Crowning Moments

It's almost here, the end of one year, the start of another.
Today, a few things before I unplug for digital detox. 
First, I wrote these prompts to make holiday cards
to take along on our vacation home to Wisconsin.


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An Awe-Struck New Year

Today it doesn't seem possible that Christmas 2018 is now just a distant memory. When you reflect on it through the rearview mirror, how was it? 


Did you find wonder and awe in the small moments?

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PPBF: The Smallest Gift Of Christmas

Happy winter solstice; today I'm excited because just yesterday, I found out that one of my favorite mindfulness resources, the flip-the-sequins mermaid pillow, is now available as a blanket. Talk about your year-round holiday hug!



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Kindness Sets My Soul On Fire

Straight talk: Kindness sets my soul on fire.



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Pay It Forward Plates And More

We started today with our annual Lessons and Carols service in church; I love it when John's Brass band joins the winds and the strings to accompany the choir and lead our worship. Such a beautiful way to start the week.

This week, I delivered several Pay-It-Forward plates 
to people in our community who serve. 
Or to family and friends.


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The Thoughtful Gift Of Time

As we cruise into the most wonderful, albeit most hectic, time of the year, I'm thinking about that first Christmas and all of the things that Mary pondered and treasured in her heart: the shepherds coming, the wise men traveling from afar, the little drummer boy playing his drum. Okay, so maybe that last one is just a happy memory from one of my favorite holiday hits as a child, but you get where I'm going with this, right? That we simply cannot overlook a most precious gift, 
the thoughtful gift of time.

The time that my friend Paisley gave up,
to come and frost cookies with me.


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PPBF: Chilly Da Vinci

Lately I've been thinking about my #oneword2018, vulnerability. Then yesterday, I came across this Brene Brown wisdom and it struck a dissonant chord with me.


To ask for what you need. That's a hard one for me.
{I'm thinking maybe next year, I pick an easier word?!}

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A Recipe For Hope

Today I'm excited because I've stepped out of my comfort zone to enter a holiday writing contest that involves writing a children's story. Fiction. Something I don't feel very confident about. But since it's about a Holiday Hero, it called my name and really challenged me to craft my 250 words into a timely tale.


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Using Gratitude & Kindness To Weather Life's Storms

Today I'm thinking about the weather, in part because
it's not feeling like Christmas here weather-wise. At all.
In fact, we were sweating as we hung the outdoor lights yesterday.
Meanwhile, my friend Laurel sends me winter pictures like this:


Am I really sure I want to go there next month? Brrrrrrrrr.
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PPBF: Sloth At The Zoom

Today I'm excited because it's almost December, 
such a compassionate and caring time of the year.
A time of reflection.
A time of comfort and joy.
A time of hustle and bustle, if you let it be.




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From Frailty To Strength

Today I'm still on a natural high from our annual Thanksgiving trek to the Texas Hill Country, a treasured tradition we planted twenty-one years ago.


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Starfish and Superpowers

Today I'm on a natural high as I reflect on my time with the amazing school counselors in the Hoosier State. Almost a year ago, I got an email from the ISCA President Stephanie K with a kind invitation to keynote their state conference; 


look at the beautiful Starfish she gave me 
as a treasure to remember my visit and their theme.


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ABC Worry Free Giveaway

Happy Monday; today I'm excited to introduce you to a beautiful new resource
 to help your learners let go of their worries. 


According to Tim Elmore, we are in an age when teens are experiencing more anxiety than the average 1950s psychiatric-unit patient. I've actually heard it referred to as Generation Stress.
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PPBF: Earthrise

Today I'm excited because yesterday I got to hang out with JetStream Jax.


We had a fantastic time catching up and visiting at the library; what a blessing to have a friend like this incredible meteorologist and peacemaker. 


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An SEL Smorgasbord

Today I'm energized because I've been working on my keynote
and breakout session for my trip to Indiana next week.


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Grow On The Go

Today I'm excited as I started the day listening to a podcast on my walk before church, grateful for the chance to grow on the go. And it gave me the idea to share my top six podcast picks. Click the picture to tune in and subscribe.

Counselor Hans Appel just launched this inspiring student-led podcast; soon I'll get to interview them on Character Speaks. Don't miss their episode with servant-leadership guru James Hunter.


