In the summer of 2020, my brother Ryan convinced me to start a blog to document my recipes, but I had no idea I was about to embark on a path that would lead to so many new passions and, ultimately, change the course of my life.

At the time, I hardly had any ways to express my creativity aside from occasionally oil painting, which I had just started as well. I was really depressed, and the creative energy that couldn’t come out manifested in negative ways internally and externally. I had no idea what I wanted to do and was desperate to find something that would fan the glowing embers in my soul.

But once I started blogging, something shifted within me. I realized I could be creative through writing and photography – two things I never considered doing. I thought painting and drawing were the only ways my creativity could come about, and because I’m such a visual person, I didn’t think I was a good writer, until I started writing with purpose. Once I changed my perspective, so many options appeared.