break will probably give me the urge to post things off the top of my head, so I do reserve the right to change my mind!

I appreciate your prayers for safe travel as we make our way home. I hope all of you have a lovely and blessed week!

AND - I must give a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout-out to my fabulous bloggy friend Kim!!