My first Chamber of Commerce Retreat!

What an experience! I had so much fun for my first Chamber of Commerce Retreat which was held Thursday April 29th - April 30th in St. Charles, Missouri. Kelley Marchbanks, Presient of Women's Network, and what a great time I had visiting with her this weekend! The theme for this year's retreat was "Removing The Barriers" Each year the Chamber of Commerce gets together to welcome new chairs and get their head around issues in our community so that everyone is on the same page and then leadership knows what direction to lead in. I was asked to be a guest speaker on Thursday evening about what barriers we face as a small business.... gosh I was nervous but public speaking is still very new to me and one that I am trying to work on. We then had dinner at Three Hills Winery in historic downtown St. Charles. What a great place! I had a lot of fun and learned so much during this retreat. Everyone was very nice and friendly and it was good to be around leaders that want to make a positive change for our community. I am very lucky to be a part of an amazing community that has a wonderful Chamber of Commerce. Thanks for the many laughs!

Happy Birthday Misty!

Today is my best friend's birthday! We have been best friends for 18 years now and I can't imagine life without her! She is someone I can always talk to which most usually ends in laughter! Her children mean the world to me and her husband is truly amazing! There is nothing I wouldn't do for her or her family and she is like a sister! You make me smile, you make me proud, you make my heart happy and you make my life complete! I love you Misty Lynn McKee and for just a few months you are older than me! :)

I won again!

Holy moly! I was so surprised to open the mail and had won a 1 night's stay in a King Spa Room with a buffet for 2 featuring made to order omelets from Courtyard by Marriott. Well as another ribbon cutting prize package turns up...The Chamber of Commerce Ambassador's did a ribbon cutting for Courtyard by Marriott's "Going Green" event.... I put my name in the pot and here's my certificate. Valued at $200.00! I will be stopping by a Power ball location and purchasing some tickets tonight! :)

I won a gift basket!

As a Chamber of Commerce Ambassador not only do we get to celebrate things with businesses throughout our community we also get to win prizes at some of the ribbon cuttings. I received a phone call for a ribbon cutting that I attended for Re/MAX Boone Realty (Trisha Lee) at Arbor Pointe for a open house on the model home. Amy Black called me today to tell me that I won.... what did I win you might ask??? Well I won a gift basket that Callaway Bank donated that had an orange travel mug, French Vanilla & Coconut Creme Supreme Arbuckle's Coffee, 2 honey sticks/suckers, chocolate, a $25 Visa Gift Card and 6 tickets to see Mizzou vs. Nebraska Baseball on May 16th! What is really cool is I just met Ryan Gabbert with Mizzou Baseball as a guest reader for our 1st Annual "My Community Cares" Read-a-thon at Midway Heights Elementary! Go Mizzou! :)

Golf anyone?

Well if you want to play a little golf in Midway you need to wait or bring a boat! We went driving around this evening to see what was flooded and drove down to the golf course to snap this picture. There were some guys wackin' some golf balls at the driving range across from this... the 200 yard sign was barely sticking out of the water. I think we are good on the rain for a little while!

Changing The Odds

I had the most wonderful day today.... I got to spend the day with my wonderful, caring, thoughtful, and loving Chaning The Odds committee members during my last seminar as a co-chair. I have been a co-chair since July 1, 2008 and will step down to allow another member to come in as a co-chair on July 1, 2010. It has been an amazing 2 years! Our mission for the past 12 years is to help women re-enter the work force. We give them the tools/resources to help them with finding a job/career. The Missouri Career Center donated their building and Janice Dawson-Threat was teaching a Career Development Activity. This was just enough to give a sample of what she does. We had a great ice-breaker activity similar to "Go Fish" with words that discribed yourself. We then had an Interview Skills lesson taught by Cheryl Edington and Rae Lee talked about Professionalism in the Workforce. We were lucky to have a guest speaker that attended our seminar in October 2009 and was blessed to find a job. She told us about her journey. Everyone did an AMAZING job today! I am the happiest when I am around women that enjoy helping other women and I love to see them smile! This is only a part of the women in our committee but they are truly amazing! I love the mission of this committee and all that it does... thank you (no certain order) Barb, Tami, Connie, Janice, Rae, Virna, Cheryl, Crystal, Denise, Karen, Cindy, Valerie, and Marilyn.... this has been a very memoriable day for me!

Alice.com

I was so excited to get my Alice.com boxes yesterday! I love this website! I have a hard time finding the Downy Total Care Fabric Softener that I like (Walmart doesn't sell it and Target is always out of it) so I found this way cool site. It saves me a ton of money! How you might ask... well how many times do you go to Walmart or Target for let's say 3 things and come out with $100 worth of products? Well I simply do my shopping on their super easy site and if there is coupons for a product (they let you know with a little coupon next to the item) they use it. I ordered some Cheer, Downy, Caress Body Wash, and some razors and they ship right to my door.... for free (shipping that is). So nice not having to run to the store just for one or two items. They have almost everything you can imagine.... set up a free account today at Alice.com