Lunch with Jaxon

March 29, 2013 ~ Jaxon was spending the day at Granny and Papa's house and came to the shop to see Aunt Shell. We decided to grab a quick bite to eat at Midway Truck Stop since it was close and Jaxon was going to be taking a nap at noon. He's such an silly kid and one minute he is happy as can be and the next he is having a complete meltdown! Didn't someone say something about Terrible Two's??? Ha!

Aunt Shell took one of his chicken pieces and was that the wrong thing to do. He looked at me and said "No, mine"! Then he covered the chicken up so I couldn't get anymore! 

Seriously, he's such a little turkey! 

He liked the BBQ sauce but not so much on the Honey Mustard! 

I sure do love that kid!

Tyler Kurkierewicz & "Flat Tyler's" Adventures

March 29, 2013 ~ As many of you know I have a Google+ account. I am not as active as I was early on but I am really trying to get back into the swing of it. Why you might ask... my answer is short... It's because of the amazing people I have met!

As I was looking through the various threads that people post one caught my eye. On March 27, 2013, Mike Searle posted "I'll be helping both real and "Flat Tyler" get a taste of Kansas City. Can you give him a glimpse of your part of the world?" Immediately I knew I wanted to help! I posted back and told Mike that I would be doing some traveling in the near future and would love to take "Flat Tyler" along capturing fun moments while being a total tourist. I then saw that this post originally came from Dawn Molitor and I clicked the original thread to find out this.....

"Hello friends I'm not really sure what the end result will be... here are the beginning details. 
Tyler: My daughter and son-in-laws 18 year old nephew Tyler has inoperable cancer, he has been in the hospital since Oct. He has spent most of his time in ICU and the doctors have announced that there is nothing more they can do. He will spend the rest of his days here. The Fun Details: Nicole is in the process of creating a "Flat Tyler" and we are looking for family and friends to host him. We want so much for Tyler to see the world and know the kindness of people he will never meet. The details are still being worked out, a digital file has been created for hosts to print out. You will then e-mail the photos of "Flat Tyler's" adventures back to us. The Gift: Nicole's goal is to create a book for Tyler of all of "Flat Tyler's" adventures. We know this is going to be a major time consuming project and would like to have all adventure photos turned in by April 30th.  If you are interested in hosting "Flat Tyler" please let me know. As most of you already may know my son-in-law is in the military. I am hoping he can get in touch with a Blue Angel or two to host... how cool would that be!"

As you all know I live my life by paying it forward and I feel that this is such a simple gesture to greatly impact the lives of others. One small thing like downloading "Flat Tyler" and taking a picture a day of doing something you normally would do to make the real Tyler's life just a little brighter, happier and enjoyable then why wouldn't I do this!?!? Sign me up because this is going to be just as much fun for me as it will for everyone following this story! (I can only imagine Tyler smiling at the outpouring support of the many hosts of "Flat Tyler")

Tyler Kurkierewicz

(a picture from his blog)

Tyler was diagnosed with a rare form of testicular cancer at the end of September. He started aggressive chemo treatments on Oct 1st. 4 days later, he took a turn for the worse when the cancer started choking his stomach and it perforated. He had emergency surgery on Oct 4th and was in the ICU until the end of December. He continues to be hospitalized for recovery from the stomach surgery, infections and more chemo treatments for the tumor. (Information from his blog)

So everyone that knows me knows I love St. Louis Cardinals baseball! Well as I was sitting at my desk I heard something in the back hallway. As I peeked out my office door I happen to see that "Flat Tyler" met "Flat Stan"! It appears that "Flat Stan" was showing "Flat Tyler" around and trying to get him to cheer on the St. Louis Cardinals.... What am I going to do with those two! ("Flat Stan" doesn't realize that we have to ease into getting someone to cheering for our team!) 

I think these two had a pretty good time chatting and I heard "Flat Stan" tell "Flat Tyler" that no matter who he roots for it's America's Game! (I'm so glad they are getting along!) 

So as you can see this is something we can all help out with. No matter if it's one picture a day or once during this next month every little bit helps to show Tyler there are great people in this world that care a lot about you.... many you have never met before. I will be posting things on my Google+ page, Facebook and Twitter using the hash-tag #flattyler and encourage you to do the same.  

