Guess Who's Guest Editor?? lol

Woooo Hooooo! I'm Guest Editor for a week, I get to walk just a small way in Joe's shoes!  So here is a little about me and why I chose my selections.......As noted in my all about me section, I have spent my last two  decades doing different things for different people. My last selfish decade was between the ages of 10 and 20 after that...... My 20's were spent as a new wife and birthing babies. My 30's were spent raising babies and it wasn't until my 40's that my life finally slowed down enough to reconnect with myself. My babies, (4 of them mind you! lol) turned into good kids, then  likeable teenagers ( I know.....an oxymoron! lol) with the oldest two reaching adulthood and both are strong women who are forces to be reckoned with themselves!

One way that keeps me connected to who I am, is being able to write again. I wrote a lot B.C. (before children) but as every parent knows especially Mothers, that it's very easy to loose yourself once you become a parent! Now that I have time for me again.....I spend time with friends, time with my cameras and time with my blog! My blog is what keeps me connected to who I was, who I am and who I am still destined to find in myself.

The best feature of blogging by far is meeting other people through their own journeys in life. It is a great community to share, learn and teach others about different experiences and life styles. Before I became Jim's wife, before I became Mother of 4, I was this woman/child. So my choices in choosing other journals and blogs to share with all of you have to do with some pretty amazing women that I have had the pleasure of discovering, getting to know and come to care about through blogging.

Who among us doesn't love Jody over at Dust Bunnies of North America ? But as I told her, my heart is over at her journal  Letters To Gabe She is an amazing Mother of 5 who's oldest son Gabe, heard the call of the Army (just likehis Dad before him) and enlisted in the Army during wartime and is now stationed over in Iraq. My own heart, the part I call my Mothers' heart, hasn't taken a full beat since he left for his tour of duty. He is a constant in my heart and my prayers.

And there is my friend JJ, over at Adventures of an Eclectic Mind . This is a woman who has lived every small child's fantasy, she joined the circus and had many travels with it.  Now she is spending this part of her life taking care of the needs of all kinds of animals! She walks with the animals and talks with the animals and takes some really great photo's of them too! I am so jealous I could just spit, but then again that wouldn't be very lady like, would it? lol  I always said when I was a youngster,that I was going to spend my life living among the animals,  and in a way I still kind of did, but I had children instead! lol

Now onto my friend Marti Porch Stories I just love her too! She is at the same stage that I am, kids almost grown, totally in love with her Husband and remembers to slow down and soak up the moments of each and every day. Her time is spent between the present and the past reminiscing about the days gone by and her journey to this point in her life. She knows the value of spending time with family and old friends.

Now I want you to meet Ashlee, I found Ashlee over at The Telling of Me during last summer. She is fresh faced and a newlywed and is just now questioning the universe. She is a 30 something year old professional woman who is just starting to question the world around her, staying true to herself, living a fufilling life and remembering to have a good time doing it!  She is enjoying time with her husband before starting a family of their own. Young love, fresh view of the world and endless possibilities........I remember that time in my life and I am excited for her!

 Now I want you to meet a very new friend of mine Jackie. I just discovered Jackie only a couple of weeks ago over at Waiting to Exhale  Jackie is only 1 out of 2 J- Landers, who's life story so intrigued me that I had to read every entry in her archives. She is one tough lady and I admire her for that. She married young, became a mother of 2 handsome boys, lost herself, divorced, married again, had 2 more amazing children (twins) and ended up having to raise them on her own, she devoted herself completely to these last 2 kids. She like me, made some mistakes along the way, but picked herself up and learned from them. She now has time for herself, time for her heart and is once again opening herself up to the possibility of dating again (after a very long, long time) and has some fear of giving her heart and herself up again to the possibility of love. She is getting to enjoy watching her grown children become all they were meant to be.

Those are my 5 of 6 journals to share while I am guest editor this week. I wanted my 6th choice to be totally new and totally random! So I went to the AOL 'People Page' then onto the 'Blog' page and in the search field I typed in 'grand kids' because this is the next stage I will be entering hopefully this decade, I'm 40 something! (my oldest is getting married in July!)

So for the next journal I chose the first journal I opened on the page my search sent me to and what I found was a very new, very funny, 50 something year old man who just started blogging a few days ago and finds the humor and the beauty in his everyday life. He is a Husband of 30 years, a Father of 3 daughters (something I can relate too, except I was gifted with a boy too!) and a very proud Grandfather!   I thought what a way to start blogging! Being featured by someone unknown toyou and getting the early recognition that being featured gives a blogger! So please stop by and welcome him. He has a lot to teach other's about enjoying life!   

 ladies and gentlemen...my 6th choice.... I am pleased to announce.........A Journey Through the Fifties