As I reflect on several things this morning one of the things I really miss is blogging. I truly enjoy telling stories and being able to add photos to help tell stories are what I really love. It just seemed that life, for me, has been in fast forward for so long that I just never got a chance to sit down and talk about so many things. While I like my social media channels I feel that you just can't fully tell a story the way I like and my goal is to get back to it consistently.
As we get to the final day of 2020 it's bittersweet. I'm certainly ready for a new year and a fresh start even though I feel that we will continue 2020 into the New Year. This year has brought many emotions and while there was so much sadness, far more people talking about depression and anxiety, heartbreak for the loss of loved ones, and people losing their jobs or pivoting to working from home while learning how to help their children with virtual learning it's been a heck of a year. You guys know me, and you know that I like to find the good in any situation so I have decided to focus on the good things that happened in 2020.
Let's take a stroll down memory lane, shall we....
Team Healium headed to the lovely Las Vegas to set up a booth for CES and what a memorable trip that was! While I can't tell you a lot about this trip... y'all know what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas... I can tell you we still laugh about it today! Wendy Moore had just come on with the team and this was Sarah and I's 2nd year at CES. Wendy's husband, Ryan, traveled with us, and thank goodness because trade shows are no joke! He would step in to help and give us all a little break. It was a lot of work but totally worth it and I always enjoy a good adventure with Sarah!
I just help the team when they need an extra set of hands and mostly work with the Honor Everywhere side of things but will do whatever they need from me! I love supporting Sarah and she is certainly making a huge impact in the lives of others. Mental Health Awareness is something that is talked about a lot more and Healium's amazing team is working hard to bring help to those that need it most.
For more information please visit: Try Healium
January 10, 2020
While this memory is sad I choose to remember the good times we had. The "Young & Spry Team" began on June 9, 2014 when I was Bob Young's guardian on Central Missouri Honor Flight # 28. I was honored to spend the day with a true American Hero but it was extra special because he was the father of one of my Golden Girls, Lindsay Young Lopez. We bonded instantly and any chance I got to squeeze on him I would! He would become part of my life and it was a "must" to grab a photo together when we would see each other!
January 31 - February 2, 2020
A special trip to Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, CA to participate in the Living History Event on the Corsair F4U-1A that they own. This is the exact warbird that Lt. Col. Ferrill A. Purdy and Major John H. Tashjian (pictured above) flew during World War II in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. Planes of Fame is somewhere I volunteer my time for their Air Shows and a few other events and when traveling there I always stop to have lunch when I arrive and dinner when I leave with Mr. Tashjian.
This Living History event was extra special because Mr. Tashjian (98 years young) would be joining me. Little did they all know, I would be presenting them with some special awards that I felt they deserved for their help in all they have done to reunite these two World War II veterans with a plane they flew when they were 22 and 23 years old. This is one of my favorite photos of Mr. Tashjian that day and in July 2021 we will celebrate is 100th birthday in a big way!
To learn more about this story you can read about it here: World War II Veterans Reunite
Brandon's first surgery to remove a cyst off of his neck. This cyst has been bothering him for a while and was next to his spinal cord on the back of his neck which would require a specialist to remove it. It was a mess. They couldn't get his IV started and I get woozy when I smell the alcohol pads they use. Add that into a small room and yep, I just about passed out. They had to get a crash cart for me and while I was recovering they wheeled Brandon by to take him to surgery. I will never live that down and while I was trying to hold it together for him apparently I couldn't take the many "sticks" they had to do on him. It all came back fine and they got it all but I hope he won't have to go through that again! (Clearly, he's the tough one and his wife is a wimp!)
Sarah Hill and I had the opportunity to travel to Baltimore, Maryland to present Honor Everywhere to the Honor Flight Summit. This is something we have been wanting to do for a couple years and thanks to Joe Machado (pictured above) was instrumental in getting this done. He is an incredible young man who is a Vietnam Veteran and works with Ohio Hospice as working with Ohio Honor Flight. He is a wonderful resource and is a guy who can get things done!
We had an amazing trip and being able to share Honor Everywhere with the Honor Flight hubs that came to our break out sessions was nothing short of awesome. We just wanted them to know that there was another option in their tool belts when working alongside our veterans. While physically traveling on an Honor Flight is the first and foremost important option there are times when veterans can't physically travel due to health. Honor Everywhere is something they could use to take those veterans to their memorials in Washington, DC without having to physically leave their hospital rooms, nursing homes, and/or their living rooms.