You can follow Tyler's blog at:

http://tylerkurkierewicz.blogspot.com/  

If you rather send Tyler a card you can send it to: 

Mott's Children's Hospital 
Patient: Tyler Kurkierewicz
Floor 7, Room 32
1500 East Medical Center Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 
 

Print out your own "Flat Tyler" here:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLLhmZ3RhXKaPcb9FFg0U0021vzv7VrW8X0CRqdyitlU35sl_ym7Nb6uWhlHfBOYjsf8JYWC8eCzokx4b6wSBAeOhsTCuwAz0HP6Ds_IVY80W3U0m3NgTUuJjiaU1kIL0NI4UrInsswXY/s1600/221673_10151313460496881_1302255498_n.JPG

Carrie Lyn's Ice Cream Parlor in Boonville, MO

March 26, 2013 ~ I have found an awesome little sandwich (or samich as they call it) shop in Boonville, MO that I love! I have Ashley Simpson to thank for turning me on to this place and I try to go at least once a week!

They are located right on Main Street in Boonville, MO

When you walk in their door you may wonder why would I want ice-cream in the middle of winter but wait! This place is so much more than ice-cream!

Owners, Carrie Lyn and Ret Thomas, lived in Las Vegas. Carrie Lyn would get an idea of opening an ice cream parlor near Henderson, Las Vegas. (Carrie Lyn's mom owned an ice cream parlor in California called Nancy Lou's until she passed away at the young age of 56) Carrie Lyn's husband, Ret, had a good friend that lived in Boonville, MO and they came back to visit over Thanksgiving. You ready for the best part.... they loved the small town feel so much they packed up everything including their now 15 year old daughter, Haylee, and moved from wild and crazy Las Vegas to little ol' Boonville, MO! In March 2009 they opened "Carrie Lyn's Ice Cream Parlor" starting out with Blue Bunny ice cream and about 5 samich's. Carrie Lyn and Ret began looking for locally owned items for their business and soon changed their ice-cream over to Central Dairy. They also added a few more samich's to their menu.

This is my favorite samich... Chicken Salad on Ciabatta... OMG! 

The potato salad is awesome too!

Just look at how fresh everything looks! The bread is prepared so that it is soft and warm and the meats are also always fresh and a great quality. They use shredded lettuce and thin sliced tomatoes which makes the samich perfect!They love avocado and they fix it in a way that everyone loves it and they are happy to add it to any samich...

Oh and for dessert you can have ice-cream!

In fact, they have 16 Central Dairy flavors to choose from! 

If you wan to try their "Bellyache" ice-cream challenge just ask them! 

So I promise it's totally worth the drive to Boonville, MO for a great samich!

Make sure you tell Carrie Lyn and Ret that I sent you! 

Carrie Lyn's Ice Cream Parlor

745 Main Street

Boonville, MO 65233

660-882-9955

Closed on Monday's!

The "C" Word....

March 20, 2013 ~ As many of you know, my family is my world. I am extremely lucky to have an amazing mom and dad, sister, husband, brother-in-law and nephew to support all the crazy things I do in life and love me unconditionally.  Mom officially retired from Cornerstone National Insurance on February 1, 2013 and dad officially retired from Professional Contractors and Engineers on February 22, 2013. Dad turned 62 years old on February 23, 2013. Although they were a little nervous about retiring because it was different then what they have always done they were ready to enjoy this next chapter in life.

Mom and dad are both so lucky to have an amazing group of friends. They treat everyone as a person and feel that you treat others as you want to be treated. They have instilled those qualities in my sister and I throughout life. When you meet mom and dad you have met some of the kindest, most sincere people who would do anything for anyone. I love these people for being so genuine.

We just found out this afternoon that dad has Stage 1 Prostrate Cancer.... yep it's the "c" word. The best part of this is that it's treatable and because they caught it so early he will have surgery and be done. No chemo and no radiation which is great news! Dad is going to talk to the surgeon on Friday March 22, 2013 to see what the plan is.

I will be honest, I wasn't ready to hear this news. I guess I felt like mom and dad were really starting to enjoy their new chapter in life and with this news so soon after their retirement. I guess you are never really ready to hear this news but I am so thankful this can be taken care of and dad will be on the road to recovery. Dad was really looking forward to riding his Harley this Spring/Summer and depending on what the surgeon says he may be able wait on surgery or wait on the motorcycle rides. Either way this is just a minor bump in the road and we, as a family, will get through this.

Cancer is just too common anymore.... or maybe it's always been common and we just have better technology to find it..... I'm thankful they found it early and that my dad goes to the doctor regularly for check ups.  

