Dirty Dancing

Me, Lola & Dee Dee



Me & Dee Dee inside the pantages (trying to get a shot of the set behind us)


I was an honorary family member on Sun with the Bonfield girls.

My neighbor Dee Dee invited me to go along with her family members for a girls afternoon out to the theater and dinner. We saw Dirty Dancing at the Pantages and had dinner at Tony Romas all compliments of her sweet mama Lola.

We had a blast...the dancing was amazing and the set was like none I had seen before, it used a lot of techology for the backdrop - I don't want to say too much lest I spoil it for some of you that might be going to see it.

It's always fun to have a girls day out!

So I stink at blogging

My girlfriend Traci, who only has the world's cutest blog and is just good like that (ps she designed my header) sent me a harsh note that it's march and I still have "meeting Santa" as my "latest" blog. So here's to you Traci...I updated my blog. And I'm stealing our spa picture....

We were able to steal away for a few hours, thanks to our dear hubbies taking care of the kids to get a little pampering from Burke Williams. All I can say is yum.

Cruisin through Naples

There's an area in Long Beach called Naples that goes off the hook every year with homes that decorate up the hilt. We spent the evening with our friends Meredith & Horacio and their little guy walking the canals and enjoying the festive atmosphere.

Mamma Mia

So we recovered from our June road trip with the girls and felt we were ready to venture off on another adventure not too far away...Vegas. Izzy & Audrey took the trek with us and we packed up for a mere 5 hour drive (which turned more into 8 hours when you have two little squirmies riding in the back seat). My dear friend Judy (aka Mrs. Nevada Intl) made arrangements for us to all see Mamma Mia and not only that, hooked us up with the most amazing suite ever at the Palazzo - the newest addition to the Venetian. Our room was absolutely spectacular...if any of you have experienced the Venetian, the rooms are actually suites with a step down living room area. Greg was in heaven with 3 flat screen t.v's (one in the bathroom too!)

Judy's daughter's graciously offered to babysit the girls while the 6 of us decked ourselves out for an evening out. Mamma Mia was super fun. Gotta love the music of ABBA. Afterwards we indulged in the best ice cream cake, compliments of Judy, at her house and had a good time catching up.

The next day, Greg and I took the girls to MGM to see the lions. "G" just loves lions so that was a complete hit not to mention all the lights and activity in and of itself.

On the ride home we stopped in a small town called Etiwanda - love this place, fabulous shopping and sooo cute. Anyway, they already had a Christmas village, tree and Santa's workshop so I figured this would be a great time to introduce G to Santa. My fun plan backfired as she literally ran out of Santa's workshop screaming
"No Santa, scary Santa, Bye Bye". I'm quite sure adults within the mile could hear her. I guess it would be rather strange to have your parents sit you on the lap of a complete stranger dressed in a big red suit with a huge white beard. Someday she'll appreciate it ;-)

Good times, good friends

It's not often Greg and I get the whole day to play but this past week we had just that. My parents offered to watch the girls and Greg and I headed down to San Diego to hang out with my dear friend Judy and her husband Terry. I met Judy at Mrs. Int'l the year I competed, she was Mrs. Nevada, and long story short, she's a friend for life. She was a constant support throughout my year, sending me the cutest notes and goodies as well as a listening ear to hear about what's happening with our family through the foster care process.

So Judy and her husband had a wonderful opportunity to take a little vacay of their own in S.D. and there was no way I was going to miss an opportunity to see my friend live and in person.

We had a fabulous day doing nothing but relaxing on the deck of their condo over looking the ocean, walking the pier, watching the sea lions, and enjoying a yummy dinner at the Cheesecake factory.

I wish I could designate everyday to be a "friend" day and just have the opportunity to soak up each one of my friends. I realized how busy I tend to make myself and how important it is to slow down and enjoy those around you.