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PPBF: Who Will I Be?

Wait, what? Picture Perfect Book Friday on a Thursday? Yep, because I'm leaving town and this is a title you will not want to miss. It's the perfect PPBF pick to kick off November, a month to celebrate gratitude and service.


Title: Who Will I Be?
Author: Abby Huntsman
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Through My Perspectacles

Is shOcktober over yet?
I'd forgotten how long and challenging this month can be.
Today I woke up sad, because of some recent challenges;
my eyes tired as I transition them to my new glasses,
and a little puffy from some overdue tears,
I decided to take my morning walk without wearing them.


As I walked, my life a bit blurry both literally and figuratively,
I couldn't help but notice how heightened my other senses were.
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PPBF: My Magic Breath

There really aren't strong enough words to describe the incredibleness of this past week, so I'm sharing some shots to try to paint the picture. Friday night, some counseling colleagues from a neighboring district threw me a surprise party to celebrate my Encore Career. It left me speechless. I know; weird, right? 


It was a BiG surprise, for sure, that filled me with joy 
and left me over-the-moon with gratitude. 
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PPBF: I Am Human

Happy Friday; what a magical week it has been.
We enjoyed some family time, which is always a blessing.


We really savor every second spent with these special humans.

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Swimming With The Kindness Current

Today I've got kindness on my heart and mind as I reflect back on my impromptu visit to Westlawn Elementary in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, the home to some incredible Dolphins who are making a huge kindness splash in our world.


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PPBF: The Color Monster

Today I'm excited because we just got back from our Autumn retirement excursion to see the Fall foliage in my home state of Wisconsin. Words can't adequately explain the sensory explosion we experienced, so I snapped a few (536) pictures. We brought these back to Texas, to share with some of the children here.


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PPBF: Bitter And Sweet

Today I'm excited because I'm traveling home to Wisconsin, to visit family and take in the beauty of Autumn. I get this longing for Fall every year, because I miss the magic of my favorite season; lately, my longings turn toward my season with these beautiful kindness advocates.


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Daring To Connect

Today I'm reflecting about my journey through education, my own as a student and then subsequently my decades as a teacher, mentor, counselor and friend. And while I don't take the idea or responsibility of being a friend lightly, I can honestly say that it wasn't always that way. Teachers in my school history didn't typically make friends with their students, so it wasn't modeled that I might make friends with mine. Education was much more transactional back then. We had mastered an academic content area and it became our job to deliver that knowledge to our students.


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PPBF: Rock What Ya Got

Happy PPBF; did you celebrate Global Character Day this week?
I was invited to speak at a breakfast for administrative leaders
at Harmony Schools in Houston; afterward I got a student-led tour
of their School of Innovation from some middle-school friends
who were oozing with PRIDE with their every step. 


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Inspiring Morning Rituals

Let's talk morning rituals; do you have one? We pretty much all have a morning routine. The better question might be, is your morning routine one that just happens by chance or is it intentional, something special, a ritual?


"A ritual," author Ashley Ellington Brown writes, "is sacred. It elevates the ordinary and the simple -- just consider the Japanese tea ceremony. A ritual is performed slowly, with attention and gratitude. It calms."
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The People You Fall On

Today I'm reflecting about something that happened on my flight home from Pennsylvania this past week. Storms put us on a weather delay, so I was pretty excited when we finally took off Saturday afternoon. Energized but exhausted from a fun-filled week, I was eager to pull out my pillow for a power nap. Unfortunately, the flight attendants' repeated reminders to stay seated, not only for our safety, but for the well-being "of the people you will fall on," kept that coveted rest from happening.


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PPBF: The Day You Begin

Happy Friday; this week was a somber one
with the seventeen-year mark of 9/11 globally
and the ten-year anniversary of hurricane Ike locally,
a time for reflection and gratitude, for sure.
And we've had some bumps in the road on the home front,
but nothing that we can't hurdle together
with a little bit of grace and a whole lot of love.

Today I'm grateful for this incredible PPBF find.


Title: The Day You Begin
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
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Making Kindness Normal

Today we're celebrating a milestone at The Corner, post number 1500, 
with the surprise reveal of our fresh, new, updated look.


