Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Breath of Life Gala

Oh, who doesn't love a night at the Ritz!  Saturday night I worked the Breath of Life Gala for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  I was put to work selling Mystery Raffle Boxes - surprisingly this was easier than selling checking accounts at my job!  During the Gala, I was invited to model the Dierks Bentley autographed guitar that was being auctioned off.  I enjoyed being Vanna and was glad to help in getting over $2700 for the guitar!  After the aution, I assisted in the Bid 4 A Cure where participants bid for a personal donation towards Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  It was wonderful being part of an event where hundreds of individuals were donating to such a great cause, even with the economic challenges we are all facing right now. 

Tonya Allen Foundation Red Carpet Fashion Show & Gala

   

On Friday, I was invited to attend and model at the Tonya Allen Foundation Red Carpet Fashion Show and Gala.  Everyone had such a great time at the event!!!  When I first arrived, I was interview by Channel 3's Brittney Shipp!  Then I had the chance to work the red carpet with several other pageant gals - America's Outstanding Mom Melanie Britton, Kirin Christianson, Elisa Rister Mrs. Arizona America 2009, Cheryl and Allie. 

Thanks to my amazing sponsor, MomBomb, I rocked the runway in the cutest clothes. 

Tombstone's Helldorado Days Parade

This past weekend my family and I attended the Helldorado Days Parade in Tombstone.  We started the weekend off by 4 wheeling in Florence, then stayed the night in beautiful Sierra Vista.  We enjoyed breakfast with the National Guard who are currently protecting our border and then headed off to Tombstone.  At the Parade, I joined Kathy Lauer in the "Ladies of Pageantry" parade entry.  We had a great time throwing candy and ironically enough watching all of the parade attendees dressed in their period wardrobe. 

 

Susan G Komen Race for the Cure

On October 10th, I got my husband and son up early and headed down to the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure 2010 at Wesley Bolin Plaza so I could run in support of Breast Cancer Awareness.  I have ran in countless races, but this race had to be the largest I've ever participated in.  It was awesome to see the thousands of supporters as well as breast cancer survivors.  I ran in celebration of my mother and in memory of my Aunt Betty.  Thank you to all who showed up to run, walk or simply cheer on participants at this year's race!  With organizations like Susan G Komen I know we will one day find a cure for breast cancer!

2nd Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Ride

This morning, I had the joy to attend the 2nd Annual Breast Cancer Awareness Ride in Peoria.  This event is led by Teresa Fillemann, a 16 year breast cancer survivor!  Teresa and Southwest Bike did a phenomenal job organizing an event for a very worthy cause.  Over 125 riders showed up this year! 

Eddie Money's BizBash benefiting HopeKids

This past Thursday night, I was invited to be a part of Eddie Money's BizBash benefiting HopeKids.  Wow, what a fabulous event!!!  It was held at the Venue of Scottsdale - which is set up so you feel like you are outside on a New Orleans street.  This event was amazing - great entertainment, fantastic food and a very very worthy cause.  HopeKids is a group that provides children with terminal illness and their families hope, support, and fun.  The organization hosts dozens of events every month ranging from concerts, sports games, formal parties, pool parties, etc for the kids to participate in.  During the BizBash I had the chance to meet several of the HopeKids.  One particular HopeGal really inspired me.  Rosie was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor when she was a young teenager.  Doctors told Rosie she wouldn't live past 18, and she simply responded "I'm not done here".  Rosie is now 20 years old and still let's people know that she is not going anywhere anytime soon, that she is not done here.  She is an amazing young woman who has overcome such adversity and has one of the best attitudes I've ever encountered.  What a fighter!!!!

Mrs. America-Day One

Mrs. America _ Day six

Mrs. America _ Day Three

Mrs. America _ Day Four

Mrs. America _ Day Two

Mrs. America _ Day Five

Mrs. America 2010

Mrs. America - 2010

Flowers Galore

Thank you to each and every one of you that sent me beautiful flowers during me week at Mrs. America.  It was so nice to walk into my room after a long day and see a gorgeous bouquet of flowers.  My room began to look more and more like a florist.  By the I left I had 9 bouquets of flowers.  Here are some pics:


From Kirin



From Di and my fellow state contestants



flowers from Diane



Flowers from my boys - Greg and Jackson

Thanks to all of my cheerleaders!



