Rusty Wallace Racing Experience

October 21, 2012 ~ Brandon and I got up at 5:30 am and headed out the door to the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience at Gateway Racetrack in St. Louis. I had purchased 2 racing packages from Groupon earlier this year and today was the day we were going to use them! We didn't really know what to expect but we did know we would be driving NASCAR's by ourselves!

We got in line and signed all the releases and purchased 4 laps each with a "professional". (I think we were totally professional drivers and could have taken passengers with us doing 170+ mph) We went through a little training session then off to get suited up in our fire suits and helmets! I did not get a picture of this but you can only imagine how cute we looked! Ha! We then got in line to ride with our "professional" which took FOREVER! Finally we climbed in and I told the ol' boy to "Mash it to the metal... I wasn't scared!" It was fun but I was ready to drive! I waited for Brandon to get done with his "professional" drive and we were ready to climb in our cars within about 10 minutes of standing in line.

Once you got in the car and started the engine what a rush! I was ready to see how fast she could go! (Sadly they maxed out at 142 mph but I promise you I had it pegged out many times!) We purchased the videos of us driving. We got 12 laps and the first 2 were pretty boring.... if you speed through the video towards the end it was fun! Best part... hearing them tell the other cars (there are only 6 on the track at once) to "lift and lower" which meant "Get the heck outta her way 'cause she's coming around ya"! It was so much fun that we both want to go again for a longer time and faster cars! If you want to see us in "action" just watch our videos... just forward toward the end and it's better than the beginning!

Brandon's Video

Michele's Video (It will start in a second)

So as if you didn't already know we had a blast! If you have ever thought about doing this and haven't you need to! Until the next race track comes our way we'll be burnin' rubber on the highway!

Changing The Odds

October 20, 2012 ~ I am involved in a Women's Network committee called Changing The Odds. This committee was created 15 years ago to help women get off welfare and back into the workforce. During Women's Network's strategic planning this committee was almost cut but thank goodness for the dedication, passion and support of awesome committee members we were able to turn this committee into one of the best committees in Women's Network! I had the pleasure of serving as the co-chair from 2008-2010 and have remained active on it because it makes your heart happy!

This committee helps women re-enter the workforce when they may have been incarcerated, in a drug/alcohol treatment center, in a shelter or simply stayed home to raise a family for an extended time. Things have changed a lot over the past several years as I remember getting my first "real" job at Footlocker I filled out a short application, had a quick face-to-face interview that lasted a whole 3 minutes, shook his hand and started the next Monday. Now days you fill out an application, submit your resume, give permission to a background check and drug test and wait for up to 3 interviews before being hired. Just think about it if you had a felony charge.

The women of this committee are truly amazing. They are all successful business women that may not have had a great start but they had support. They had one person that believed in them and that's all it took. So during the 2 free seminars that the Changing The Odds committee offers we all put our lives to the side to focus on making these women see that we believe in them. It truly is inspiring, empowering and genuine watching our participants engaging in this seminar while they forget about where they currently are and envision where they will be with the tools and resources we give them to achieve their goals.

The best part of this day.... I happen to set at a table of 6 other women. 3 of those women had been incarcerated before and were struggling with getting a job because with a felony on their record they couldn't even get an interview. You know, in life we have all done something bad but we didn't get caught and learned the right way before putting ourselves in that position again. These women did their time and now are trying to get back into the real world to become productive citizens. (It's sad because we have people in our communities that are able to work yet just simply rather be on the "system" then to try hard to achieve success on their own) We talked during lunch and I wanted to learn from them because of another organization I am involved in {(BCOTN - Boone County Offenders Transition Network) and they primarily deal with men and we need to get women involved too.} At the end of the day those 3 women came over to me and gave me a big hug and thanked us for putting this seminar on for them as they learned a lot and can't wait to use this information towards their new life. Awesome day!

Tom T's Final Chemo Treatment!