(Side note: of course I am very lucky to have tons of other family members such as aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces including great friends that also support anything I do and encourage me to push myself harder and never give up....but this post is about my immediate family)

Update as of Friday March 22, 2013: Dad will have surgery next month. They don't want to mess around with this and allow it to spread and dad is good with this. Looks like he will have a late start on motorcycle rides but when he's all healed up look out.... he'll be burning up the blacktop! (I honestly couldn't imagine the doctors allowing him to wait but dad is hard headed... wonder where I get that??)

At Granny and Papa's House

March 12, 2013 ~ Jaxon loves going to his Granny and Papa's house! Now that mom and dad are retired they keep him once a week which he loves. You can't tell this little turkey is spoiled can you? Aunt Shell had to come over to see what they were up to.

Jaxon loves being outside!

He's such a hard worker for a 2 year old

and loves to help whatever you are doing. 

He's so funny to watch but he's not a good driver...

little turkey runs over everything!

Needless to say I am so glad he gets to spend some time with mom and dad. The older he gets the funnier he is. He's so independent which I am glad for. He throws fits just like his Aunt Shell and knows how to get what he wants with his Granny! Oh well, you're only young once right!

 Oh and it looks like Jaxon will take after his momma... another lefty in the making!

Columbia Certified Toursim Ambassador!

March 6, 2013 ~ The Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) recently launched a new program called the "Columbia Tourism Ambassadors". The Columbia Tourism Ambassadors are a certified group of individuals who are committed to customer service, the tourism industry and Columbia as a destination. This is a great program that offers front line folks like our hotel staff, taxi cab drivers and restaurant staff but it also is for anyone who comes in contact with visitors!

You can view their website at:  http://www.ctanetwork.com/ for more information!

I was the first graduating class from this program and  I would encourage anyone that deals with public and visitors to our community to give serious consideration on this program. They give you a great binder full of history about Columbia and no worries folks.... the test is open book! Thank you CVB for bringing this program to Columbia and I look forward to being a great CTA Ambassador for you!

Yes, I have the Ambassador piece covered.... Chamber of Commerce Ambassador (to celebrate our business community), Mizzou Ambassador (to support our Mizzou Athletics) and now Columbia Tourism Ambassador (to welcome our visitors and help them have a great time in Columbia, MO)!

"Fight Evil, Read Books" 4th Annual Read-A-Thon

March 4, 2013 ~ Today started off our "Fight Evil, Read Books" Read-A-Thon at Midway Heights Elementary School! My awesome co-Partner in Education, Tanya Alberty and I have created this yearly read-a-thon and something that I think we enjoy as much as the kiddos! Each year we have came up with a different theme and try to keep the theme rolling all week long.

The read-a-thon brings in about 70 community members/business owners/leaders into the classrooms to read a book and talk a little about why reading is so important with their respective jobs. Our goal is to encourage reading and make it fun! This year we decided to use Twitter to "tweet" pictures of our guest readers under the hashtag #mheread so if you have Twitter you can see pictures throughout our week!

This is Tanya Alberty and I... 

Aren't we a mess! Ha! 

On Thursday, Tanya decided that we needed to dress up as our favorite super hero.... Actually the whole school participated in this activity.... and I will have to say it was fun! We try to encourage students to make up their own super hero and be creative. There were some great super hero's like....

These cute little guys.....

or Captain Underpants! 

Honestly some of my favorite costumes were kids with blankets as their cape's or something they made to give them super powers! Love seeing kids using their imagination! 

Thursday night was also our 3rd Annual Literacy Night. This event is held in the evening (usally from 6-7:30 pm) at Midway Heights Elementary School. We have tried to interact the parents and students with a guest author and I was asked to be our guest author this year. I was able to introduce my book "Tom T's Hat Rack" to many classrooms during this week and I had an extra special guest that would be attending Literacy Night with me.... Mr. T himself! 

It was exciting for me to introduce Tom Trabue (aka Mr. T) to everyone! He really is an inspirational guy and watching him go through cancer including his treatments with such a positive attitude on life is what I believe helped him on the road to recovery. (He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in May 2012 and by Christmas 2012 he was cancer free!)

We even got to sign some books!

This whole week was a lot of fun! Although it's a lot of work (thank goodness I have a rock star co-pilot that keeps everything together and comes up with some way cool ideas) it's totally worth it! If we can help fight literacy and encourage reading early on then I think Midway students are on the right road to success! We are both very proud of our partnership with Midway Heights Elementary School and can't wait for next year's read-a-thon!

Midway Heights Elementary School is so lucky to have some pretty amazing teachers!

 What was pretty cool was that someone used the example of  "Paying It Forward" to their teacher, Miss Windmiller on Friday morning! How cool is this!?!?