So this is an update on life and blogging...

While safely tucked away on Instagram, which has become my comfy spot for life in general over the past few years, I have watched the book blogging world become quite a different space than when I lived in it. Sometimes it seems fun and supportive and happy, while other times it appears divisive, fragmented, different, an influx of new bloggers that I don't know, but I really miss this space. I'll pop up a quick micro review on Instagram once in a very great while, and that's about it, but I miss this corner. I want to see if I can return, to poke my head out onto the blacktop and see if there's anyone else who wants to play hopscotch again?

http://www.instagram.com/coffeebookchick

I want to defy all differences of negativity for the very sake of nostalgia and missing my fellow book bloggers. And while I realize life also happened for me over the past few years, I still feel downtrodden when I click on a friend's blog site and I see they may not have posted in as many years or as many times throughout our respective absences. It's weird, this once so crucial part of my existence, something that I would feel more likely to lead off with in conversation when introducing myself (Hi, I'm Natalie, I am a book blogger.) I say nothing about my real day job because I never felt that defined me. It pays my bills but is not quite at all a dream.

Book blogging, on the other hand, very much so was something I felt that defined me to an extent. It was something I was proud of, a hobby that seemed more than that, something that I loved talking about. And now that all that cancer junk is behind me, I want the book blogging fellowship feeling back again.

I don't know what this new landscape of reading and reviewing looks like, but I want to peek a little into the universe of it all again to see if I feel like my feet feel secure.

I want to talk about my life after Stage 3 breast cancer, how I went through chemo and radiation and had no hair for six months, and how while I know it's firmly in my rear view mirror, I'm still always terrified. I want to talk about my son who was only 7 months old when I was diagnosed and how I have so many pictures where he had more hair than me, and the times when he only recognized me for my bald head and never knew who "she" was when I showed him pictures from BEFORE.

I want to share that I firmly believe my son saved my life. I want to open up the conversation on fear and anxiety, about my stronger faith in God and how much more studious I am with the Bible and how I came to follow that road that I am so glad I took, even though I know many who knew me years ago would be stunned today. And I also want to talk about my ever-developing addiction over the past year to traveler's notebooks and Bullet Journals, and journaling in general! Planning and putting my events on iPhone only?? Pfftt. That's so 2011. People are starting to remember that the old school pad of paper with a nice pen (fountain pen, anyone?) works even better and makes it easier to remember something, so now there are systems out there to help refine and tweak. Let's talk about that, yes! And don't forget those traveler's notebooks... want to fall down a rabbit hole? Go onto Instagram or search on YouTube for "traveler's notebook setups" or "planner setups." Welcome to your paycheck flying out the window, book reviewers...

There's so much LIFE out there. So much to see and do. I want to find that new routine, not just in the world of Instagram, but back in this corner, with all of you, celebrating life. I hope many of you still remain. I hope I can be consistent. Part of me wants to talk about everything here, and part of me thinks staying on Instagram is the best place for me. I'm not sure yet. But I wanted to throw my hat in the ring to declare that it wasn't quite over for the Coffee and a Book Chick and her little ole book blog. Not just yet.