October 19, 2012 ~ Today was a special day. It was Tom Trabue's 12th and final chemo treatment! As the current chair of our Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors he has done an amazing job of taking care of ribbon cuttings, working and keeping a great attitude while getting his treatments. The Ambassadors are a big family and I can say that we are all very proud of Tom and couldn't wait to  "SPRY-ize" him with a "I'm done with my chemo treatments" party! At your last chemo treatment many staff members surround you and blow horns to celebrate.... I made arrangements with Missouri Cancer Associates so that we could be there to be apart of the horn blowing! We had to be very respectful to the other patients receiving treatment today so the Ambassadors didn't stay long. Tom's doctor knew we were coming over and wanted to have lunch with everyone so he cancelled a standing meeting so that we could have the 2nd floor conference room and celebrate without interrupting everyone else.

"You mean all of this is for me?"

I had worked with Kim, Tom's wife, to make sure she knew what we were going to do and around 11:30 am the Chamber Ambassadors started coming in! Tom was so surprised and happy to see his Ambassadors coming to be apart of a special day! He just couldn't believe that they kept coming through the door! It really was a pretty cool thing to see so many Ambassadors show up for a great guy! 

What was really cool is many of the Ambassadors wore hats.... since we have dubbed this year as "The year of the Hats" because Tom wanted to wear a variety of cool hats during the time he would loose his hair. (It's something he always liked but never thought he could pull off until he was diagnosed with cancer.... I think he looks great in hats!)

Tom is loved by many.....

and thought of highly in our community....

and no one wanted to miss this day....

as it was a huge milestone!

Kim has been an amazing cheerleader for Tom!

Aren't they cute!

Remember how I said we had a party on the 2nd floor... well we all squeezed on one elevator and thank goodness it didn't break! (I think Chris was nervous!)

It really was a great day to celebrate with some amazing people! We all are lucky to have friends and family in our lives that make things like going through chemo just a little easier. We are so proud of you Tom!

Lunch with the girls!

October 17, 2012 ~ One of the little things I enjoy is having lunch with some amazing ladies I don't get to see or spend time with very often. Jennifer posted on Facebook that she wanted to try out the new Cheddar's here in town and we all invited ourselves to tag along! Yippie! The food was good and I know next time what I will try different (besides the chicken and waffles)!

I think what I enjoyed the most was hearing them laugh! Life is sometimes stressful, busy, hectic and unruly but when you listen to someone else's life you stop and think how grateful you are to have it! It was nice to spend lunch catching up. It's always great to hear about their kiddos and all the stuff they are involved in. Not sure how any parent can get multiple children to multiple locations all over town and still be able to remember to grab something from Walmart! Geez... I don't have kids and I can't remember what it was I walked into that store for in the first place!

Thank you ladies for a fun lunch! It makes me smile knowing I have such amazing people in my life!

Photo Walk in Columbia, MO!

October 13, 2012 ~ It's funny how your taste for things change as you get older. I was always one that loved summer but now I am beginning to love fall! I now have a little more time to take in the beautiful view that mother nature gives us and today my girl, Shelly DeVore and I sat out on yet another photo walk in downtown Columbia, MO!

This tree in Peace Park on the University of Missouri campus was stunning! The colors were vibrant and beautiful. All the other trees were somewhat still pretty green and this one was really about the only one that had lots of color.

I think this would have been a perfect spot to do some cute family photos or fall engagement pictures! Shelly and I started our walk here and ended here....

This is my little shutter-fly friend, Shelly! I can't wait to see how her pictures turn out... this girl was getting all creative and stuff... you know... all artsy fartsy!

This was a really cool picture... Shelly and I stopped to take some pictures of flowers when she pointed this perfect little heart! Awww.... look at it! We had a lot of fun and want to create our own photo walks in other towns.... only problem... finding time! Guess we'll have to pencil in some girl time this spring!

Google+, Virtual Honor Flights, Virtual Photo Walks & Veterans!

October 5, 2012 ~ Many of you have heard me talk about the ability to "hangout" via Google+ with some amazing people all over the world. I have personally interacted and met some of these awesome people since Sarah Hill started using hangouts in the news almost a year ago on KOMU Channel 8. It's an awesome thing to be able to be in a hangout with up to 10 other people actually seeing each of them face-to-face with a thin piece of glass between us. Rather than typing behind the screen hoping that your emotion is captured in a post you see the smiles, laughs and body language from those you are talking to. This is all done in a safe manner as I have met these people through someone like Sarah. I have met people from all over the world that I consider friends and would go to them for advice or questions I might have.My network of people is now global rather than just local. It's really an awesome world!

