Happy 64th Birthday Pops!

February 23, 2015 ~ Wishing a very Happy Birthday to my pops! (We celebrated at mom and dads last night when momma cooked dinner.... y'all know how we love momma's cookin'...YUM!) Turning 64 does have it's perks... like mixing the balloons up to say "46" or  your daughter bringing you 64 cans of your favorite beverage! I was busy today but wanted to stop by and wish him happy birthday. I had every intention of making him something crafty like a Miller Lite cake out of  beer cans but I just ran out of time and this was as good as it was going to get! Here's to another year.....

 Hope you have a wonderful day and just remember to pace yourself.... 64 beers is a lot of alcohol!

Mother-of-the-Bride Dress Shopping!

 February 21, 2015 ~ We have spent some quality time with my diva cousin, Stephanie as she is getting married in September. Today was about spending some quality time with her momma while we try to find a mother-of-the-bride dress! This would be the first of several shops and we almost didn't get to go because of the weather but the sun was shining and it wasn't going to stop us from a little girl time!

When looking for a store that would cater to the mother-of-the-bride I had to look outside of Columbia, MO. I had heard about this place before but honestly forgot about them until a friend of mine mentioned it. I am so glad we went as it was a cute little shop with all kinds of cute clothes as well as a great selection of special occasion dresses! 

It was really fun seeing Aunt Judy getting excited and trying on different styles of dresses. 

(She never had anything that she was able to get dressed up for or even wore a fancy dress! Even when she married Stevie (Stephanie's dad) they got married at the courthouse in a very plain and simple dress) The staff was AWESOME and listened to all of our ideas on what the colors of Stephanie and Justin's wedding are and what we wanted to see in a mother-of-the-bride dress. They understood that this was the first shop we have visited and although we found a dress that would work perfectly we still wanted to look around just to be sure. They weren't pushy and very patient which was wonderful!

 (When we went wedding dress shopping with Stephanie we dealt with a very pushy and almost hateful bridal shop that was trying to pressure us into purchasing the dress that day.... um that wasn't going to happen!)

I highly recommend visiting Calena's Fashions no matter if you are looking for a cute outfit or a dress for most events! They have a little of everything at this shop which makes it fun to look around! 

Calena's Fashions

275 Karen Drive

Holt Summit, MO 65043

573-896-5091

http://www.calenasfashions.com/

Supporting Women With Green Polish!

February 19, 2015 ~ When someone says the words "Homeless Veteran" I typically vision that person being a male but sadly I do realize there are also female veterans who are also homeless. I guess this is because when I drive down the road and see a person holding a sign at a street corner or exit they are typically male verses female.

I don't know if it's because I have paid attention more since the documentary release of #no1leftbehind or if I am just aware of more things around me but I feel that I have seen a few more women then previously. While I wish no one ever had to deal with homelessness I feel deeply saddened when it is someone that has fought for our country and our freedom especially female veterans.

So you have heard me talking about the #no1leftbehind campaign and today's post is about supporting our female homeless veterans. It's a sad reality that here in Columbia, MO we have no shelter available for homeless veterans that are female. 

While we currently have Welcome Home, Inc. (http://welcomehomelessveterans.org/) which provides services such as shelter, clothing, emergency food and transportation to homeless veterans in the Mid-Missouri area. Sadly they can house about 9-10 veterans as their location is far too small to meet the demand in our community and the ability to serve females at this location. 

The good news is that with the capital campaign going on right now we are trying to raise the money needed to build Patriot Place, a new shelter here in Columbia, MO that would work directly with Welcome Home, Inc., Columbia Housing Authority and Harry S. Truman Veteran's Hospital to provide transitional housing to nearly 30 homeless veterans including a place for female veterans. 

So in an effort to show my support I have painted my finger nails military green! (I know it looks darker than green but I promise they are really green!) These women fought for us and now it's time to show them support by doing something so simple as painting your fingernails. So I would encourage all my female friends and family members to the following.....

PAINT your nails military green

SHARE your military green nails on social media using #no1leftbehind

CARE by sharing with others

DONATE by visiting www.no1leftbehind.com

We are 66% of the way to raising $7.5 million dollars needed to build this complex - whatever amount you can afford to contribute is greatly appreciated! Can't afford to donate but want to help? Then help us spread the word about #no1leftbehind and let's get our veterans off the streets and help them get back into a home of their own. We owe it to them.

