Here's for the next five years of blogging, books, and recipes!

Five years come and gone and I can't believe how far we have come... 
I remember that evening out with two of my siblings when I tossed the idea of blogging out there to the world. It was a hot, humid summer night out in the city, talking about life and eating tapas. The ideas of what the blog was going to be about were entertaining even though I knew in my heart that it was going to involve my favorite escapism, my favorite past time, my beloved books, the romance novels that literally saved me when life got rough after my disability. 

Sometimes after the fact, it is fun to look back and see the path that took you where you are today. I have had some amazing opportunities along the way and I met so many of my favorite authors two years ago in Orlando while attending RWA (Romance Writers of America annual conference). 
That experience was surreal: I walked into the conference hotel and there were my social media coming to alive right before my eyes. I am thankful for the authors who gracefully indulged my fangirl moments one after another. The trip was my gift to me, I then called it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet and greet my favorite authors in attendance, to inspire and to network in the sometimes lonely world of blogging. ​

Well, a lot of things have changed in my personal life in the past two years since Orlando RWA. After years of attempts to rehabilitate, I got my disability retirement in January 2018. I moved internationally in August 2018, back to my home country after 26 years as an expat.  I took an active role in helping my parents cope with aging, health issues, and the demands of dementia and Parkinson's in everyday life. All this while trying to adjust to living in a country that has changed so much over the years, and getting accustomed to speaking the language daily again with all the other challenges moving to a new place, home, town, and country comes with.  

One thing has stayed the same, though. I still escape to my romance novels, I still read into the wee hours of the morning, I still get swept away by the story. My time might be more limited, the opportunities I have to read and work on the website  might be less than before, but I am still committed to Books & Spoons, so much so that the 'once in a lifetime opportunity' turned into a second chance at the end of the month in New York City when I get to fangirl again while attending RWA. 
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The opportunity came about by many tiny (and not so tiny) blessings and gifts and sales and pure perseverance, and I am excited. Thrilled might be the perfect word for it. So to celebrate the five years of blogging, I am flying to New York to attend RWA as a book blogger in less than two weeks! Yihaa!
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 I am looking forward to meeting with other bloggers and readers and authors and publishers to toss ideas with, to share our love for romance novels. 
I have so many new ideas for the website and a more fine-tuned direction I want to take it to comes autumn, maybe some new graphics, layouts, etc. I still have a few books I want to read before my departure for the new adventure. I have about seven days to get everything settled to travel, and I can not wait.

I want to thank you, my fellow readers, for the loyalty, companionship, support, likes, shares and visits on the website over the five years. Without you, there wouldn't be Books & Spoons. 
For the publishers, authors, and tour companies that I get to work with on a weekly basis - thank you for your trust in me to gracefully deliver an honest opinion of the books. Sometimes it is easier than others, and I appreciate your flexibility with me and the everchanging life situations I have faced while blogging. 

I hope to see many of you in New York, and if you see me, please, come and say hello! I might be introverted, sometimes socially awkward, mobility challenged, always I rather would be reading kind of a person, but I'm looking forward to embracing everything New York has to offer! 

The adventures await... 
Here's for the next  five years of blogging, books, and recipes
~ Cheers!