Where is the Jump to Recipe button?

 I wanted to post about this little blog, Give Peas A Chance. I am the most inconsistent and random blogger. It has ebbed and flowed with my life. I started this blog to store recipes for my kids to have. That was in 2009. 2008? Something like that. I also blogged school lunches for a long time. Now my kids are all grown up. I've gotten rid of Bento Boxes, lunch boxes, lunch packing tools. Ebb and flow. Now, I blog book reviews. Perhaps not consistently.  I guess that is the point. Whatever is posted ebbs and flows with what I am doing most at the time. ADHD translation: It changes according to what I am hyperfocused on at the time. An early 2000's type of blog. It just is what it is without the bells and whistles. Just a mom with a creative outlet. Not really meant to gain followers or be seen by many. I don't make money here. I never have. Unless you count the one time I won $1000.00. There were times I did reviews and giveaways. That was fun for a while. Then it wasn't. Again, ebb and flow. 

 The thing that sparked this post? I wanted to blog, so I did. But the recent photos of the food. WHEW.  I have looked at them and thought to myself, "You shouldn't post that. It looks horrible." They do. I know it. I am simply taking quick photos. I sometimes take photos of food to post on Instagram or Facebook. Not that many people use Facebook anymore, but I do. I don't take them for the purpose of blogging. Lately, I have enjoyed the creative outlet. Putting up simple posts. Going through the 50 post drafts I have. Posting some of them. Deleting others. Just quick snapshots of food. Many times the lighting is so bad you will wonder why I didn't do something about it. The answer is I don't have the energy, and I don't care(I might later, but that is for later). If blogging is going to be a creative outlet, just for me, then I will not pressure myself to set up shots. To check lighting. To think about what color dishes I should use. Correlle Winter White is what it's going to be.  I have gotten rid of over half of my dishes. This is low-spoons blogging for my mental health. Once it no longer serves me in a positive way. I will simply step back and not pressure myself to keep up. Ebb and flow.

I don't even have a jump-to-recipe button. Trust me, I know how heated people can be about not having a jump-to-recipe button. The demand from readers to "just give me the recipe I came for". "I don't want your life story".  That's a whole other post, isn't it? The thing is, this isn't that kind of blog. This is for me. I've invited you into my space. We don't pay those bloggers and food creators for recipes. The least we can do is help them by giving them a click. That was a tangent. Anyway, I don't have the button. Do you know why I don't have that button?  Simply because I don't know how to add one. That's it. I don't have the know-how, and I don't want to pay someone with the know-how. Not because they are not worth their time and talent. This just isn't that kind of blog anymore. There's even a small icon under each post on the left-hand side at the bottom that says "Pin it" that I don't know how to remove. I've clicked on it, and it does nothing. I don't know how to remove it. It irritates me every time. There are even Twitter buttons. I don't even use Twitter anymore. All that is to say that if you're looking for a real blog. This isn't it. 

Will I pick up my camera again? Maybe. If I can find the battery charger. If it brings me joy to do so. I might not even blog about food for more than a few months. Ebb and flow, right? I stopped blogging recipes for a long time. Who knows how long this streak will be for. This is simply a creative outlet, hobby, and place for us as a family to look for recipes we have enjoyed. I have made wonderful friends through this blog. I am thankful for that. If you've gotten this far, thank you. You're welcome here, of course. Everyone is welcome. Just don't expect too much.

Thank you for being here. Have a blessed day.

 

Peasreads: The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic

 

I was so excited to read this book. The description sounds fun, right? Magic, family, romance. Jake the MC's love interest returning after a decade lead me to believe that the MC would be a lot more mature. She has a strong family connection, and she runs a lovely cafe. Yet Sadie seems so immature to me. Jake, ugh. Such a coward, wrapped in "I'm honorable and want to do the right thing". I'm big on honesty and I felt that he lead Sadie on.

The book got off to a slow start. Lots of things happening, and the introduction of characters but no real substance given to them until later made it a bit confusing. Once it picked up I came to really like Sadie's grandmother. Her family is where the beauty of this book was for me. I loved reading about their dynamics and love for each other. I was able to see the charm in the house and the town. As one other reviewer said, it's more of a quaint southern town feel. The story with Sadie and Jake's romance as a side thought was a good read. 

 Description from the publisher:

For fans of Practical Magic and Gilmore Girls, The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic is a debut novel that explores the shields we build around our hearts to retain our own magic.

Sadie Revelare has always believed that the curse of four heartbreaks that accompanies her magic would be worth the price. But when her grandmother is diagnosed with cancer with only weeks to live, and her first heartbreak, Jake McNealy, returns to town after a decade, her carefully structured life begins to unravel.

With the news of their grandmother's impending death, Sadie's estranged twin brother Seth returns to town, bringing with him deeply buried family secrets that threaten to tear Sadie's world apart. Their grandmother has been the backbone of the family for generations, and with her death, Sadie isn't sure she'll have the strength to keep the family, and her magic, together.

As feelings for Jake begin to rekindle, and her grandmother growing sicker by the day, Sadie faces the last of her heartbreaks, and she has to decide: is love more important than magic?

Find more book reviews here under Peasreads.

Amazon reviews Katereviews.

Goodreads reviews.

 I received this book from NetGalley for this review. I was under no obligation to give a positive review. All opinions are on my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”