Wisconsin | The Organic Sister

Back To Madison

September 2, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 5 Comments

After leaving the Green Bay area, we made our way to Madison…again! But this time it was more business than fun. Thankfully our kind of business is pretty fun.

We stayed with Justin’s gorgeous cousin and her husband and son, enjoyed some homecooked meals in the evenings and several trips to Madison farmer’s markets. It was so incredibly kind of them to open their home to us over the weekend, and I know Justin especially was really grateful for the time spent with them.

I was also able to sneak in a bit of hooping with Denise and her family. I loved it! Being able to ask questions and even answer a few, and just have fun. I can’t wait to find more of these.

We “commuted” during the day to Jennifer and Mark’s home not far away to do some work with them. I had the honor of initiating a brand new dready mama! Jennifer’s long beautiful locks had already been started, so we spent a few hours tightening up the existing and finishing up the rest of her head. Isn’t she just gorgeous with dreads? I can’t wait to see them take shape over the next few months.

Perhaps the most fun was seeing and working on their very own 1982 Winnebago Brave! Look familiar?? Yup, that would be Benny’s big bro, sitting a little longer and with a much different layout. Justin really enjoyed doing repairs, comparing vintage quirks and getting Mark started on the rest of the refurbishing process.

Mark is a baker and they are looking to start a unique and inspiring mobile venture across the US with their four children. I’m super excited to see how their family’s journey unfolds! Hopefully they’ll be starting that blog soon. Hint hint.

Thank you both and good luck to you guys!

Current location: En route from OKC to Dallas for the Rethinking Everything conference!

Filed Under: Life on the Road, Organic Tribes Tagged With: brave, community, Dreadlocks, madison, organic beauty, RV, services, unjobbing, winnebago, wisconsin

Green Bay Highlights

August 26, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 9 Comments

We spent several weeks in La Crosse, Wisconsin, spending time with Justin’s family. He’s posted those highlights here.

After La Crosse, we headed back across Wisconsin to a small town an hour outside Green Bay. Zeb’s Gramma flew into town and we met her at her brother’s home for five beautiful days.

Tom and Mary live on a beautiful beach lake. We happened to reach them just as the weather cooled down. It could not have been a more serene setting.

We spent the first day playing with cousins, eating yummy food (they had a plethora of yummy gluten-free foods just for me!) and enjoying the water.

The next day was much the same: tubing, boating, playing in the sand, hooping, eating, chatting.

The third day was spent in one of Justin’s favorite places: Lambeau Stadium! We toured the stadium, inside and out. By far the most memorable part was walking through the players’ tunnel. As you start to walk down the door opens, you hear insane cheering and the announcer introduces “the team”. It was hilarious and exciting to have a taste of what the players must experience as they come out on the field.

The fourth day was spent on the lake again. This time we also did a bit of birding and actually saw a American Bald Eagle! I can’t describe how beautiful and majestic this bird was; a very powerful site to see. Zeb had even seen the nest on an earlier boat ride; apparently the nests are about 5 feet in diameter!

The day to leave came too soon. I was worried that Zeb would have a difficult time saying goodbye, like he did in Nashville. But he was impressively calm. Perhaps knowing we would see her again in a few short months for the holidays helped…or maybe, as he said, he’s just getting older. Either way it’s amazing to see so much change in him these past few months. He’s just such an amazing kid.

More photos from our time on the lake can be found here.

Current Location: Heading into Decorah, Iowa today through Saturday!

Filed Under: Life on the Road, People I Love Tagged With: beach, examples of unschooling, fun, gramma a, Justin, lake, Playing, Tara, water, wisconsin, Zeb

Inspiration Monday – Would you like to join in?

August 16, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 18 Comments

We’re in eastern Wisconsin now, outside Green Bay. Zeb’s Gramma has flown into town and we are all staying with her brother and his family at their house on the lake. The weather is cool and breezy and the water is warm, and the family is amazing. They have paddle boats and tubing and more fun than I can describe. I’m spending my time hooping and hooping and hooping on the sand. It’s been an amazing experience to spend so much time out of my head and in my body (without the humidity slowing me down!).

We’ll be enjoying our time here for a couple more days and I intend to spend as much of it in the sun as I can. But before I jump into my hoop again, I wanted to share a few inspiring things I’ve been loving the past week!

I’m part of the first team and wow!
I’m reading/working through this and I can’t even describe.
If you haven’t watched this, I recommend nothing else.
Most of you have probably seen or read the speech, but make sure to listen in on the interview!
Wanna change a life?
We need a lot more of these communities!
And now I have an answer for why Zeb never wears shoes.
Remember this? Well, now you can get one too!
Justin blogged a few class photos.
Taken from my own mouth.
Great interview; I can’t wait to read his book!
Love what she’s doing!

Would you like to join in the inspiration?

No need to follow any rules; it’s just a fun, no-obligation sharing of whatever inspires you.

You can share a link, story, quote or excerpt; it can be a piece of art you made or a pair of earrings you love or a fantastic article. Share a link to your own post or you can even share in the comments below!

Do it however you’d like, just tell me: what’s been inspiring you?

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: bench monday, gramma a, hooping, inspiration monday, links, wisconsin

Madison Highlights

August 7, 2010 By TheOrganicSister 12 Comments

After Indiana, we headed into Madison, Wisconsin.

Justin was born in Wisconsin and moved away when he was 10. Even though he’s spent more time away than here, Wisconsin still feels like home to him. And I totally see why. It’s so gorgeous here and so comfortable (it helps that we’ve had nearly perfect weather every day)!

Madison was a place we’ve wanted to check out, a possible place to live someday. We stayed at Lake Farm Park, a gorgeous campground surrounded by wildflower fields. It made for plenty of gorgeous, quiet sunrise walks.

We met up with Denise, who is awesome! If ever there was a mom to look up to, Denise is it. She’s so laid-back, mindful and balanced. Truly inspiring.

They picked us up and carted us around, showing us the town and even taking us shopping. We played at their house and she really won me over when she made us dinner.

We also had another potluck at our campground. We met some soon-to-be RVers and some more fun unschoolers and we hooped and ate and relaxed.

The area was gorgeous and there was much we loved about it. Friday came too soon and we headed out to Mineral Point, WI, for Justin’s blacksmithing workshop.

Nope. No pictures of that one! But I can say he LOVED it. He made a coat hook, a hook for the awning, a set of pliers and a couple other things. He’s so interested in it, he was tempted to stay put just to learn more. I think if he could fit a forge in our trailer, he would.