A Reason to Celebrate

Our friends Andy & Sandra celebrated their 10th year anniversary with friends and family this past weekend. The celebration began with their baptism in the freezing cold Pacific (ok maybe not freezing but definitely cold!) Then the party gathered at Deb & Larry's home (our pastor's right across from the beach) for the renewal of their vows. Sandra looked absolutely gorgeous (you wouldn't have known she was previously dunked in the ocean) and the vows were so sweet...who knew Andy was such a romantic ;-) The night was capped off with a variety of delectable sweets and fellowship. Congratulations to being a wonderful example of what marriage should be!! Here's to 10 x 10 more years!

An evening with friends.

Every Christmas I go all out and cook my traditional Prime Rib dinner with all the fixings...well, Greg works with a bunch of guys down at the ship yard and brags to them about how good this particular meal is...he convinced me to fix up the same meal for a few of his friends just two weeks after I finished doing it for Christmas. There's a reason I only do this once a year...it's a ton of work. We had a great time though and the food was fabulous especially with George's addition of Lobster-my favorite! He brought fresh lobster tails and gave me a quick lesson on an easy but scrumptious way of cooking them.

Happy New Year!!!

We arrived home from the wedding to find our dear friends Jay & Tre ready to ring in the new year with us...we knew they were going to be there and were prepared for several other people but alas the cold bug must have visited everyone else b/c they all ended up bowing out. One of our neighbors we just recently met came over and our small but mighty group rang in the new year with true style...ok we were in sweats and jeans but we had fun none the less.

Anthony & Connie Lema's Wedding

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Greg and I attended the wedding of a good friend of mine, Connie Leamon & Anthony Lema. Connie and I go way back to my Miss America days. She was a local director back then and was a travel chaperon for me at different events. We always had a blast together and have some great memories (ie...locking Connie's keys in her jeep and being stranded, to name just one instance ;-) It was a beautiful ceremony complete with bagpipes and just a "little" wind...the Santa Ana's showed up...but the goal was accomplished none the less, and Connie is officially Mrs. Lema. I'm so happy for the two of them and wish them many wonderful years to come. What a great way for them to start 2008 (it was a New Year's Eve wedding). The reception was like a reunion for me, seeing so many dear faces from my pageant days...I captured just a handful in my slide show. It's always so good to catch up with my "extended" pageant family. Be sure to click on the very small arrow on the right hand side of the slide show for more pics. Enjoy!

Another Cotillion Christmas...

Can't believe I'm already posting another Cotillion Christmas...seems not too long ago I wrote about last years party. As is typical with the Martines, they went all out and splurged on giving us gift certificates to Burke Williams Day Spa...along with a bottle of Champagne and glasses to boot. I'm looking forward to six yummy weeks off from work!! Although...I have a feeling it's going to be a filled six weeks of whatever I can possibly pack in...that's just how I am ;-)

Pastor Larry's 50th Birthday Bash

Make a slide show, scrapbook or ecard

Last Sat. Greg and I celebrated, along with many others, Pastor Larry's 50th birthday. Deb did an amazing job transforming their home into the perfect setting to celebrate the occasion...it started off with valet parking, coat check, a catered dinner of prime rib and wonderful fellowship. It was an honor to be a part of the festivities. Happy Birthday Larry!

Encouragement from those who have gone before

JR Mahon was a guest speaker at Halogen last Sunday evening and challenged us to get out of our comfort zones and love people, all people. How easy it is for us to walk down the street and easily overlook the homeless or those that don't fit into our neatly scheduled lives. If we say we are who we are then we need to invest in loving people, investing in relationships. JR invested in reaching out to foster children and last year he and his wife adopted a sibling set of three. After the service Greg and I had JR, Devin (host of real fusion & one of our pastors), Andy (producer of real fusion), John (Adoption Advocate) and a handful of others over to our house to talk about how we are going to challenge the American church to do more for the orphans. After all, it is a biblical mandate to the church to do such - calling it the only "pure religion", to take care of the orphan and widow. It was a blessing to be encouraged by JR and John and his wife Terry - who adopted 5 foster children- as Greg and I are going through the very process they went through.

Sunday afternoon with friends...

I love a leisurely Sunday afternoon with no running around and the time to sit and relax with good friends. Greg BBQ'd burgers and the boys watched Sun. afternoon football while we girls went to the spa for hair cuts and pedicures...what better of a way to spend an afternoon.

