The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

What a weekend! I am really glad that I had a short work week because I wouldn't have been able to get out of my bed today if not. I also really enjoyed the fact that this weekend was a nice relaxing weekend after the crazy Thanksgiving time. I hope all of you have an amazing Thanksgiving day. Whether you spent it with friends or family or both I hope you all enjoyed the day and really got a chance to reflect on the things you have to be thankful for. I know I have so much to thank God for. I have a loving husband, 2 beautiful and healthy boys, a roof over my head, clothes in my closet (enough to clothe a few 3rd world countries for a few years), fantastic friends and an amazing family. Yeah there are somethings I wish were a little different, but there are so many people that would kill to be in my shoes. Literally, they would kill me for my shoes because they are fabulous! Anyway I hope all of you will carry that thankful spirit into the Christmas season as it is fast approaching. I do have to be honest with you all though, this year I am having a little bit of a problem getting into the spirit. Now I am not being a scrooge or anything but if you know me then you know by November 1 I am already putting my decorations up and starting my christmas shopping also singing christmas carols and everything. I regrettably say that I just put up my Christmas tree yesterday and still have alot of decorating to do. So hopefully I will perk up a little bit once I finish decorating and start tuning into my favorite Christmas radio stations. Maybe once I start wrapping presents and start to stack them under the tree and imagine my kids faces light up as they open them. Maybe after I hear "White Christmas" a few times or "Baby, Its Cold Outside" (just to mention a few of my favorites) then i will be more in the Christmas spirit. Once I go ice skating and take the boys in a ride around the neighborhoods to see the Christmas lights I will be more excited. Actually I am already feeling little better just talking about it. Christmas here we come! And and last but certainly not least, I know without a doubt that once I hit the King of Prussia mall and have my hands full of bags with Christmas gifts (even though half of those gifts might be for myself) I will be in full Christmas spirit. So now the question is, Shana when are we going to KOP? Anyways, I told all of you in my last blog that I would fill you in on the exceptional opportunity that I got last Monday. First of all a big thank you goes out to Marci McNair, Ellen England and Angie Hionis-Bell for all their hard work and doing just a fantastic time at the event. Thank you Marci for the amazing opportunity!! So anyway the event that all of us ladies did was a Bullying presentation at a local area school, with alot of focus on cyber bullying. For those of you who don't know, the fight to stop bullying (not necessarily in those terms) is my platform. So this was an amazing opportunity for me to do the appropriate research and to also get my thoughts and self together about this. I really enjoyed helping put together the presentation and short skit that we did. I am so passionate about this and I hope that showed in the presentation. It was really tough because some of the girls asked hard questions that didn't have a firm "yes" or "no" answer. But i enjoyed every min of it and will hopefully get more opportunities to do the same. I plan on creating a campaign against bullying so I can go around to different schools and speak to them. I haven't decided what I will call this campaign. "Beauties against Bullying" is one idea but I am not 100% sold on it. We will see. But for now I am going to be calling schools to see if we can get in and speak to these kids. Changing the world one life at a time. So until next post, enjoy the season!!

You are Beautiful, no matter what they say. Words can't bring you down!

