California Princess Program

This year Bob Arnhym, CEO of Miss California America asked me to help create a program for girls ages 4-12 that would introduce them to the Miss America system but not be a competition. With a lot of help from Mary McCaman, we created this years first California Princess Program. Unfortunately, due to a late start, we weren't able to add in the "Etiquette" elements as much as I would have liked, but in future years we will have different classes on manners, good choices and positive self image. This year it was mostly about the stage numbers and getting to participate in the pageant with their "big sister" teen/miss title holders. I'm really excited about where this program could go, these little one's look up to these older girls and it's good that they have positive role models other than the Spears and Lohans of the world. These girls are talented, articulate, service oriented and focused on moving ahead with their academic pursuits...what mom wouldn't want their young princess to be exposed to those kind of role models? 100% of the fee goes directly to the Miss California Scholarship fund so it's good to know the little princesses are having a great time and the older girls are able to receive more scholarship. A win win for everyone! For more information check out the California website.

Summertime swimming

While I was up in Fresno for the Miss California America pageant I stayed at my sister's home. This happened to be the first week of my nieces swim lessons which they were very excited about... as you can see.

Halogen Hamburger/Hotdog Hangout

Not to show you up Devin, but our house not only had the hamburgers but the hotdogs too...and should I mention five different types of ice cream treats...For the month of June, Halogen church decided to have two different locations people could hang out at after church. Of course there was our house and the Deloziers opened up theirs too. The announcement Devin gave at church said we were "simply" having hamburgers while his house was going to have a "hot dog bar"... my neighbors came over with a whole box of hot dogs and buns from a BBQ previous that day and donated them to our cookout. Greg was the master BBQ front man while I served potato salad, BBQ baked beans, chips, cherries & grapes, washed down with some soda's and an ice cream to boot. As always it was a good time of fellowship and friends although we did miss seeing some of the usual faces that were enjoying the evening at the other house church. It was exciting to hear that over 50 people attended the Delozier's home and we had close to thirty! I think that was more than the head count at church :-)

East Coast Family

My relatives from Florida & New Jersey came out to California this week to take a trip up the coast to see the Redwoods with my parents. Before they took off, Mom had a nice lunch so we could catch up on family. Aunt Joan & Uncle Keir and family came down from thousand oaks and the cousins enjoyed getting a ride around the block in my Dad's 1924 Model T. I wish they didn't all live so far away because I love spending time with them. I guess Greg and I are just going to have to travel more often so we can see everybody.

Viva Las Vegas

This past week my sis Rach flew me out to Vegas to babysit my two adorable nieces and nephew for a few days. We enjoyed watching sponge bob, seeing the Lions at MGM and swimming at the pool, unfortunately, I brought my camera but forgot the memory card so I have no pictures of them...Greg came out mid week along with a bunch of his work buddies and we had a very relaxing time enjoying the sun at the pool and the shows at night. I think this was the first time we've been to Vegas without having "something" we had to do (like weddings/trade shows/etc). One of the nights we saw David Copperfield who confounded us with his magic...we're still trying to figure out how he got the classic car on stage without being able to see it get there. Another day, we saw the Mack King comedy show, he was really funny. We ended up staying at the Cancun Resort south of the strip, it was one of the "timeshare" deals, so with listening to the 90 minute presentation we had our trip comped, free buffet, tickets to the comedy show, tickets to the Mandalay Bay Aquarium and free slot play...not to shabby. I'm always game for a deal :-) On the way back home i coerced Greg into stopping at the Calico Ghost town, he'd never been there and even though it was over 100 degrees he humored me and we had a good time walking around the town, browsing through the shops, watching a gun show and touring the mining caves.

Graduates of 2007

My best friend from high school graduated with her Master of Social Work (with honors I should add)this past May. Her sister threw a graduation party for both Holly and her nephew Andrew, who graduated from Fullerton with a degree in History. Sidenote: When Greg and I were dating we would go over to Holly's parents home on Christmas eve and help them wrap presents. Greg would find the typical stocking stuffers of socks & underwear meant for Andrew and wrap them up several times to make it a bit more suspenseful :-) The last time I saw Andrew he was in middle school and now he's a college grad. How time flies.
Congratulations Holly for a job well done...now it's off to writing that thesis paper, oh joy.

Board & Batton Builders

As I've said before...owning a home brings lot's o little projects that seem to never end. I'm always dreaming up little ways to try to make our home the little cottage I've always wanted...a little tricky when you live smack dab in the middle of the city in a 1947 home that isn't so "cottagy" (is that even a word?) At any rate, some of you may have noticed the house color has changed...it used to be yellow and we went with a light chocolate brown with black accents. Of course no cottage is complete without shutters. Being the frugal shopper I am, I was not about to pay 35$/pr. for some vinyl plastic paintable shutters so my wonderful hubby volunteered (ok he was a bit coerced) to build them for me. He is a keeper! I think they turned out adorably... and that's really all that matters since I'm the one who has to live here :-) I even got in on the fun, I painted the boards and I even painted our old wicker chairs from the natural color to black...only four more windows to go!

"Talk of the Desert" TV

Melinda Reed is a talk show host in Palm Springs and invited Eddie & me to be guests on her show. We had such a fun time talking about our pageant experiences (she's a former Mrs. California) and talking about my platform "Foster Adoption Awareness". It has been rewarding to be involved with these types of appearances that have really made a difference with helping me get the word out. Not to mention...it's fun!