The hiatus is over

((Taps mic.)) This thing on?

My, oh my…how long it’s been.

The last nine months of work have been crazy. To be fair, it’s more like the last six. I’ve had to put aside a lot of the things that make me happy or fulfill my passions, simply to keep my head above water. I sort of tabled time spent writing, which I’ve sorely missed.

I can’t do that anymore. I love keeping track of memories and capturing the little things that I want to remember forever. So, I’m back. Hopefully more consistently.

I just read this quote in an article about a pro basketball player-turned personal trainer: Sometimes we need to walk away from the things that are right to really understand them.

In my opinion, I walked away from my true self. Sort of as a challenge, a risk I was willing to take. I knew I might flounder, but I hoped I’d succeed and open door I didn’t even know was there. I ended up overworking myself, alongside a super challenging time health-wise for me, too.

But all of this is in the past, and I'm really feeling back to my old self. It's time to make and save moments to write and reflect. 

So how about a quick recap of last summer's Benz Birthday Weekend Cooking Challenge?

The theme for 2015 was: Fusion Food Carts, and there were no disappointments. Team Heit kicked things off with a Californian-Hawaiian plate lunch, followed by the DeVries doing an Asian-Mexican fusion, “Samurai Sombreros,” and then it was our turn, the “Umami Tsunami,” a non-specified Asian fusion. None of us knew what the other teams would be creating, so as always, it was surprising and fun, and there were no duplicate items on the menus.

We also took a trip out to Elk Lake for picnicking and paddleboarding, which ended up being quite the highlight of the long weekend. We’re adding this to our annual to-do for next year (which isn’t so far away now that it’s almost May).

The BBWCC is our family’s Christmas. Since we can’t all get together in December, it’s so nice to have all of us in one place at one time, celebrating another year of life in our favorite place over food.

The photos are in no order at all...and probably terrible quality because I'm no photographer. Clearly.