I took the year to pursue other projects, broaden my skill set, read (a lot!!), and to find out what food really, deeply means to me. What I found is that, in the world of food service, preparation, photography, and…just food, in general, there is a lot of noise and a lot of pressure out there.

Noise comes in the form of so many “influencers” telling you how you should feel about food. There is so much contradictory research out there and, no matter, what you believe, you must be wrong about it. A conversation about food might go something like this:

“Well, I only eat locally grown products, so…”

“Oh? You should really start eating hyper-locally. It’s so much better.”

“Didn’t you say you were vegetarian? But you’re eating eggs and honey, too? Monster!!”

“You know, I’ve heard that eating vegetarian isn’t even that healthy anymore. I thought Paleo was the way to go.”

“Whatever you do, you should really do one of those detox cleanses. I did that and I feel so much better.”

“Aren’t those dangerous?”

“Not if you follow my ‘7 Simple Tips for a Healthy 3-Day Detox’.”

I mean, it sounds so ridiculous, but that just about boils down the food dialogue that I hear and read all the time. It brings to mind this photo of a “vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, raw, non-GMO, organic, fat-free, low-carb dinner.”

Seriously, though, you could start a new diet plan each month and not even scratch the surface of what’s out there. There’s no telling what new ancient superfood or technique is going to be  trending this year. And which geographic region are we going to be modeling our eating styles after next? There’s just no way of knowing.

Much of this noise comes as a result of the pressures that are out there for people who work with food. It’s a pressure to innovate. To constantly push the envelope of food, photography, etc. To do what no one else has done before. You can’t just develop a recipe; you have to write a cookbook. You can’t just make a video; you have to work towards your own TV show. We aren’t allowed to just keep it simple; we have to add that one extra step, or mile, or ten. Otherwise, why do it in the first place?

Look, I’m not saying that innovation in and of itself is bad. But when innovate for innovation’s sake, when we learn the rules for taking another person’s recipe and changing it so that it becomes ours….that’s just taking it too far.

The fact is that, while this noise and pressure may help you learn how others feel about food or how you are “supposed” to feel about food, it often confuses how you, yourself, may actually feel about it. Chef Michael Chiarello once said, “What keeps me motivated is not the food itself, but all the bonds and memories the food represents.” According to Chef Alex Guarnaschelli, “Food is so heavily connected to memory.” Chef Eric Ripert says that, “For me, food is about memories, feelings, emotions….”

Food means so much to so many. These aren’t always good memories, but they certainly shape the way that we approach our plates. How can we nail down what food is in a diet plan, or a blog post, or 140 characters? Is food supposed to be innovative or imitative? Nutrition and sustenance or comfort and tradition? Fast or slow? Simple or complex? Familiar or exotic?

This simple answer is….YES! It is, can, and should be all of these! Depending on your mood, background, or company, it could any of these things and can change on a dime. Over the next year, I hope to delve into and unravel some of these different aspects of food and start a dialogue that leads to a healthy relationship with food. Not someone else’s relationship, but your relationship. Yours and yours alone. One that is unique to you and your particular set of circumstances.

Along they way, I’ll share some recipes and techniques that may help you in your journey, but no noise, no pressure. Just thoughts and ideas that have come about over the past few years.

I hope you enjoy!

We are an active family and, far too often, a hearty, soul-satisfying dinner just goes by the wayside. If we aren’t actively engaged in something, we are exhausted from being actively engaged in something! Still, our kids need to eat and I’m happy to have found that the Organic Creamy Tomato Basil Soup from Pacific Foods gives me great options to feed my picky kids. Not only is it easy and convenient to serve the tomato soup as is, but I can make an amazing (and super easy) pan pizza by using that same soup instead of tomato sauce!

We’ve got three young kids who are involved in scouting, sports, band, and many other activities. My wife and I both work (often with me working evenings) and we both volunteer in our community, for our church, and for professional organizations. I’m a football coach and Beth is a Girl Scout troop leader. The action around here just doesn’t stop! With the weather turning colder, I can always count on a bowl of tomato soup for an easy dinner. Unfortunately, my oldest and my youngest just don’t like tomato soup. They do, however, LOVE pizza!

