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I’m traveling to Connecticut today to speak at a student leadership event on Friday morning. We’ll be doing some group mixers, team building activities, and brainstorming ways to help improve their school. I’m really looking forward to hanging out with these students!
And secretly, I’m hoping to be able to buzz over to Bristol, Connecticut to check out the headquarters for ESPN. It is a journey…a quest…a pilgrimage…that every true sports fan must make once in their lifetime!
I’m at home packing up some of my belongings and getting ready to head to the airport. I’ve got a full week ahead of me that should be fun, but I’ll definitely be missing my girls. Having web cams definitely helps though…
Tonight I fly into Pittsburgh and drive a few hours to Altoona, PA, where I’ll be speaking tomorrow. Then I drive over and speak in Greensburg, PA on Tuesday and Pittsburgh on Wednesday. After that, I’ll buzz down to West Virginia and speak in Parkersburg, WV on Thursday and Charleston, WV on Friday. And finally, I get to fly home Friday night.
5 days. 5 cities. 5 different hotels. 5 events.
Yikes.
It’s been nice to be home for a few days, but I head back out tomorrow. I fly out tomorrow night and travel to Providence, Rhode Island. I will be speaking Tuesday morning at an event for MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).
After that, I’m going to drive out to Cape Cod and hang with fellow youth speaker, Jeff Yalden. Jeff is a true veteran in this business and has been in the industry much longer than I have. He’s invited me to come visit for an extra day, so I’m looking forward to chilling with him but also to seeing the Cape Cod area (which I hear is gorgeous!).
I’ll then fly back home Wednesday afternoon. I’m sure I’ll have some pictures to post from this trip…
I haven’t had much of a chance to blog this week so I wanted to check in with some updates…
I’m getting ready to leave in the next hour or so to hit the road again. I’ve been home for several weeks with the new arrival of little Emilee Beth. It’s been nice to be home for a while, but Daddy has to go make some money!
I’ve got a 5 hour drive to Springfield, IL where I’m speaking at a student leadership event Monday morning. Then I’ll drive to St. Louis and catch a flight to Knoxville, TN where I’ll be speaking on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then, I’ll drive over to Nashville, TN and speak there Thursday and Friday. Friday night I fly back to St. Louis and then will have a 3 hour drive back home.
Just seeing that schedule makes me tired!
But I love what I get to do, so I’m looking forward to being at some great events this week! Plus, my wife just got a new laptop, so we can talk with a webcam and I can see all the girls back home.
I’ll keep you updated on the travels this week!
Last night I had the opportunity to speak at my church in what is commonly referred to as “big church.” I’ve spoken several times for the students there but this was a first with the adults. It all went well and I had a good time.
Anytime I’m speaking to adults instead of students, I have to change my lingo. Talking about things like YouTube, Facebook, and OMG don’t always make sense to the older crowd!
I made a quick trip out to Denver this week and had the privilege of speaking at a youth event out there on Friday morning. The neat part of this event was that it was for students whose parents are in the Army Reserves. Several of their parents are stationed around the country at various bases and others are stationed around the world in combat situations. It was humbling to talk with these students and to hear what their lives are like with parents in these situations.
These teenagers and their parents are true heroes in my mind. It is because of what they do that I get to do what I do.
Here’s a picture after we wrapped up. It was one of those pictures where several cameras were flashing at once and it appears I may be the only one to actually look at my camera!
Last night I spoke at the Missouri Student Council Leadership Camp in Fulton, MO. The event went really well and enjoyed my time with the StuCo students. Here are a couple of pictures:
Not sure what I was doing here…
I just got back home a little bit ago after speaking this morning at the Missouri 4H State Congress event. The event went really well and I had a great time with the students. It was fun to reconnect with several of the student leaders I had met at another conference I did with them in February.
One of the funniest moments was when I was telling a story during my talk and a little girl let out a funny scream at actually the perfect moment during the story where the sound effect fit just right! One of those, you had to be there moments!
I then drove 3 hours home and immediately took an hour nap…I was wiped but feeling a little better now!
If you were at the event, thanks for letting me hang out with you and send me an email to keep in touch!
I’ve got a couple of great events I’m speaking at this week for Missouri teenagers. Tomorrow night, I drive up to Columbia, MO and will be speaking Friday morning at the closing session of the State 4-H Congress, which is basically their annual state conference for high school students. I did an event for Missouri 4-H back in February for their middle school students, which was a lot of fun, and they invited me back so I guess I wasn’t a complete bomb. I finish up Friday morning and drive back home.
Then on Sunday, I’ll drive back up to Fulton, MO where I’ll be speaking at the opening session of the Missouri Student Council Leadership Camp. This will be a really exciting event to kick off their camp so I’m really looking forward to it.
I’ll try to post some pictures and keep you updated on how the events go. I can’t wait!