Bailey-Girl!

February 17, 2015 - Bailey certainly keeps us entertained at the shop. Since receiving her diagnosis of "metastatic breast cancer" after a couple surgeries late last year she now comes to work with us daily! Between snoring while she takes naps or deciding to squeak the heck out of her toys when you get on the phone to barking like crazy then licking our UPS/FedEx drivers when they walk in the door there is never really a dull moment!

So recently the vet asked us to put her on a "diet"..... seriously? They want her to loose about 5-7 lbs to make things easier on her joints and try to get off her nightly pain medicine. We tried the pain medicine thing and that's not going to work but we were willing to try cutting back a little on the treats.

I mean look at this little face....

She just wanted a little bite!

See I'm a good girl... 

Oh look momma.... 

I'm still a good girl.....

See I'm not taking my eyes off you...

Oh you better give me that cookie girl....

I'm gonna get that cookie! 

As you can see Bailey-girl (as we call her) might be just a little spoiled but it works for our family! She had two vanilla wafers and was a happy girl which makes us happy. We normally don't feed her people food but vanilla wafers is something I would give my dogs on occasion when I was trying to teach them tricks. After all life is about enjoying everyday! 

Happy Birthday Jaxon James Adams!

February 16, 2015 - It's hard to believe that 4 years ago today we were waiting on the arrival of this little handsome devil and look at him now! How is this even possible??

I remember the day you were born....

I even remember when they brought you home....

I even remember your first selfie...

I remember those chubby little cheeks...

I remember those sweet little smiles when you woke up....

I remember those wet little kisses...

I remember your first taste of a lemon....

I even remember your first haircut so how in the world did you grow up so fast Jax? 

Your Aunt Shell is laughing at some of my favorite pictures of you as you celebrate your 4th birthday tonight and tearing up because you aren't a baby anymore. Where has  the time gone?!?!

Happy 4th Birthday Jaxon James Adams....

Aunt Shell and Uncle B loves you!

Happy Birthday Brandon!

February 15, 2015 - Today we celebrate a very special birthday.... Yep today is my super cute and super sweet hubby's 39th birthday! (It's also my super cute and super sweet nephew's 4th birthday tomorrow)

 While Brandon and I are only 6 months apart in age I take this time to rub in that I am the younger one. He takes this time to tell me he is the wiser one... he's a funny man! 

It's funny how when you get older you don't really need or want anything. Seems kind of strange that we have reached the magical age (some time ago) that we don't need gifts to enjoy birthday's. We normally get each other cards for holidays and birthday's but we both have been so busy that we didn't have time to pick any up this year. It wasn't like his special day was forgotten as we always go out to dinner and celebrate with friends and family.

 After lounging around most of the morning we got up and went grocery shopping (since Mother Nature hasn't taken her medicine lately and we were expecting 6-10 inches of snow) which is something neither one of us enjoy doing. Then we went to Claysville Store to eat a late lunch with Ashley (my sister), Greg (my brother-in-law), Jaxon (my nephew) and Aunt Judy to celebrate Bubba's birthday. My momma has been sick with the nasty flu stuff so dad stayed home with her. Dinner's aren't the same without mom and pops. 

Thank you to everyone that called, sent text messages, left Facebook comments for Brandon. It feels good to have so many people wish you Happy Birthday no matter how old you are! 

We were driving home last night and I asked him how are we turning 39 this year?!?! It seems like yesterday we were 16 and fast forward 23 years.... I think I fall in love with him more and more as each year passes. I can't wait to grow old with you Brandon Gene.... Happy Birthday babe!

Central Missouri Honor Flight Cookbook Has Been Submitted!!!

February 13, 2015 -  Back in August 2014 we had this wonderful idea to create a cookbook with veteran's only recipes to use as a fundraiser for Central Missouri Honor Flight. Since the start of Central Missouri Honor Flight they have taken 31 flights and over 1,900 veterans to our nation's capital to see their memorials. In an effort to help keep these flights going we thought this would be a great venture. With the help of many people in our community the recipes started flowing in like crazy.

Trying to keep this all straight took a wonderful dedicated woman by the name of Brenda Sherman. She organized the recipes, printed them out and kept track of things so that we had all recipes accounted for. A task that doesn't go un-noticed. 

On August 11, 2014 this wild and crazy group of women got together to start entering recipes on an online system. A task that wasn't easy but would be fun! 

