Back in the Kitchen

I recently read an article written by Rachel Ray. She said after a long day at work, even if she got home really late, she liked to cook dinner and that was her way of relaxing. I struggle to even have the desire to cook if I am tired, much less actually do it. For the past year and half, I have not been in the kitchen much. I absolutely love to cook and I love watching tv about cooking and I love to read new recipes, but for one reason or another I have not done much cooking. I think my lack of cooking began when we moved into our house. The kitchen was not very pleasing to look at so I avoided it. We started going out to eat more and I started missing being in the kitchen. So we decided to paint the walls and cabinets and replace the appliances. We were going to do that anyway we just worked on the kitchen before many of the other rooms. The only thing that we lacked to do was replace the countertops and that is still on our to-do list. Even after doing all of that I still avoided the kitchen. I am not sure if it was because I had such a great kitchen and pantry at the condo and this kitchen was a huge downgrade or that I wasn't pleased with the layout of this kitchen or that it still had that old feel to it (if that makes sense). I am not sure what the exact problem was and still is with it. Then I started graduate school and my dinners usually took place in the car after driving through some fast food restaurant. Many dinners were also very late in the evenings when I was too tired to cook something so Bryan and I just went out to grab something to eat. I also lacked the time to go to the store to shop for food and after doing that for a year, it kind of became habitual for us to go out to eat.
This weekend I decided that I was ready to get back in the kitchen despite my reservations about it. I went to the store and I started cooking again. Bryan even helped with the dishes. (I hate taking care of the dishes.) I am still going to have to find some type of cabinet or storage area for food because we only have two cabinets for food, but I am sure that I will be able to find something. We have a huge hallway area right beside the kitchen so some piece of furniture can go there. I am also going to try to get the new countertops as soon as we can . I think that will also help. We have enough room for an island and we might try to add that to expand the countertop space and storage. Regardless, I am going to try to make a conscious effort to not get into a non-cooking slump. I am also going to have to try to make time to go to the store and make some meals in advance when I am working all day and working on graduate work this next year. I love to cook and I have missed creating lots of dishes. I am feeling excited and I am looking forward to being back in the kitchen.