Blog Roll - Part 3 - Family & Friends

I'm going to start off with family because there is only one to share. LOL My family is still not all that technologically advanced, but I still love 'em! My eldest brother, however, is not only blogging, but Twittering - which I have yet to delve in to. If you'd like to see how those on the west coast live (and my two extremely adorable nieces - not that I'm biased or anything) you can read The Gillespie Family.

Oh my - I almost forgot a family member! ;-) My cousin has just started a blog called Mike & Dee Plus 3. How could that have slipped my mind?? Oh wait, as my children like to remind me, it's because I'm OLD! Dee is my second cousin (at least I think that's how it works. Her grandfather & my grandmother are brother & sister.) Anyway, Mike & Dee have been battling infertility for quite awhile. They had two embryos implanted a few months ago & one split so they are now expecting triplets! She will be getting identical twin girls & a little boy this coming December. I'm so very excited for her & love reading about the updates on her blog. Thankfully she is doing very well so far.

The friend blogs are only for those I have met IRL (that's "in-real-life) even if I first met them on-line. I still read lots of other blogs of folks I consider "friends" but if I haven't met you IRL then I'll post it in Part 4 - coming up next.

The first one to fit this bill is Debbie over at Following the Narrow Path. I "met" Debbie through a Flat Traveler swap when I first began homeschooling B six years ago. I think it was during my first year of homeschooling him & I decided to do the swap. (Click HERE to read what a Flat Traveler swap is all about.) We discovered that we had similar interests & began e-mailing each other. We then joined a couple Yahoo groups about scrapbooking & our friendship grew from there. Last night we were IM'ing each other & I realized that when we met we each had two children. My youngest was about two years old & hers was four (??). Now she had five children ages 16 down to 5 & I have three ages 12 to 4. Yikes! Time certainly flies!! I consider Deb one of my very good friends and so enjoy our chats on IM. We have been out to visit (all the kiddos) now a couple of times & my boys still talk about it - a lot. If you click HERE you can see photos & read about our visit out last fall. I also follow Deb's daughter's blog - Musical Bookworm.

The next one is Steph over at From Glory to Glory. Steph just started blogging not too long ago. However, I've "known" Steph for about six years I think. I met her around the same time I met Deb - a few months later. Steph owned a Yahoo group (or became owner shortly thereafter) that was one of the first I joined. It was for Christian scrapbookers. We had SO much fun on that group. I met some really wonderful ladies there. Steph was one of them. She encouraged me to try new techniques (Remember paper piecing?!?! I had no clue & yet Steph convinced me to try it in my very first swap! That & shaker boxes....) Anyway, Steph lives a few states south of me & started hosting a weekend scrapbooking retreat. It's an eight hour drive but I've been three times now! The first two times I went I actually drove alone to where Deb lives & then we drove the rest of the way together. That has been SO much fun! The last time I went, I convinced me sister to go & we drove straight there. I'm so glad Steph has joined the blogging world. She has some great insights in to faith & living your life for Christ.

The last IRL person I've met and I follow their blog is Monica over at Once Upon a Time. She used to live near me but a few weeks ago they decided to move to Florida. Now I get to read about their Disney adventures and how WARM the weather it is. It doesn't seem quite fair does it? I "met" Monica when she joined our state's Yahoo group for homeschoolers. I'm one of the mods who approve new members & I saw that she lived very close to where I do so I e-mailed her a personal little note to welcome her to the homeschooling world. It took off from there. I'll miss Monica's "inside knowledge" to the workings around here but I'm glad they are enjoying their new adventures in Florida.