We wanted them to know about this technology and other than purchasing a headset from Amazon, Walmart or Best Buy the technology piece would be free. Hopefully, by having this option in their Honor Flight tool bag they would never have to tell a veteran they couldn't see their memorial and either add to a current virtual option they might have or create a virtual option within their hub.
It's our mission to make sure that each veteran has the option to see their memorial before it's too late. We currently have Honor Everywhere (World War II Memorial), Korea War Memorial, Honor Everywhere: Vietnam Memorial, The Women's Memorial, and The USS Nimitz. (There will be more experiences available, free of charge, in the future as we can create them)
What is Honor Everywhere you might ask....
Honor Everywhere is a service of Central Missouri Honor Flight in partnership with other Honor Flight hubs around the nation which fly terminally ill and aging veterans to Washington, DC to see their memorials. It is virtual reality experiences that are seen through virtual reality goggles that will allow our veterans to frail to physically travel the ability to see their memorials from the comfort of their chair or hospital beds. You can learn more here: Honor Everywhere
February 26, 2020
We completely took Brandon's mom's old house down to the studs and re-constructed the entire place over a period of several months. It was an undertaking but when it was done I gotta say it was beautiful! It was bittersweet closing on this house but knowing the family that would be able to make new memories here was worth it all. My favorite part of these projects is picking out the flooring, tile, countertops and light fixtures. Kind of fun playing Joanna Gaines, although she is much better at this!
February 27, 2020
Brandon has always wanted a farm. He works extremely hard to provide for us and when an opportunity came up to purchase a piece of land he jumped on it. It will allow us to have somewhere to "piddle" and will take a little work getting things cleaned up to our likes but so far he's a happy little feller and I'm his happy little wife! We have plans for this place and can't wait to see it come together eventually but just being able to have a place we can get our family together and go fishing, ride our RZR's and ride in the tractor will be something we look forward to!
February 28 - March 1, 2020
Y'all should know by now that we love the Eagles! We have seen them 4 times in concert and will make plans to see them again after this trip. We loved taking Momma on this trip down to Dallas, TX and it was certainly a memorable trip! We ate at Cattleman's Steakhouse which is always excellent, toured the George W. Bush Presidential Library and my connection to the Eagles managed to get us closer seats for the concert in the friends and family section... Sweet! So. Much. Fun.
March 5 - 8, 2020
This was my very first experience with the True/False Film Festival right here in Columbia, MO. I had no idea what to expect but this is something I have always wanted to do. Gotta give credit to my Golden Girl, Sarah Dubbert for helping me with this one. It was very interesting, some films made you really think about a lot and some made you laugh. I would recommend dipping your toe into the True/False Film Festival and just see what it's all about. For my first year I took in 4 films and I can't wait to see what's on the line up for next year as I would take in a few more. Very cool experience and I felt like I pushed myself to try something new.
Want to know more about it then check it out here: True/False Film Festival
This year was our 11th Annual Read-A-Thon at Midway Heights Elementary School where we are a Partner in Education along with D and H Drugstore. Tanya and I always look forward to this week because the students (and staff) enjoy having guest readers come visit the classrooms. Each guest will read a book that goes with each year's theme (this year our theme was Stampede to Read - one of my favorite themes) and we were only going to be able to have 2 days of guest readers visit the classrooms because they had a Teacher Work Day on Wednesday, March 11, 2020.
During this Read-A-Thon week, we have one night, typically a Thursday, that we call Literacy Night. For about 1 1/2 hours the students and their family come to the school and participate in a variety of games geared towards math, science, reading, writing, and a physical activity. It's always a fun time and every child that attends gets a book donated by Scholastic in Jeff City, MO.
The 2019-2020 school year would be our 12th year as a Partner in Education with Midway Heights Elementary School. It's the elementary school I attended as a little tyke from Kindergarten to 6th grade and the school my nephew attends. It will always hold a special place in my heart and I love giving back to the students that attend Midway Heights. (Plus I have a pretty awesome/amazing partner in crime... er.... Partner in Education, Tanya Alberty!)
