So let me back up just a tiny tinie bit... The flight to Austin was great. This may not sound so great but it was.... I spent majority of the flight writing out poetry and purging my soul and crying my eyes out. I wrote about my grandmother's passing and was full of love and nostalgic memories. All I could think was thank goodness the people I'm sandwhiched in between are sleeping lol. After that the lady to my right woke up and started questioning me with much interest, she could clearly see I was a writer. She asked about my line of work and we found a common ground. Now we are connecting for the greater good of humanity and great things are going to come to Live Out Loud Charity just by meeting her.. I then thought... ok this is why I am meant to be on this trip but I had a funny feeling that, that wasn't all. So on my shuttle ride to the hotel it was just me and the driver. She was a young woman in her early twenties and we had a great time talking about competing, volunteering, etc. She was lacking direction in her life and through our conversation she was inspired to become a TruthMedia Mentor. After I told her all about it she fell in love with the entire concept... so again I thought this must be the reason I am here! And of course it didn't end there.... That weekend was one of the most exciting weekends of my life. I found out that I was accepted for some major modeling jobs back home, I learned that Tiara Magazine was expanding internationally in several countries and hit China for the 2nd time, and I was able to connect with so many amazing people. The cherry on top was enjoying my time with my room mates Kelina Phifer and Kristina Rowe. The best was meeting my director Annette Rushing and her wonderful staff. The biggest bonus was seeing my friend Tim Kretschmann from PageantCast. I put an image below of me, Kristina from Splash and Sparkle, and of Tim Kretschmann. It was fun to have 3 pageant media personalities in one place.
After completing my speech, the most rewarding part was finding out that I inspired so many people in the audience and so many were crying. I was greeted in the hallway by a few familiar faces that I met the day before and by many others saying that I really touched them. I give thanks to God because before I speak I always pray that God gives me His words... not mine. During intermission I sat with one the queens and found out she was former military. She shared with me that our military have such a high rate of suicide. This is something I was very aware of and something I want to help combat through LOLC in the next 5 years. But I realized God had a different plan... to speed up that process. She completely agreed and we were both so moved. So there I stood and the announcements were about to be made.... I still didn't expect to win. Let me tell you why... I didn't sleep the night before. I had food poisoning the day before and didn't know it therefore I actually did not sleep the entire night and was suffering and had rehearsal at 7:30am in the morning. I thought for sure I would lose because of that. I was happy interviews were the day before but I thought Id never win because of how I felt and my lack of energy. And I was competing with a hurt ankle. Having done that once before in 2009 when I competed for Miss Illinois I learned my lesson. I knew to take it easy as much as possible. That meant walking in flats, sitting as much as possible, and taking off my heels at any time possible. So again... there I stood and the winner was announced and to my surprise they called my name. I was stunned, shocked, and overwhelmed with emotion (not to mention I hadn't slept in a very long time!) I cried, grabbed my face, and had a total beauty queen crowning moment LOL. I remember the emcee saying, "She is having a moment...hold on everyone!" It was so funny, really it was. I included a picture of me and the emcee below.... he is such a great performer! Sherrie Gearheart and Jade Estrada
The crowning continued and the lady I spoke with about military suicide won as well :) and the lady I bought my last minute evening gown from.... won as well. And the list goes on. It was such a beautiful experience. I have an amazing director and I am honored to represent this pageant system until early of next year. We pass our titles on before a full year since they bumped the pageant up. That means I have a lot of work to get done!!! :) My very first weekend with the title I made several appearances. My favorite by far is visiting terminally ill children in the hospitals on behalf of Project Michelangelo. We then visited an elderly man which moved my heart tremendously since I have such a soft spot for our elderly (hence the creation of LOLC Choir). We also ran into some puppies lol. I placed 3 images below. (it was Halloween hence the costumes!)
I am pictured with Meiling Jin and Jennifer Mussman
I was also asked by Jojo Sayson to appear in the NANBF bodybuilding show where he is a major sponsor and judge. He had an opportunity to speak on stage about his new endeavor Jojo Sayson's Project Michelangelo. Just minutes before his speech he told me that he would like me to speak... of course he would do that lol :) Thank God speaking is my passion lol I graciously accepted his request. I spoke about Project Michelangelo and many people were moved. We also received additional donations which is always helpful. In a future blog I will post more about Project Michelangelo and my role as International Publication Relations Representative. It is an honor to hold this position and to sit on the international board. I will also post about LOLC's latest blog, my new NISP achievement award, the LOLC choir, my latest photoshoots, my newest appearances as the editor of Tiara Magazine, and more. For now enjoy the 2 pics from the NANBF appearance below.
Last but certainly not least I enjoyed several photo shoots in the last few weeks of my reign. I will include images in my new blog posts coming very very soon :)
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