Since I don’t like having too many open containers in my fridge. I thought I’d try using some of the soup that I was heating up for dinner as the sauce in a pizza. It worked just beautifully! Here’s what I do…

I pull a ball of pizza dough out of the fridge (here’s my recipe) and spread it out into a cast-iron pan that I’ve prepped with plenty of olive oil. You could use a pie plate or cake pan, but I really love using the cast-iron for recipes like this. It just gives that crust a little something extra!

I let that sit for about 30 minutes so that the dough can rise a little more. Then I spread it out further, even up the sides of the pan a little, being careful not to tear it. Start this as soon as you get home from work and use that extra 30 minutes to get changed, check homework, get toppings ready, etc. Just get your head straight from a long day!

Now I add my toppings. With a pan pizza, it often works better to layer your toppings first and then add sauce over the top. So I press the cheese into the bottom, pushing into the corners to make sure that I have a great crust. Then I top with pepperoni and more cheese!

So, this is the part where people wonder how my mind operates. I pour about 1/2 cup of Organic Creamy Tomato Basil Soup from Pacific Foods right over top of the cheese and pepperoni. It seems a little crazy to pour soup over your pizza, but the tangy sweetness of organic tomatoes coupled with the bright, savory notes of basil makes it an amazing replacement for pizza sauce. Plus, it’s vegan and gluten-free, so I feel like I can definitely trust my kids with it! Just don’t pour too much or you’ll wind up with something more like a pizza bread bowl. Not bad, but not a pizza!

Sprinkle on a handful of Parmesan cheese and bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes, let rest for another 5 and your family is in for a treat!

Just look at that stretchy cheese!

Serve alongside that same tomato soup and you can even use that beautiful crust to sop it up!

For an even easier weeknight meal, try this! Split English muffins across the middle, top each with about 2 teaspoons of tomato soup and a little cheese. Bake at 350 for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is good and melty. Serve with soup and enjoy!

Are you a busy parent or anyone else just looking for convenient, ready-made soups? Pacific’s wide variety of organic soups are inspired by traditional recipes and Pacific Foods is dedicated to sourcing simple ingredients cultivated through sustainable practices. It’s food that you can just feel good about! Make sure that you head over to Pacific’s Instagram page for a chance to win a 12-pack of Pacific’s delicious new fall soups, including Organic Creamy Tomato Basil Soup, Roasted Garlic & Potato, Organic Vegetable Masala Stew, and Hearty Coconut Curry Soup.

Do you do something with tomato soup besides just eating as is? What’s your favorite way to transform it into something more? Leave a comment and share your story!

October is National Pasta Month and Dreamfields is celebrating with 31 different pasta recipes, one for each day of the month, along with prizes and other surprises! This week’s theme is Go Green and, with that in mind, I wanted not only to create a dish that is chock full of veggie goodness, but one that takes advantage of all of those bits of veggies that we hate to throw away, but can never decide how to use. So I’ve created a simple Vegetable Soup featuring Dreamfields Elbows and a yummy pesto made from carrot tops and roasted pumpkin seeds.

I cook a lot! What that often means is that I have a lot of waste. Onion skins, celery stumps, carrot tops, all trash in most people’s eyes, still pack a ton of flavor. I have taken to saving these parts (that I would ordinarily throw out) in a gallon-sized zip top bag and keeping it in the freezer. Let’s be honest, my freezer is more ingredients at this point than food. Corn cobs, ham bones, bread crumbs…I’ll keep just about anything!

Once I have a full bag of veggie parts, I can make an amazing veggie broth that will blow away anything you can buy in the supermarket. I just empty the bag into a pot, cover with water, and season with salt and pepper. I bring it to a boil and simmer for a solid hour or two.