Miss Teen USA

I had a blast with my gal Judy (Mrs. Nevada Int'l) at the Miss Teen USA Pageant which happened to be held close by in Pasadena at the end of August. Gaspar happened to have extra tickets to the show that he graciously gave Judy & me. Among those I saw/met, Scott Grossman - the choreographer from back when I did USA, Casey McClain - former Miss California Teen USA, Mrs. CA & Miss Ca Int'l (just recently crowned at Eddie's pageant) & Stephanie Brink - Former Miss Ca Teen USA & her parents which are the pastor's of the church in which I grew up. At the after party I met Miss Teen USA Katie Blair (I actually met her earlier in the week at an MTV reality show she was taping), along with Rachel Smith, Miss USA - you might remember the big fall at Universe? but she certainly recovered well and is absolutely gorgeous in person...and to wrap it all up, Miss Universe - Riyo Mori.

Hope you have the time...

...and yet another slideshow from Kimberly a.k.a. Mrs. Alaska - these include shots of her and Idaho arriving, North Shore Performing Arts Center & our orientation.


Mrs International 2007

Cocktail dinner Pics

As you can see, Kimberly, Mrs. Alaska, was busy catching shots of all of us - I'm so glad, b/c she preserved so many fun memories for many of us.


Mrs International 2007 Day 2 Cocktail Dinner

More Pics from Gurnee Mills-compliments of Kimberly

So my good friend Mrs. Alaska - Kimberly was the photographer extrodinaire during pageant week and has been sending me all these great photos...enjoy!


Mrs International Gurnee Mills

Miss & Teen International Pageant

It's amazing how long and hard you work toward a goal and when that time finally comes it literally goes into warp speed. Tonight was the final pageant for the Miss & Teen contestants and I now have two new sister queens to share my year. The new Miss Teen International 2007 is Alexandra DeSantis (Teen Ohio) and the new Miss International 2007 is Whitney Kudela (Miss Georgia). Again, I don't have any shots from the pageant itself, just shots afterwards. I had the privilege of introducing the prelim winners and the courts of honor at the coronation ball this evening and am truly enjoying getting to know the staff and directors of other state pageants as well as the families and other contestants. I'm looking forward to a wonderful year!

Miss Intl Prelims

Tonight was my "official first appearance" as Mrs. International. I had the privilege of sitting in the "box" with Mel & Mary, my new directors. I must say it was nice to be sitting on this side of the stage without any pressure to perform. Mary, our Miss California did a great job tonight...I personally think she has the best walk of all the gals and truly worked the stage tonight. She made us very proud. Unfortunately, I can't take pictures during the actual pageant so here are some shots from afterwards with my sister queens.

And the winner is....

I think I'm still in a bit of shock to think that I was blessed to be honored with the position of Mrs. International 2007. The group of women that I became acquainted with this week were extraordinary and I am humbled to be their representative. The night started out with the announcement of the top 10 after our opening number. I was called third. Right after the announcements we changed into our onstage interview outfits to answer a question regarding our platform. I was asked about Heart Gallery and how I would implement it on a national level. We moved right into fitness, wearing a green two piece aerobic wear outfit. The final element, my favorite, was evening gown. The part I likeed best was being escorted by my husband Greg. There's just something so calming about seeing him meeting me in the middle of that stage and helping me up the stairs that puts me in the right frame of mind. Just as quickly as the evening started it was practically over and they began announcing the runners up...beginning with fourth, Melissa Zwilling, Mrs. Gulf States, third - Jessica Smith, Mrs. Colorado, second - Terrianne Small, Mrs. Maryland, first - Kecia Pringle, Mrs. Ohio. Six of us remained on stage and moved closer to the center waiting for that last name to be called...and when I heard my name I was truly shocked...you hope to win, but you know it's a long shot, there are so many qualified women. I am excited to get started on furthering my work with Heart Gallery on a national level and to see what God has in store for this amazing opportunity I've been granted. Thank you to all who have supported me with your prayers and encouragement it has meant the world to me.