Ventura/Conejo Valley Intl Pageant

Tonight I spoke at the Ventura County/Conejo Valley Intl pageant. I attended along with my sister queens Lauren & Mary. I had a special surprise seeing my friend Ashley, the newly crowned Mrs. New Mexico and had fun catching up with her and watching the pageant together. I also saw a few of the ladies I had competed with at state, Janice & Theresa, and had the chance to catch up with them too. It was fun to reminisce. Four new ladies were crowned, Miss & Teen Ventura County as well as Miss & Teen Conejo Valley. They will be competing at the Miss & Teen California Pageant this August. Afterward, Ashley & her husband Paul, Me and Eddie (my director) were joined by John & Christie (my cotillion partner in crime) at Claim Jumper and indulged in yummy food. I must say that I've met some wonderful people through this pageant experience. They are what make the year truly sweet!

Gene Turner- Artist Extraordinaire

Sunday afternoon, Greg and I enjoyed watching a good friend of mine, Gene Turner at an art demo. Gene is the grandfather of one of the gentleman I work with at cotillion and he helps cater refreshments at a few of our local spots. In a passing conversation I learned that he is an artist and actually trained under Norman Rockwell as well as Elmer Tafflinger & Ralph Craig who both studied under the legendary George Bridgeman (for those art enthusiasts out there). He is often invited to different art societies to give demonstrations and invited me to come and watch at a local demo he was giving in La Habra. Gene is 82 years old and yet has such a zest for life, I only hope I'm as active as he is when I reach that age (yes I'm planning on making it, God willing :-) He spent two hours teaching his technique of color pencil over water color as well as sprinkling in the most wonderful stories of his life, from how he found his love for art to stories of serving in World War II. The time just melted away as we watched his painting come to life. The artwork he completed was then auctioned off and I won! Granted, I think I purchased the most amount of raffle tickets so the odds were in my favor. It was nice to stop and pause for the day and enjoy getting lost in art and history and the twinkle of a gentle soul's sweet eyes.

Tehipite Middle School - Reach for the Stars assembly

Monday morning I spoke to the students at Tehipite Middle School in Fresno along with my sister queens, Mary (Miss Ca) & Lauren (Miss Teen Ca). We were invited as part of the "Reach for the Stars" program started by teacher Ron Martanian. He felt that he could motivate his students with research projects, writing and other such skills by incorporating celebrities into his curriculum. Student's write to celebrities, do research projects on them and when they come to town the students compile a list of questions to interview them during an assembly. There are certain criteria set that make it prestigious to be a part of the Reach for the Stars program and it seemed the students loved being a part of it! They even created the back drop we were sitting in front of, complete with our faces looking out the windows of the castle. A local florist donated roses that were decorating the stage and Jaguar delivered us in style by donating our ride for the day. We were given the red carpet treatment, literally, they had one rolled out for us and even the local news station came out to cover the story.

The Great Global Warming debate

Dr. Laura urged listeners to check out this short documentary. This is in response to Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth (fiction) Documentary. If you don't have time to watch the whole thing (@ 90 min) start at @ 18:00 this is where they start to show that Al Gore's "facts" aren't exactly the truth at all. It's interesting our own media doesn't want to combat these inconsistencies, I guess it's b/c his last name doesn't end with Bush.

Reach for the Stars - Dinner

Pictures from BK's 80's Birthday Party

BK's 40th Birthday Bash - Gone 80's

It's hard to believe that my brother Bill turned 40 this weekend. It's not so much that he's forty but that means I'm not that far behind! We all dressed eighties in remembrance of Bill in his heyday. A friend of Bills made a wonderful video montage of pictures of Bill from birth to present day. What a lot of memories it brought back. Here's to you Bill, BK, Happy 40th-may it be a good one.

For whatever reason the slide show is acting up...as soon as it is back and running pics will be added

Halogen Winter Retreat