To strain out all of the veggies, I line a colander with paper towels and pour right over. After all of that cooking, you can finally toss those saved veggies.

Just take a look at that amazing color!! I let it cool down in the fridge and use it over the next couple of days or freeze it for later.

While I’m at it, I love making up a simple pesto with whatever I have on hand. Traditionally, you might use basil and pine nuts, but I’ve found that carrot tops give an amazing flavor and save you from throwing those out! And since it’s October, why not toss in some roasted pumpkin seeds to reinforce that autumn feel. In the end, it’s all about using what you have on hand! This will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Now that I have my broth made and I’ve whipped up an easy pesto, I can use them for just about anything, but for an easy weeknight meal, I simply slice up some veggies and cook a box of Dreamfields Elbows. I like Dreamfields because it’s an easy way to make my family’s meals a little bit healthier. It has all of the taste and texture of traditional pasta with 20% of my daily fiber and 7 grams of plant protein per serving!

Once my pasta is cooked just right and I get my fresh veggies together, it’s almost like setting up a soup bar. I add a serving of Dreamfields Elbows to my bowl, pour in some broth, and add whatever toppings I want. This is a perfect way to make sure that your picky kids get to eat what they want! Personally, I love shredded carrots, radishes, and cilantro. I even add a slice of jalapeno for that nice little touch of heat and then top with that yummy Carrot Top and Pumpkin Seed Pesto.

Now that you have the idea, it’s up to you how to finish it! How are you going to make this soup your own?

To find the recipes for the Vegetable Elbow Soup with Carrot Top and Pumpkin Seed Pesto, visit Dreamfields and make sure that you sign up for great coupons. Head back every day for new surprises and amazing new recipes!

Finally, for one of my readers, this may be your lucky day. Head over to the Dreamfields site and then leave a comment below that tells me yesterday’s featured recipe and you will be entered to win a case of Dreamfields pasta! This is in addition to the prizes available at the #HealthyPastaMonth page! Come back and enter every day for more chances to win. The contest on my site will end on Sunday, October 9, 2016 at 11:59 pm. Good luck!!

Father’s Day is this week and Dreamfields Pasta wants to give you the chance to honor your dad with this week’s #Pastapalooza2016 theme: Papa-palooza! Upload a picture of him grilling, picnicking, relaxing or just enjoying his day with great food and Dreamfields Healthy Pasta for a chance to win the weekly prize package worth $230 (including grilling tools and a hammock!) and an entry into the Pastapalooza 2016 Grand Prize drawing for a one-year supply of Dreamfields Pasta and a $1,000 VISA gift card!! Head over to the Pastapalooza website to submit your entry and download a coupon for more Dreamfields Healthy Pasta!

Summertime get-togethers (even Father’s Day cookouts) never feel complete unless someone brings pasta salad. Typically, though, I find pasta salads to be boring and uninspired…little more than a box of pasta mixed with a bottle of Italian dressing. I thought that I would change all of that by reimagining one of France’s hallmark salads, the Niçoise, into an amazing Niçoise Pasta Salad with Low-Fat Tonnato Dressing.

I’ve been to France exactly one time in my life. It was one summer back when I was in high school and, while most people are completely taken with Paris, for me, Nice just captured my imagination. Beautiful blue waters, homes and shops built right into the hillside, but no towering buildings to obscure the view. The food there is amazing…fresh and beautiful, but simply prepared, letting the food speak for itself.

A Niçoise salad is a composed salad that typically includes tuna, tomatoes, green beans, hard boiled eggs, Niçoise olives, and potatoes. Again, this is typical, but, by no means, are these hard and fast rules. If you go looking, you can find 100 different variants on what a Niçoise salad is composed of. For my part, I stuck to the pretty traditional version except that I substituted pasta for the potatoes. I think it feels a little more summery and is a little lighter than the potatoes.

