Big Scary Annoucement and Some Exciting News
WHOA YOU GUYS! I’M GETTING A PUPPY!
How’s that for scary announcement and exciting news, eh?
Just kidding of course. While it is true that I am getting a new puppy, as some of you may have seen on my Facebook page, this is not exactly what I wanted to talk about at this time.
I’ve got a few pieces of truly meaningful information that I’d like to share with you today. Stuff that I’ve been meaning to talk about for a while, but couldn’t really find the right words; then I got a bit scared, a bit intimidated… To be honest, for a couple of weeks, I wasn’t even quite sure what to think about it myself. But now, I’ve grown quite confident and I’m actually really excited and feel ready to share the news with you.
FIRST OFF, THE BIG SCARY ANNOUNCEMENT
Shortly before Christmas, my boss saw me in his office for my yearly evaluation and ended up giving me the greatest, most amazing present I could’ve ever hoped for:
He very kindly, although very regretfully I could feel, showed me the door.
My “other life”, my passion for blogging, was taking up way too much space and was seriously getting in the way, negatively impacting my work performance. Truth is, my blog had become my number 1 priority in every part of my life, even at work. It was getting harder and harder for me to stay grounded and do what it is that my job description required me to do. Plus, I have to be honest, I was no longer fun to be around and felt I didn’t fit in anymore.
Truth is going to work every day was making me miserable. I’d forgotten how to smile. I knew I wasn’t happy, but I couldn’t quite figure out why.
After all, I had a very good job, a stable income, dream work conditions, amazing coworkers, which I’d grown to love and appreciate over all these years and most of all, I had THE BEST DARN BOSS IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, who had gone through great lengths to put me in the chair I was occupying!
Despite the fact that my heart wasn’t there anymore, I just couldn’t bring myself to leave this security and let all these people down, even though deep down I knew it was the right thing to do. It was a leap of faith that I just wasn’t ready to take. So my boss did it for me. And for that, I will forever be grateful.
Now, I wake up everyday with a great big smile on my face because I spend every waking hour doing what I really love to do, without having to feel guilty about it.
From now on, I will be able to pour all of my heart and all of my soul into making THF a successful blog, without anything holding me back. To say that I wasn’t scared would be a BIG FAT LIE. But it’s a gamble I’m willing to take.
It’s a gamble I am WANTING to take.
Not only do I want THF to stay alive, I want it to thrive, grow and expand. And with your help and support, I know that WE can make this happen!
I guess you can expect a few things to change around here, in the near and not so near future. For starters, I will be able to dedicate a lot more time to taking pictures and developing recipes. No longer will have to scrunch up 3, 4 or even 5 recipes in a single week-end. And if the light isn’t on my side on a particular day, then I will have the luxury to wait for it to cooperate… This means I will have more time and opportunities to work on step by steps pictorial posts. YAY!
READY FOR MORE BIG NEWS?
I am extremely excited to announce that BARBIE HAS BEEN GIVEN THE BOOT! That’s right! Betty Crocker is a goner! You won’t be seeing Sonia the cartoon’s face anymore pretty soon, as THF IS CURRENTLY GETTING A COMPLETE OVERHAUL!
Rightio! A brand new look is in the making. I haven’t seen the whole thing yet, only a few visual “proofs” but I can tell you that what I saw is extremely promising and I can’t wait to share the real thing with you all. It’s a bit too soon to get into more details, but expect this place to look completely different in a couple of months time…
Stay tuned!
Last but not least, while we’re the subject of announcements… please let me take this opportunity to announce the winner of my “Thank You for 100K likes Amazon Card Giveaway“
But before I get to that, I just want to say thank you for the amazing response and for all the unbelievably kind comments that some of you have left. I have read each and every single one of them and I must say that some brought tears to my eyes. It touches me deeply to know that so many of you out there really appreciate this place and that I have inspired you to cook and eat better. You honestly are the best, I love you all and thank you from the very bottom of my heart.
YOU ARE ALL MY OWN PERSONAL FRIGGIN’ SUPERSTARS, EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!!!!
Alright, so now to name a lucky winner…
Drumroll please…..
And the winner is…
CLAUDETTE MOIT!
Congratulation, Claudette! I will be emailing you with the details very shortly!
23 Comments on “Big Scary Annoucement and Some Exciting News”
I’m so happy that you were “given” the freedom to do what you really love. After seeing today that in just a few short days you went from 100k facebook fans to over 125k I know you are on the road to greater success! Cookbook, app, road trip. Whatever your heart desires. Best of luck to you!! ~Renee~
Wow, thank you Renee! What a super nice thing to say. Hope you’re right! 🙂
I find that I am always sharing your recipes on my fb page so I will have it to put into my pepperplate and can share with friends. I know it’s scary but go for it woman! The puppy thing…….. hope you have a lot of paper towels!
