I Can’t Say “Thank You” Enough!
Thank you! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! (That’s to WordPress, incase they’re still reading.) As I drove to my state’s capital yesterday for my championship swimming conference, little did I know, my blog was being promoted to a whole new level! WordPress chose me to be a “Freshly Pressed” blogger on the home page, which resulted in lots of new readers!
Welcome to all the newbies. I hope you’ll read my “ME” page, and some old posts. My personal favorites have been the Strawberry Galette, Mango Salsa, and Ethiopian Injera Flatbread. The food has been fabulous (mostly 
) this summer, so I hope you’ll stay long enough to steal a new recipe.
If you aren’t a regular with the food blogs, you’re probably like, “What in the world is this picture about!?” It’s me, duh. Getting a little inappropriate with my favorite summer fruit – papaya! Papaya transports me straight to Hawaii. My family frequents Maui, and we (especially my papa & myself) can’t get enough of this tropical fruit. This picture is for Chocolate-Covered Katie’s “Hug A Fruit” month, where fruit-lovers can share their favorites, and some funny pictures. 
I call this one, “Tomato with Papaya Baby.” I’m bright red for the following reasons:
1) I’m wearing a sweatshirt in 90% humidity.
2) I’m wearing a sweatshirt when it’s 93 degrees.
3) I just carried a giant load of groceries from the car to the kitchen.
4) I’m a little embarrassed about asking my mother to photograph me with a papaya.
5) Mother took about 2 seconds too long to take the photograph, resulting in my frustration.
Since my last swim meet of the season was yesterday, summer is about to change gears again. Excersize-wise, I’ll probably be running and walking my puppy more. I’m also headed to NYC soon, for a summer camp. My Advanced Placement scores from the spring should be arriving any day now . . . which makes me think of school.
Looking forward, there are still a couple of summer reading books that I’ll have the distinct honor (snicker) of reading. One is 1984, and the other is The Poisonwood Bible (shudder). I’ll just stick to finishing the seventh Harry Potter for now.
Finally, there is that little goal on my “ME” page, did you happen to catch that? I wrote about clearing out my “to-make list,” so that I could be recipe free! I’m coming closer to the end, with only 10 of the original 60+ recipes to make. It’s guaranteed that I’ll throw in some impulse recipes before the end of the summer, but I’m going to finish this list!
Q: What goal are you striving towards? (answer even if your name is “mommy,” please )
Comments
39 Responses to “I Can’t Say “Thank You” Enough!”Trackbacks
Check out what others are saying...-
[...] players included: banana, scooped papaya, lime semifreddo, avocado ice cream, cashew cream, lime zest, and roasted cashews. There’s [...]
-
[...] Sami [...]
Congratulations!!! You definitely deserve to be on Freshly Pressed, you’re THAT awesome! I bet you’ll be getting a huge surge of new readers for sure
I feel proud for being here from the almost-beginning! 
You look so pretty and cute in that photo! You’re gorgeous
My goal is to COOK more (as opposed to baking) and to learn about my family’s needs, likes and dislikes about the food I make. 
Wei-Wei
Thank you Wei-Wei.
There’s nothing wrong with baking though! I LOVE to bake as well, haha. It’s actually not represented on my blog so much, but I bake very frequently.
Making others smile with food is so much fun. It’s so easy to tell when someone genuinely enjoys your food. Good luck!
Congratulations! I hope your new readers stick around because you have some great photos and food on your blog! (Yes, even the eggplant.)
I am from Maui and I truly believe that the local produce there is so juicy and flavorful and I miss it when I am here on the mainland.
My family visits every January.
I feel like it’s my second home. We’ve been going to Kihei for the past few years. Do you have an hidden spots to share? 
I wish. I don’t go often and when I do we go to family house and kick back not much time for much else. I don’t even know where the shopping would be good besides Pearl Ridge on Oahu! Lol…but I am due for another visit. I need some good meals…
Disney World!
I told my Mom! . . . I’ll bug her again.
my, oh my…asking a psychiatrist, esp. an obsessive one at that about goals…well let me think…
*to learn italian
*return to the Lake Garda region of Italy
*finding a spot of serenity, contentment, gratefulness,
and faith in each day
*successfully launching my articulate, beautiful, bright
charming children into the world as competent and
loving people
*continue to feast on your FAB food, and once you go
off to college lose a few (maybe more) pounds
*to support that extra hard working father of yours
*and the list could go on and on, but I’ll stop before I
bore you to sleep…zzzzzzzz……
HAHA, you didn’t put me to sleep, Mom! I like all of your goals.
Hey you’re going to love The Poisonwood Bible! Great stuff!
Eat some vodka driven watermelon with it. Are you old enough to be eating that???
Nice blog and I definitely will be following you and your progress in completing your goal recipes.
I am making the watermelon soon,maybe tonite, sushi right now and if there is time.
I will blog and tag you.
SUSHI! I go crazy for sushi. *blush* . . . . haha. Thank you so much! But no, I’m only seventeen.
