Queen For A Day!!!!!

Today is Sunday, December 30th, and as 2007 comes to an end, I was reminded once again how precious life is! My sister queen Miss Michigan USA, Elisabeth Crawford, invited me to attend a Queen For A Day event! I had heard of this event before, but I had never participated in one and now I am hooked! :)

My mom and I drove about an hour over to Ann Arbor's Motts Children's Hospital. Motts was a first for me too. Once we found our way to the main lobby we met two wonderful ladies who are very committed to the Queen For A Day organization! Dena Rominick and Tina Gallando greeted us and told us what to expect. We registered at the desk and made our way to visit our Queen For A Day! I was a bit apprehensive as I didn't know how I would react and I didn't want to cry.

When we found the room, we met the cutest little 6 year old girl named Breanna Strange! She remembered Elisabeth from a fashion/modeling show that Breanna did just before her recent surgery! Small world! Here mom and dad were also present for this uplifiting experience!

Breanna has a condition I had never heard of called: Dystonia. It is often compared to Parkinson's Disease where the nervous system has a miss-fire of communication and the body sometimes twitches and is very "tight" which can cause pain. Dystonia does not cause any mental problems and I could tell she was very bright! I was very impressed with Breanna ~ to be so young with so many obstacles already at six years old and many more challenges ahead she remains cheerful and has the sweetest disposition! Breanna is in the first grade and loves Disneyworld characters (me too) so we had alot in common from the start! Plus we both love princesses, crowns, queens, and anything that sparkles!

Breanna had surgery three days earlier and was in a full body cast. She looked sooooooo tiny in that big hospital bed, but she had a big grin for all four of us! We all took turns introducing ourselves and she didn't miss a word! Her favorite color is purple and she wore a purple ribbon in her hair. She loved the fleece blanket with purple and pink ballerina's on it and requested purple sparkly nail polish when she had her manicure! She loved all the toys gifts and crafts she recieved and you could tell she will be a future beauty queen one day as she loved to be photographed!

Toward the end of our visit she was presented the crown and scepter, which she loved, and was officially the Queen For A Day! We promised we would see her again and we all wish her a very speedy recovery. The full cast will remain on for three more weeks, but she knows that she will be better soon!

Her neighbors and friends were visiting too while we were there. They were so sweet and waited patiently as the festivities were going on. At the end of the "tea party" the girls were given the Boa feathers we were wearing and they were delighted! I am sure we will see them again too!

It was a precious day, with a precious little girl, who reminded me today how precious life is . . . . and the relationships we share are precious too! Thank you Breanna!

*** To learn more about Dystonia go to any search and it will lead you to several links that explain it much better than I can! Breanna also has a webite of her own as she is trying to educate others about Dystonia and how it affects her life! I have not been able to find it for some reason, but when I do I will post it for you!

www.breannarose.org

www.breannaswish.org

www.roomforbreanna.com

American Red Cross !!!

Thursday night, Dec 20th, I volunteered my time to the American Red Cross Blood Drive in my hometown of Clarkston! I met some very lovely people and I was amazed how many of them have given blood over several years!

I was very excited to give my own blood and went through the registration. Then they tested my blood and I learned I was "deferred." My iron level was .01 under their requirement!!!!!!!!! I was bummed out and will be taking my vitamins and eating more veggies so that I will be ready for the next blood drive. I hope I pass next time! In the meantime, I was given a little sticker to wear that said "I Tried!!"

My friend and Clarkston News Writer, Trevor Keiser, came to do an article on my first Blood Drive and my giving blood to share with our readers. I feel bad that he made the trip for nothing. I know that sounds silly, but I wanted to give my blood, but it just wasn't right this time, but I WILL try again! Trevor was so great about it and told me not to worry! He is such a good trusted friend and my brother in Christ!

Bless their hearts, my mom and dad came and they both gave blood! I have some pics of my dad GIVING! They made me so proud!!

Won't you give . . . .please???!!!

Coalition On Temporary Shelters (COTS)!!!!!

This morning, Saturday, Dec 15th, I had the pleasure of taking part in a Christmas event at the beautiful Fisher Building in Detroit put on by the Coalition On Temporary Shelter! I just learned of the event on Friday and so I am very thankful to have been able to volunteer with this wonderful organization! The inside of this building has to be one of the most architecturally ornate and beatiful structures I have ever been in! The entire ceiling was hand-painted! Unbelieveable ~ it MUST have taken years! I wish I could have walked through the Fisher Theatre, but it was locked. Maybe sometime in the future I will do that!

I arrived at 8:30am to attend the volunteer meeting and get assignments as there were several different stations for the little children and their families to share in the joy and fun of the holiday season! There was a Karaoke station (and boy could everyone sing great!!), a face painting station, a Snowman craft table, a Christmas book storytelling station (with yummy cookies) and a visit with Santa! All of the stations began after a delicious breakfast with all the fixins'!!

I had so much fun greeting all the guests and mingling with as many as I could! Everyone was asked to bring $5 and an unwrapped toy! The toys were amazing and I couldn't believe, once again, how generous the people of Michigan were, to be sure that the children would have a wonderful Christmas experience! And with Michigan's economy right now I was actually humbled by what I saw and had to fight back the tears.

