Y’all… it’s back to school time. All school supplies have been purchased (and some returned), but not a single one has been labeled or sorted by kid….. I DO have them stacked neatly in my laundry room….

All uniforms have been tried on from last year and new sizes bought. Bright new “highlighter” colored tennis shoes are ready for Monday. We found out who is in what class today which is always exciting! My kids have even read a few books this summer. The countdown is on!! ARE YOU READY?? My to-do list is long for when-they-go-back-to-school. I can finally read that summer book I ordered off Amazon and clean out closets. YAY!!

Now on to the topic of this blog post. This has nothing to do with APPLIQUE, but everything to do with friendships and how God puts people in your path for a reason. When we were at the beach back in July, my sister in law casually mentioned her-friend’s-sister-in-law who was a blogger. I had known ‘the friend’ for years from the beach, but didn’t realize her SIL was a fellow blogger. Of course as soon as I heard her name, it clicked and I knew I had read some of her posts. You know, those posts that continually pop up on your Facebook news feed that are must reads!! Anyway, the week went by and “the blogger” arrived at the beach I think the day before we left. I never met her but did meet her husband (and dog) in the elevator the night before we left. Ironically, we were staying in the condo directly above hers, but I never got a chance to stalk her and say “Hey”. 🙂

Fast forward back to Montgomery, and I was able to go to her website and read and re-read several of her blog posts or articles, some of which I had indeed read via Facebook! I decided to send her an email and she was so kind as to reply, so we exchanged a few emails. While I was reading one of her posts, I immediately thought of another friend that God had recently put in my path and I just knew these 2 had to meet. Fast forward again to last Friday, and the 3 of us got together in Birmingham for a fun couple of hours at Starbucks (my favorite place)!

Below is L-Amy Smith, who has a heart for middle school girls and has a ministry in Montgomery, Enterprise and soon to be Auburn (Alabama) called Girl Talk Ministries. My Mallory is only 6, but I’m starting early and am so thrilled to see what Amy is doing and to see how her ministry is growing! In the middle is Kari Kampakis, who is the blogger/writer of www.karikampakis.com. Kari wrote a blog post about a year ago called 10 Truths Young Girls Should Know. This post went viral (like 70,000++ shares on Facebook alone) and on November 4th Kari will release her first book, 10 Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know. Her audience for this book is teen girls and their moms, but I believe her Truths can also be applied to boys and even us as adults.

 Kari also wrote a post this past June on Why Women Need Their Girlfriends. It’s a great read if you didn’t catch it on Facebook already! Check out her website, follow her, and catch up on some of her posts! You can also pre-order her book on Amazon and a few other places! AND GUESS WHAT? Kari has offered to give away a signed copy of her book to my Applique Cafe readers so be on the lookout for that GIVEAWAY! I can’t wait to get my hands on it after reading her work! Amy and Kari both have a heart for young girls and I am so thankful our paths have crossed and that I got to spend time with them both last week. I look forward to doing it again soon! Friends are so important and I crave quality time with them, which can be hard to come by with 3 busy kids! 🙂

I’ve been feeling inspired by Kari and her blog in regards to my own blog. I know I have been a slacker this summer (and here and there this past year). After a while it’s hard to know what to write about but I’m feeling inspired to get back to it (when school starts…….)

HAPPY BACK-TO-SCHOOL!!!