On or around March 12, 2020
Well shit y'all, this is the beginning of Corona Virus Shutdown. From this day forward in my Day Planner, everything is canceled. Ribbon cuttings.... canceled. Literacy Night at Midway Heights Elementary School .... canceled. Women's Network Luncheon for Athena... canceled. Brad Paisley concert in Oklahoma... canceled. Craft shows... canceled. Honor Everywhere trip to Washington, DC for filming... canceled. Buy Missouri Day at the Capital... canceled. Planes of Fame Air Show... canceled. Little Black Dress Event for True North ... canceled. ATHENA Banquet... canceled. Speaking engagement at Creve Coeur Airport... canceled. Trip to Biloxi, Mississippi... canceled.
I just remember thinking how scary and crazy things were getting and not knowing what the future would look like. Would businesses be shutting down, would our business be shutting down, what about families all over the United States, what about kids and school. So many unanswered questions and so many sleepless nights.
The only saving grace to what was going on was that we were all going through this together. It wasn't one section of the world, it wasn't one industry or one profession. We would all be going through this.
March 25, 2020
A "Stay At Home Order" was issued today. I don't remember the details from this time but basically, all non-essential workers would be asked to stay home. We had received a letter from a commercial customer that we have done business with for 18 years and said that we are considered "Essential Workers" and that if we were called out that we would need to come.
I am thankful that our profession was considered "Essential Work" although that would have its own set of obstacles to work around but fingers crossed we can get through this.
April 10, 2020
In all that was going on, I wanted to find a way to keep myself busy and give back to our community in a positive way. I decided to give back to Boone Hospital Center and it's the entire staff of 2,089 by donating these fused glass hearts to each person. We were just on the tip of the COVID-19 and we had no idea if we would be hit like New York. I knew the staff was working hard every day to help those that came into the hospital and wanted to give them a little hope and love during this crazy time.
You can read about it here: COVID-19... An Opportunity To Give Back!
(Another bittersweet moment but thankful for the outcome on this one.)
Since all of our plans have been canceled and the safest place to be was home, we decided to take advantage of our time and get some of our projects started. The big item on my list this year was to get our flower beds in. We have been in our house for 3 years now and it was finally time to get serious about getting our yard in order. The good news is that when we get something in our head to get done, by golly we go full tilt! Thankful to have help from Poli and the guys or we wouldn't have gotten as far as we did this year.
We put a total of 4 flower beds and used 30 tons of rock! We have another one started but need to bevel the stones as it's a round flower bed... maybe not the smartest idea I have come up with because it will take more work but I always say.... I like unique and different!
July 15 - 16, 2020
Aunt Darleen, Momma, and I took a little road trip to Wycliffe, Kentucky to pick up some tobacco sticks from the barn their family (my grandparents) used to dry tobacco in. Teresa Salonimer owns the property and her daddy was friends of our family who agreed to allow me to come to get about 75 tobacco sticks that my family used many moons ago.
I wanted to do something to pay tribute to my Momma's family and the tobacco sticks would be a perfect piece to my plan. Such a fun trip seeing where they grew up and visiting the graves of my grandparents and Uncle James Brown.
I used the tobacco sticks to create a cut out of Kentucky and hung it on a rock wall in our basement along with several tobacco sticks. I have a few more things I want to do before it's fully finished but it's a great start!
August 13, 2020
I am doing a re-branding on Midway Mercantile Co and needed new headshots. I had Erica Durnil with Confident Beauti by Erica to do my makeup, Robin Roberts with The Look to do my hair, and Kat Merriman with Kat Four Photo to do my head shots and product shots.
Y'all, these ladies made me feel like a queen! So much fun and I was really excited about this re-branding session. There are so many things that you want to capture but then a photographer has a creative eye to make it really stand out.
August 24, 2020
This is another sad moment but I try to remember the good times we had and smile because I got a chance to see her really happy on many occasionas!
September 4, 2020
I introduce you to my brand new logo for Midway Mercantile Co! It's absolutely perfect and is totally my style! Thank you so much Gillian Tracy with Gillian Tracy Design!
I would highly recommend working with her for your logo and/or re-branding needs. She listens to you and completely understands what it is that you are wanting. She nailed my logo from the very first draft and with a little minor tweaking, I love it!
September 13, 2020
We celebrated our 23rd Anniversary by having dinner with Jake and Jessica Tamm (they celebrated their 7th Anniversary) at Pear Tree and enjoyed a little cake at homemade by Cherie Rutter!
(Gosh I sure hope this COVID stuff is long gone by our 25th Anniversary because we are going somewhere on an adventure for a milestone anniversary!)
