2017 was a fast paced and busy year - but then again those of you that know me would be shaking your head in agreement that my life is always fast paced! Ha! Before I can move forward I feel like I need to get several things out of my head and reflecting on 2017 makes me smile. It was full of many emotions but each memory (many that aren't listed on this monthly list) holds a special place in my heart. It's kind of like hearing an old song and your memory going back to a special time. So, let's see what 2017 had in store for me.....
December 21, 2016 one of my good friends, Lindsay Lopez lost her husband in a tragic farming accident. Myself along with 2 other girlfriends, Sarah Dubbert and Shelly DeVore (also known as the Golden Girls - not like Mizzou Golden Girls but rather the 1980's show of 4 old friends) banded together to help our friend in the worst time of her life. She is an amazing woman (just as the other two ladies) who wouldn't be on this journey alone but one that we didn't know how to navigate. We all have learned a lot in this process and it's a great reminder to never take life for granted. Over the next several days, weeks and months we walked side by side with Lindsay and her two children, Ben and Kate. We were there for all the holidays and milestones as well as so many other caring and compassionate people. I am so proud of Lindsay for recently starting a blog to talk about her life since that day - I would encourage you to read her blog and I promise we can all learn from her perspective and think about things you never really thought about including how she is moving forward. https://walkingoutofthewoods.blogspot.com/
January 2017 we made a road trip to Nashville, TN to visit the Ryman to see Loretta Lynn! I was picked out of 2500+ people to come up on stage and play a game of guessing various items for Dollar General! It was a blast and I won a $25 gift card - Brandon, Momma and Pops were proud! I also had the pleasure of traveling with Sarah Hill to visit a 100 year old World War II veteran in Louisiana, MO. We took Honor Everywhere to him because he was physically unable to travel to Washington, D.C. to see his respective memorial so the next best option was for us to travel to him to view his memorial via Virtual Reality. You can find more information about Honor Everywhere here:
February 2017 I had been asked to be interviewed and photographed for the Columbia Business Times Magazine here in Columbia, MO. The article was titled "The Ten Most Influential Women in Columbia" and I hardly felt like I fit that description. It was humbling to be included with 9 other incredible women in our community but I know 100 other women who would have been far more deserving for this article. I greatly appreciated this opportunity and loved reading about the other women - Congratulations and thank you all for what you do for our community and beyond! You can read the article here. http://columbiabusinesstimes.com/2017/03/28/ten-influential-women-columbia/
March 2017 I began visiting schools throughout the Mid-Missouri area talking about Lt. Col. Ferrill A. Purdy, a World War II Marine Fighter Pilot and who was one of the main characters in my 2nd children's book, A Trip To Remember. Throughout the 2017 year I would visit 60 schools and had the chance to visit with nearly 18,000+ students talking about the importance of honor and respect towards one another but specifically towards our military men and women both active duty and veterans. It's something I truly enjoy each of my visits and had a chance to check out some really neat communities! Interested in me visiting your school in the Mid-Missouri area? Visit my website here:
April 2017 I had the chance to volunteer and take photos for True North's "Little Black Dress" event. I always love doing this because the smile on the faces of these beautiful ladies (and a handful of handsome men) sure makes my job easy! I've done this for the past couple years and look forward to the 2018 Little Black Dress event! (Yes I even wear a black dress which I know many of you don't believe but this year I added my cowboy boots which made it more my style!) In or around Columbia, MO and want to come to support this great event? Visit their website and find out more information here: https://littleblackdresscolumbia.com/
I also had the opportunity to be a small part of Central Missouri Honor Flight again during the 2017 year. By the end of this year they had taken 50 flights (since they started in 2009) and flown well over 3,000 veterans to their memorials in Washington, D.C. for free of charge. At the end of 2017 I had flown 25 flights with them and it is an experience I will never forget. Being able to spend this very fast paced 24 hours with some of our true American Heroes is something I wish everyone could experience. Live around the Mid-Missouri area and know of a World War II, Korean or Vietnam veteran that would be able to physically travel? Please visit Central Missouri Honor Flight's website and print off the Veterans Application and get them signed up! http://centralmissourihonorflight.com/
