Ch-ch-ch-changes

Life's full of changes. Mine has had a few lately.

I've been out of blog touch for a few weeks now focusing on my "real life," also known as work. In order to pursue my passions, I recently decided to leave my career in real estate development and have accepted an offer at HomeAway! I start next week! I'm very excited about this opportunity. HomeAway is a reputable, young and energetic company, so I am looking forward to the change and hopefully growing into a career in social marketing there, a passion I would have never discovered without starting this blog.

Secondly, I lost a dear friend to a tragic accident. A regular Sunday morning changed with one simple phone call as I learned that Lewis had left us in the blink of an eye. His passing was another reminder of how short life can be and how quickly it can change. We need to celebrate the little things in life and be gracious for where we are, even if we are striving for more. Sometimes in our society built on excess, that is hard to remember. Lewis helped inspire me to take my new job and jump into the unknown despite risks involved and having a very good position at my current company. But life cannot be lived with caution all the time. I remembered a favorite quote:

Risk is essential. There is not growth of inspiration in staying within what is safe and comfortable.

And so I leap, and I remain thankful that I have the ability to make such a leap, unlike Lewis. I am thankful I got to marry the love of my life, unlike Lewis. When I sit in rush hour traffic every morning, I try to be thankful that at least I am alive to sit there in gridlock, unlike Lewis. And then there's Japan. Sometimes I think the world will be swallowed up in sadness. When I watch the images of the tsunami damage, it's a challenge not to compare it to something apocalyptic. But all you can do is try to help, and give thanks.

In celebration of life, I'll be posting some giveaways over the next few weeks. The only thing you need to do to win is like me on facebook. Listen, I'm baiting you to go to my facebook page at first, but if you get over there, I think you'll see why. I actually love it, and it's not a regurgitation of my blog whatsoever. It's something entirely different. I discuss and share much more information than I care to share on the blog. I recently fostered a discussion about restaurants that have poor cross contamination policies, and we all named names. I also post medical articles that interest me, other folks giveaways & take requests of restaurants where you want to see me dine! So for your chance at winning a copy of Blackbird Bakery's cookbook (personally dedicated to you by Karen), The Happy Herbivore cookbook and Better Batter Brownie mix, like me. I'll pick winners from there each time I announce a give away here. Go on, go. I'm likeable I swear!