Choosing the right pasta for a pasta salad is the first step. We want a “good for you” pasta, but it has to have the same taste and texture as traditional pasta. Dreamfields pasta has the same taste and feel as traditional, but with 20% of our daily recommended fiber intake and 7 grams of plant protein per serving! Dreamfields recipe also contains inulin, which helps promote easy digestion. It’s an easy way to eat a little better and is THE go-to pasta for summer pasta dishes!

My Niçoise Pasta Salad with Low-Fat Tonnato Dressing, though it sounds complicated, is amazingly simple to put together. It’s really just 4 easy steps! Click here to find the complete recipe!

1. Cook your Dreamfields Pasta!

2. Make your veggie mix and combine that with the warm pasta. The oils in the mix help to keep the pasta separated and the warmth from the pasta helps to brighten up the tomatoes and green beans. Chill until ready to serve.

3. Prepare the Low-Fat Tonnato Dressing! You literally toss everything into the food processor and let it go. So easy!! Tonnato sauce is usually very rich and fatty, so I used low- and non-fat products and even tuna packed in water to keep the calories down and keep it light for summertime eating. I also snuck in a little fish sauce to bring that fishy flavor over the top without adding more calories. Don’t tell anyone…but I used this sauce with just a serving of the pasta and it was AMAZING!!

4. Prepare your salad! A serving of pasta and veggies, a hard-boiled egg, a drizzle of sauce, and a little garnish make this salad so easy to throw together that I just know that you’ll be having it at your house soon! Enjoy!

Looking for more great recipes? Head over to the Pastapalooza 2016 website to find them and don’t forget to upload a picture of your dad for a chance to win the weekly prize package!

What is your favorite summertime pasta salad? What makes it your favorite? Leave a comment and share your story!

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That’s right, for our anniversary this year, my wife, Beth bought me a toilet and a ceiling fan. My gift to her…installing them! Sometimes, the practical gift is the one that means the most!

You see, we all go through stages in life and love is no different.

There’s that young love, that infatuation stage, where you fawn all over each other and can’t stand being apart for more than 30 minutes. Then you start to realize that, you know, maybe you two actually have some different interests. I mean, seriously, do we have to EVERYTHING together? I don’t really want a manicure, sweetie, but you go on ahead now! For those with trust issues, this stage can lead to problems!

Next you enter into that stage where you both start to change, but not necessarily at the same time or in the same way. This is when life actually starts to happen. This is when the fighting starts. Your expectations for each other change. Resentment builds because one gets to leave the house and go to work while the other is stuck in the house or one is responsible for all of the bills while the other gets to stay home and “play” all day long. Kids both add to this frustration and help you bury down deep inside. “We have to keep it together for their sake, we tell ourselves.” The truth, however, is that both of you are ready to explode at any moment. Sometimes, it’s just the routine that gets you thought it.

Strong couples gut it out during this time. They understand that liking each other and loving each other are not always the same thing. In working through it and opening up to one another, they can come to see each other through their partner’s eyes. This can be both sobering and invigorating. You get to see your faults, but you also have the chance to understand how little they know about what you do. This is where the truly lasting relationships are formed.

Beth and I are celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary today, but we were together for about 3 1/2 years before that. In over 16 years together, we’ve had our share of challenges. We’ve done college together. We did the long-distance relationship thing when I was in the army. We’ve worked through kids and advanced degrees, giving pecks on the cheek as we trade keys in driveway. I have struggled with PTSD, she has struggled with my PTSD, and I have struggled with her struggling with my PTSD. Through it all, through fussing and fighting with kids and each other, through days with neither of us really liked each other, we always continued to love and respect one another.

We’ve both come to realize that the grandiose gestures and the expensive gifts, in the long run, mean very little. It’s the day in, day out that makes a relationship work. We need more toilets and ceiling fans in our lives and less silver and gold. Flowers are not only for special occasions and special occasions are not only for flowers. We have come to a sort of unspoken understanding, one that neither has nor needs words to describe it. We accept each other not for who we want each other to be, but for who we actually are.

There is a certain peace and comfort in that that I find more attractive and appealing than any grand gesture.

