Welcome to my blog! This is all about things important to me... family, friends & everything in between! So pull up a chair, slip off your boots and laugh a little at my simple little country life!
April 9, 2015 ~ Tonight I had the pleasure of taking photos at the 21st Annual ATHENA International Awards hosted by Women's Network in Columbia, MO! This is such an exciting evening as two women are recognized among their peers and awarded the honor of 2015 ATHENA Leadership and the 2015 ATHENA Young Professional.
I love working with these awesome ladies at our Columbia Chamber of Commerce / Women's Network! They do a wonderful job of keeping it's members informed and engaged in things going on!
After trying to be serious and take photos of everyone in attendance
(over 150) making sure to capture beautiful smiles this happened....
These are my wild and crazy friends who didn't know I would be there.
I'm so proud of these girls as they were awarded the ATHENA Young Professional
awards just a couple years ago!
See there's a great crowd for tonight's awards banquet!
Heather Stewart is the Women's Network President and will kick off tonight's event!
Mrs. Megan Judy (KOMU 8) was our MC for the evening!
Dr. Dianne Lynch, President of Stephens College was the keynote speaker for the evening!
They played a video that would announce this year's 2015 ATHENA Young Professional....
Our recipient figured out they were talking about her!
Congratulations Billie Connally (Landmark Bank)!
Billie's husband and son surprised her by showing up to congratulate her!
Next they showed a video that will announce the 2015 ATHENA International award.....
Our recipient figured out that they were talking about her!
Congratulations Janice Schuerman (retired MFA)!
Some of Janice's family surprised her by showing up to congratulate her!
Congratulations Janice and Billie!
You are both very deserving of these awards and have done some amazing things for our community and other women. Keep doing great things!
A fun picture with some of the past ATHENA International recipients!
A fun picture with some of the past ATHENA Young Professional recipients!
What a fun night recognizing these rock star women in our community!
See you next year!
April 9, 2015 ~ Something we have all been waiting for is the public release of "Veterans' Favorites - A Taste of Home" cookbook! Special thanks to some awesome sponsors and Dave Timpone for designing the front and back covers for us as it's time to get your hands on a book or two! We decided early on that cookbooks would only be available at our sponsor locations to keep things simple and easy. There might be a time that we set up a booth somewhere for a several hours but for the most part this would keep things clean and easy while we complete this fundraiser!
As many of you may or may not know this is a 3rd party fundraiser (which means that a small group of ladies got together to create this cookbook and 8 businesses jumped on board to pay for the production but Central Missouri Honor Flight is not involved). We are able to use their logo (with permission first) to show they support and back this fundraiser once they understood what our goal was. With the sponsorships from these 8 businesses we are able to pay for all production of the cookbooks allowing 100% of the sales to go directly to Central Missouri Honor Flight.
Why do a fundraiser to benefit Central Missouri Honor Flight?
Many of us are very passionate about our veterans and by creating a unique fundraiser we hope to raise nearly $24,000 to help fund a partial flight to allow our World War II, Korean and more recently Vietnam Veterans traveling to their nation's capital to see their respective memorials.They fought bravely for our country and many did not get the welcome home they deserved so this is a way that we can give back to our veterans while giving them the welcome home they truly deserve!
How much do the cookbooks cost?
The cookbooks cost $15.00 each
Where can I get a copy of the cookbook?
Great question! You can pick up a copy of the "Veterans' Favorites - A Taste of Home" cookbook at the following sponsor businesses:
Hawthorn Bank
1110 Club Village Drive
Columbia, MO 65203
573-449-9933
Monday - Friday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Saturday 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
(They will have cookbooks at their Jeff City locations also)
Bobcat of St. Louis (Columbia Branch)
1101 Lenway Drive
Columbia, MO 65202
573-886-9435
Monday - Friday 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Saturday 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Mutrux Automotive
2100 West Rollins Road
Columbia, MO 65202
573-445-3313
Monday - Friday 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Saturday 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Midway Electric, Inc. / Midway CSI
7301 W Henderson Road
Columbia, MO 65202
573-446-2484
Monday - Friday 7:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Don's Family Style Buffet
315 Hwy JJ
Huntsville, MO 65259
660-277-4466
Monday CLOSED
Tuesday - Friday 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Saturday 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Sunday 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM
Wallstreet Insurance Group - Jennifer Gerling, Agent
211 Marshall Street
Jefferson City, MO 65101
573-635-7211
Monday - Friday 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Edward Jones - Matt Peiter's Office
215 Main Street
Boonville, MO 65233
660-882-2766
Monday - Friday 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM
(They can only accept checks at this location)
We have a total of 1,560 cookbooks in hand and they won't be around long so don't wait on getting a cookbook (or ten)! Thank you all for your support and our goal is to sell out in 60 days!!!!