Thanksgiving is coming up on us so quickly, and then after Thanksgiving there is Christmas, and after Christmas, New Years! OMG I need to go shopping for holiday outfits! I definitely decided this year the hubby and I are going to actually going to go somewhere to count down the new year. Of course New York City would be ideal but maybe that will have to wait for next year. Anyways I am getting so far ahead of myself, I am not even ready for Thanksgiving yet, I don't even have my Christmas decorations up and here I am talking about New Years! Well, lets skip all the talk about the Holiday and focus on a few things that I was honored to do this past weekend. I have really enjoyed alternating pageant weekends. If you don't know what that mean by that, I mean that it is nice to have a weekend where I do pageant stuff and then a weekend that I am off. Sometimes being a beauty queen can be exhausting, and heaven forbid I don't get enough beauty sleep because that is most definitely something that I wouldn't want to subject anyone to seeing lol! Anyway, this past Saturday the 20th I was able to meet up with some fabulous ladies in the morning and participate in the Middletown Christmas parade. My sister queen Fawn Stoms (Mrs. Peach Blossom 2011) and I rode together which is always a little more fun then riding alone. Also my director Siouxzan moore (Beauties of America 30's), another sister queen Angie Bell (Mrs. Punkin' Chunkin' 2011) and the always fabulous Ellen England (Mrs. Delaware 2010) were all also participants in the parade. I enjoy doing parades although it always seems with my luck they are always windy lol. I have another parade coming up on December 4th which is the Dover home for the Holidays parade. I will get the honor of riding with a new sister to the United States system Fran Edwards (Mrs. First State 2011)!!! Fran and I have competed against each other before, although she placed better than me I don't hold it against her one bit :) <3 ya girl! Moving on, Saturday evening was equally as fun since I got to attend the Mrs. Delaware America pageant. My husband came with me and it was so much fun being immersed in pageantry! I had such a great time with all the ladies and their husbands that attended. I wish I had enough space to list everyone that was there but the pictures will tell you. Now I was there for more than just watching. I was there as a member of Team Hotness rooting for my friend Shana Williams. Now the president of Team Hotness, the always spectacular Allison Funds was there and it was so nice to really enjoy time with her since I haven't gotten to see her often. Love ya girl!! Not only was the pageant a success but it was alot of fun, some of us girls got to get up on stage and belly dance with some of the performers, what a blast!! And you can't forget the best news of it all, Shana Williams is the new Mrs. Delaware America 2011!!!!!!! Congrats again girl I am so proud of you. She looked amazing and did a spectacular job. Now she is going to get ready for nationals which will be in April. I will definitely be attending because it is going to take place in West Virginia which truly isn't that far away and well worth the trip. If anyone can break Delaware's loosing streak it is Shana. I know this is the first year that Delaware will be in the top ten, heck this is the first year that Delaware will be in the top 5! After Shanas win some of her fans went to Agave to celebrate. It was such a great time and atmosphere and just to be with amazing people and spend time with the now famous Mrs. Delaware America was such a treat. I have only known Shana for about a year but that is all I have needed to really learn to cherish her as a friend and embrace her for the amazing and beautiful woman she is. She has taught me so much and has made a huge difference in my life. If anyone deserves to represent the married women of Delaware at the Mrs. America pageant it is her. Anyway, I hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving. Take a moment and really appreciate everything in your life. Even the little things. I will probably do another post involving a new campaign that I am in the process of putting together called "Beauties Against Bullying". Stay tuned I am so excited about this! And this is an opportunity to feel like I am personally making a difference in other peoples lives. Also, I am trying to get into local area schools and if anyone has any contacts in any of the schools please let me know! Thanks guys and again have a great Thanksgiving!

There isn't enough darkness in the world to put out the light of a single candle.