When it’s time to fire up the grill for game day goodies, do people turn to you? Are you the life of the party, comfortable directing people, and happy to have your face on camera? Is it your life’s dream to travel the country feeding people and raising money for local charities? Do you absolutely love sausage? If you answered yes to all of these questions, I have the perfect job for you courtesy of Johnsonville Sausage!

Johnsonville Sausage is on the hunt for their next Grillmaster and it could very well be you! Check out this video to see exactly what the job entails!

Sounds awesome, right? You would be the face and voice of the Big Taste Grill Tour and would travel the country attending events like the Kentucky Derby, NASCAR races, and football games, all while raising money for local charities. It sounds like the perfect job! Plus, with all of that delicious Johnsonville Sausage around, you just know that you’ll never go hungry!

Do you think you have what it takes to be Johnsonville’s next Grillmaster? If so, then fill out the online application now!

While you’re waiting for a response, and since I know you’re drooling for a Johnsonville Sausage right about now, I have a perfect game day recipe for you that might just make you happy to change up that halftime routine. By making up a little Mediterranean salad and a quick tzatziki sauce, we can turn those perfectly grilled sausages into a satisfying Sausage Gyro!

I start by making a simple salad with diced cucumber, tomato, and red onion. Then I work on my tzatziki sauce with greek yogurt, shredded cucumber, dill, mint, etc.

For my tzatziki, I love adding a little lemon zest, too. It adds that little something extra that really brings out the other flavors!

I grill up my sausages on a grill pan because, let’s be honest, it is too darned cold in Virginia to be grilling outdoors!

Once finished, I let the sausages rest a little before slicing them and topping my flatbread with some of that tangy tzatziki, some sliced sausage, and that Mediterranean salad.

Game day cooking could not be easier!

Are you a grillmaster from way back? What is your favorite sausage dish? What makes you the best choice to be Johnsonville’s next grillmaster? Leave a comment and share your story!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Johnsonville. The opinions and text are all mine.

As a vet myself, I was immediately disappointed in the decision. I’ve earned medals myself and the idea of someone wearing those medals without having put in the time, work, and sacrifice needed to earn them just grates on my nerves. So, I decided to do a little more research on it.

The decision relies heavily on arguments from United States v. Alvarez, a Supreme Court case which struck down the Stolen Valor Act of 2005. The issue in that case was that Xavier Alvarez falsely introduced himself as having earned certain awards. The case was struck down largely because the court could not see any tangible benefit to Alvarez nor any harm coming from his comments. In other words, telling tall tales isn’t really illegal.

What makes the United States v. Swisher case different is that he was not only stating his lie, but wearing the medals, physically misrepresenting himself and commanding the respect of honors that he did not earn. What should be clearly noted is that Swisher was originally convicted on four charges, appealing only one of them. The one that he appealed, while based on a valid law at the time, is not one that he could be convicted on today.

Per today’s laws, simply wearing a medal is not illegal. Neither is it illegal to brag about service that you haven’t performed. Frankly, the latter is not that concerning to me. Even the dissenting opinion in the Swisher case distinguishes between “bar stool braggadocio” and the harm that comes from the wearing of unauthorized medals.

Look, I’m not going to get all bent out of shape over some guy whose life or service is so unexciting that they have to make up stories to impress people. That doesn’t make them a criminal; it makes them a liar, a jerk, an asshole. There’s nothing patently illegal about that. When that guy passes around falsified documents and attempts to get free drinks or, worse, money from the VA, he’s crossed over that line and is now a thief. There’s a difference between telling fish stories and carrying around someone else’s fish.

The “free speech” argument is almost laughable to me. If you wear medals in support of soldiers or in protest of the war and make sure that people know why you are wearing them, that’s free speech. When you wear them for your own benefit, tangible or not, your goal is not free speech, but deceit. I see very little difference between this sort of action and impersonating a police officer. In both cases, you are looking for a certain authority and respect that you didn’t earn.

