On Reading, Not Writing

Obviously I've been waaayyy more into reading blogs these days than writing--I've been taking the term "blog stalker" to a whole new level! I don't know what's gotten into me but I've had absolutely no interest in writing anything but a literal obsession with reading everyone else's blog.

It starts harmlessly with keeping up with friends and family blogs (see list to the right), then moves to Other Blogs I like (see here and here). Then the new obsession is the hilariously funny, spoof blog of Seriously So Blessed (not for the thin-skinned, mormon mommy blogger but it's way funny) and then I move on to someone else's blog I don't even know. And then, if I still haven't had enough reading/stalking I start clicking on that little link at the top of blogs, the one that says Next Blog so I can read blogs of total strangers who are sometimes wierdos and sometimes write in different languages. (Give it a try, it's kind of fun!)

So, if anyone is actually still reading this blog but me anymore...

smile, wink, sniff, cry...

...what other blogs do you like to visit? (So I can add them to my list myself and continue to waste even more time, lol!)

On the Move

The past few weeks have been a blur, but it's official--we're all moved and finally in our new house. All I can say is that I hope this home will work for our family for a long time to come becuase moving is miserable business. We are so grateful to Josh and Jana Arnold for letting us rent their basement apartment these past few months--they were life savers. After we sold our house it looked to be impossible to find somewhere that would do a short-term lease and accept a 60-lb. golden retreiver. But the Arnold's did both, and we're so grateful to them for putting up with us for a few months.

We love our new house, and it's so nice to finally be close to Ethan and Noah's schools. We'd love to have visitors too, so give us a call or email andrea_barker31athotmaildotcom and we'll give you our new address.

And, our household items aren't the only thing on the move lately. After months and months of waiting, our little Aaron has finally decided to walk. (Yes, he's 16 months old!) We've been kind of concerned about him lately, but they finally determined he needed ear tubes (he had constant ear infections and fluid buildup in his ears.) After his surgery, he just up and started walking. I'm convinced the fluid in his ears was affecting his equilibrium and made him feel dizzy when he tried to walk. I'll post pictures or a video in the next few days (maybe weeks?) once we get our computer and camera port set up. But we were so glad and relieved to see him finally reach this milestone.

The United States of Mind

What seems like EONS ago, I majored in Psychology so I've always been such a junkie for personality tests and psychological studies. Which is why a new study caught my "ear" the other day on a radio station when they talked about a study recently published in the Wall Street Journal and how it showed distinict personality characteristics for each state in our nation. I know I'm a dork, but I loved it!

Here's the link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122211987961064719.html

The short version: how cool is it that the study showed Utah to be high in Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and low in Neuroticism (whew, that's a good thing!). We also ranked relatively high in Openess.

So, there you go. Because I'm sure you've always wondered . . . :)