Sometimes you begin a thing without knowing the why or wherefore. Your heart tells you to go in a certain direction, and you do it, not thinking about profit or recognition, but simply knowing that you have to follow your heart. That’s how this blog is for me. Several years ago, on a December night right after Christmas, I read an article about blogging for profit, and it talked about how the only way to blog was to write about something you love. I wasn’t expecting a profit, but I knew what I wanted to write about immediately. Thus “I Love New Mexico” was born.
This blog has led me to hundreds of people and places that I wouldn’t have found, or who wouldn’t have found me, otherwise. It’s made me take time to look around. I thought I was good at living in the moment and looking at the view before I started writing it, but I now realize that having a place to put my musings and observations made me much more aware of life and my surroundings. It’s been a gift that I didn’t know I was giving myself.
It also gave me the opportunity to write for several great companies – it’s a perfect portfolio for prospective blogging clients. I started writing for Two Casitas, which led me to monthly visits to Santa Fe, which eventually led me to my permanent move to Santa Fe. I’ll always be a Quay County girl at heart, but boy am I happy to be in Santa Fe now!
A few years ago I hit a bit of a bump in the road, when I was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at Christus St. Vincent Hospital. I was rapidly diagnosed and then immediately sent to Dr. Tim Lopez, an oncologist with their Cancer Center.
I don’t pass this news along for your concern and sympathy. Rather I just feel like my readers have become part of my base of friends in a way – we love the same places, and the comments I get from you let me know that we are generally of a like mind. We believe in the beauty of a New Mexico sunrise, the unexpected magic of a snow-covered New Mexico mountain, and the laughter and camaraderie of a shared meal of fresh green chile over Anything!
I’ll continue to write as much as possible – this is what feeds my soul and keeps me sane, besides the love of my family and friends and those New Mexico sunrises and sunsets and vistas and food. Stay tuned for more of the same, now colored by an additional awareness of how blessed I am to live here.