Favorite Websites

A collection of my favorite online resources and websites. I've found many of these through blog recommendations so I'm sharing the love. There are a few obvious ones and hopefully some new-to-you ones.

Picnik- Free online photo editing. This is how I made my blog header. You can crop, touch up, add text and borders to pictures and save them as files on your computer. Did I mention it's free?

Local Harvest- A site to find Community Supported Agriculture in your area. CSAs are local farmers who will deliver their fresh and safe meat and produce for a reasonable price. You usually pay a monthly set amount and receive various seasonal produce and free-range meat, sans chemicals of course. We don't use this yet, but I can't wait for the time when we will!

Simple Mom- I love this site (and its sister sites look great too- Mom, Kids, Organic, Homeschool). It is the only article blog that I subscribe to via email. The editor is a woman named Tsh who's values resemble ours. She is Christian (though her blog isn't spiritual heavy), world-conscious, and counter the busy/materialistic American culture. She encourages others to live simply but richly. Love it!

Meetup- a great way to find Mom groups or other common interest groups in your area. Particularly helpful if you are new to an area.

A Disciples Notebook- perhaps the most profound devotionals in the online world. I've subscribed to a lot of devotional emails in the past and this is the only one I haven't abandoned. I still regularly get their daily email in my inbox and it is always encouraging and challenging. I even have a folder in my inbox saved with my favorite ones (problem is I end up saving every other one :)

Tripadvisor-  We used this website to plan our honeymoon in St. Lucia, our visa renewal trip to Thailand, and our anniversary in Charleston. I'm definitley not a vacation planning psycho (I like relaxing vacations without a lot to do), but since we don't take vacations often we wanted to make sure we were staying somewhere we loved and going to restaurants and sites that we would enjoy. Thankfully, everything we picked through reading reviews on Tripadvisor (and checking out their well-ranked stuff) were off-the-beaten path (often skipping the common touristy hotels and sights) and PERFECT for us. Thanks to this website, we've had absolutely amazing times on all of our vacations without wasting time and money on less-than-awesome places and things to do. Time is precious when it comes to vacations, and this website ensures you use your time in a way that suits you.

Environmental Working Group (both the health database  and food section)- I have used these as references numerous times when deciding if a food or product is something I feel comfortable using- particularly when buying baby products and making baby food.

Mint- free budgeting and financial tools. Quality stuff.

Georgia Pines (or your state's online library system)- I love that Georgia's libraries are synced so you can use any one to pick up or drop off books. Library-ing is super easy these days because you can look up your books before you go. If a book is checked out, I put it on hold from home. If it's available, I write down the call number and breeze in and out when I have the time.

resolved2worship- I'm generally not into keeping up with people's lives whom I don't know but I make an exception for this encouraging open journal of a thirty-something women named Alyssa Welch. It is probably the most encouraging real-life blog out there, whether you are a mom (she has 8 kids), a wife, or a single. I have grown so much through reading about her life and thoughts. And he might kill me for saying this but Ben loves it to. He is often found reading entries and commenting, "have you read the latest post? It was so good!"

Wholesome Baby Food- great resource on everything from making your own baby food, to food allergies, to nutrition. It's the only website I use regarding child nutrition these days.

Young House Love- the best, funniest home improvement/DIY site! They have any and every project how-to: building a cabinet from scratch, painting your kitchen, refinishing furniture, etc. I don't read all their posts because they are full-time bloggers and DIYers, but a simple search comes up with anything I'm looking for. Great resource.

Pandora- for obvious reasons. A great way to freely be introduced to new music and get custom playlists without the time spent to create them yourself. I use Pandora a lot with Anna- it keeps me from having to buy a bunch of kid CDs. I made a Disney playlist and one with more mellow kiddy songs. When it plays something I really like, I "bookmark" it.

Pinterest- has become my new way of organizing projects and ideas.

Etsy- online store where people sell their art and other homemade items. Surprisingly, I've found a lot of things on Etsy for a fraction of the cost of a typical store's selection- from a nursing cover to a tote bag. Great for gifts. Bonus that your are supporting fellow artists and the stuff is unique and handmade.