As a father, cases like these are particularly distressing to me. How does it speak to my children that they can see people lie, cheat, and steal their way through life and get away with it? How do I teach integrity when the courts say that it’s ok not to have any? How do they know who is a hero and who isn’t? Is it even possible to tell the difference?

Medals conferred upon America’s heroes are, in many ways, sacred. They represent honor, duty, sacrifice, a host of other qualities that we hold dear as a nation. When they become little more than a cheap token that anyone can wear in the name of “free speech,” haven’t we lost a little something of ourselves? At what point did we equate the protection of “free speech” with the protection of liars? When did we forego protecting those who would protect this country and, instead, protect those who would give this country a bad name?

I, for one, hope that our kids can do it better. I hope that we can take cases like this and see that our laws, our courts, and our governments will never be able to legislate respect, honor, or sacrifice. We, as parents and as leaders in our communities, have to take the first step and teach our kids better. We have to set a better example for the people around us and for their kids and for their kids’ kids. In short, we just have to do better.

Similarly, I often volunteer at my kids’ schools and hear from parents all the time how they wish that they could do that, but that work won’t let them. I cook at home all the time and have to listen to people tell me that they wish they had enough time to cook. Whether it’s church or community, cooking or coaching, reading or working out, too many times, we feel like there’s just no way that we can do it. There just isn’t enough time in the day.

My struggle with all of this is that, even though we all have the same amount of time during the day, somehow, some of us make it work!

How do we do it?

Really, it’s just a question of setting priorities. Time isn’t really the issue. It never has been. Some things we just care about more than others. To be honest, I would have so much more respect for people if they just said, “You know, I really just don’t want to.” At least, in that case, you are being honest with yourself and with others.

So if these things are so important that people have to make excuses like not having enough time, what are we spending our time on?

The first culprit, of course, is work. Some people consider me lucky that my work schedule allows me to volunteer when I do. What they don’t understand is that, while they are home and resting, I am finally getting to work. I don’t volunteer instead of working, I just adjust my work schedule around my church and community efforts. Beth and I have made a conscious effort to be available to our kids and we accept that it doesn’t always have to be both of us doing it. Whether it’s taking a vacation day, working a flexible schedule, or simply requesting a change in your shift work, if you set your non-work priorities first, you can make it happen.

Some people will tell you that they are putting their kids first and, in some cases, this may be true. Mostly, I think, these people are putting their kids’ activities first. I know people who have kids in scouts, sports, music, church clubs, and multiple academic clubs. Many of these are weekly activities. The kids are just never home. We value our kids having free time, getting their schoolwork finished, and getting a full night’s sleep. Yes, they do some sports, they are all required to do scouts, and we have a couple of young musicians, but we refuse to fill their schedules during school and afterwards with daily activities to keep them busy. We give them choices, but limit the number of choices that they are allowed to make. In essence, we are teaching them early to set priorities. This will help them massively when they get to high school and beyond.

At the end of the day, you have to decide what you want most out of your days. If you want to prioritize work and make sure that bank account grows, go for it! Just don’t tell everyone that you don’t have time for the other stuff. Tell them that you’re working hard to build that account.

If you feel bad that other things are taking all of your attention, find a way to change it! You’ll either find a way or you’ll find an excuse and, frankly, I’m sick of hearing people’s excuses.

How are your priorities set? Do have “enough time” for everyone or do you somehow make it all work? Leave a comment and share your story.

Followers of my blog may or may not know that I suffer from PTSD. I was an infantryman who served with the 101st Airborne in Iraq in 2003. I had my share of encounters over there that left me with a certain number of scars and I carry some sense of guilt over leaving “early” and of not being able to help my brothers who have, since, come back and taken their own lives.

I came back mid-cycle to leave active duty and transitioned quickly from a war zone to college life, or so I thought. Years later, I can look back with a little clarity on that period in my life (or at least on the few parts that I remember), but, at the time, I had no idea what a strain it was on me and on my wife. I did (and still do) harbor a lot of anger and frustration and carry both physical and emotional pain. I remain hyper-vigilant, expecting bad things around every corner and I have trouble connecting with the mundane troubles that most people fret over.

