InnnTroooduuucing....

My husband thinks I might have an addiction on my hands.

But really, I don't.

So, I thought, in my defense, I would introduce you to all those people on my sidebar (including a few who are embedded on their sidebars on their sites) and also describe how it usually goes when I do have the time to write and read.

Since I decided to fair and do my sidebar list alphabetically, I will introduce them alphabetically.

5minutesformom

I probably found them after I found Big Mama, but I have enjoyed what their site offers. Now, it is a rather overwhelming site if you are new to this thing. But just know, they are really about providing a free forum for other women to find each other, share what they are passionate about, support each other's businesses, and provide opportunities to learn new things. They are the real reason I actually took the plunge and started a blog. They had a HUGE party back in March with LOTS of prizes and LOTS of new people to learn about. So, I figured it might be as good a time as any to get started. Most of the contests I tell ya'll about originate from them. And remember, you usually don't have to have a blog to participate and win. Usually, you just click over, add a comment, and hope you win. And as we know, some of these prizes are not to be passed up!

Andrew

This is one of my first friends that I made in college. Oklahoma Baptist University in my hometown, to be exact! Hey Andrew, did you realize you were one of my first college friends? Oh the honor-heehee! Andrew now resides in the Austin area with his lovely wife and their 2 kids. He is a middle school youth pastor at a church there. He is so much more intellectual than I am and I enjoy reading his insight about himself and God. I would love to hear him speak sometime. I know he is doing great things for those kids.

Big Mama

Obviously, there are some incredibly gifted people out there who share their lives on a regular basis. While there many that I love to read, I don't ever miss Big Mama. She is probably one of those people that makes everyone feel like she is their friend, but really you long to be in the inner-Big Mama circle. You want to dress like her, talk like her, be witty like her, be her BFF. But somehow, you are satisfied to tag along behind her life, picking up the scraps just to be near her. If I ever meet her, I imagine her to be much like my friend R. That person who always looks like she has her act together and always looks good doing it; whether she does or not. When I first found her, she is one that I spent a lot of time going back and reading her from the beginning. She is real and real funny. Don't miss out!

From her sidebar, there a few that I will catch up now and then when I have time. While I have read each of them at least once and they are all lovely, I am only faithful to a few. Check Big Mama's sidebar sometime and find the ones that you like! I read BabyBangs (who just happens to be one of Beth Moore's daughters and who lives in the DFW area; be sure to link to the LPM blog as well!), Boomama (i really like her and think she is funny, but since she changed her layout, i have hard time reading it b/c of the font is weird on my computer and hurts my eyes :( , Looking Towards Heaven, Life with the Wisners, and Living with Little Women.

Dallas Child

This is the blog of our local children's magazine. I mostly go there (yes, I realize it is the long way around!) to get to the sidebar where I check out Kelly Rasberry from Kidd Kraddick (ever since I found out her husband of less than a year and boyfriend for over 8 years and father of their baby girl LEFT HER while she was 6 months pregnant AFTER having invitro, it is like I need to keep up with her and her sweet baby girl!), Celebrity Babies (another cool site where I catch up on famous people and their families), and The Sweet Life. You can also find The Sweet Life off Big Mama. This is a local DFW photography-Sugar Photography-who is another of my inspirations for my own picture taking. I keep hoping my office manager where I work can score me some picture-taking of Anysa cuz I believe she is model material. Oh, she is the SIL of Sugar's assistant!


Dooce

All I can say is, hold onto your seat belts. She does not hesitate to say exactly what she thinks. And I am not saying I always agree with how she says what is on her mind. BUT.OH.MY! She is funny. And I am not kidding with what I say next. I literally spent about 2 weeks every night after everyone had already gone to bed reading her from the beginning. Initially, she caught my eye because of her daughter who sounds like a sweet little girl that I might work with if she didn't live in Utah. After that, once I found myself laughing out loud at midnight, I knew I liked her. Be warned though. She can be raw. And maybe reading her blog is just my guilty pleasure, but she is funny and real.

Fiddledeedee

She is a hilarious home-schooling mom.

Heather

If you want some incredible, Godly inspiration, then you have come to the right place. Apparently, Heather was well-known in the blog circuit long before her recent brain tumor diagnosis. She does a lot of blog designs. Take some time to read her thoughts.

Jennifer

Jennifer is my personal friend and this is her personal site about her and her life. It is fun to share our stories and our lives!

From her sidebar, I frequently catch up with Jennifer O where then I go visit Jenna where I recently discovered that I am familiar with Chelsea who I used to go to church with. See how the whole 6 degrees thing works! The other neat thing is finding Megann's blog. Megann recently passed away after a valiant fight against ovarian cancer. She and her husband also went to church with my dad prior to moving back to Texas.

Popsugar

I totally, 100% blame my friend R for getting me hooked on this website!! Our group of girlfriends always thought she was so in the know all the time and now we know one of her secrets!! Seriously, this site is the easiest way to catch up on the famous. Once a day and you are usually good for your daily dose of gossip!

Shannon

Shannon is another one of my girlfriends who just took the blog plunge! Give her time and check back often because I think you will soon find what a neat and insightful person she is.

Staci

Ok, I am so going to totally pick on my friend Staci here! After thinking about it, she was actually my first blog read. Even though we lived in the same area until recently, we did not really get to see each other much. So, I loved catching up on what she was doing and seeing pics of her kids on her site. HOWEVER, it helps if she actually updates her site more than ONCE.EVERY.4.MONTHS! No worries, she sees the humor in it too! I usually keep up better with her life by checking on her sidebar and reading her friends' blogs!!

On her sidebar, I usually do quick checks often to see what all her friends are up to. Do I know these people? Nope! But my middle name is Lurker, so what can I say! I want to publicly hail my praise for the first time to her friend Kelly who is an amazing photographer. I am having serious thoughts of driving to Tulsa for our next family photos! Or maybe Staci and I can get enough people together to make a trip to Dallas worth it for her. Hint, Hint!! I love taking pictures and want to be like her when I grow up! My only concern is will I have to make sure my kids look as good as hers 24 hours a day so I can always have a photo opportunity available?! Some days, we barely get out of our pj's and my ponytail might get adjusted after I roll out of bed!

There are three more places I share on my blog.

Bellebijou- Wendy is a local jewelry designer who happens to be friends with and live right behind my friend P! Wendy also does other cute things besides jewelry. It is all good stuff!

Twignotes- Wendy (yes, another Wendy!!) is a local designer that does a variety of notecards, etc. She hand-draws each design and has a good website where you can order. I think her prices are so reasonable and have loved everything she has done for me! On a fun note, I went to OBU with her older sister Tiffany and got reaquainted with Wendy after finding she was friends with one of my friend's friend!

Arbonne- My business and website which you can read about on my sidebar and get more details on my business website.

I hope you enjoyed your tour! Stop by anytime and say hello!!

Stacey