So she did.

April was National Poetry Month!  Since I've lived in Toledo, I've been increasingly impressed with the local poetry community.  The main library branch hosts poetry readings on the first and last Thursdays of the month and showcases several featured poets during those months.  I'm going to the reading this Thursday! 

The Toledo Museum of Art hosted the Ekphrastic Writing Competition awards ceremony this past Friday, May 1st.  I was fortunate enough to be a finalist and attend the event.  My mom came into town for the ceremony and we were joined by my good friend, Bobbie.  It was a wonderful event where each finalist was introduced and had the opportunity to read their poem.  There were three categories - middle school, high school, and adult.  I was so impressed with the poems written by the younger contestants; poetry is still very much alive and thriving!  We went to dinner after the event and enjoyed good food and great conversation.  My mom stayed until Saturday; we had so much fun spending the weekend together.  I even got to take her to Bowling Green and show her a bit of the campus where I'll be spending lots of time the next few years.

Me at the Ekphrastic Writing Competition awards ceremony at the Toledo Museum of Art.

Toledo has a local poetry publication called The Quill.  I saw an advertisement for it at the Bigby Coffee by my house and decided to submit.  They accepted two of my poems for an upcoming issue, one of which I wrote about a trip my best friend, Cohen, and I took to see her family in Iowa a couple years ago.  I'm excited to be a part of the local poetry scene here in Toledo and I'm looking forward to reading poetry from other local authors when the next issue comes out.  Learn more about The Quill here:

facebook.com/TheQuillToledo

I also had a poem accepted at Songs of Eretz Poetry Review for their upcoming issue.  This publication is unique because the editor pairs a graphic with each poem along with a note from the editor and a note from the author about the poem.  This is the Songs of Eretz Poetry Review website:

eretzsongs.blogspot.com

Poetry Quarterly picked up one of my poems for publication, as well.  Learn more about their publication at the following site:

poetryquarterly.com

A few months ago, I had two poems accepted for publication at a journal called Poetry Pacific.  The spring issue was just released today.  You can view the entire issue here:

poetrypacific.blogspot.ca

My two poems can be viewed here on the Poetry Pacific website:

poetrypacific.blogspot.ca/2015/05/2-poems-by-kristin-lafollette.html

Several months ago, I had a poem accepted at a magazine called The Main Street Rag.  The issue with my poem just became available and I was pleasantly surprised one night last week when I came home from work to find my contributor copy in my mailbox.

The Spring 2015 issue of The Main Street Rag featuring one of my poems.

The issue contains some great writing from some awesome writers.  Get your copy here:

mainstreetrag.com/bookstore/product-category/literary-magazine/current

My husband was gone last week at a conference in Georgia for work, so he wasn't able to make it to my poetry awards ceremony.  However, he surprised me last week by telling me to expect a package in the mail when I got home from work.  He told me to open it, and this beautiful necklace was inside.

"I am, I am, I am."

He got me this necklace as a congratulations gift for getting into Bowling Green.  This necklace is an amazing gift for two reasons - my husband wanted to celebrate with me even though we weren't able to be together, and he knows my heart enough to know that Sylvia Plath is my favorite poet and this is one of my favorite quotes from her.  I am so in love with this necklace.  My husband is amazing.  He also brought this home for me from the conference:

He knows me so well.

Have I ever said how supportive my husband is!?  He pushes me to strive for my dreams everyday and supports me every step of the way.  He is the best. 

My mom and I also celebrated my acceptance to school while she was here last weekend since I hadn't seen her since Easter.  She got me this beautiful gift as a congratulations:

So she did.

This gift is so special to me.  The reason it is so special is because when I went off to college for the first time in 2007, my mom gave me a bookmark that had the exact same saying on it.  She has always believed in me and has been my greatest cheerleader over the years.  When I went off to college, she encouraged me to dream big, to be independent, and to strive for the best.  My mom and dad always wanted me to go after what I wanted in life and to never let anyone look down on me for being young or for being a woman or for being my own person.  I want to thank my parents for that, and I want to thank my mom for giving me little gifts like this to constantly remind me to keep going after my dreams.  That bookmark has meant so much to me over the years.

The original bookmark my mom gave me in 2007 when I started college. 

My campus visit to Bowling Green last week.  God is good!

I've been getting lots of information from Bowling Green lately about orientation coming up this summer both for classes and for teaching.  It's going to be an awesome journey.  I can't wait to start.

Even if you didn't have parents that encouraged you and told you to go after your dreams, don't let anything hold you back.  Go after what you want.  Dream big.

THRIVE.

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
-Eleanor Roosevelt