The Countdown to LauraPalooza 2015 has begun. Before we pack our bags and head to South Dakota for a weekend of education, celebration and fun, some of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy & Research Association board members are taking a look back—or forward—at some of the good times you can expect.

I would love to tell you about my favorite memory of LauraPalooza 2012 but I don’t have one.

I loved attending LauraPalooza 2010. 2 years ago I wrote a blog post – http://beyondlittlehouse.com/2012/05/29/my-favorite-things-part-3/ – about how much I loved attending that conference and how much I was looking forward to attending LP 2012 in just a couple of months.

What I didn’t say at the time was that my chances of actually being able to attend LP 2012 were dwindling every day and, in fact, I wasn’t able to attend because real life had other plans.

Let me tell you, staying at home while all my Laura friends were having fun at the conference was one of the saddest experiences of my life. I kept up as much as I could via Twitter and said all sorts of brave things about how I felt like I was actually there but the reality is, I missed out on a wonderful experience and no amount of Twitter could change that. What especially hurt was losing my chance to hear Barbara Walker, author of my beloved Little House Cookbook. There are tear stains on my ancient copy of that book as I held it close to me during the time that she spoke at the conference and I wasn’t there to hear it. Ok, not really but I was truly sad.

So now we’re a year out from LP 2015 in Brookings, SD and there’s no way I’m missing out on next year’s conference even if I have to start walking now.  It’s going to be totally awesome to be in South Dakota with other people that love Laura as much as I do. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.  Hope to see you there!

Jonni Craven is a board member of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association. To learn more about LauraPalooza 2015 click here. We’ll see you in Brookings!