Downtown Columbia, MO

Wednesday March 23, 2011 ~ We have a brand new parking garage in downtown Columbia, MO and I decided to snap a few photos from up above. It is an amazing view of our downtown area and I will go back to get pictures at night with all the lights on!

 City of Columbia Press Release on Feb 23, 2011 ~ The new parking garage at 5th and Walnut will officially open to the public on Tuesday, March 1. The new garage consists of 703 parking spaces -- 120 hourly, 440 covered permit, 82 uncovered permit, 13 disabled and 48 below grade for Columbia Police Department use. Permits may now be purchased for those who need long-term parking downtown.

Karaoke!

Saturday March 19, 2011 ~ My Aunt Janie, cousin Janya and cousin Jimi (pictured above) all love to sing karaoke and they are really good at it too! They decided to come out to mom and dad's shop (aka: The Hammered Hog) and have a karaoke night. It was so much fun! There was only about 25 of us but we partied until 3:30 am! Mom fixed chili and had sandwiches and some of the others brought some snacks and of course dad's fridge was full of beverages!  

My cousin Jayna wasn't shy to get up and sing several numbers for us. She also provided some great entertainment and kept the party happenin'!

Kim, one of our employees, was no stranger to singing karaoke either and was quick to sing a favorite tune "Statue of A Fool" which he does a great job at.

Everyone had a good time! Heck good food, good company and good music.... what else could you ask for?

Todd loved the food!

Nate was having a little fun too! 

Even my daddy (guy on the left) tried to help sing back up! (Anyone that knows Jimmy Crews... he doesn't sing so this was something that he tried and had fun!)

Dad was getting a little help from Spanky.... (They were singing "I am a man of consent sorrow")

My Aunt Janie sounds just like Loretta Lynn and she has a lot of fun singing and entertaining! 

The top picture cracks me up! It's like Matt is trying to get his thoughts together before belting out the tunes! Look at those great back up singers! 

Yep that's me! Now please note that I can't carry a tune in a bucket but I figured that everyone else was having fun and almost everyone was drinking adult beverages and it would be OK..... No worries friends.... no music career here! I'll stick to what I know which isn't much! Ha!

My cousin Jimi rocked singing "Purple Rain" and sounded just like Prince!

Aunt Judy, Brandon & Momma were enjoying listening to everyone!

My crazy cousin Jayna decided she needed to be dramatic when Michelle was singing "Like a Virgin". Jayna you ain't right girl! 

All in all  I think dad had a really good time. Of course anytime you are around friends and family it's pretty much a good time! I wish dad had sang "I'm pretty good at drinkin' beer" as it should be his theme song! Thank you to everyone for coming out and partying with us crazy people..... We'll do it again soon! 

Jaxon's 1 month old!

Saturday March 19, 2011 ~ My little nephew Jackson is a month old already! He is getting so big! My friend, Heather Stewart, came over to snap a few photos of him along with her girls. He was not in a mood to have his picture taken. (He better like a camera pointed at him all the time with Aunt Shell around!)

This was one of the few minutes little man was asleep. I just love watching him sleep. Just look at those little hands! So cute! I can't wait for him to wrap them around my neck when he gets excited to see Aunt Shell!

We didn't have time to button his little shirt up but I still think he's handsome! His little Levi's were adorable... just wished I could have gotten some cowboy boots on him! (Don't worry Jaxon, Aunt Shell will take you shopping at Larry's Boots and get you some new kicks)

Doesn't he look so peaceful? I just love those chubby little cheeks! He is such a sweet baby!

Aren't little baby feet just the sweetest thing? 

I'm pretty sure that he was fussy because he wanted Aunt Shell to hold him a little longer (well I think he really wanted his mommy to feed him but Aunt Shell holding him sounds better) 

Bubby your Aunt Shell loves you so much! :)

2011 Business Showcase

March 15, 2011 ~ The Columbia Chamber of Commerce hold an event each year that Chamber businesses get to network and market themselves to businesses in Columbia, MO. This is always a fun event and brings in a great crowd. We did not set up a booth this year but instead I volunteered my time to help out! (I love our Chamber of Commerce!)

This year I am a co-chair of the Small Business committee and we are working on the 2011 Small Business of the Year awards locally. We had the honor of being named 2009 Small Business of the Year and I wanted to give back and be a part of this amazing process again! We were happy to name this year's finalists: Bucket Media, Inc. (not pictured above), Columbia EDP, Frameworks Gifts & Interiors, Midwest Computech, and Songbird Station. We had 21 nominations and 15 of those businesses turned in their applications and then was narrowed down to 5 businesses. It is such a huge honor to be at this stage.

One of the other announcments that they made was for the 2011 Athena Young Professional Finalists (Jennifer Thoma, Shatenita Horton & Shelly Devore). They are all amazing ladies!

