Formal Exit + What I Have Been Up To + I MISS YOU ALL

Hi guys 🙂 So….

You may be wondering why I’ve decided to write an entry on this blog a year after I last showed up on your newsfeeds. I know that I just disappeared without a trace, disappointingly so especially after I had resolved to post more often for the New Year (well, the old new year!) I guess for a year now I’ve been denying the fact that I left so ungracefully, and so unceremoniously, and probably in a very annoying “poof and I’m gone” manner, which is why it had to take me this long to formally tell you guys that I’m no longer a part of the book blogosphere.

Well, technically, I haven’t been for as long as I’ve been AWOL, and I know that. I guess I just wanted to apologize for leaving without a trace, and not bothering to contact all of the friends I’ve made from here whom I have promised to stay in contact with. I’m not even sure anymore if anyone will get to read this, as I have considered the fact that most of you may have erased my blog from your feeds and subscriptions altogether because it’s been defunct for the longest time, but I just HAD to say this formally, or else it would’ve felt like unfinished business (and you and I both know how nasty that feels in every sense!).

Come to think of it, I may have gotten a few hopes up that I’d be making a grand return, but no such thing will happen, I’m afraid. Don’t get me wrong, though– I love books just as much as I did before, and I still do keep up with all of the series you guys are into now, but lately, I just haven’t had the time to keep up a blog like this. For one thing, I’m in college now, and it’s way more stressful than I had imagined it would be. I’m majoring in an honors course and am trying to keep up a full scholarship at the moment, so I can’t afford to let anything get in the way of my academics. I wonder if I’m offending any of you guys by making it sound like I think of book blogs as a distraction. Of course not. Once upon a time, I ran a little something something called Flip That Page myself, and let me tell you, it was the most fun I’ve ever had in this lifetime. Of course, I still have lots of fun now, and really, it feels like I’ve found my calling, but I will always miss having amazing conversations with you guys, getting to fangirl with you over fictional characters, and of course having an opportunity to hold the occasional debate (my brother misses all of you guys too!)

It’s been tough having to leave, especially after working so hard on my blog and making sure I posted premium content. I always took this blog seriously, and it’s always been a shame that I couldn’t manage to keep it up. But truthfully, I’m the busiest person I know right now, what with all these org works, and projects, and meetings, and long exams, and research papers, and gatherings, and parties (it’s not the college life without one of these!), and me trying to maintain a steady social life, and everything else that I have on my plate at the moment, and what a ginormous plate it is.

So yeah. I guess I just wanted you guys to know that no, I’m not dead yet, that no, I don’t hate all of you, that no, I have not lost interest in books, that yes, I am sorry for going MIA, and that yes I miss all of you and all of the things we used to share. Of course, if you guys want to strike up a conversation or two, I won’t be a snob! So feel free to mail me anything, or leave a comment or tell me what you’ve been meaning to tell me for the past year, if anything.

Of course, special mention goes to Chiara, my bloggy best friend, whose blog is now the prettiest damn thing I have ever seen in my life. Chiara, I know we don’t get to talk anymore, but I’m still up for that trip to Paris and to Disneyland and to anywhere else around the world and I promise to visit you in Australia one day. I know you may think that I’ve forgotten, but I haven’t, especially since I’m still updated with whatever you’re up to on other forms of social media. I love you, I still do, and I will forever. SOUL SISTER! So proud of what you’ve achieved while I was away!

And to all of the other friends I’ve made on this blog, thank you for being a part of my life. I think I’ll decide to keep Flip That Page on the internet forever, because this is definitely an experience and and a journey that I will want to look back on fondly in the future. (DAMN I’M CRYING THE NOSTALGIA IS REAL).

Thank you guys for listening to what I have to say. I guess as a book blogger, it’s a (formal) goodbye for now, but I’ll always be around somehow, in other ways. And that’s a promise 🙂

xoxo, Jasmine