Blogging,  Marriage Confessions

The Friends I Want to Have

June 16, 2011 /

nate
Every now and then I like to give a shout out to the people whose blogs entertain me on a daily basis. A lot of these blogs you’ve probably heard me talk about before. I don’t actually read a lot of blogs (weird, huh?), so I tend to keep to my same little list of favorites. But lately I’ve added a few more to my daily intake of internet, so I thought I’d share some oldies and some newbies.

Oldies But Goodies

The Pioneer Woman – I mean, do I really need to give her an introduction?  The only thing you should know is that I stalked this poor woman online and baggered her so much that I actually have a category on my blog called “Stalking the Pioneer Woman.”  But, it paid off.  Sort of.  While she’s not my actual BFF (yet), I’m fairly certain she and Chris have crushes on each other.  Not that I mind.  If she ever invites him to the ranch for a romantic weekend getaway, I totally get to tag along.  (Be sure to check out her Confessions and her Home and Garden pages – my two favorites!)

pw

Glamorous Life of a Housewife – Aside from my BFF, The Pioneer Woman, this is the blog I’ve read the longest.  Whitney is the mother, wife, Christian, party planner, and friend that I want to be.  Just reading her blog makes me feel like a better person.  Shouldn’t we all know someone like that?!?!  Whitney’s husband just graduated from medical school and her son, Levi, was born the day before Bean.  Basically, her family and mine would be great friends if we met in real life.  I’m just sure of it!  Also?  She’s a redhead, which automatically makes her my kindred spirit, as Anne of Green Gables would say.

glam

Our Front Door – Of all the blogs I read, Mindee and I seem to have the most in common.  Though her kids are much older than mine (teenagers – look out!), I still find our parenting styles and approach to family seem to be identical.  Sometimes the things we are personally going through or struggling with are even the same.  AND WE DON’T EVEN KNOW EACH OTHER.  You know how sometimes people ask things like, “If you could meet one person in the whole world, who would it be?” and you’re supposed to name someone like Oprah or the President?  Mine would be Mindee.  I want nothing more than to sit down with her over a cup of something warm and talk.  About our families, about our kids, about our faith, about our husbands, about politics, about the horrors of dressing room lighting, about anything!  She’s the girlfriend everyone wants to have.

mindee

Blue Eyed Bride – I first started reading Erin’s blog right around the time Bean was born.  Initially, I liked it because we both had our first babies at the same time and they were both boys, so I learned a lot from her.  It was nice to hear about someone else going through something very similar to what I was going through.  Then, as luck would have it, we ended up having our second babies (hers a boy, mine a girl) just a few weeks apart, too!  So, we went thought both our pregnancies and now raising two babies at the same time.  I get my daily dose of courage and encouragement from Erin.

blue

Mabel’s House – This is another one I’ve been reading for a long time.  I started reading Liz’s blog because of her style.  I found her when we were decorating our first house in Connecticut.  Her style is very different from mine, but I love it.  It reminds me of my friend, Sarah’s, very sweet aunt who used to let us sleep on her couch in college and fed us iced tea in mismatched tea cups she found at thrift stores.  When I read Liz’s blog, I swear I can smell Aunt Karen’s house.  Liz became a mom for the first time around the time I had Gracie and it has been really sweet to read about her first few weeks of motherhood.

mabel

I Can Grow People – Full Confession:  Lori’s husband and Chris went to graduate school together, but he was a couple years ahead of Chris, so I didn’t really get to know her that well when we lived in the same city.  What a shame because through her blog, I’ve learned that we have a LOT in common – as parents and as people.  Lori has struggled very openly with depression and PPD and in some really hard times for me, her sweet notes of encouragement really helped me hold my head up.  Her son, Porter, is Bean’s age and they are so much alike!  I love Lori’s blog also because it is so thorough.  She goes into such good detail on parenting and raising Porter.  She’s down to earth and overall just a darn good mom.

