Catching Up...Part 2

Discover USA Military Kids Benefit Concert

3/22-
Had a great time helping to sell raffle tickets at a benefit concert to help send kids of military families to camp. This concert was organized by Miss Spokane's Outstanding Teen JJ Brown. She is truly a great role model with a huge heart!  Great music and a great cause. 


Leavenworth-Fundraiser for Simply Found and Mrs. Washington America Commercial Shoot

4/21-4/22-
This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting and carpooling with the other ladies from the Spokane area.  It was wonderful to meet them and hear about what their platforms are and why they are so passionate about them.  What a great group of women!
We traveled to Leavenworth to help Kristine Dowell (Mrs. Leavenworth) with a fundraiser for Simply Found.  It's a wonderful group that helps homeless women find jobs by giving them interview attire and professional looking clothing.  Kristine was beyond hospitable, and a gracious hostess.
We also filmed a commercial for the pageant.  It was fun to be a part of the process and the final project looked great!




KHQ Food Drive for Northwest Harvest

4/28-
Woke up bright and early to help out the KHQ food drive for Northwest Harvest.  It was such a fun morning hanging out with some of our local news team.  They made me feel welcome and kept me entertained with the rivalry between SWX and KHQ.  I was even interviewed on the news :)
 The highlight of my morning was meeting Julie Delaney.  She does such an amazing job promoting Northwest Harvest and informing the public about how prevelent hunger is in our community and how easy it is to help a family in need.  Julie is also on the board for the Angel Ball Gala, a huge fundraiser for juvenile diabetes, and is a great lady I now count as a friend.
  It was encouraging to see so many people support the food drive and help stomp out hunger in our community.



March of Dimes-March for Babies

4/28-
After the food drive, I headed over to the Gonzaga campus to walk in the March for Babies.  This is the second year I have walked with my friend, Angee Lawhorns' team.  It's always both inspiring and sad to see the many families who have been effected by premature birth.  It is so important to continue to fund research to help prevent premature birth, as well as help those babies who are born premature live healthy, happy lives.


Moses Lake dance rehearsal

5/5-
Today I got to spend time with a few of my pageant sisters and director rehearsing for the Moses Lake Spring Festival.  We had a great time learning the routine and chatting over lunch. 

Catch Up Time...Again (Part One)

Whew!  Time to catch up on my blogging!  Sometimes the best intentions...

Contestent Orientation

In January, our wonderful pageant director, Pam Curnel, hosted an orientation brunch in the Space Needle for the former queens and current contestents.  It was a great way to meet the new contestants and reconnect with friends.  The only downside was the huge snowstorm that made navigating the road home a little treacherous.  Luckily I had my amazing husband with me to get me home safely!

MDA Muscle Walk

Also in January, I had the honor of helping with the MDA Muscle Walk.  The Muscle Walk is a great family-oriented event that raises awareness and funds to support nueromuscular research.  It was inspiring to see so many people come show their support for this great cause.

My youth group student, Amy, came to help support

Miss Spokane 100th Anniversary and Miss Spokane Pageant

Last year I started volunteering some time with the Miss Spokane Scholarship Organization.  In February they celebrated 100 years of Miss Spokane with a fabulous dinner and presentation.  It was fun to watch the slideshow of the queens from years past, and watch some of the former queens showcase the talents that helped them earn their titles.  I was blessed to have Jessica Riggs, Mrs. Washington 2012 accompany me for the festivities.

The next day was the Miss Spokane pageant.  I was in charge of all of the princesses.  The princess program is a mentoring program for young girls.  They are paired with one of the contestants and share in different aspects of the pageant and community service.  These 20+ girls were so fun to hang out with through all of the pageant festivities, but boy was I tired at the end of the day!  Big congratulations to Kenzie Novell-Miss Spokane, Brittany Cozza-Miss Inland Empire, JJ Brown-Miss Spokane Outstanding Teen, and Whitney Demarest-Miss Inland Empire's Outstanding Teen!

Pixie Dust Chocolates

I teamed up with the Miss Spokane Organization to help one of their sponsors at the Jim Custer Arts and Crafts Show.  We helped Pixie Dust Chocolates by handing out samples and spreading the word about this amazing local business.  She makes beautiful creations out of chocolate and they taste amazing!!

Yes, those are edible!

An Evening With Harley Davidson benefiting the MDA

I was honored to sing The Star-Spangled Banner for this great event.  This is an annual fundraiser that reaises money to help the MDA send kids to camp.  It was a wonderful evening where people from the local H.O.G. (Harley Owners Group) chapter gave generously to help send kids to what they describe as the best week of their whole year.  I loved watching the videos of camp from the previous year and seeing these tough bikers melt at the hands of the kids.  I'm honored to be friends with these men and women who are so giving and look forward to spending a day with them when they attend camp this summer.

I'm Back!!!

Well, after taking some time off to spend with my family, I am officially back!  The biggest news is that I will be competing for the Mrs. Washington title one more time.  I feel that I haven't completed what I set out to do.  There are still many things I want to accomplish with my title; including establishing youth workers training workshops, partnering with local mentoring organizations, and helping other wonderful causes.  Of course my work with Fusion youth group will continue-I love my girls!

In November, I competed for Mrs. Washington 2012.  This was my first pageant experience and it was so much fun!  I had a wonderful time with amazing women whom I now count as friends.  Everyone was kind, helpful and giving.  No "Miss Congeniality" moments here!  When all was said and done I ended up being 2nd runner up and Mrs. Photogenic (big thanks go out to Richard with Image 1 Photography).  It was wonderful to feel the support from my family and friends and can't wait to do it again next year!