Ah, thank you so much for your kind words and for sharing my stuff on FB, Janet! As for the puppy thing, too true! This won’t be my first, but it has been a while. I’ve sort of forgotten how to do that, but I think it’ll come back pretty quick. Let’s just hope the snow will have melted down a bit before she gets here, else I’ll have to really stock up on paper towels. What puppy in their right minds would want to face the snow and cold to relieve themselves when they can do so in the comfort of the home? 😉
One word: #TeamSonia 🙂
Ra! Ra! Ra! Go Team Sonia! 😀
Thank you for cheering for me, my friend!
Yay for you! Scary, but usually the most meaningful and important things are!
Too true! And the scariest events of my life always turned out to be the most beneficial. Let’s hope this one will be no exception. It certainly is the scariest ever, so may it be the most beneficial ever, too! 🙂
Whoa, that is scary! But at least you ended up getting what you really wanted. I once saw a quote that said, “The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life.”
I guess that’s true. I was hoping it was, because I blog to procrastinate too 😉
Good luck to everything, and I’m so looking forward to the blog reno!
And your recipes, of course 😉
Ah, but trust me, I wasn’t procrastinating when I was blogging, Jessica. It had become very hard for me to maintain the blog and work full time. I didn’t have a life anymore and was constantly under a lot of stress and pressure. That pretty much all lifted up in a matter of a few days. Now I feel a lot more relaxed, I still work very long hours but I know that I can take some time to say, clean the house or watch a hockey game or a movie or go out with my daughter without having to plan around it for a week. That feels awesome!
Thank you for your kind words and I really hope you like the “renos”. Please, please share your impressions after the big reveal! 🙂
Congrats on your newest adventure. I love coming here and am confident that you’ll have great success with all of your focus here!
Thanks a bunch Traci! Very nice of you to say. 🙂
Oh my goodness, I just had to comment and say congratulations! What a scary but amazing feeling. Just this morning I was wondering what would happen if I just quit my job that I am miserable at, and have been for 2 years now. Everything you said about your job described my situation, and my heart just ached that it wasn’t me getting fired. (although I would be SO screwed if I did). I wish I had the guts to just do it. I wish I had the financial stability to do it. But until then, I’ll just keep on plugging in the hours and hope to still have my desk every day I guess.
I’m excited for you and this new phase of life. Rock it!
Thank you very much for your kind words, Holly. You are a real gem. And honestly, you have a really great blog! Keep working at it, don’t count the hours, be passionate about it and let it take you where you want it to! I really hope that someday, you too will be getting the boot, or even better yet, saying sayonara yourself and spend your days doing what you truly love! 😀
I just came across your blog from Food Doodles. I tried to sign up to get your updates. Every time I put in that code to subscribe it would come up with a new one. I did that about 5-6 times. There must be a glitch in it.
How strange!!! After i sent that email I saw at the bottom where you had another place I could use to subscribe. I tried it and it worked the first time.
I guess you were probably just getting the code wrong Charlotte, so Google was generating a new one for you to try again… these codes are such a pain, so darn hard to read! Glad you managed to sign-up after all, and thank you very much for that, too! Glad to have you aboard! 🙂
Actually they were all plain to read except the first one. That is why I was surprised it kept doing that.
WOW! That is amazing! I’m glad you enjoyed your time at your job- many people can’t say the same- but you are so positive and excited about focusing on your blog I can totally understand why you’d be jumping for joy at getting let go!
OMG, just reading this now! (nothing like Saturday night to get caught up on my blog reading 😉 ) — I just knew changes were afoot for the Healthy Foodie even before confirmation of what they were — I’ve been sensing the wonderful energy. Congratulations Sonia (although I think I might miss Barbie a little, I’m looking forward to the new look! ;o) – xx.
Really? You’ll miss Barbie? I can’t stand to see her face anymore… I’ll warn you before the switch, that way you can take a screen cap, how’s that? And thank you for your kind words, my friend. But mostly, thank you for your ongoing support and for being here and still read me after all this time! You’re sensational, you’re the best, Kelly! 😀
Wow, Big Changes! But good ones for all of us who follow you!
Thank you for doing what you do, you have made my Whole30 experience easy and tasty! And inspired my whole family to eat better. I tell everyone about your blog!
Aw, thank you so much for that, Connie, I am so happy to hear! You are a real gem my dear and thank you for making my day! 🙂