lori

Nate is Great – Speaking of good mothers, you need to meet Anne.  You need to.  Everyone needs to know Anne.  Or at least someone like her.  FULL CONFESSION:  Anne and I know each other in real life.  And let me tell you how, cause it’s a funny story.  Anne worked at Yale when I worked at Yale, only we worked in completely different parts of the campus and didn’t know each other, but a mutual friend had shared my blog with her and so she had been a blog reader for a while.  Anne and her husband were looking for a daycare for their sweet son, Nate, and when they were visiting one, she turned to her husband and whispered, “OH MY GOSH!  THAT’S BEAN!”  Long story short, Anne and I met in real life and our kids ended up in the same class at the daycare and we’ve been friends ever since.  Anne’s blog is about her son, Nate, who has autism.  When she first told me about Nate, the first thing I noticed about her was that she was so matter of fact about it.  This was her son.  He happened to have autism.  Now, let’s deal with it and move forward.  I pity the fool who pities her son.  I remember thinking, “Nate is going to be such a secure, confident little boy with a mom like that.”  Anne chronicles Nate’s journey through autism on her blog and it won’t take more than one or two entries for you to understand why I have so much respect for her.  If you only read one post of Anne’s (which would be a big mistake), read her post on the R word.  It is one of the most powerful things I’ve ever read.

nate

New Blogs I’ve Recently Found

The Very Worst Missionary – If I have ever wanted to reach through a computer and hug someone, it would be Jamie.  She and her family (including two teenage kids) are missionaries in Costa Rica.  But she’s not exactly what you picture a missionary being.  For example, one of her recent tweets said, “My son is staying with my sister for the summer.  I told her no pot, no hookers, only one tattoo…”  I’m sure her very direct and personal approach to Christianity might offend some people, but isn’t that what our relationship with God truly is?  Direct and personal?  I love the way she thinks and I love the way she lives her life.  She makes faith seem livable.  She’s the kind of person who you want to go out for a beer with after a really great Bible study class.  I don’t know how else to describe her, so go see for yourself.

mission

Peas and Thank You – A vegetarian friend of mine introduced me to this blog, which is odd because I love meat.  The blog writer, Sarah, is not only a vegetarian, but a vegan.  And she’s raising her two little girls as vegans, too.  All of this strikes me as very odd.  To be honest, I don’t really know why I read her blog.  At first glance, we have absolutely nothing in common and I’m sure she would have a lot of choice words about the cheese balls in my pantry.  But she has such a relaxed and calm tone in her writing.  Her girls are adorable, her husband is…well…adorable, too, and she has a wonderful way of telling daily stories while weaving in nutrition and healthy lifestyle information.  It’s the kind of blog that you read thinking you’re just mindlessly surfing the internet, but when you’re done you realize she actually made you smarter.

peas

Literary Lemonade – If you don’t go to any other blog today, go to this one.  Let me tell you about this one.  When I was in college, I worked at a law firm as a legal assistant?  apprentice?  appendage?  Who knows what my title was.  I got coffee and filled the copy machine with paper.  While I was there, I became really good friends with Lisa, a paralegal who might possibly be the most driven, direct, and down-to-earth person I’ve ever met.  Lisa and I got along really well.  She was like a big sister to me and so her tiny, toddler daughter, Taylor, was like my niece.  Taylor, like her mother, has grown up to be a spitfire of a fifth grader.  Her latest adventure?  A blog!  Nine-year-old Taylor is blogging this summer about all the books she is reading.  She thinks it will help her prepare for a career as a book critic.  And I think she’s absolutely right!  I’m so proud of her!  If you have a minute today, head over to Literary Lemonade and leave Taylor a comment or two of encouragement.

taylor

What about you?  What blogs float your boat these days?

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37 Comments

  • Jennifer

    June 16, 2011 at 9:07 am Reply

    I also subscribe to Whitney 🙂 . My latest favorites are:

    Peanutweeter(http://peanutweeter.com/ ), someone had the great idea to mix funny tweets with old Peanuts blogs, then there’s Dear Girls Above me (http://www.deargirlsaboveme.com/) which is a guy who writes down the stupid, insane things his upstairs neighbors say, and finally; Message with a bottle (http://messagewithabottle.tumblr.com/) is about a stay at home dad who writes “reminders” and funny thoughts throughout his day on Post-It notes.