My mom had Fuchs' Dystrophy which is a disease of the cornea in your eye. This is something she has had for many years but as the disease progresses it would require surgery or she would go blind. Her vision was starting to really fail and a good friend of mine, Nancy Fay had this surgery as she also had Fuchs' Dystrophy. She had excellent success with her surgeries and had done her research to find the best of the best doctors that dealt with this but they were located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mom really wanted to have her surgery locally but I convinced her to do a consult with Price Vision Group in Indiana. Once she heard the downtime was far less than doing these surgeries locally and knew that I would take her and stay the week in Indiana with her she was totally on board. She had her first eye surgery in April 2017 and the 2nd one was done in May 2017. During these two surgeries (one for each eye) they replaced her cornea and did cataract surgery at the same time. Total surgery time was about 30-40 minutes per eye and we are so thankful for the eye donors that made this transplant possible as well as the excellent doctors, Dr. Matthew Feng and Dr. Jonathan Crews who took excellent care of my Momma! To learn more about Fuchs' Dystrophy visit the following website : https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-fuchs-dystrophy
My mom had Fuchs' Dystrophy which is a disease of the cornea in your eye. This is something she has had for many years but as the disease progresses it would require surgery or she would go blind. Her vision was starting to really fail and a good friend of mine, Nancy Fay had this surgery as she also had Fuchs' Dystrophy. She had excellent success with her surgeries and had done her research to find the best of the best doctors that dealt with this but they were located in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mom really wanted to have her surgery locally but I convinced her to do a consult with Price Vision Group in Indiana. Once she heard the downtime was far less than doing these surgeries locally and knew that I would take her and stay the week in Indiana with her she was totally on board. She had her first eye surgery in April 2017 and the 2nd one was done in May 2017. During these two surgeries (one for each eye) they replaced her cornea and did cataract surgery at the same time. Total surgery time was about 30-40 minutes per eye and we are so thankful for the eye donors that made this transplant possible as well as the excellent doctors, Dr. Matthew Feng and Dr. Jonathan Crews who took excellent care of my Momma! To learn more about Fuchs' Dystrophy visit the following website : https://www.aao.org/eye-health/diseases/what-is-fuchs-dystrophy
May 2017 I had the opportunity to fly out to Chino, CA for the Planes of Fame Air Museum's 60th Annual Air Show! From the moment I met the wonderful people at Planes of Fame Air Museum we instantly became family so every time I get a chance to visit it's extra special. (Planes of Fame Air Museum is home to the World War II Corsair F4U-1A #17799 plane that Lt. Col. Ferrill A. Purdy and his wing man, Major John H. Tashjian flew during World War II overseas) During this Air Show it was extra special because not only did Gayla Maier (Purdy) and Greg Purdy - Mr. and Mrs. Purdy's kids, attend this Air Show but I went and picked up Mr. Tashjian to attend as well! They also featured the Corsair F4U-1A # 17799 along with 4 other Corsair's which was totally awesome! I am thankful that the Purdy kids and Mr. Tashjian was able to travel to Chino, CA for this special weekend! You can see additional information by clicking on these two links: http://warbirdsnews.com/aviation-museum-news/planes-fame-air-museums-f4u-1a-corsair-combat-veteran.html and the following video is from the 2017 Air Show : https://www.facebook.com/WarbirdsNews/videos/1661242213937427/
June 2017 our Uncle Karl Spry passed away suddenly. Anyone that knew Uncle Karl would agree that he was a hot mess! It is with the heaviest of hearts that I tell you heaven gained another wonderful guy. Our Uncle Karl Spry passed away unexpectedly. He was a guy that got the nickname "Crazy Karl", who never met a stranger, served our country for 39 years, truly enjoyed life and loved his Busch beer! He definitely loved his family and would just "pop" in the shop to visit us from time to time. He was a one-in-a-million kind of guy and will certainly be missed by so many. Please keep the Spry family in your thoughts and prayers especially Aunt Sandy, his kids, Matt and Darren as well as their families. This was such a blow to hear this news but I know he impacted so many people during his time here on earth (believe me... we've heard the many hilarious, shake your head, laugh until you cry stories) but I can only imagine he is reunited with Grandma Ruby and the rest of his family that passed away. Uncle Karl...I would have never imagined when we saw you last week it would be our last.... love you and miss you like crazy!
