I’ve been visiting Photos from Northern Norway – A Photo Blog for a while now and have enjoyed some of the most beautiful photography you’ll ever see. I wish I could insert some of the photos here but because of copyright laws, I will only link to some of my favorites.

The author if this blog is Thomas Laupstad, who lives in Northern Norway. He is interested in preserving nature and so enjoys photographing his favorite subject…Norway. And it is spectacular! Some of my favorite photos are the Northern Lights, Snow covered Forest and Village, and an old Fishing Boat.

Interestingly, he also takes pictures of Norwegians insects, and other wildlife. Even pictures of flies and snails are artfully done!

I really enjoy this blog. It’s very simple, the pictures load quickly and it’s a quick browse with instant gratification. If you’re interested in any of his photography, it is for sale as well.

This is a beautiful and tasteful blog; an extraordinary little niche in the large photography blog market. Keep the beautiful art coming, Thomas!

The authors of technoNix have been busy for the past year building up a great site for everything technology! And who isn’t interested in technology? If you’re currently on your computer, then this blog will apply to you!

This blog has a community feel, which is always great for a blog author. The more “at home” you can make your readers feel, the more frequently they will likely come by. The way these authors have addressed that is by creating a forum for discussions of various current technology issues. I think that’s a terrific idea and it looks like it’s been pretty popular! Way to go!

Additionally, technoNix has addressed a wide gammit of topics, and among some that piqued my curiosity were these:

Track Your Friends With Your Cellphone – for the stalker side of my aberrant personality (lol): this is a funny post about how Sprint is offering a service where it can tell you where your friends are every 15 minutes (yeah, I just don’t know how I feel about that!)

Microsoft Maps in 3D – Microsoft, via Virtual Earth, has launched, at the time of the original post, what was a beta program to show cities, along with buildings and topography in their 3D form. I’ve always been curious about what cities really look like, mainly ones I’ve never been to of course, and so this item was particularly interesting to me. IE and Firefox can view these maps but evidently only when the add-on’s been installed. Cool!

Microsoft Offers to Buy Yahoo for $44.6 Billion – this post was just representative of all of the “newsy” topics that technoNix offers about the industry.

And, if all of the above doesn’t tempt you to visit this blog, a giveaway surely will. technoNix is giving away a free game of Star Fighter! To enter the contest, go here. Good Luck!

Hello! Meet my friend Josey, from Stayin’ Silly, Livin’ Lucky.

I met Josey a few months ago when she happened upon my blog and struck up a friendship. I have enjoyed reading her blog very much as she explores the many facets of healthy living.

Josey is a great person and I have appreciated her fun personality. She’s witty and whimsical, fun-loving and caring. Josey makes it no secret that she has endometriosis. And, that is one of her purposes for blogging: to help other women who suffer from this disease to find information and alternatives to mainstream medicine, as she has done and found good successes.

She says that her reasons for blogging are also to have a creative outlet for her thoughts, and to help others in their journey for health. She also has a health journal where you can find more information relative to her diet, which is primarily how she manages the disease.

I think this blog is fun, but also very important. I think more women are diagnosed with endometriosis now than ever before. And many women who suffer from it aren’t even aware of what it is. On a personal level, I also have suffered from it and so can relate to much of what Josey discusses.

I recommend this blog to anyone who wants to read about an interesting life, but also to women who are looking for personal resources to help through this debilitating disease.

This is Heather of Oh My Stinkin’ Heck, a completely wonderful blog I recently found in my voyages.

When I first moved to Utah, I thought that “oh my heck” was strictly a Utah term, and although I’m not positive that Heather isn’t from Utah, I tend to doubt it…and so, our Utah term has moved beyond borders making me feel more at ease to use it. Oh my heck!

I digress.

This blog is so fun! You literally could spend hours perusing through pages and pages of her posts, blogs of interest to her, her opinions and of course, the posts she writes about her family (complete with beautiful photography).

Heather is a wife and mother of 3 children, 2 dogs, 2 cats and a snake. She’s into reading, blogging, web-designing, photography and organizing (a woman after my own heart). You can tell she loves to blog though by her amazing blog which attracted me right away. It’s a really clean and funky design that has the ability to suck you right in. Plus, there’s tons to look at never leaving you feel like you’ve seen it all.

I’ve looked at a lot of blogs and I think one of my favorite things is when there is a link where you can get a glimpse (especially with a picture) of the author and who they really are. Heather seems whimsical to me and that makes her interesting.

Heather also hosts a program on Flickr that I am investigating called “Swaparooni” and the details are still becoming clear to me although from what I’ve gleaned so far, you sign up to swap, an item/topic of the month, with another person. Such as, last month everyone swapped totes and they were new. I gathered that it’s a way to experience another person’s interpretations of what they think you might enjoy, coupled with their tastes. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun. Who doesn’t like to receive little gifts in the mail? You can find this month’s Swaparooni here.

