Introductions.

There are four very incredible ladies that I would like to introduce to all of you. These gals have no idea that I look up to them in so many ways, but I honestly do.

The first girl I’d like you to meet is Mrs. Amanda Watters. Amanda actually went to the same university I did, the University of Northern Iowa, and of all places, we met each other in China where we both traveled abroad to teach English at a summer camp. Sadly, the two of us did not spend a whole lot of time together in China, nor did we keep in touch after we returned, but I came across her blog a year or two later and have been a dedicated follower ever since.

Amanda is mother to two-year-old baby Stella (and what an absolutely wonderful mother she is!) and wife to her high school sweet heart, Andrew. Prior to her new gig of stay-at-home mama, she was an English teacher—and boy does it show! She is such a fantastic writer.

…she is also a great photographer, cook (at least the pictures look amazing), homemaker, and has the ability to wear the cutest clothes that I could never pull off—not in a million years.

Click here for Amanda’s blog—I promise, she does not disappoint. OH, and one more thing—she is expecting her second baby (a BOY!) in October—I’m so excited to watch her cute little family grow!

The second lady is Miss Ashlea. Ashlea is full-time mama to two baby girls, Raygan and Remy, and she recently announced that she and her fiancé are expecting baby number three! Ashlea’s two girls are the spitting image of her. Obviously, I’ve never met her girls (or even Ashlea), but not only do they look just like her, but by the spunky little pictures she posts of them, their personalities are just like their mama’s.

…out of all four of these ladies, I think Ashlea and I are most alike. I don’t know if I can pin point exactly why I think that, but I do.  

Click here to visit my sista from anotha motha.

The third mama I’d like to introduce you to is also named Ashley. Baby Cruz is her little boy and he is SO CUTE! The two of them, along with the man of the family, Beau, live in Cedar Falls, Iowa. This town is very near and dear to me as I lived there for five years while attending college, so it’s fun for me to read about this family’s little adventures around the town that I know and love so well.

I swear Ashley has to be related to Martha Stewarts in one way or another—from her “14 Days of DIY Love” posts leading up to Valentines’ Day to the Sesame Street themed birthday party she threw for Cruz’s 2^nd birthday—holy cow, she could give Martha a run for her money.

Here is Ashley’s blog.

Finally, there is Mrs. Kerri Andersen. Kerri is probably the funniest person I have ever (not actually) met—reading her perspective on just about everything cracks me up every time! She is a new wife to her hubby, Jeff, and a new mama to baby Jane (she just had her baby about a week ago!).

I admire how Kerri isn’t afraid to talk about her frustrations and struggles; for example, when making a batch of sugar cookies, she attempted to bake the dough in a giant glob and cut the cookies out after she baked them. The way she told this story was absolutely hilarious and had me laughing so stinking hard.

See Kerri and her cute family right here.

I admire each of these ladies for so many reasons and am so glad I somehow made my way to their blogs. As I often do when I’m in the middle of a really, really good book, when I’m not reading, I find myself wondering what’s going on in these ladies’ lives. The difference, though, is that these women aren’t “characters,” and their stories never end.

Odds are I will never actually meet these women (except for Miss Amanda), but they will have unknowingly made my day 1000 times over, and have already given me so much advice and insight about the family I hope to have one day.

Happy reading!