They also announced the 2011 Athena Award Finalists (Karen Miller, Lynda Baumgartner, & Jolene Schultz (not pictured)). All are very deserving ladies!

Well this you see.... I can't really explain. I felt the need to put on the table decorations from Boone Hospital Center and model them for some of my friends! I can't help but laugh.... Ambassador jacket and all! I ain't right! :)

I love this picture. This is our bank and on the facebook picture I tagged myself.... if you look real close you will see the bottom right picture of their customers is Brandon and I! We did an advertising piece for them in January 2009 and they still use it! These guys are the best! :)

 I did win a bottle of wine from AnnaBelle Events for "like"ing their facebook page! How exciting is that?! Thank you Anne Churchill!

DECA Judging!

March 14, 2011 ~ I donated my time to the High School division of DECA at the Lake of the Ozarks today. (I liked this year's slogan... Take Charge.... Electrify Your Life) For the past 3 years I have been driving to the lake to help judge role playing events with the students. They are given 15 minutes to read a role play and then they come into the room and act out their role with the judges.

Today I was judging Quick Serve Restaurant Management. I judged 13 students from various schools across Missouri. (There was 1,126 students at this State event) It is always a learning experience for me to listen to the ideas of these kids... some of them are way out in left field and some are really good. I truly enjoy giving back to this organization as I was a DECA alumni from David H. Hickman High School here in Columbia, MO back in 1994.

It is always held at the Lodge of Four Season's which is large enough to accommodate everyone! Yep you are seeing things... that's snow! We have some crazy weather here in Missouri! Only place I know that one week it's a blizzard followed by 70 degree weather followed by snow followed by 60 degree weather and snow again! I sure will be glad when Spring gets here! :)

 Any chance I get to go to the lake I always stop at The Sugar Loft.... I was so hungry for their yummy cupcakes and when I got there they were closed! Dang! Oh well, better luck next time! 

Gary Lear, KathrynCeleste & Jeff Sturms

Saturday March 12, 2011 ~ What a great night! The three amigos pictured above are wonderful, amazing, and talented people. They were at Hazel Kinder's Lighthouse Theater for the kick-off for the 2011 season! Richie McDonald, former lead singer with Lonestar, was going to be there but postponed his trip so Gary & KathrynCeleste took over!

Hazel Kinder's Lighthouse Theater is located at the Millersburg exit off I-70. What a wonderful building and atmosphere for artists to come to. Hazel and her staff are so friendly and heck you feel like family while your there! They have consessions but no alcohol. They try to keep this as family friendly as possible and have concerts through out the year. Visit http://www.lighthousetheater.com/ for more information for this season's upcoming events and concerts.

Hazel Kinder and her house band, The Beacon Band, started out the evening with a few songs. Richard Cox is the base guitarist, Jimmy Joe is their fill in drummer, Lonnie Patterson is their lead guitarist and Hazel Kinder sings and plays guitar too. They were really good and Lonnie and Richard were a hoot! They are silly and made you laugh.

I met Gary through his brother Paul Lear. Paul, Brandon and I have been friends since 1995. Gary Lear is orginally from Harrisburg, MO and currently lives in Montrose, CO with his wife and children. He has loved country music and has always wanted to produce an ablum and preform at concerts. He has done several concerts and a few with Bryan White & Andy Griggs. Gary is a super nice and very down to earth guy who would give you the shirt off his back. It's really hard to find people that are truly genunine and true and I hope his muscial career takes him to great places. We are hoping to hear his music on the radio!

I met KathrynCeleste through Gary Lear. Last December Gary and KathrynCeleste came to Hazel Kinder's Lighthouse Theater with Andy Griggs and we hit it off. Kathryn is a fun person. She is so down to earth and eager to met everyone. She is orginally from Midland, TX and recently moved to Nashville, TN to persue her musical career. I love her smile and this girl has got some lungs! She is almost done with the production of her first album/CD that will be out soon. Hopefully you will start hearing her on the radio soon!

I met Jeff Sturms back in December also when he came along with Andy Griggs, Gary Lear and KathrynCeleste to Hazel Kinder's Lighthouse Theater. He is amazing!  Hazel's piano player couldn't be there and Jeff filled in... he played as if he had played there 100 times! He is orginally from Fetsis, MO and lives in Nashville, TN. Jeff played in George Strait's band from 1998-2007. He is very talented and now is producing music. Super nice guy and is such a great addition to Gary & KathrynCeleste's music.

To end the evening Gary & KathrynCeleste sang a song together called "I Want To Grow Old With You" which was a really great song! Both Gary & KathrynCeleste had new songs that they sang and did an amazing job! It was a wonderful evening and I always enjoy being around these guys... so much positive energy! :)