Dear Emily, What blogs are you following these days?

Lobsters, one of the questions I've appreciated exchanging with Emily over the years is "what have you been reading lately?" Fellow English majors, and former roommates who read allowed to each other as we went to sleep, and generally voracious readers - it's been a fun bond to share!

But more recently, Emily got me into the world of blogs, hence this thing you're reading right now. Being a new year, I'm interested in freshening up my Google Reader a bit, so I'm curious to know what types of stuff Emily is following lately. One of my favorite blogs recently recommended following material with intentionality to shape how you want to live your life, so I'm extra curious about what is out there that I should be checking out [check that post out here].

Here are some of the blogs I'm already enjoying:

1) Modern Mrs. Darcy [mentioned above]. I'm a fan of Jane Austen, but also very much a fan of exploring the idea of what a modern, Christian woman should look like, and I just love how this writer tackles this question on a regular basis. I feel like this is a woman I'd love to be friends with in real life and I am constantly edified and entertained by what she has to say!

2) Sweet Fine Day Jenna is a graphic designer, mother of two, and wife to a pastry chef with whom she runs a small business. She is so down to earth, unpretentious, and honest. Despite her obvious skill in food photography [you have to check out her beautiful work!], she's not obsessed with everything looking perfect, beautiful, and just right. She shows and tells things like they are - exposing quieter beauty and honest struggles in ways others don't have the courage to, and still, her blog never feels all that heavy. In the end, I'm always in the mood for her posts.

3) Annalea Hart Home schooling, crafting mom-of-three extraordinaire. She's the kind of woman who would make you sick because of all the amazing things she manages to accomplish, but for the fact that she really keeps it real, so you know she has hard days too.

4) Momastery I've only read one post so far (check out "Don't Carpe Diem"!), but it was amazing. It was so encouraging and also I nearly pee-ed my pants cause it was so funny, I'm really looking forward to reading more in the future!

5) That was my foot Beautiful photo blog centered around the theme of the father/photographer parenting his eldest son through joint custody - the joy of their love for each other and the pain of always having to say goodbye. Simple, beautiful, and created by someone I personally look up to in several ways.

6) While you were napping I follow several of my friends blogs about raising their kids and really really enjoy so many of those. I have some talented writing friends! I would promote them all to you, but I'm not sure about whether all of them want a world of strangers knowing everything about their kids or not, but Becca's blog, while deeply personal, is also definitely widely accessible. She is so true and hilarious and insightful and her son is just a bundle of manly-adorableness!

7) A Holy Experience I think this is by far the highest quality blog I follow. Her writing is exceptional, challenging, and so uplifting. Especially when I'm down and at my worst, this almost always guarantees to re-center me and invite Christ into the mire of my experience so that He can guide me forward. I long to grow into her literary skill and spiritual maturity!

Lobsters, I would be very happy to hear from you as well if you have some good tips (including your own blog perhaps?)!