April 7, 2015 ~ Brandon and I had the pleasure of traveling to Mankato, Minnesota today to take this World War II veteran on a Hero Tour. The Twin Cities Honor Flight was unable to take him on their honor flight so when I caught wind of this I knew I wanted to help!
So what exactly is a "Hero Tour"?
The best way to describe this is that it is a virtual honor flight where volunteers help at various locations to show our veteran(s) various memorials throughout the United States but not limited to the world. (For example: We have seen Pearl Harbor, USS Alabama, the beaches of Normandy in France and memorials in Canada) These Hero Tours are somewhat specific to each veteran as no two Hero Tours are the same. On this particular one we would have Sara Hill in Columbia, MO with a veteran on hospice, John Butterill in Canada, Jennifer at the World War II memorial in Washington, DC with my hubby and I in Mankato, MN!
This would be a whirlwind trip as we would fly to Minnesota and be back the same day! In true Spry fashion this wild trip would begin with a hail storm! It was the craziest thing we have seen and we still can't believe it didn't bust the windows out in Brandon's truck. It started around the Millersburg exit and really got crazy at the Hatton exit! Traffic was slowed down and stopped at one point but we just wanted to get ahead of the storm so we didn't miss our flight!
(Thank goodness for insurance as it caused about $8,000 in damage to Brandon's truck!)
Finally we made it to the airport....
On the way to Mankato we decided to stop by Henderson, MN for some lunch!
We found this great little place....
It was an ice-cream / sandwich shop with a pharmacy in it! Really cool place and it was fun talking to the owner and our waitress! When I asked for sweet tea she knew we weren't from around there!
Oh and just so you know... soda isn't soda up there... it's pop!
We had a bowl of Potato Soup! Yum!
Then we had a ham and orange marmalade sandwich... interesting combination!
We made it to Mankato, MN!
We were impressed with a beautiful facility Path Stone Living is!
Mr. Valliant and his daughter Veronica!
The total Hero Tour was about an hour long. Mr. Valliant enjoyed this experience as we all did. It is truly an honor to be among a true hero and have the ability to be able to show him his memorial. Although I wish he could see it in person this was certainly the next best thing!
After the virtual tour he had some very special mail to open! This piece of mail was from a Midway Heights Elementary School student from Columbia, MO!
(If you can't see the video click on the link below: https://youtu.be/hMxrkwyUSrM )
He also received Stephen R. Brown's book "Jewel of the Mall" as a gift from the Central Missouri Honor Flight out of Columbia, MO!
(If you are interested in your own copy or a copy as a gift please visit Stephen R. Brown's website: http://srbphoto.zenfolio.com/books-publications to purchase a book or two!)
I gave Mr. Valliant one of my challenge coins that I had made to give out randomly to military men and women on our many travels. He was so proud of this small gesture that he didn't let it go!
It was an honor and a pleasure being able to spend time with this very special World War II veteran.
I am so glad that we were able to travel to him and be a small role to taking him virtually to see his memorial and that technology like this is available to do this. Thank you to everyone that made this day possible as I know it meant a lot to Mr. Valliant and his family!
March 30, 2015 ~ I received a very special package in the mail today.... it is what I am calling my "Hero Quilt"! As many of you have seen several quilt posts, I have been using Jane Haworth to make these unique t-shirt quilts and I can honestly say that she blows me away with her attention to detail and talent in each quilt!
This quilt was made for me to symbolize something important to me.... our veterans.
This quilt is made up of t-shirts from places I have been, organizations I am involved in, organizations I have supported and things that are symbolic for our country.
I first got started working with our veterans when a group of dedicated volunteers got together using a social media platform called Google+ to take veterans too sick or unable to fly on an Honor Flight. Together we would take a veteran or possibly multiple veterans via a laptop computer to places that were meaningful to our veterans. We visited the various memorials in Washington, D.C. as well as places like the USS Alabama, Pearl Harbor, 9/11 Memorial and even the beaches of Normandy. Because of the dedication of volunteers all over the world we were able to coordinate multiple people in multiple locations to make these Veterans Virtual Tours (now known as Hero Tours) possible.
