Hey friends. It’s been a long time since we chatted, huh?

I kind of disappeared without notice or explanation.

I mean I was already kind of fading out of blogging here at DSHN, but I still feel like we should talk about what happened.

I actually tried to start a post like this back in June..let’s just say it’s been a crazy few months.

So let’s get into it.

Why haven’t you blogged on DSHN the past 6 months?

First of all, everyone and everything is okay. In case you were worried.

Second of all, I have been blogging a little…just not here. (more on that in a sec)

The hardest part is that there’s no big reason.

Just many little reasons like…

-Moving into a new house in April.

I thought I would have so much space and light to do photography and food making in our new home…but then all the leaves grew in around our house and it became dark. (<-that’s what happens when you house hunt in the early spring) And I got a little depressed. Seriously nothing can compare to natural light photography.

I spent a lot of time unpacking and arranging things because my perfectionism took over a bit. I’m pretty please with the way it has turned out so far though.

There has also been the whole learning how to manage a house and live with Mr. Dave again. There’s just so much to wrap our heads around.

-We got a second cat in July.

Her name is Dobby (like the house elf on HP) but you can also call her The Dobster. She is highly featured on my snapchat (semihealthnut). 

We kind of treat our cats like children so it was like getting a new baby. And our other cat, Zoey, isn’t the nicest cat…so it’s been an adjustment getting them to work together.

-I got tired of talking about “healthy” things or “semi-healthy” things on the blog when there’s no real definition.

I think part of this has to do with looking at other “healthy living” blogs and not being able to relate at all. This should make me feel unique, but it really just makes me feel stressed out like I need to be getting into all of these food trends that I don’t necessarily agree with.

I feel like every post I went to write I had an argument in my head about whether or not it was healthy or if anyone would care. Really I love blogging about food, but not trying to justify whether or not it’s healthy. 

 

And of course I realize I could rebrand, but with 5+ years of posts and photos that would take wayyy more work than just creating a new blog.

-I started to feel like I’m not an expert…so why would anyone want to listen to me?

This is something I think I will always deal with as a writer/blogger, but I just started to feel like a big phoney. I think it’s the phenomenon where the more you learn, the less sure you are of what the right way to do things is. Is that a thing? I feel it, so I think it is.

I’m also no longer pursuing a degree in exercise science or nutrition and my NASM certificate has expired..so really I don’t have any credentials at all to back me up.

-Needing to get real and make some life decisions.

When all of the dust had settled on the new home moving extravaganza, and I had kind of decided I might not be able to make blogging work for me financially long term (I honestly feel like I lack the discipline and ability to be uber popular..also the budgeting is crazy and unpredictable)…I decided I needed to figure out the next step.

I talked before about how I was struggling with finishing my RD and wasn’t sure where to go from there. You guys left some amazing feedback, but I haven’t done anything on that list aside from create a couple of ebooks for freebie offers. 

-Going back to school in August.

The next step in my brain turned out to be going into education. I’ve always loved teaching..I mean that’s what half of this blog has been! Talking about the things I’m learning, hopefully in a way you could all relate to, and/or teaching how to make a recipe…it’s all teaching. 

And I’ve always loved kids. When I nannied, I often wondered if it was something I could ever do full time. 

The funny thing is that before we even moved to Minnesota (3 years ago), I remember talking to Dave about how I was thinking about changing my major to education. I decided to move with Dave though, which halted my schooling (unless I wanted to pay a zillion dollars on out of state tuition when we didn’t even know how long he would have the position there).

I wrote more on this on my new blog here.

-We set a date on our wedding. 

A whole year after we got engaged..ha! 

-I started another blog. And another.

Yeah you know how I created two blogs last year? I created another two this year.

I created Pink Toast as a new life, food, follow my journey blog. Like a continuation of this one without the “healthy” in the title.

I also created my wedding blog (because…reasons) called Dave and Amanda Get Hitched. I will be updating this more in a couple of months when the wedding panic starts to become real. 😉 

I legit feel crazy for creating two more, especially since I had originally planned on sharing my wedding on the new Pink Toast blog. 

What can I say…I love creating new blogs. It is kind of addicting.

I even have a site that acts as a main hub for all of my blogs. 

I may have a problem. (it’s okay, I have a blog for that: AmandaLovesBlogging.com)

Oh and I completed another half marathon somewhere in there.

Number 3 is in the books with number 4 on the horizon!

Why has it taken you this long to bring it up?

I was never really sure if I was going to completely stop blogging on DSHN. 

This was my baby.

My home.

My space to talk about the stuff I was excited about and share my struggles.

The place to share all my new foodie ideas and race training updates.

It feels like I’m giving up on a best friend saying goodbye. 

It feels like I’m letting YOU GUYS down. And that sucks big time.

And PS I didn’t want all the hard work of bringing people to this site and all the behind-the-scenes stuff I did to get my blog recognized by search engines and all the work on Pinterest and all of the wonderful connections I’ve made and all of my favorite posts and recipes going down the drain. (!!)

In Conclusion…

I think the ultimate conclusion I’m coming to is that I will no longer be updating this space for now.

I’m reserving the right to come back any time and drop a post, but for now, I won’t carry the burden of keeping it updated.

Excuse me while I go cry.

Thank you so much to everyone who has joined in the journey. You have no idea how much your support has meant to me these last few years. <3 

Top 5 Places to Find Me:

Instagram: SemiHealthNut

Amanda Loves Blogging

Instagram: amandaRdewitt

Pink Toast Blog

Snapchat: semihealthnut