How could you not click on a post with Filling Stations in the title??? I am very glad you did and stayed around to read the first paragraph of this post, at least!
Earlier this week a group of new and old friends of the blogger type gathered at a local diner in Mason City to get to know each other a bit more. The location: LD”s Filling Station located on 12th Street NE . If you have never been to LD’s you might miss it when driving by—it is back from the road and a huge favorite of the locals. Their menu is varied and features items named after cars. Get it? The whole Filling Station theme is carried throughout the restaurant both in terms of decor and menu selections. 
I ordered the mini burgers and they were tasty –sorry but I can’t remember the car name that was associated with them but it was catchy and cute.
But on to the “ladies”. I would love to introduce you to all of them! One by one. In no particular order! Well, I will rephrase that. In order of the picture of us at the table in an effort to “introduce” you to some new blogs to follow. Click on the title of each blog and it will open a new window so you don’t lose your place here! Come back…..please!
Jeni writes over at An Herbalist Eats and is such a funny and entertaining writer! She has a varied background and even attended culinary school so when she writes about food or restaurants I take note because she knows what she is writing about! She is a recent newcomer to Mason City and I am thrilled she is here. We have shared coffee, tea and a lunch or two in the short time she has been here and I am thrilled to have another Mason City friend.
Sara is the one responsible for getting this group together in the first place. I found Sara when I did a search for Iowa bloggers and her blog All In An Iowa Mom’s Day popped up. She is definitely a blogger on the go and has another travel blog Travel With Sara that has some great travel information. She has organized a monthly Social Media Breakfast gathering and encouraged local bloggers and business owners to share ideas and information at these fun gatherings at our local Cabin Coffee. Sara has an extensive background in social media, hosts many give aways on her blog and is very gifted in sharing her talents with others. She is also the author of a book–-Bootstrapped in Iowa–that chronicles her life growing up in Iowa and how she has overcome many challenges in life to become the person she is today.
I have just recently met Debbie who is a sweet and enthusiastic mom of a young boy who is obviously her pride and joy. Debbie blogs over at Debbie’s Midwestern Kitchen and has FABULOUS recipes. I have only known her a very short time and have already prepared several recipes she has featured on her blog including the most recent favorite—Maid Rites. Yum. Debbie has to be one of the sweetest ladies I know and I am thrilled to be able to meet her in real life and have the opportunity to get to know her a little bit better.
Finally on the other side of yours truly is Val. Val is a farmer’s wife but she is a farmer herself –don’t get me wrong! Val blogs over at Corn, Beans, Pigs and Kids. I know!!! What a great name, right? Val is a very talented writer and offers a lot of information on her blog about all things agricultural as well as life with young children. The other thing you need to know is that Val has started doing Comments for a Cause on her own blog which just makes me so very happy. Her “cause” for the month is Make A Wish Iowa and I am thrilled to give her a shout out and tell others that another blogger has joined the Comments for a Cause bandwagon!
Last but not least is Joy who could not be with us at this inaugural gathering of the Local Bloggers Club. Joy blogs at Living LIfe JOYfully and has a lovely blog there and another one at On My Mind Right Now . I am finding out all these great things about her by exploring her blogs and just found out that she wrote a book also! Now I have another book to put on my TBR list. You can find her book, My Face to the World, about her battle with breast cancer on Amazon by clicking on the book title. I did not know about this book until I read about it on her blog today so as you can tell I am learning all kinds of great things about these other bloggers.
I know that there are others out there in our area who blog and we hope to add them to our ranks. As we mused about how different we all are and yet how alike we all are I was reminded once again that it is a great world that we live in where we are all able to be exactly who God made us to be. We can learn so much from each other and I am so excited about this group and what we can learn from each other.
