Welcome to Kimberland

Hi. I'm Kimberly. Kimberly A. Morales, to be exact. Some of you might know me as the Girl behind Poor Girl Eats Well, and the on-mega-hiatus-but-on-the-way-back-to-live-status Getting Well, Being Well. If you're a long time reader, thank you for continuing to follow my journey, especially now. If you're new to my work, welcome to my corner of the online world. Be sure to strap yourself in, because it'll be quite a ride.

Full disclosure: This wasn't how I had planned to start this site. I've been toying with the idea of a personal site for years, not just to have a one-stop shop for all my blogs and writing projects, but to branch out from the niche I created and eventually boxed myself into. While I love writing about food and eating well on a budget, that's not all I know. It's not all I want to talk about. I have a lot more to share, and I know that many would love to read about it. And that's what my personal site is about - sharing my knowledge, my insights, myself.

Six weeks ago, however, my life did a complete 180. Longtime followers know that my life has been nothing short of a roller coaster over the past ten (!!!) years of blogging. But this? This turned the entire ride upside down. It's halted plans, cancelled concerts, changed my entire outlook on everything. Of all the crap that's been hurled my way, this is one I had no way to prepare for.

You see, I have Stage 3 breast cancer. And I really don't have time for Stage 3 breast cancer.

No one has time for cancer, that's for sure. But wow... diagnosed with late stage breast cancer at age 41? That definitely threw me for a loop. It's truly changed my life, and my journey is barely six weeks in.

The thing is, it hasn't changed me. I won't allow it to. It's what I feared the most, actually - I was truly afraid that embarking on this journey to save my life was somehow going to ruin the essence of me. I now see that it's quite the opposite! It's bringing out more of the true me, the mega strong me that I didn't even realize I had.

So, that's how we're going to begin this next chapter of my writing/blogging career: with the newest chapter of my life. It's not going to be sweetness and roses, but it's not going to be gloom and doom, either. I am fighting this. And I'm going to win. But this is my journey, my fight, and I'm going to be real about it, because that's who I am. This will be therapeutic and, hopefully, educational. Because if you know me, you know I'm secretly geeking out on every new medical term I learn, no matter how scary. I want my battle to be one I fight with knowledge, and sharing that knowledge with others is something I want to do. Knowledge is power, especially when you're fighting a beast like cancer, whether you're the patient, family member, friend, or caregiver.

I'm still going to stick with my original plan of centralizing my blogs and projects on this site. I want to be known as a writer/blogger first, niche brand second. I want to break out of being "just" Poor Girl, and let Kimberly tell the world what else is on her mind. It's just that the personal blog portion that I was hoping to have for random Kimbermusings is going to be about my cancer journey for a while. I hope you'll stick around! If not, there's still plenty of other stuff I write about, and it's darn delicious.

I look forward to building and growing the community that has made blogging such a joy over the past ten years. Thank you for stopping by, and I'll be posting soon!

Love,
Kimberly