I’ve learned a lot about myself since then as I hope anyone would over a decade or more. I’ve learned that there is a hole somewhere in my life. Thankfully, I’ve never tried filling that hole with drugs or alcohol, although the temptation has been present more than a few times. I spent some time just trying to keep myself busy, avoiding the problem and trying to fill that hole with activities like schoolwork and running.

Eventually the schoolwork gets finished and I busted myself up running too much. I’ve found therapy in cooking, photography, and in writing and I’ve started to fill that hole by volunteering in my church and community. It’s almost funny. After all of that time focusing on taking care of myself, I’ve found that I serve myself best when I serve others.

What I’ve learned most over the past few years, is not just how far I have to go, but how far I’ve come. I’m not fixed yet and, to be honest, I may never be. As the song goes, “I’ve still got a few more dances with the devil,” but sometimes the first steps are the most difficult. Being open about your weaknesses and finding those things in your life that fill holes, not mask them, take not only time, but effort.

Believe me when I tell you, though, the effort is well worth it!

Do you have struggles in your life? How do you fill the holes? Leave a comment and share your story!

A friend of mine posted on Facebook yesterday that her “word for the year” for 2016 is “balance.” That hit me pretty hard and touches on something that has been bothering me for a couple of months here. As a blogger and a freelance photographer and writer, it can be tough to find balance. I have a lot of latitude to work whenever I want and to volunteer at schools and churches. The problem is that the work never really seems to stop and and often invades my personal and volunteer time. The simple truth is that if I’m not working I’m not making money. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell what time is for work and what time is for family!

Living like this can be difficult!

Since local events never happen during the school day, I’m often out on assignment when my kids are home, missing some of those precious, and fleeting, moments with them. Even if it is an event that I am attending with my kids, I’m often taking photos for a story about the event. Doing this, you quickly find that your time with the kids becomes forced and simple joys, like cooking, become a chore. Tempers flare as you try to take beautiful shots of food before dinnertime only to choke down the food and run off to shoot photos at the local high school game to the disappointed whines of a daughter who just wants you to be home for bedtime. Worst yet, every attempt to escape into digital distraction is met by the nagging needs of laundry, dishes, field trip forms, and homework checks.

What grounds me most (and what I get to do least) is to just get out and take photos or stay in and just write. Not for anyone, not with any particular aim, and not for any particular audience, but for myself and myself alone. As a combat veteran who suffers daily from the effects of combat-related PTSD, I have found comfort and calling in photography and in writing, but I think I’ve gotten lost in trying to make a living from it.

So what does that mean for the coming year?

I’m not entirely sure. I think what it means is that I’ll be working not only to rediscover my voice, but to share it more. I have long kept my opinions pretty guarded, sharing with only a select few. I want to change that, not recklessly, but with less regard for how others view me. Truth be told, my word for 2016 should probably “fearless.”

I intend to write more, read more, and then write more about what I’m reading more. I intend to focus in on my craft in photography and, not only share the results, but share how I achieved those results. I also intend to go back into my files and rediscover photos that I’ve taken, but never shared. It’s time for them to see the light of day and for those stories to be told.

I will still have recipes, but I think they’ll be much simpler. Some recipes that you can prep on the weekend and use to create meals throughout the week. The kind of food that helps us put food on the table day to day. Don’t expect a ton of process photos, I’ve found that those just aren’t my style and that I’d prefer spend my time on other projects.

I’m anxiously excited about this change in direction. I think that my stories, thoughts, and opinions are worth sharing and that, maybe, just maybe, some of you out there might actually enjoy reading them. If you do, please let me know with a comment or email. Your encouragement would be much appreciated.

So what is your “word of the year” for 2016? Is it “balance”, “fearless”, or something completely different? Leave a comment and share your story!