Gourmet girl, don’t be afraid of The Poisonwood Bible. It’s a great book. I think Prodigal Summer might be the Kingsolver you’d most enjoy, though. Give it a try if you have time before school starts.
Oh and your papaya reminds me, I’m all about the mango these days. I can’t get enough fresh mango.
Okay, okay. I’ll keep an open mind.
Thank you. And mango is right up there with papaya! I have a really great mango salsa recipe on my blog, this post is funny too. 
Poisonwood Bible is fantastic! Love the papaya photos and the blog. Counting down the minutes from when I can leave work, buy groceries and make the watermelon lime bars!
Eeee! I’m excited for you.
Poisonwood Bible is actually pretty good!! I don’t know if you’ve read it before, but it actually kept me entertained when I had pneumonia during my senior year. Harry Potter 7 is always the best choice, reading wise. Always.
Congrats on your wordpress feature! Very cool.
And doesn’t it seem like summer league swimming goes by in an instant? It never lasted long enough for me.
Yeah! And this summer I swam with a different team, in a different conference. Their season was even shorter than the other league’s! After all of these comments about the Poisonwood Bible, I’m actually starting to look forward to it.
1984 and Poisonwood Bible — both great reads! Its been a long time since I’ve read 1984….but I really, really loved Poisonwood…
I hope you will enjoy them both as well — congrats on your freshly pressed-ness!
My goal — to get some blogs pre-written so I can focus on school in the fall.
Thant’s a fantastic goal! Haha, I think I may attempt that one as well.
My goal is to have a successful blog and enjoy it as much as you do! One of my best friends and I just started a blog about cooking. Well, more like experimenting. We are both total foodies but being dietitians understand the importance of a balanced diet. We are taking some of Paula Deen’s top recipes and revamping them for a healthier lifestyle. Some have been delicious and some have become “dumpster decor!”
Do you have any tips or suggestions you wish somebody had told you when you started blogging?
Oh my gosh, haha. I’ve only been blogging for about six weeks; I’m still new! I can sure tell you what I do, though. Before I even started to blog, I knew that my teachers really enjoyed my writing style; that gave me the confidence to write without too many inhibitions. I also write about the activity that I’m very excited about and devoted to – cooking. Also . . .
1) I try my best to post daily.
2) I added my site to Google, Yahoo, and Bing so that I “pop-up” first when people type in my name.
3) I joined Foodbuzz!
4) I joined TasteSpotting.
5) I frequented food blogs for a few years before I started my own.
6) I don’t post picture that aren’t of quality.
7) I maintain a + attitude.
8. I comment on other people’s blogs. <– The eight is 8. instead of 8 ) because the latter makes an emoticon, I just learned.
Congrats! That’s exciting
And that papaya looks gooood!!! I wish I had one to hug! 
Papaya supplied by Kroger. <3
Papaya with lime is my favorite summertime breakfast. oh, and lunch and after dinner treat.
My goal is to get more sleep.
Hi Daddy.
I like your goal. 
Congrats! WordPress has good taste.
My goal is to talk you guys into coming to Orlando! I have 4 good reasons:
1. You can help celebrate our Anniversary.
2. Your Aunt Patti has never been to WDW. You get to see her act like a kid again!
3. Sarah and Will have a lunch date with the Disney Princesses. If you are nice to me, I might get you in too. LOL
4. It would be fun. Do we need any more reasons?
No! I’m working on it Leslie.
I wanna gooooo, haha.
I really like your blog! you have a great point of view when it comes to food which happens to be one of my favorite things. This is a great idea and I can’t wait to read future posts! Good luck with the summer reading!
I’m so glad that I can make you smile with my writing.
Thank you.
You’re quite welcome
Hi!
For some good reading, check out http://www.goodshortbooks.com.
awww you are so cute w/ the baby papaya!
Toooooo many goals to list!!! Although I did want to read The Poisonwood Bible…I gave up on that back when I was 25! My book list is much to long now and that’s a BIG book! haha
As for Harry Potter…never have, never will. Guess I missed that “popular” boat.
I saw that you were featured, which was really interesting to me because I had just stumbled across your blog and added you to my Google Reader (I think I clicked on a link from your comment on HEAB’s blog… mega stalker status…), and suddenly you had re-appeared! Seems like the cyber higher powers really want me to follow your blog
The Poisonwood Bible is one of my all-time favorite books. I also read it in a busy time in my life — November of my senior year of high school, right when college apps are starting to be due — but as soon as I opened it, I couldn’t stop reading. In terms of goals, I really need to start reading too (something other than food blogs, haha). I’m not working this summer and only taking one class, so I have no excuse not to make a significant dent in my book list!
Haha, I’m flattered! And that’s not stalkerish at all really – that’s how lots of people come to my blog! I’m so glad that everyone who’s commented enjoyed the Poisonwood Bible.
Your list made me laugh and it sounds like you have some great goals in order! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I’ve been meeting more and more KY bloggers recently and it is great! Love the wonderful food I’ve seen browsing through.
Thank you! I saw you on TasteSpotting too