So check out Oh My Stinkin’ Heck. I guarantee you’ll be back again and again!

I recently discovered the cutest blog called Peapod Squad. I wish I could have found out the name of the author but let it be said that she refers to herself as “Peapod Squad’s Mom”.

You might guess from the name of this blog that it is about a family of triplets and their adventures. The blog isn’t very old, perhaps about 9 months (there’s no archive so it’s difficult to tell) but she’s packed a lot in there in a short amount of time.

Her triplets, of which there are two boys (Split Pea, and Snap Pea) and a girl (Sweet Pea) – don’t you love those names – so adorable, are Peapod Squad Mom’s pride and joy…long awaited for, and much deserved. Although I understand her reasoning for not including pictures of the tikes, I privately wish I could see their cute little toddler faces. By now, they are about 3 years old from what I gleaned from the posts.

Peapod Squad Mom got pregnant via IVF after a long time of trying to conceive and was blessed with multiples – something I can’t even begin to imagine. I think that someone who can maintain sanity under those circumstances is someone of extreme patience and ingenuity.

Her blog is amazing in that she demonstrates that there is also life after triplets. I can’t imagine getting ANYthing done while having that many toddlers in my home, but she manages still to have interests and talents such as cooking, and crafting which she shares with her readers.

Her posts are funny, engaging and entertaining. I enjoy reading about her challenges, her crazy moments and hearing about the funny little things that kids say and do…in triplet. I wish Peapod Squad Mom the best…check her and her munchkins out!

It’s not the type of blog that you might think of when you think of “blog” because it’s not a journal, self-help, pictorial, or actually anything else of the sort. It’s a tag blog!

Each Friday, Fridays Feast posts a series of questions in feast-style. Such as a question each for an 1) appetizer 2) soup 3) salad 4) main dish and 5) dessert.

You copy the questions onto your blog, answer them and post, then submit a comment on their post to let them know you’re entered into Fridays Feast this week, and to link your blog to their site. An example of their questions is this week’s sampling:

Appetizer
What does the color dark green make you think of?

Soup

How many cousins do you have?

Salad

On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being highest, how honest are you?

Main Course

Name something that is truly free.

Dessert

Using the letters in the word SPRING, write a sentence.

I love this idea! If done each Friday, what a great way to let your readers get to know a little more about you in a fun and different way. We’ve all had tags before but this is new and fun! Try it out!

www.fridaysfeast.com

As an occupational therapist with many patients being “post-op” (or after-surgery) for knee replacements I believe that more information needs to be disseminated about

1. how you know you might need a joint replacement & who qualifies
2. what to do when you think you might need one
3. where to go
4. what to do before surgery
5. what to expect during surgery
6. what to do after surgery

Dr. William Barrett’s Blog discusses all of these things in a clean-looking and professional way. Many posts are dedicated to knee replacements which are appropriate for many people, as well as options for less-invasive techniques and other options to consider without going directly to total knee replacement.

It also discusses hip replacement surgeries in greater depth which can also be a very life-altering procedure.

Posts worth mentioning to those of you who may be wondering about Total Knee Surgery (TKA) might be:

Total Knee Arthroplasty – The Basics, The Surgical Procedure

I Want The Best TKA Available

MIS Total Knee – What Is It And Why Does It Exist

How Do I Prepare For Total Joint Replacement Surgery

This blog is a great resource for those in a first stage of inquiry regarding pain in their knees or hips. It is a very non-threatening environment where basic questions can be answered and launch pads can be created for further information and resources.

I’m sure there are those of you out there that are suffering debilitating pain that decreases function in your everyday activities. So if you are, now you know where you can look! Thanks Dr. Barrett – keep the information coming!

“Dr. Barrett is a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons. He has lectured and published widely.”

Steve has the most unselfish motivations for creating his blog I’ve ever heard of. Steve wanted to be part of his grown son’s life on a daily basis, providing him something to smile at each day. So, he created his blog so that his son and his co-workers would have something to check every day that would hopefully give them a laugh.

Steve’s website is an easy read. Every post is dedicated to “Odd News” or something unusual that needs further mention, and in some cases just further attention. This encompasses news stories, pictures, or random bits circulating the internet. One of my favorite posts is Children’s Letters to God and Octopus Implants.

My favorite thing about My Pointless, that you don’t get with many blogs is the ability to stop there, spend only a few moments (vs. reading a long post), getting a laugh and then being able to move along. No getting bogged down by too much verbage (haha, sort of like my own!). I also enjoy the colorful and clean template which makes it easier to navigate around. Nothing’s more confusing than too many banners and advertising to get lost in.

Blogging favorites come and go for me, but My Pointless has remained at the top of my list. I enjoy spending my time checking in to see what Steve’s come up with now! If you want some good laughs and a few eyebrow raises – check out My Pointless. You’ll get the point when you get there!

For more information on Steve and My Pointless, be sure to read 10 Questions with Steve of My Pointless.