These hangouts were an idea that Google’s senior vice president for engineering, Vic Gundotra, had bounced around and eventually created. Google+ hangouts have taken things to a new level and because of this new platform he allowed anyone in the world (with an internet connection) the ability to "virtually" see, hear, talk and visit locations around the world. One of the neatest things more recently was the 1st  Central Missouri "Virtual" Honor Flight. I was asked by Sarah Hill to help do a hangout with a veteran in Jeff City, MO who was too sick to fly on the real Central Missouri Honor Flight yet wanted to see his memorial in Washington, D.C. while she was taking another veteran on this "virtual" Honor Flight. Using Google+ allowed them to be there with the rest of the veterans as they saw the WW II memorial. Because of so many people behind the scenes as well as several awesome G+'er's being at the different locations (Jimmy Gardner was at BWI airport as the veterans came off the plane and then went over to the WW II memorial, Laurent Jean Philippe was at the beaches of Normandy, France and went into the water which you could hear the waves crash on the land (way awesome) and Michael Tucker in Australia). Bruce Garber & John Butterill own a company called "Virtual Photo Walks" (www.virtualphotowalks.com) and helped this Google + hangout along with Sarah Hill and Scott Scheafer along with other great volunteers allowed these 2 veterans on the first ever "Virtual" Honor Flight. It was an amazing experience to be a part of and one I will never forget. What was really cool is that Vic Gundotra wrote about this experience in an article called "Google+ Goes Looking For Love". (Click on the link below to see the article. The part talking about this specifically is under "Select Audience, Universal Emotion".

 http://www.fastcompany.com/3001935/google-goes-looking-love

How awesome is that? Special thank you to Mike Downes who originally posted this information. Mike has been equally huge on this platform and someone that I consider a ROCK STAR in all of this! A very special thank you to everyone that makes the live and now "virtual" Central Missouri Honor Flights  possible. It take a whole team of people to make this possible. I know it is appreciated. Thank you for caring enough to make this experience.... well, in the words of Chief Master Sergeant Dr. Robert Malone.... AWESOME!

Fundraising for a great cause ~ Central Missouri Honor Flight

October 2, 2012 ~ Those of you that know me realize that I am not a selfish person. In fact I am all about paying it forward and doing things for others so that they may enjoy a slice of the "good life". The "good life" to me means to be happy, loved and appreciated. Everyone should be able to enjoy the "good life" each and everyday.

I really love young kids as they are candid when they talk to you and some of the stuff they come up with keeps you laughing. I also really enjoy older adults. They often times get pushed to the side and never really get a lot of attention paid to them. They are taken for granted more than appreciated most of the time. They are full of stories that I love to hear. Our veterans are no different. I really enjoy and appreciate the stories our veterans are willing to tell. I think it surprises them that someone younger is really genuinely interested in their life and if I didn't have to work or worry about money I would volunteer to help with our aging adults. We don't realize the wealth of knowledge we have available to us.

I have been working on a little project for a few months and I am finally ready to fill you guys/gals in! I have made it a personal challenge to try and raise $10,000.00 for the Central Missouri Honor Flight here in Columbia, MO. I have been working to get donations from various organizations and so far I have received many great items to get a great start at this large goal. I have been working with Jeff City Correctional Center through the restorative justice program to receive donations and a local artist, Lawrence L'Hote has also given 11 pieces of art he has designed. I will continue to work on additional donations and in the near future figure out a way to sell/auction these items off with 100% of proceeds going strait to Central Missouri Honor Flight.

We are loosing our WWII Veterans at a rapid rate and I believe they need to see their memorial in Washington, D.C. if they are able to travel. It's something they deserve to do and one that takes money to fund. I will work directly with the Central Missouri Honor Flight to coordinate the series of events that need to take place so that we can raise the funds under their guidelines. Here's some of the items I have received (this is not everything but rather a few items of the 65+ items I have received so far).

If you have something that you would like to donate to directly benefit the Central Missouri Honor Flight here in Columbia, MO please let me know and I will make arrangements to get the item(s) from you. This really is a wonderful organization that makes it possible for our veterans to see their memorial in Washington, D.C.

It costs about $300 per veteran to see their memorial. If we could raise $10,000.00 that would allow 33 veterans to go on this amazing trip. Thank you!