Thankyou, everyone, for everything!

Dear Internet,

I just wanted to thank each and every one of the people from all over the world who have taken the time to visit this little blog. This blog meant so much to me for a very long time, and really helped me through a difficult time as I was struggling with my newly discovered need to follow a gluten-free diet. Of course, that was back in 2007, when no-one had ever heard of such a thing, and everyone thought I was crazy! I didn't want to feel like a victim, I wanted to feel empowered by my new restricted diet, and I started this little blog to help me through that. It turned into so much more for me: when I first began to suspect I had issues with gluten, I had been suffering from mysterious illnesses for most of my life. I didn't have any health insurance at the time (because back in 2007 you could be denied coverage for pre-existing conditions!), and I decided to give it a go, and see if I felt any better. Not only did I feel better... it completely changed my life, and cured me of my debilitating chronic pain! It gave me two, beautiful children! I am so thankful that this space was here through all that, and I so enjoyed being able to share some of my favorite recipes and kitchen mishaps here. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would someday top 1 million views!

It has been a long journey, and I am so glad to say that I have made a full recovery since starting this special diet. As a gluten-free diet has become a more and more normal part of my life, in many ways I have come to feel that the original purpose of this blog has been fulfilled. In December, 2013, Baby James (now in Kindergarten!) was joined by a new little sister, Baby Lucy.  These two little wild things keep me pretty busy, and in many ways, I don't have the time or energy to spend in the kitchen that I used to. I have also developed other interests that don't really fit into the scope of this blog, and that is part of why things have gone quiet here. But I am still so thankful for this space to write, and for everyone who has stopped by to hear me be goof around and share recipes.

I recently stopped by the blog, and was very surprised and saddened to see that all of the pictures are gone. I have been a Flickr member and have had a Flickr Pro account for many years, for the purpose of maintaining this website, and I was very upset to learn that Flickr had deleted my account without even contacting me or sending me an e-mail. I feel that was very unprofessional, especially considering that I was a paying customer! Since my account was deleted, I am not even able to contact their help-desk. I am appalled, and will never use Flickr or Yahoo ever again, but what's done is done, and the pictures are gone. The idea of re-shooting the whole blog briefly crossed my mind, but that's really impossible! So, it is what it is. I feel touched by all of the comments and other people that I have helped, and I will leave this blog up as long as blogger will let me, so that you can still have access to those ribs and cookies recipes everyone loves so much!

Please feel free to enjoy, and from the bottom of my heart, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou.

love,

Becks