I'm Becomingginger.....What are you becoming?

You might have noticed that I've re-designed my blog a bit!  I do tweak it from time to time but now I'm getting a little more advanced, feeling hard core for agonizing over html code and having it actually WORK.  (A big deal for me).

I sometimes contemplate changing my blog, considering options ranging from switching to a different platform to redesigning to continuing as it already is.  See, I started this blog as part of an assignment for an elective I was taking at Bastyr University five years ago now, Writing in Nutrition and Health.  Our teacher rightly suggested that a blog is 1. A great way to practice writing and 2. A way to share your expertise with others.  I called my blog “Becomingginger” because I was in a life transition at that time in a rigorous graduate program and really just starting to learn about nutrition.   At orientation (long ago!), our program director showed us a line graph to help illustrate the learning curve we were embarking on; it started at zero and took a huge mountainous bump with our two year grad program.  It was hard at the time to imagine anything more challenging that school but the internship created another rocketing increase on the graph as we spent a year rotating with medical students, running research projects, and completing independent practice.  Finally, the graph shot up for the biggest bump of all during the first year of work, a time when you are on your own, constantly looking up information, making awkward mistakes while talking to doctors and continuing to  learn....fast.  My professor was right about all of it and now I'm on the other side of all of those bumps....still learning but comfortable in my professional practice.

So I find the name “Becomingginger” a little regressive at this point and a name I want  to separate myself from in some ways, partly because it signifies my beginning and partly because it reminds me of a time in my life when I was working really, really hard.  I've gotten some encouragement from people I trust to keep the name as it signifies growth and flexibility.  I’ll always be “becoming” Ginger because I've signed up for a lifetime of learning about nutrition as the industry changes and grows.  I hope that all of us continue to strive to become a better version of ourselves while maintaining what makes us unique - the unchangeable core. 

Some changes you’ll notice are:  a new color scheme and layout, new icons, and new pages.  I am also going to be on a schedule that you can count on:  Monday mornings.  Finally, I will maintain the content I have always delivered which ranges from original recipes to restaurant reviews in Chicago, travel reports highlighting food around the country and world, new products and hot topics in the news, and my favorite type of post: your questions!  Shoot me an email, twitter, or comment on my blog if you have a nutrition question you've been wanting to know the answer to.  You all are my inspiration and the reason I blog at all….to share the knowledge I gain about nutrition and health in a real, trust-worthy way that you can rely on.

Here's to another five years and beyond...thanks for all your support!