  • erin

    June 16, 2011 at 9:19 am Reply

    Thanks for sharing! I love your title- I am guilty of imagining some of my favorite bloggers to be my friends, and then I feel super lame / creeper. Oh well. 🙂 I love Bower Power (www.bowerpowerblog.com) and Young House Love (www.younghouselove.com) for home design. C Jane Enjoy It (blog.cjanerun.com) has beautiful writing. Hyperbole and a Half is just stupid fun (hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com) – my favorites are “The Alot is Better than You” and “Why I’ll Never be an Adult”.

    Maybe I’ll start a blog so people can be imaginary friends with me too… 🙂

  • erin

    June 16, 2011 at 9:19 am Reply

    Thanks for sharing! I love your title- I am guilty of imagining some of my favorite bloggers to be my friends, and then I feel super lame / creeper. Oh well. 🙂 I love Bower Power (www.bowerpowerblog.com) and Young House Love (www.younghouselove.com) for home design. C Jane Enjoy It (blog.cjanerun.com) has beautiful writing. Hyperbole and a Half is just stupid fun (hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com) – my favorites are “The Alot is Better than You” and “Why I’ll Never be an Adult”.

    Maybe I’ll start a blog so people can be imaginary friends with me too… 🙂

  • Maren

    June 16, 2011 at 9:37 am Reply

    Thank you for posting this! I was just thinking yesterday I wish I knew of a few more, good, blogs to read. I’m all caught up and up-to-day on yours and The Pioneer Woman…
    You rock!

  • Heather Thompson

    June 16, 2011 at 9:44 am Reply

    Well YOUR blog is the one I read most often, and after doing so for over a year I decided to start my own blog. You inspired me! 🙂 The last couple of posts have been on the serious side, but mostly I write about all the situations in life where you have to laugh to keep from crying…hence the name ‘keep calm and love on’! I’d live for you to check it out!

  • Candice

    June 16, 2011 at 9:53 am Reply

    I LOVE Nate is Great. I started reading it b/c my son’s name is Nate but was immediately hooked (HOW cute is her Nate, my gosh). Lately I’m into cooking/baking and fashion blogs. They kind of don’t go together since the more I bake, the less clothing I fit into. LOL HowSweetEats.com, JoyTheBaker.com… and of course PW. (I’m doing a project on my blog to cook every recipe in her cookbook.) 🙂

  • Ashley @ According to Ashley

    June 16, 2011 at 10:17 am Reply

    *Cue tears*, but YOUR blog actually inspired me to start mine! I’ve read every one of your posts, but I also read LOTS of other blogs. Cooking blogs, baby blogs, home decor blogs, teacher blogs, etc etc etc. Here’s a post I wrote recently with some of my favorite baby blogs – http://according2ashley.blogspot.com/2011/06/favorite-baby-blogs.html. Here’s a list of some of my favorite food blogs – http://according2ashley.blogspot.com/2010/09/my-favorite-food-blogs.html

  • Tawny

    June 16, 2011 at 10:31 am Reply

    Love these. Going to add a few to my reader.
    Have you checked out Raising Colorado or Barefoot Foodie?

    BTW – Literary Lemonade had me at her goth definition. Love it!!!!!

  • Bec

    June 16, 2011 at 10:32 am Reply

    How am I supposed to get any work done, when you do posts like this? Now I’m gonna have to check them all out, then I will get addicted, and spend my days reading blogs instead of working!

  • Lissa

    June 16, 2011 at 12:59 pm Reply

    I’m shocked it hasn’t been mentioned already, but I’ve been obsessed with Enjoying the Small things (www.kellehampton.com) since Jan ’10 (look for her “If you’re new here” tab). I’m also a food blog addict and subscribe to ohhh.. about 80 of them 🙂 Thank goodness for Google reader!

  • Verity

    June 16, 2011 at 1:58 pm Reply

    This is not a helpful post at all! Seriously I have 2000 student exams to mark online and I am already procrastinating big style by checking what you are doing!! And now you go ahead and give me all these hours and hours of potential marking delaying tactics! Must drag self away and mark. . . must go and mark. . . .must not go and become addicted to other fabulous blogs!