Some of the guests included: Santa Claus, Paws from the Detoirt Tigers baseball team, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, Roary from the Detoirt Lions football team, and last, but not least, Maggie ~ American Coed's Miss Michigan Princess (she took 1st runner-up at the Nationals pageant and was actually a substitute at the last minute!!) She and her family are so nice!

Christmas is such a very special time of year and I hope that everyone who participated in the COTS Christmas event today felt blessed to be a part of it. I know I did!!! :) And it even snowed a little bit which added to the Christmas holiday spirit!

Volunteering for Christmas! :)

I love to participate in community service/volunteer work! Saturday morning I volunteered with Lighthouse of Oakland County (same place and organization as the Thanksgiving baskets) to help put together Christmas gifts for needy families.

My job was to go through the list and make sure all of the gifts were the right sizes and age appropriate for each family! My first assignment was to go through 21 boxes for the first family! It took forever, but well worth it! I wish I could see the smiles on their faces this Chrsitmas when they open everything!

As always, I met the most wonderful people and met several other teens who were volunteering too! When we had a break in the action, I had the opportunity to share all about the Miss Michigan Teen USA pageant and all of the volunteer work and events I have had the opportunity to participate in! They had many questions and it was nice to laugh and talk about how similar and different our high schools were too! I think we all left feeling good that in some small way we were all able to make someone else's Christmas special this year! :)

National Kidney Foundation Ball :)

"Motown Magic" was the theme of the annual "Kidney Ball" held at the Marriott-Detroit Renaissance Center last night!! It was an absolutely amazing experience!!

When I learned about this event I wanted to go. My maternal grandmother died of kidney failure in September of 1986 before I was born. I wanted to honor her memory this Christmas by attending the Ball and I am so glad I went! I honestly don't know alot about kidney care or anything about the Foundation, but in one short night I learned quite a bit.

The event started out with a silent auction, followed by a delicious Angus Beef dinner. Next we saw a powerful video and story about a young girl named Natalie Polachowski (see picture) who very suddenly experienced kidney failure. She is such an inspiration and the sweetest girl! After the dinner, Christopher, from Christopher's Flowers, was the emcee/auctioneer for the live auction!! He was fantastic!! He is the same Christopher who provides the flowers at our Michigan Teen and Miss Michigan USA pageants! There were 12 "live" auctioned items and one sold for $26,000!!!!!!!!!!!The generosity of these people was mind-blowing!! I couldn't believe it!! And all of the money went toward the Kidney Foundation! How cool is that???

Seated at our table was a woman who yelled out, "You are wearing my crown & banner!!" She told me that in 1979 she won the title of Miss Michigan Teen USA!!!! What a small world! Her name is Sandra Finkelstein and she won the Congeniality Award at the Miss Teen USA at nationals that year!! She was the shortest contestant at the pageant at 5'4" and said she had a blast competing at Nationals and reassured me I would too! We became fast friends and I am sooooooooo glad that we met! She is awesome!

Before the night began, I was waiting in the beautiful Marriott hotel when the Dallas Cowboys football team walked in!! I got a picture taken with one of them, but at this writing, I don't know his name!! He didn't know mine either so we were even!! :)

This Kidney Ball is much like the Silhouette Ball I will be attending in NYC so now I have got my "feet wet" so to speak!! And I can't wait!

New York City . ..here I come!!!! :)

I was so surprised to find a lovely certificate of appreciation for my work with the National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) that arrived in the mail for me last week!!!

Even more surprising, and a million times better, was a phone call from Kris House, the Event Coordinator, with an invitation to NYC to their 13th annual Gala Ball!! NOF is flying my mom and me out to NYC on Friday, May 16th to attend the biggest fund-raiser of the year!!! They are putting us up in the Waldorf Astoria for two nights and flying us back on Sunday!!! We were so shocked and we can't wait!

Last year Joan Rivers and her daughter, Melissa, were the hosts of the Silhouette Ball! There were many celebrities in attendance and I can't wait to see who will be there this year! So many people volunteer a tremendous amount of their time and effort to help raise awareness of this very important issue! It has truly been my honor to be a part of this organization and hear all about them at the Gala!

Mom and I are already planning some of the places we want to visit while in NYC: Ford Modeling Agency, Rockefeller Center, Central Park, Upper East Side, and the Statue of Liberty! I have no idea if there will be enough time to see all of that, but we sure will try!

Of course there will be so much more to tell you when I return and I will fill you in on all of the details!

Oh, I am soooooooooooo blessed!! :)

Miss Ohio Teen USA and Miss Ohio USA pageant!!!

I had such a blast at both Ohio pageants! The girls were SO nice and it was awesome to meet both the West Virginia Teen and the new Ohio Teen! I also met the West Virginia and new Ohio Miss USA queens, they were so kind! It was also really nice to spend more time with Elisabeth Crawford a.k.a. Peanut! I can't wait to go to Nationals with the wonderful girls and have the opportunity to get to know them even better! It was also great to see all of the pageant staff again since I haven't seen them since my competition back in September! It was like a mini reunion! The final shows were amazing and all of the contestants were stunning! The competition at Nationals will be fierce, but we'll all be rockin' it ; ) !!!!