Hi there! I disappeared there for awhile and I’m coming back in a different package. Remember me? Stephanie from Once Upon Chapter? I don’t specifically remember when I decided that I was done blogging but I was going through a lot in a very short amount of time and frankly I wasn’t much of a person for awhile. I had two deaths that I know I talked about. My job at the time couldn’t seem to sort itself out and I was working on a degree that felt so very necessary to continue working.
I had a whole paragraph explaining all the things that I had gone through but I’m going to sum it up: I was in the singularly most toxic work environment I have ever been in at one of the most emotionally volatile times of my life. I wasn’t eating or I was eating too much and all the wrong things, I wasn’t reading, I wasn’t responding to friends and family, and I didn’t want to leave the house. I was in the worst depression I’ve encountered since my diagnosis. I’d come home and sit like a lump for the remaining hours of the day. I scrolled an embarrassing amount of TikTok. Harper and my husband kept me afloat during that time.
Then I decided that getting my Masters in Accounting would be a good idea because if nothing else, I would at least get to keep the degree with me. I enrolled in May and started my MAcc on July 1st. At the end of the month, my supervisor pushed me over the edge after months of stress, gaslighting, and anxiety. After two days of debating, I decided to submit my resume to a local accounting firm. They called me the next day to interview. I interviewed with the two lead managing partners two days later and had a job offer that afternoon. I’ve now been happily working in a field that I enjoy for a little over two months.
The day before I started that job we brought home our second puppy: Quin. I know….what was I thinking?? Well, he wasn’t supposed to come home until that Friday after I had started but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to save a 4 hour car ride to get him five days after we met him. He is the complete opposite of my Harper but he loves with his whole heart. I haven’t had a complete night’s sleep since the beginning of August but who needs it anyway?
So why not just open up the old blog and keep going with what I had going? Well that was part of the stress. Once Upon a Chapter has gone through many phases and a few designs. I had hundreds of posts and an array of different designs. There were also plenty of book reviews that had not been drafted with Ultimate Book Blogger. It honestly stressed me out and I felt like the person who started the blog in 2010(?)….well, she’s been through some things and it felt like I had outgrown that version of the blog. Plus the idea of trying to reformat all of those old posts was enough to make blogging just not fun anymore.
My husband and I were having a conversation one night and he asked if I was going to start blogging again once I finished my Masters. My immediate knee jerk reaction was no. He said a coworker asked about it and it surprised me that anyone besides myself missed this. I’ve learned to give myself a little bit of time to feel things out. I honestly don’t remember when we had that conversation but it’s made me think more and more.
I do miss this community. I miss having a place to come and talk books even if it feels like some days I’m just talking to myself. So if you’re here, welcome back! I’ve missed you.
Gld you are back Stephanie 🙂
Thanks! It’s good to be back!
I missed you! Pretty new graphics! Balance. You don’t have to post every day, every week but keep in touch. Read what you enjoy. Good luck in the new job.
Thank you! I missed you all too. 🙂 So far, I’m doing okay with it. I’m not letting myself stress about it but I am making it a priority because I like it.