  • Waiting for Bulgaria

    June 16, 2011 at 2:34 pm Reply

    A few years ago I was pretty much blog oblivious. Then someone I know started a blog, which to be honest was just so-so. But there on her bloglist I saw Glamlife of a Housewife. I was lead from hers to yours and Blue Eyed Bride’s and Bogue and Weejer (www.bogueandweejer.blogspot.com). Yours lead me to Pioneer Woman. Whom I also love. I also like to read adoption blogs (since we’re adopting). One of my favorites is Our Eyes Opened (oureyesopened.blogspot.com). I have a bunch of other blogs I love to keep up with (you can see them on my blog davisadoptionblog.blogspot.com). Anyhow, I’m no longer oblivious. I think the word now may be addicted.

  • april in TX

    June 16, 2011 at 4:19 pm Reply

    The one blogger (besides you) that I read every post from is The Frugal Girl. She is a Christian and mom and is pretty awesome. I think you might like her blog (especially if you like photos). The link I posted of for a recipe you might want to do with Bean while Gracie is sleeping. HA!

  • Sara M

    June 16, 2011 at 4:33 pm Reply

    My daily must reads are yours, amalah.com, dooce.com, rantsfrommommyland.com and Mindee’s blog. Some days I wonder how I get any work done!

  • Whitney W

    June 16, 2011 at 5:43 pm Reply

    I LOVE The Pioneer Woman and the Glamorous Life Of a Housewife! They are blogs I read daily. I also like http://www.girlsgonechild.net/ she is hilarious. Thank you for the blog suggestions! I am currently 30 weeks pregnant with twin boys and just recently was put on modified bed rest so I am excited to have new blogs to read!

  • Kay (Blue Speckled Pup)

    June 16, 2011 at 6:59 pm Reply

    I read Cakewrecks to start every day. Catastrophes seem a bit better when they’re made of icing. I also read this blog daily because I love the honesty Katie brings to every post. Right now, I’m waiting for Antonia at Whoopee to right a new post; she makes me laugh until I can’t see straight.

  • Tanya

    June 16, 2011 at 7:11 pm Reply

    My daily reads are PW, this one :), GlamHW, blueeyedbride, Annie’s Eats, and Enjoying the Small Things! You should check out the last two. Fabulous recipes and fabulous pictures 🙂

  • Kim Jones

    June 16, 2011 at 7:22 pm Reply

    I love Jamie the Very Worst Missionary! She is my favorite blog and I’ve been trying to get all my friends to read it. I also like Cake Wrecks, You Suck at Craigslist, Evil HR Manager, and Ask A Manager

  • Lori @ I Can Grow People

    June 16, 2011 at 8:26 pm Reply

    Thanks so much for the shout-out, Katie! Your first year at YSD was a busy year for me–crazy workload AND wedding planning. I am still bitter that I missed your pottery painting party because I had to spend my night on stage working! I’m so glad that we have gotten to know each other better through our blogs and that we did meet up for dinner in FL last year. I hope our real life paths cross again soon!

  • Carrie

    June 17, 2011 at 6:14 pm Reply

    Just wanted to let you know that I DO know Mindee in real life and she is every bit as amazing as you think she is! Even better some days! 😉

  • Tan @ tan/green

    June 18, 2011 at 2:32 am Reply

    This is the first blog I ever read and that’s been a year and a half-ish. I love Peas and Thank You thanks to your last post including it. Life Your Way (http://life.yourway.net/) is a great collection of blogs and bloggers. Plus I have been enjoying Simple Mom (http://simplemom.net/ – check out the tabs across the top) and then a bunch of friends blogs – it is a nice way to keep up with people (including Lori and Anne!).

  • Julie K.

    June 19, 2011 at 5:01 pm Reply

    Thanks for sharing, I´ll surely check out some of the newbies :-D. But I think that your blog will stay my number one. I do also enjoy reading The Pioneer women, she has great ideas.

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