I hope everyone has had a great week! Now I can say that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Now you can't always see that little flicker of light but I promise you it is there. Its so hard to sometimes remain positive and happy when life throws tough situations at you. I know I have been less than easy to deal with the past couple weeks. But I keep trying and keep pushing on and I am starting to see the light that I so desperately need. Anyway, so I guess I will let you know what I have been up to lately. Well truthfully I haven't been up to much of anything. Just work, family and friends. I recently got my official headshots as Mrs. Patriotic done. They all turned out so fabulous and I can't thank Jon Lavelle enough. he did such a great job and his wife was equally as spectacular helping me with fun and new poses. I have posted a few on my facebook if you haven't already seen them. I think they turned out really well and they were exactly what I wanted. This past Friday I actually got to hang out with them. They came over to the house and played the Kinect with us. It was alot of fun with tons of laughs. And on Saturday my beautiful pageant sister Shana and her husband Geoffrey came over and hung out with us, we also played the Kinect too and Shana totally kicked butt at the dancing game!! It was so fun to really just spend time with friends in a relaxed atmosphere where we could all joke and just do whatever we felt like doing. On Sunday my mother came up and we got to meet up with Shana again and do some shopping. It was a really exciting day and just nice to forget about the things that are worrying me the most lately. At the same time we got to go see Ellen England in an appearance she was doing for JDRF at the Build A bear. She looked fabulous as always and it was such a fun even for the kids. I am very excited for this coming weekend. Not only do I get to be in the Middletown Christmas parade. But I get to cheer on Shana Williams as she gets crowned Mrs Delaware America (so I am a little biased I can't help it, I know this is her year). So good luck Shana I know you are going to do us all very proud. And I know you will be able to hear me cheering for you!!! Also, I have been helping to prepare a presentation on anti-bullying. Now not all of you know but some of you do know that I have decided that anti bullying is going to be my platform (of course it will eventually sound a little more eloquent). So I got the opportunity to help out some of my pageant sisters in a presentation at a middle school on this coming Monday. Now this gave me the opportunity to really dive into research and understanding. I am super thrilled about this amazing opportunity. I am working hard to do a great job and give everyone as much information as possible. All of us girls are going to do an amazing job!! I will probably be tweaking things until we actually do the presentation. But if we can change one persons perspective or get one child to think for a second before they act, then all the hard work will totally be worth it. And after that it will give me the practice I need to continue going into other schools to raise awareness and it will help me know what to expect in the future. Ok so for now I am going to sign off and wish you all an amazing rest of the week and a fabulous weekend. GO SHANA THE SOON TO BE MRS. DELAWARE AMERICA 2011!!!!

A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are half-cracked.

When I get to immerse myself in friends, family and loved ones for days in a row I feel like the luckiest girl alive. I had an amazing weekend although it was exhausting I feel like I was just lucky. Being in pageants is probably one of the most life changing decisions I have made. I might not have known it at the time but I definitely see it now. Being so involved in so many peoples lives and having so many people to care about and who care about me. I couldn't be more blessed. I had no clue when I dove into the pageant world that I would have come into contact and become close with so many amazing women. I have met so many people that want to see me excel and want to see me become the best woman, mother and wife I can be. And I feel the same way about all the ladies i have met. I want to see only the best for them all. So this weekend on Saturday I got the opportunity to help out at the Punkin' Chunkin' pageants. Now if you have never been to the Punkin' Chunkin' it is most definitely an experience. Although it is pretty cool watching these huge machines shoot pumpkins. It was a little on the crazy side. I don't think I have ever seen that many people in one small area. And if you have kids I wouldn't necessarily suggest that is the best kind of family function to go to. But I did enjoy the time that I was there. A big congratulations going out to all the winners. Particularly my newest sister contestant Angie Hionis-Bell who now holds the title of Mrs. Punkin' Chunkin' 2011! I really had a great time helping out with the pageant. Its nice to get to be around so many spectacular people. All the contestants in each division did an amazing job and meeting so many people was a real treat. On Sunday I got the great opportunity to do some mannequin modeling at Cache. It was a fun time because 5 of my other pageant sisters did this event with me. We all got our hair and makeup done which was nice to get pampered. And then we all stood in the windows and showed off clothes. It was really tough to stand perfectly still when alot of people were trying to make us laugh. But I know it brought the store some business or at least some attention. Also spending even more time with fabulous ladies and just getting to chit chat and enjoy each others company was so nice. And on top of that we all looked truly fabulous! I know that my hair and makeup looked great because when I got home my husband told me I looked like a celebrity. So I am definitely going to be calling on the girl who did my makeup for help with the pageant. A big thank you to Jenn Santos for giving us this opportunity. I know it was a little stressful for you but I have only gotten positive feedback from all the models, we really have a spectacular time. Thank you to all the people who made this weekend for me a fun and successful time. Also thank you to my amazing hubby I love you and appreciate your support with the events that I do. I hope everyone has a fantastic week!

Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.

I know that I am a day late but I hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween. I truly love the fall season. Although it being a little on the chilly side, fall is spectacular with the rich colors, fabulous clothes and boots and its just a beautiful mediator between summer and winter. So it has actually been a few weeks since I have updated my blog, which I apologize. I was going to update it last week but I didn't downloaded the pictures that I wanted to add to my entry until yesterday. So I will have alot of information for you in this entry. Thats if I can remember everything I can to tell you, lol. So first off I am going to start out with a few non pageant related functions. A couple weeks ago I got the pleasure of getting to see my favorite cousin in the world! No offense to all my other cousins (whom I love very dearly) but Sonia does have you all beat. It has been a long time since I have gotten to see Soni and I was so happy to get to see her. She lives in Kentucky to our visits are few and far between. But we got to catch up on alot and really just enjoy each others company. I can't wait to see you again Soni!! I also got to catch up with one of my other bestest girls, Aysha! I have been friends with Aysha since high school and we have such a fabulous friendship, we don't need to talk all the time to know that we care :) Luv ya girl! Aysha took my to this fabulous restaurant called Eggspectations, if you ever get a chance you definitely need to go to this place because it was amazing! Anyways, moving along to more things, we recently got the chance to take my sons to Milburn Orchards and we had such a great time. The boys loved all the animals and pumpkins. Landon did an amazing job at leading us through the corn maze! He led us through all by himself without taking us to any dead ends or anything, he most definitely did not get his sense of direction from me. This year I finally got to go to a Halloween part. Now since I moved up to this area (4 years ago), I have been dying to get dressed up and go to a Halloween party. Well thanks to Lauren and Jon Lavelle we got to go to one this year. I dressed up as a vampire and it was really awesome. I had red contact and fangs and everything and it was cool as heck! A did get to participate in a few great events with my title. I had the great honor of appearing with Ellen England (Mrs. Delaware United States 2010) at a JDRF walk. I really enjoyed being there and speaking with all the wonderful people and posing for lots of pictures. I was also really thrilled to have my husband attend with me, and he turned out to the the best paparazzi ever! I love seeing Ellens caring heart. She is so passionate about her platform and it just reminds me that this is what its all about. Yeah the crown is nice but changing peoples lives is a sparkle that won't ever fade. Being there to support her was such an honor. Thank you for the invite Ellen! The same day I also got to participate in the Newark Halloween Parade. I could not have asked for more perfect weather for this day. I dressed up as Wonder Woman and decided that this parade I was going to walk instead of riding in a convertible. And I am really glad I chose to do that, it felt like I could be a little bit more personable with all the kids that way. Also, my husband and sons got to participate in the parade with me because my work had a float that they got to ride in. My sons are born royalty because they love being in the parades and waving to all the people. Something else that I actually finished this weekend was I made a dress to benefit an organization called Queendom T.E.A. This is such an amazing organization. Not too long ago I got the chance to meet the founder, LaQuisha Hall and speak with her a little. Queendom T.E.A. is a mentoring program for teen girls and it strives to bring out the Queen in all of them. For those of you that don't know, I hope to one day be a fashion designer, so I am constantly trying to make clothes and basically teach myself how to sew. With that comes my favorite store which is Joann fabrics. One day while shopping at Joanns I noticed a contest called Craft for A Cause, that is where I got the idea to create a dress from Queendom T.E.A. So then I set off to speak with LaQuisha and make a dress dedicated to her organization to which I submitted to this contest in hopes of winning up to $50,000 for Queendom T.E.A. Now I know that the dress isn't impeccable when it comes to construction, but truthfully this is only the 3rd dress I have ever made. And I couldn't be more proud of it. I really like the progress that I have made and I think the dress is my best work to date. Now all I have to do is win some money for this great cause and I think I will be good to go. Have a great week everyone!