Confession: I am a lurker

Much like one might read a newspaper or magazine or watch the morning news, I have my own morning routine in which I use my laptop to 'catch up' rather than a tangible, physical news source like a newspaper or periodical.

Our television, while used routinely in the evening as an excuse to snuggle with my honey, is never on during the day.
(except in the winter when there is a snow storm coming and I obsessively check the local weather stations)

My morning routine-- (when I am not working) ---which some of you may think is decidedly lazy, is to make myself a cup of tea, some toast, and turn on my laptop. I then browse my homepage for headline news, both national and local. 

Chores (laundry, cleaning, shopping, etc) get done a bit later in the day, as I am NOT, 

(and never was or will be), a morning person.

At that point I then check in with my blog "friends".

The reason friends is in quotes is because these friends have no idea who I am. 

I am what is known in the blog world as a lurker. 

A label which sounds mysterious, and a bit threatening, but it is in actuality quite common, and represents the vast majority of blog readers.

Wikipedia defines the blog lurker this way:

In Internet culture, a lurker is a person who reads discussions on a message board, newsgroup, chatroom, file sharing or other interactive system, but rarely or never participates actively. Research indicates that  "lurkers make up over 90% of online groups".

So today I thought I would share with you my favorite blogs--those for which I would definitely fall under the description of a lurker.

Now, on the other hand, I also visit blogs of people I actually know and love, like my dear daughter's blogs here and here, and my dear friends here and here.

They "know" me, (I hope so--I actually gave birth to 2 of them!)

I "know" them, and I make comments. 

In these blogs, I represent part of that 10% who actually are personal friends of the blog owner.

Here are my top 5 must-read blogs (in no particular order):

1.Karen Russell, who writes a blog called Snapshots of a Good Life.

 Karen is an extremely accomplished photographer and blog writer. 

She teaches an online photography workshop, one that is hugely popular with aspiring photographers.

2. Amanda Soule, who writes a blog called SouleMama.

Amanda writes from the heart, and describes the daily joys and struggles of her life on a Maine farm, where she homeschools her four (soon to be five) children. 

She and her husband are already published authors, and they have a unique [and enviable at times], outlook on parenting and life in general.

3. Ali Edwards, who writes a blog called AE Blog, aka Memory Keeping for the Modern World.

Ali provides me with today's viewpoint on scrapbooking, and is especially inspiring in that she is the one who celebrates those precious moments of Everyday Life. The moments that we wish we had a visual or written record of back when we were little, or when our parents or grandparents were young.

Ali is a published author, an accomplished photographer and graphic designer.

4. Kelle Hampton, who writes a blog called Enjoying the Small Things. 

Kelle is a former teacher, is a professional photographer, and has a very unique writing style.

Her blog came to my attention a little over a year ago when I read her post describing her daughter Nella's birth. To say that this blog post went viral is an understatement. Kelle went from less than a hundred readers a day of her blog to thousands of readers a day after that story. She has been interviewed by major newspapers, talk shows and is asked to speak at conventions.

The reason for this explosion of notoriety was because Kelle described in so very eloquent words, her heart felt and heart wrenching account of giving birth to a daughter with Down Syndrome.

She continues to inspire mama's everywhere while raising two adorable daughters, one of which just happens to have special needs.

5. Lisa Belkin, who writes a blog for the NY Times called Motherlode: Adventures in Parenting.

Lisa dissects the hot topics of today and discusses how they relate to parenting children of all ages. One of my favorite aspects are the reader comments..many of whom are accomplished writers themselves.

Honorable Mention:
Ree Drummond, who writes a blog called The Pioneer Woman.

If you haven't heard of Ree or her blog before, you probably either live under a rock, or at least somewhere where there is no electricity, and no computers. Ree has become ubiquitous with her recently published cookbook, biography, and most recently, a children's book. She has been on the Today Show three times, demonstrating her most famous recipes, like this one.

 [my version of Ree's Cinnamon Rolls which we enjoyed on Christmas morning]

  Her blog sets the standard for other blogs, hands down. Full of stories of life on a cattle ranch in Oklahoma, Ree also has sub-topics within her blog for her recipes, photography, home and garden topics and homeschooling.

So, there you have it. My five must reads, plus one.

What are your favorites?