This pumpkin pancakes recipe was originally posted on Dine & Dish on 12/23/2008. I gave it new life with fresh photos on 11/5/2020. 

I seem to be out of words tonight, but luckily sometimes there are things that don’t need much of an introduction. This Copycat Pumpkin Pancakes recipe is an International House of Pancakes ® copycat recipe. You wouldn’t think that a couple of measly little tablespoons of pumpkin and cinnamon would change the flavor of a simple pancake that much, but these are absolutely divine. Fluffy, melt in your mouth, full of pumpkin flavor delicious!…

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Dear friend,

Hello! I’ve been meaning to write you for quite some time to share a little bit about what’s happening around here. There’s so much I want to tell you about, but I’ll try to keep it as short as possible so not to take up too much of your day.

I’m just going to come right out with it…this past year or so has been a difficult one for me when it comes to blogging. About 5 years ago (coincidentally right around the time my brother passed away), I noticed a shift in my brain. I began having trouble focusing and following through on things or even really caring much about things I formerly cared a lot about. As a former Type A, get stuff done, kind of person, this shift was really hard for me to deal with. I’m not sure if it was the grief, getting older, hormones, or what but there was a definite change I had a hard time dealing with….

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It’s that dreaded time of year where we “fall back” and set our clocks behind an hour for Daylight Savings Time. Technically, this means we should all have one extra hour to do with as we wish! If you are stuck on things you can do to fill that one hour time block, I’ve got 5 suggestions for you….

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As someone who has been blogging for ten years, I’ve seen the ebb and flow of how blogging has changed over time. Ten years ago there was a small handful of us, supporting and reading and loving each other the best we knew how. As the industry grew, so did our support network, our friends and our responsibilities. What once was simply writing whatever we felt like, cooking, photography and occasional back end website coding turned into a machine of social media, photo props galore, SEO, sharing groups and more. Along with that came an industry we built from the ground up, where bloggers could now earn a generous living working with brands, displaying advertising, traveling, freelancing, etc. The changes in blogging have been good…the opportunity to create a career out of something you’re passionate about is a dream so many people have. I’ve been blessed to do such that.

Along with the growth of blogging as a career has also come some stress and burnout. I have been on the receiving end of multiple conversations over the past with bloggers who are stretched thin, trying to do it all. Their days of working on their passions are being buried under a need to try to keep up with the ever increasing demands of owning their own businesses. Virtual assistants are being hired to help alleviate some of the pressure, but even with that, we’re a motivated bunch who seem to not be able to let things go. We pile on more and more and more until finally, we’re so buried under the responsibilities of running a business that we not longer love what we do….

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Hi Friends!

(Stick with me please…I have a simple action item I need from you!)

I want to chat with you about something that’s been on my mind…

I miss you! I miss connecting with you in ways we used to in the comment section here on Dine & Dish. I miss sharing happy things with you regularly, and I miss providing something more valuable for you to open in your inbox. I want to offer you something in your inbox you look forward to, not a piece of email that you roll your eyes at because it’s “just another blog update email”.  I KNOW how full your inboxes are and how meaningful something of value can be to receive.

So, inspired by my dear friend Bree (who sends my favorite piece of email each week), I’ve decided to start a separate way to communicate with you through email. Taking the place of my Happiness Reports, I’d love to send you a little happy note each Friday to start your weekend. These notes will include carefully curated links of value to things that have made me happy, pretty pictures, small blog updates, and a chance for you and I to connect through email in a way we haven’t before. I want to ENCOURAGE you to hit reply and chat with me as well! We’ve been friends for a long time…I think it’s time we get to know each other a little better, don’t you?…

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Friends, I know what you’re thinking… no my teenager hasn’t taken over my blog. It’s me, Kristen (dineanddish on Snapchat), the 42 year old mom of 4 here professing my love for Snapchat. Yes, that snapchat… the app that we have been banning from our kids phones and questioning why anyone would want to use an app where the images and chats disappear into thin air after viewed.

Let me start by asking you to just give me a chance to explain. Trust me, I was just like you not too many months ago. I assumed that Snapchat was simply for kids to send inappropriate pictures to each other – which may have been the case back then. But Snapchat has changed for the better with the introduction of Snapchat Stories. Snapchat Stories has opened up a whole new world to would be snapchat users. If you are into memory keeping through photos and videos in an incredibly simple format, you will love Snapchat.

If you will just bear with me, I’ll tell you 5 Things I love about Snapchat and why I think you’ll love it too!…

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Friends, my photos are so out of control. Ridiculously out of control. I take hundreds of photos every week…a lot for work, but most of the pictures are for the simple reason that I want to capture as many memories “on film” as possible. The problem is, I capture these memories and then the photos I don’t share on Instagram or Snapchat (follow my stories – dineanddish) stay hidden on my hard drive, with little hope of ever being seen again. What’s the point of that? Why have photos that no one can ever enjoy?

Well, I recently started a new boot camp class through Life Captured Inc to help me Unravel My Photos. I’m desperate to get my photos under control and I’m discovering that the first step, and it’s a BIG one,  has all to do with photo organization.  Life Captured has partnered with Artifact Uprising (both pros at capturing and preserving memories) and I’m excited to learn everything they know about unraveling my photos!…

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The post Unravel Your Photos: Lesson 1 No File Left Behind appeared first on Dine and Dish.

“I’m a food and travel blogger/photographer”.

That’s my short answer when people ask what I do for a living.  I’m typically met with curious faces, a plethora of questions, and a lot of misconceptions. The assumptions about what I do for a living or what a typical day looks like for me are pretty funny…I don’t stay in my pajamas all day. I don’t go around and write nasty reviews of restaurants. I love food but don’t believe I’m obsessed with food (I rarely watch The Food Network or read food related books and magazines). Since I cook a ton and have four kids, I’m about the last person who can give a lot of great restaurant recommendations in the city I live in.

I’m BLESSED to be a blogger. I’ve grown Dine & Dish since 2006 and have had some incredible experiences. My job is not hard…fighting cancer is hard. Blogging? It’s not hard. Does it challenge me? Yes! I’m running my own multi faceted business, which provides a ton of daily challenges. Can it be frustrating? Like any job, it definitely can. But overall the best way to describe my career is as a blessing. I’ve been able to stay home and take care of my kids, doing something fun and fulfilling, while bringing in an income that helps support our family. I have the best of both worlds.

I’ll admit that lately, mostly in this past year, I’ve taken my job for granted. I haven’t felt burnt out, necessarily, but I needed to step away and re-shift my priorities. I mean, Leah starts kindergarten in 2 weeks (!!!) and my oldest is starting his last year of middle school. Add to that my mom being in the hospital all summer and my sister-in-laws breast cancer diagnosis, it seemed that my personal life was changing, and with that the need to refocus became crystal clear. …

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