My Whirlwind Blog Tour

Today I'm excited because I've been on this whirlwind tour of

 connections,  

character, 

and cheerfulness this week.

It started in St. Louis where I met up with the amazing

Julia Cook. 

Is she not the most adorable thing? She did a phenomenal job on her keynote about motivating the underachiever, but her sidekick tried to steal the show 

in his cute little tux!

If you don't have any of Julia's books, you're missing out big time. My favorite is probably the one about feelings and horse sense, 

Straight From The Horse's Mouth. 

I went off site for lunch on day two to meet up with Pam Dyson from the St. Louis Center for Play Therapy. I met Pam online when she guest posted for me {here} and it was so delightful to meet her in person. Turns out we both grew up on a farm, so being farmer's daughters connected us and made us feel like we'd known one another forever. In the end when I thanked her for driving a half an hour to take me to lunch, she told me that she'd have driven sixty minutes. 

Isn't that just the kindest thing to say?

That night I flew to Milwaukee and my brother Mark shared his second-row concert seats to hear Jewel rock the acoustics on stage.  

I had heard of few of her songs, but hadn't really known much about this artist, whose velvety voice was soulfully smooth as silk. Did you know that for a time before she was discovered, she was homeless and living out of her car? Her songs tell her life's stories. They were so meaningful because she shared a bit of history before each one; she gave them authenticity and sprinkled in a huge helping of humor. She's a new mom, too, and she spoke so endearingly about her toddler. We were so lucky to get in on this epic performance, which ended with Jewel's yodeling encore. 

Such a talented beauty. 

Jewel's warm-up singer was Tori Kelly. Her song Fill A Heart was written to help in the fight against hunger. 

Talk about a treasure!

I've heard it said that good things come in threes, but I actually had a fourth outstanding outing when I met up with Lisa from Growing Firsties in downtown Wauwatosa for lunch on Thursday. I don't think we stopped talking for two solid hours. Though we're a decade apart in age, we had so much in common, starting with being Badgers and UW-Madison School of Education alumni. 
Teachers, bloggers, moms, wives, daughters, friends. 
We discussed all sorts of things and I left there 

feeling pure joy in my heart.

It's been an exhausting whirlwind few days, but I am energized and so encouraged by the compassionate and courageous collaborators who share my passion for character and kids.