A Few New Faves

I've been participating in the SITS and Problogger Summer Challenge - 31 Days to Build a Better Blog (31DBBB) and it has lead to me finding a bunch of new blogs to read.  The support, the writing and the blogs in this challenge are phenomenal.  I want to share some of the new blogs I found this week, that I have added to my reader.  I'm not sure that all of them are participating in the challenge.  I just know that I found them, I like them, so I'm passing them on to you (in no particular order)

• A Beautiful Mess is one of my new favorite photograpy/life blogs.  Of course, I love Alicia's beautiful photographs, but it's not all about the photographs.  She's witty, informative and fun!  She also hosts a fun Wordless Wednesday link up.

• MultipleMama is another blog I've only just discovered.  I like her style of writing.   Her post titled Ten Reasons You Know You are a MOM made me giggle.  I related to far too many of those, and I don't even have multiples.

• Life Without Pink is on my list for a few reasons.  I can't imagine living in a world so full of testosterone.  I imagine it must be tough for my husband to live life without blue.  I guess I am biased, but I like that she's local to me.  I love finding local bloggers and websites.

• One Day I Will is written by Megan.  She's young, she's fun, she's got a cute little blog.  Need I say more?

• How to Homemaker has some great tips, information, lists, basically anything to do with home and family.  I've already added some things to my To Do List because of posts on her site.

Those are just a few of the many new sites I've added to my reader this week.  Hope you find the time to stop by and visit them too.

Today I am Thankful

I thought with all the things Murphy has brought us lately (like being sick as a dog, broken heater, transmission fail, etc) I would take a moment to count my blessing. I'm sure they outweigh the bad things going on right. That being said, I'm thankful for:

• My Husband: He does a wonderful job taking care of his family. He is super handy and can tackle most projects on his own. A few hours of reading and he is ready to go. That alone has saved us a bunch of money. Not to mention the fact that after 7 years of marriage, I still get butterflies when I see his name on the caller ID of my phone or when I see him after some time spent apart.

• My Daughters: They are my world. They are so smart and funny. At times they do push my buttons, but they are lucky they are cute. I can't imagine my life without them. They make me smile each and every day.

• Our Health: I'm thankful we are all healthy. Yes we had a nasty virus, but there are so many people out there suffering from so much worse, that I can't even complain about that.

• Family/Friends: We have a large network of family and friends. Each one of them has a special place in our hearts!

• We are Employed/Have a Roof Over Our Heads: I know there are so many in this economy that aren't in that position. We have to be thankful for these things as well.

• My Camera: Don't laugh. It's true. Even though I haven't used it as much as I would like lately, it's my creative outlet and it helps keep me sane. I sometimes have dreams that it breaks/doesn't work. I wake up from those dreams feeling devastated. If something did happen to my camera (my DSLR) I know I wouldn't be able to replace it at this stage of the game.

• High Speed Internet: Or internet at all. I think I may have a slight addiction. Is there a program for Internet Addiction? I don't know what I would do without it.