July 2017 we took Uncle Terry, Aunt Debbie and Kate Lopez to the Arvin Gottlieb 4k Planetarium in Kansas City, MO to see the Beatles Laser Show! It was something we had never done before and before the show we checked out the Planetarium to learn about the various stars and zodiac signs that light up our skies then visited a mummy experience. I'm so glad we took a little extra time to visit these things and I am pretty sure that we all had a lot of fun and memories were made! You can check out the various shows and exhibits they have here : http://www.unionstation.org/sciencecity/planetarium
August 2017 I turned 41 years old and my birthday this year would be a little different than most. Last year I had signed up to donate my wedding dress to turn them into Angel Gowns for babies that are still born or pass away shortly after they are born. Since Brandon and I chose not to have children I wanted to do something special with something that was so special to me. I had opted to have the Angel Gowns sent back to me along with the scraps of my dress. On August 2, 2017 I took my mom and headed to the hospital I was born at... Boone Hospital Center in Columbia, MO to donate a large portion of Angel Gowns to their Labor and Delivery Floor. A very special day was captured by Byler Media and I worked with Christy Asper (The Ink Cafe http://www.theinkcafe.com/ ) and couldn't be more proud of this video! My hope is that others will do the same or come up with something that makes their heart happy while giving to others. Thank you so much Byler Media and if you ever need video work done I would highly recommend them! https://bylermedia.com/
June 2017 our Uncle Karl Spry passed away suddenly. Anyone that knew Uncle Karl would agree that he was a hot mess! It is with the heaviest of hearts that I tell you heaven gained another wonderful guy. Our Uncle Karl Spry passed away unexpectedly. He was a guy that got the nickname "Crazy Karl", who never met a stranger, served our country for 39 years, truly enjoyed life and loved his Busch beer! He definitely loved his family and would just "pop" in the shop to visit us from time to time. He was a one-in-a-million kind of guy and will certainly be missed by so many. Please keep the Spry family in your thoughts and prayers especially Aunt Sandy, his kids, Matt and Darren as well as their families. This was such a blow to hear this news but I know he impacted so many people during his time here on earth (believe me... we've heard the many hilarious, shake your head, laugh until you cry stories) but I can only imagine he is reunited with Grandma Ruby and the rest of his family that passed away. Uncle Karl...I would have never imagined when we saw you last week it would be our last.... love you and miss you like crazy!
July 2017 we took Uncle Terry, Aunt Debbie and Kate Lopez to the Arvin Gottlieb 4k Planetarium in Kansas City, MO to see the Beatles Laser Show! It was something we had never done before and before the show we checked out the Planetarium to learn about the various stars and zodiac signs that light up our skies then visited a mummy experience. I'm so glad we took a little extra time to visit these things and I am pretty sure that we all had a lot of fun and memories were made! You can check out the various shows and exhibits they have here : http://www.unionstation.org/sciencecity/planetarium
August 2017 I turned 41 years old and my birthday this year would be a little different than most. Last year I had signed up to donate my wedding dress to turn them into Angel Gowns for babies that are still born or pass away shortly after they are born. Since Brandon and I chose not to have children I wanted to do something special with something that was so special to me. I had opted to have the Angel Gowns sent back to me along with the scraps of my dress. On August 2, 2017 I took my mom and headed to the hospital I was born at... Boone Hospital Center in Columbia, MO to donate a large portion of Angel Gowns to their Labor and Delivery Floor. A very special day was captured by Byler Media and I worked with Christy Asper (The Ink Cafe http://www.theinkcafe.com/ ) and couldn't be more proud of this video! My hope is that others will do the same or come up with something that makes their heart happy while giving to others. Thank you so much Byler Media and if you ever need video work done I would highly recommend them! https://bylermedia.com/
September 2017 was an exciting month and memorable! This month was the 2017 Mid-America Emmy Awards held in St. Louis, MO! A special thanks to Scott Schaefer, Eric Blumberg and Lindsay Tyler for including me in an Emmy Nomination - Military News Single Story Feature / Program Feature Segment for "Mr. Purdy's Corsair" through Veterans United Home Loans! Although we didn't win it was an awesome experience for everyone involved and I am super proud! You can view all the nominations for the 2017 Emmys here: https://emmymid-america.org/files/2012/12/2017-NOMINATIONS_2.pdf The video that was submitted was this one:
Brandon and I would celebrate our 20th Wedding Anniversary during the month of September as well! It's hard to believe that we started dating in 1992 while students at Hickman High School in Columbia, MO and after 25 years together, 20 of those years we have been married! I really wanted to do something special or unique so I contacted my good buddy Scott Schaefer with Schaefer Photography to capture us on our actual anniversary! He did an amazing job and I was impressed with his magic skills to make us look good - then again, anyone that knows Scott (and Shannon) would already know he is just that good! Thanks again! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10214887797574146.1073741889.1403552915&type=1&l=279d5e1a31
October 2017 I would take my last ceramics class this month and what a fun experience that was! I had never tried "throwing clay" or making pottery but thanks to Access Arts here in Columbia, MO I would have an awesome teacher, Cassie and the encouragement from seasoned professionals as well as newbies like myself! Once I started understanding the technique and working with clay I began to "get it". It was a lot like Kindergarten artwork in the beginning but then I began to develop some skills that allowed my pottery to look more advanced - like a 4th graders work! Ha! It was a lot of fun and I would recommend it to anyone who is crafty or has an interest in making things! You can visit their website here: http://schoolofservice.org/
November 2017 I became an adult and decided to have my vision checked - I had Lasik Surgery in 2005 and hadn't had an eye appointment in 12 years and they say Lasik is good for 10-15 years based on my age at the time I had it done. Good news is that my vision is still really good. (When I had surgery it was 100/20 and 200/20 - Now it's 20/20 and 25/20) Bad news is that I would need "Cheater Glasses" for my book work and things up close but honestly that isn't too bad for 41 years old! (Plus I had my eyes checked for Fuchs' Dystrophy as it is hereditary - He couldn't see that I have that disease which was great news!
I also decided to go to a real "General Practice" doctor to have a baseline check up. I saw a female physician that I really liked and of course she wanted to do blood work (which I knew would happen but I hate needles) however with too many people being diagnosed with cancer and other diseases I wanted to take care of myself the best I could which meant I would have to suck it up and get this done. Good news is that everything came back good with nothing to worry about for the time being - Shew! Y'all... if you don't have a regular doctor in addition to your gyno doctor you seriously need to get one and stay on top of your health!
December 2017 we lost Brandon's mom, Marleta "Marty" Spry unexpectedly on her 66th birthday. Her health wasn't the greatest and honestly she was living on borrowed time for the last 10 years or so but you never really expect to get that phone call. It is sad but we know she isn't in pain anymore and we do miss that raspy voice and random songs she would sing if our phones would go to voice mail.
On December 21, 2017 was the 1 year anniversary since Anthony Lopez's passing. The Golden Girls were planning on a bunking party with Lindsay and the kids but some of their other close friends decided that they would love to have a little party where everyone got together, enjoyed food, laughed and remembered Anthony. It was really good to be with everyone again and although this day was hard it was nice to see so much love still shown to the Lopez family and how much Anthony meant to his close friends. It certainly made my heart happy and my legs hurt from all the dancing that night!
We decided that we wanted to go back to Walt Disney World with some close friends of ours who had never been. Since they own Don's Family Style Buffet, a restaurant in Huntsville, MO it wasn't easy for them to get away but they do close twice a year, 4th of July and Christmas for a week at a time. We left the day after Christmas and returned home on New Year's Day and had a blast! Their daughter had just turned 4 and loved being able to spend a week in Disney with her parents and BubbaShell (what she calls us). We made lots of memories and my absolute favorite time of year to be at Walt Disney World is the month of December! Something about the Christmas decorations, parades and warm weather are just perfect - however we had warm weather for the first two days then it got down right cold (still warmer than the negative temps back home) and we didn't really pack super warm clothes! Oh well... we were in Walt Disney World!
{insert breath here} My goodness that post was long winded! I like to reflect back on some of the important things I did throughout the year and I know there are a ton more exciting things but I just can't remember all of them! It's a darn good thing I write things down! Ha!
Last year I was still involved in some great organizations - Partner in Education with Midway Heights Elementary School, Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors, Mizzou Ambassadors, Central Missouri Honor Flight, Honor Everywhere and Hawthorn Bank Advisory Board. I love being a part of these organizations and I have always said that if I didn't have to worry about money or working that I would become a professional volunteer and donate my time to so many organizations in and around our community. Each year I look at the things I am involved in and make sure that I still have an interest or passion for those things and I have to say that 2018 will be a great year!
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