I am so over-the-moon with gratitude for our super-fun upgrade.
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Sailing WITH A Fleet

Today I'm excited because I've been making surprise visits and harvesting seeds of sunshine and joy with some very special counseling colleagues who have been sailing through life with me. Don't you love the word with?


I used my Kohl's cash to purchase this pastel-blue
mindfulness pillow for my friend Cynthia
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PPBF: Crunch The Shy Dinosaur

Happy PPBF; today I'm excited to share one of my new faves.



Title: Crunch The Shy Dinosaur
Author: Cirocco Dunlap
Illustrator: Greg Pizzoli
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Living Loved

Today this thought, from Bob Goff's new book Everybody, Always.


What we do with our love; I'm challenged reflecting on that.
Not love as a feeling so much, but love as an action verb.
Thinking with our hearts.
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Practicing Kindness

Happy September; today I'm excited because I'm back home after an incredible week-long Character Strong tour up in the Pacific Northwest. 

The glorious sunsets up there . . .


will take your breath away.
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One Little Word, One Big Impact

Today I'm excited because of THIS, the visual that our friends at FJH created using the #oneword plates they designed in our training.


Imagine the incredible potential for its inspiration and influence.
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Unleashing Passion

So today I'm excited because yesterday I woke up to this breathtaking view
 from the bedroom window in my new favorite Air BnB.


I'd kind of forgotten how incredibly beautiful Seattle is;
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What's On Your Plate?

What a week! Today I'm excited to share just a quick summary
of what's been going on in my corner of the world.
Isn't this the prettiest picture?
It was taken at our new-to-district employee luncheon,
while the crowd was arm-in-arm
singing the Cheers theme song as our launch.
Be still my heart ... talk about your caring connections.


I'm so grateful to my hero Michele Borba for the inspiration
and the permission to piggyback her idea and share it as I speak.
Here's how it went with the Friendswood Junior High leaders.


What a fun and engaging day that was, connecting with the faculty and staff at a school where all three of our children went in grades 6-8. We talked about being HOPE dealers and how to grow as a family during their Mustang Impact Time.


As a silly out-of-the-box activity during the Mindset piece, we drew a back-to-school picture on the plate atop our heads. Afterward, we wrote the one word that we want people to feel when they leave our presence on the plate for a "What's On Your Plate?" character wall display. 


Here's how that very activity looked the following day
with these delightfully passionate educators in Deer Park.


Both groups especially seemed to enjoy exchanging their 
one word in a riveting game of Give Me Your Hand(le); 


such a cool icebreaking activity that truly has the power 
to change the climate in the room.
Wanna practice handshakes and eye contact;
here are the instructions so you can give it a try.


 Afterward, one of them wrote me this sweet sticky note.


Such a thoughtful gesture.

I did manage to carve out some shopping time for the boys, who launched into another year in Aggieland todayLook at what our character camera spied on the wall at the local Kohl's Department Store.


Wouldn't that make a fantastic bulletin board in a school?

We also saw this brilliance at a school visit ... 


at Webb Elementary in Navasota, TX, this morning.
I went to visit Principal and author Todd Nesloney, to treat him to a Sonic drink, to thank him for his inspiration, and to ask for a tour of his school. I'm finding a lot of really creative ways to spend my time now that I'm not back at school.

My plate is overflowing with good things;
what's on your plate these days?








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New Beginnings

What a difference a good night's sleep makes!
In the days leading up to yesterday's luncheon keynote,
I didn't sleep much. At all.
Too much rehearsing in my heart and in my mind.
So that it would all go well.
So that I would make my former district proud.
So that I would fire up their new teachers
and give a booster shot of inspiration to their mentors.


Since the event had a Broadway theme,
I dusted off my Elsa gown and took center stage.
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Let It Go

Today I'm excited because my daughter Kaitlyn helped me create
 this beautiful brochure to help launch my encore career.




Click {here} to take a closer look
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Be The MAGIC

Today I'm excited because comment #7 of the ten comments 
was chosen as the winner of a copy of Be Where Your Feet Are.


I love giving stuff away.
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Be Where Your Feet Are

As mindfulness mantras go, this is one of my favorites.


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