As we all know, life happens and our project was delayed due to a death in a family then the holidays hit. We knew that we would get back on the road to getting this project done after the first of the year.

{insert happy dance here}

After working like crazy on this project over the last month including entering the nearly 400 all veteran recipes for the "Veterans' Favorites - A Taste of Home Cookbook" benefiting the Central Missouri Honor Flight it's time to jump up and down because.....

 IT JUST WENT TO PRINT TODAY!!!!

This project has seriously been a labor of love and I have to give a huge shout out to my awesome co-chair, Brenda Sherman as well as Cheryl Wallace for proof-reading all the recipes not once but twice to make sure we are consistent in entries!

While you don't get to see the front or back cover of this awesome cookbook I have to give another huge shout out to Dave Timpone, Web and Marketing Manager for Bobcat of St. Louis - Columbia Branch for coming to us literally at the last moment and offering to work on the covers so that it would stand out above all the rest! I can't say thank you enough to Dave and I know you all will love the design work once you see it! It's bea-u-ti-ful! 

All of this wouldn't be possible without some amazing businesses that jumped on board with this project making sure that they gave back to Central Missouri Honor Flight through a one-time-only sponsorship for the "Veterans' Favorites - A Taste of Home Cookbook"! 

Our sponsors are as follows.....

Hawthorn Bank

1110 Club Village Drive

Columbia, MO 65203

573-449-9933

https://www.hawthornbank.com/

Midway Electric, Inc.

7301 W Henderson Road

Columbia, MO 65202

573-446-2484

http://www.midwayelectricinc.com/ 

Bobcat of St. Louis - Columbia Branch

1101 N. Lenway Drive

Columbia, MO 65202

573-886-9435

http://www.bobcatofstl.com/

Midway CSI

7301 W Henderson Road

Columbia, MO 65202

573-446-2484

http://www.midway-csi.com/

Don's Family Style Buffet

315 Hwy JJ

Huntsville, MO  65259

660-277-4466

http://donsfamilystylebuffet.com/

Mutrux Automotive, LLC

2100 W Rollins Road

Columbia, MO 65202

573-445-1070

http://mutruxauto.com/

Wallstreet Insurance Group - Jennifer Gerling, Agent

211 Marshall Street

Jefferson City, MO 65101

573-635-7211

http://www.wallstreetins.com/

Edward Jones - Matt Peiter, Financial Advisor

215 Main Street

Boonville, MO 65233

660-882-2766

https://www.edwardjones.com/en_US/fa/index.html

Thank you all so much for jumping on board to get this cookbook paid for so that we can get it into production allowing 100% of the sales to go directly to Central Missouri Honor Flight! 

So what does this mean for now?

We will have more details in the near future including delivery dates of these cookbooks but somewhere around 45 days (ish)!

Cookbooks will be sold for $15.00 each and we will let you know when and where they will be available for purchase! 

It's a very exciting day for sure! 

Also a huge thank you to the Paulsell family for being patient as we leaned on them A LOT during this past week! We just wanted to present a quality product that represented Central Missouri Honor Flight very well.... I think we have it so stay tuned!

Runnin' Against MS 5k

February 7, 2015 - While I don't enjoy running I have made another goal for 2015 to walk/run 15 5k's in 2015.... Yes I have lost my mind! This year will be different than 2013 (when I ran 13 in 2013) because I have recruited friends to participate on this journey! {insert evil laugh here}

Today was the first race of 2015 and Runnin’ Against MS is a 5K raising money for the MS Institute of Mid-Missouri! RAMS (Rockin’ Against Multiple Sclerosis) is a student run organization at the University of Missouri that raises funds to help better the quality of life for those in Mid-Missouri living with multiple sclerosis and was held at Stephen's Lake in Columbia, MO! 

It was a perfect day and we couldn't pass up a photo opportunity before we got started!

Time to get moving! 

(I spy with my little eye....)
(Thank goodness for Roni's momma watching Alexis so we could complete this race!)

It felt good to mix up a little running with some power walking and these girls did good! 

With race number 1 in the books we only have 14 more to go! Woo Hoo! 

They gave us a bag when we checked in but we didn't look in it until we got back to our cars....

We totally could have cooled down with these bad boys! Ha! 

I gotta give a shout out to Dillon (Deseray's little boy) for keeping up and completing his first ever 5k!!!! Great job buddy and keep up the great work!