I am very proud to be able to help with something like this. Just because these men and women didn't qualify to go on an Honor Flight (maybe because of health issues or they weren't cleared by their doctors to take a flight) didn't mean that they didn't deserve to see their memorials. Being able to be among these heroes made a huge difference. I had to put my t-shirt from these trips on this quilt.
When I found this t-shirt last year I knew this had to be a part of this quilt!
No matter if we are saying the Pledge of Allegiance with the students at Midway Heights Elementary School, at a baseball game or at any other function I get goosebumps. There is something very special about saying the Pledge of Allegiance and honoring our country.
Many of you know how much I love supporting, helping and promoting the Central Missouri Honor Flight. What an honor it is to serve those that served our country. I never get tired of hearing veterans stories especially those that have been on an Honor Flight... you watch their eyes light up and how much these trips mean to them. Makes your heart full!
Last November I had the chance to visit Pearl Harbor. I can't tell you how emotional it was to be there. I had heard so much about this place and even visited it via a Veterans Virtual Tour / Hero Tour but being able to see it with my own eyes was something I won't forget. Pearl Harbor is such a huge piece to our history and World War II.
I am also on the Advisory Board for Welcome Home #no1leftbehind campaign and it was a must to have this information in my quilt. We have to work together to end veteran homelessness and I want a reminder of my pledge to our community.
When it came to putting a message on the back this was a tough one. What message, poem or quote could I put on a quilt like this that would represent our veterans? I was sent this quote by a friend and thought it was perfect.... Now I have a perfect reminder when I look at my "Hero Quilt" of the sacrifices that our military men and women give to protect our country.
To all of our military men and women... I thank you!
She is amazingly talented and can make just about any type of quilt you want! She is very reasonable and very good at what she does! Oh and tell her Michele Spry sent you!
March 29, 2015 ~ Today is Vietnam Veterans Day and I would like to take a moment to recognize and thank all Vietnam Veterans for their service to our country.
When I see something like this it saddens me to think our country could ever mistreat someone that fought for our freedom. When these men and women left for war they were recognized as heroes yet when they come home they are spit upon and treated like less than a human for doing what they were instructed to do. I was born in 1976 and I can't change what happened in the past however I do realize that you didn't get the respect you deserved when you came home but hopefully we can give it to you now.....Welcome Home!
March 28, 2015 ~ We ain't got time to be sleeping in sugars... we've got another 5k to complete! It may have been cold with snow flurries flying but when you are determined to stick to a goal you push forward! As you know my goal for 2015 is to complete 15 5k's and this would be my 4th for this year! (Of course I had to wrangle a couple friends to do this challenge too!)
When I left home at 6:15 AM it was snowing (flurries) pretty good but by the time I got to Moberly they had stopped. When Roni and I got to Salisbury, MO it was snowing (flurries) again! Luckily by the time the race started the snow flurries had disappeared!
The St. Joe Run for the Gold 5k is an annual event benefiting St. Joseph Home and School in Salisbury, MO! (Love the colors of their t-shirts)
All checked in and ready to get this cold one done!
(You had the choice to run or walk but you had to choose one and couldn't do both)
We chose to walk this one and put as much power as we could into our frozen bodies to push forward! Our time wasn't anything special but we completed it! As we crossed the finish line we hooked arm in arm and crossed together as it didn't matter who was first, second or third but rather a team effort to cross that line! It was fun and it's always more motivating with friends!
March 23, 2015 ~ Happy 16th Birthday to the first little girl to call me Aunt Shell. Olivia is the daughter of my best friend and I can't believe she is already 16 years old! It seems like yesterday that I received a phone call from Misty saying that she had arrived. It's been fun watching this cute little girl turn into a beautiful young lady (who is taller than her momma and Aunt Shell)!
Charles (her dad) took her to get her driver's license this morning so look out Columbia... you have a new driver on the road! I wanted to see her for her birthday because she would be leaving for Walt Disney World with the Rock Bridge High School Marching Band to participate in a festival as they would compete against schools all over the United States and I wanted to give her some spending money to buy something fun for her birthday! (Aunt Shell found out that they won 1st place in each category they entered.... Awesome job!)
Dr. Dianne Lynch, President of Stephens College was the keynote speaker for the evening! 