Who started it all - Julie Dilorenzo! 
Thank you so much for asking me to enter your pageant 15 years ago!



Mr & Mrs. World, Tommy and Diane Tucker.  I'm so glad I met you at Miss Arizona in 1998!



Elisa Rister Mrs. Arizona 2009 and me.



Ashley McCants one of my former contestants from state. 
Girl you better compete again!



Rosalie Michaels Mrs Arizona '00 and me.



Nicole Koester my 2nd RU and Sissie Ahn. 
My Mrs. Az playdate gals!

Rosalie (Mrs Az '00), me, and Julie (Mrs In '00). 
Julie thank you so much for getting me in touch
with Ro when I moved to Az.  I couldn't have had a
better person to teach my a swimsuit walk!

A huge thank you to every single person who came out to support me at Mrs. America. I can't even begin to tell you how much that meant to me to have you "whooting and hollering" for me. 

And the BIGGEST thank you possible to my husband for putting up with "all this pageant stuff".  Not only did he take care of a 1 year old all week while I was at Mrs. America, but he never once complained about it.  Greg thank you for always believing in me and encouraging me to work towards my dreams and goals.  I hope I made you and Jackson proud!!!

Day 8 - Finals

Well, today was the big day - Finals competition.  While I wasn't selected for the Top 12, I know I did my absolute best.  The tiny disappointment of not making top 12 was short lived when my good friends - Colorado and Conneticut were called for Top 12 and then top 6!  Ultimately, Shelley Carbonne Mrs Conneticut was crowned Mrs America!!!  I was so happy for Shelley that I was screaming and crying when they called her name as the new Mrs. America.  I would have been jumping up and down too but I was on the top riser in 4 inch heels. 

While I was packing everything up I was thinking about my performance.  My goal was to better than I did at Miss America.  While I may not have the "top 12" title to contest my performance, I know I competed better now than I did during my Miss days.  I have grown so much from this experience as a woman, mom and wife! 

Thanks to Mrs. West Virginia for the mini wine bottles for all of us gals.  Cheers to a job well done!

Day 7 - rehearsals again!

Yep, we spent day 7 doing you guessed it - rehearsals!  We managed to get through prelims, now it was time to focus on Finals.  I don't really have many pictures from day 7 because I think I was pretty tired after a long week and was really focused on getting the finals show down pat!

Day 6 - Rehearsals & Prelims

We spent all day finalizing the Final Show!  I can't tell you how many times I heard our opening number song "Celebrate" as we kept hammering out all the final touches of the production number.  I still can't believe that the final competition is tomorrow night.

Maryland (1stRU), Colorado (top 6), Arizona and Conneticut (Mrs. America 2011)
during rehearsals before the prelim show. 

After several hours of rehearsals, we were able to go back to primp and get ready for our 1st night of competition - Preliminaries.  Thankfully I had Leslie and Kelly waiting to make me look my absolute best, so I didn't have to stress at all! 

What a whirlwind of a show.  Before I knew it, I was headed off the stage after competiting in swimsuit. I honestly don't remember what I did or how I looked in swimsuit.  One of the joys of being AZ, is that we model in alphabetical order of our state.  Since all of us had to exit the stage after our opening number together, Alabama, Alaska and me Arizona had to be back onstage together in 2 1/2 minutes.  Hence, why I don't really remember modeling - I think I was still trying to catch my breath after a quick change.  A huge thank you to all of my fans in the audience, you made me feel incredible.  There is nothing better that walking out on the Mrs. America stage and hearing the audience go crazy for you.  Diane Ritter, my director, did a great job of making sure my fans were holding up my "face on a stick" - haha!  Thank you to Julie Phillips for helping me choose the most amazing gown ever - I felt incredible in my gown!  Thank you to Jeff at JDM Personal Training for making sure I was in the best shape possible without being too ripped!