Thanksgiving Baskets :)

Getting up early on a Saturday morning isn't always easy, but if it is for community service or a charity event, it is always worth it!

On Saturday, November 17th, mom and I headed for Pontiac to help pack Thanksgiving baskets for the needy. This program is run through Lighthouse of Oakland County, a non-profit organization that meets the needs of Oakland county residents ~ they even help to pay bills when people are struggling in an emergency situation such as no water, electricity, and even help pay for pharmacy needs.

I met so many wonderful people who wanted to help others during the Thanksgiving holiday! Our morning crew volunteered from 9am-12noon. There were several tables stocked with foods of all kinds and all of us volunteers walked around in a very organized way. We went from station to station and filled up brown grocery bags that were called "baskets." We started out with singles, then to two person families, to 3, and finally bags for families of 4 and the bags got heavier and heavier! Mom and I decided to put cardboard box lids under our bags because the cans were so heavy and the cardboard lids helped keep the heavy cans from falling over in the bag. Pretty soon others saw us and did the same thing!! We had started a trend!!! :)

In three hours we had bags for 450 families! It was awesome to see all of the food stocked on the tables even after filling 450 "baskets." We felt we had barely made a dent, but a new crew came in for the afternoon to continue the work from 1pm-4pm.

I hope they found the time as rewarding an experience as I did! With our state really struggling right now because of the economy and the automotive industry up and leaving Michigan, and all of the foreclosures, it is so nice to know that many pople will have food on their table this year that otherwise might not have!

Miss Paw Paw ~ Blossomtime pageant :)

On Sunday afternoon I had the pleasure of working backstage with many lovely contestants from the Paw Paw area for a combined Teen and Miss pageant! It is a prelim for the Miss Blossomtime pageant held on the west side of the state! I had never heard of it before and I was thrilled to be asked to speak to the contestants before the competition began and also have an on-stage interview as well! I was invited by the pageant director, Mr. Josh Grimes, to share my pageant experiences with the girls because most of them had never participated in a pageant before! But you wouldn't have known that as they really showed a great deal of confidence and poise for newbies! I was so proud of each one of them for doing such a great job! :)

Mr. Grimes was hilarious and made everything so much fun!! The event was done so nicely and professionally, but the girls were definitiely the stars of the show!! My interview was a blast and Mr. Grimes put me at ease immediately!! He said I could talk for as long I wanted!! I did talk for a bit, but I was anxious to get back to see the rest of the competition as I wanted to see who won!! Thank you, Mr. Grimes, for including me in such a special night!

While I was talking backstage, before the pageant started, it was my honor to meet the new Miss Southwest Michigan, Kaylee Magroo!! She came as visiting royalty too and shared her talent routine (a monologue from Steel Magnolias) which almost had me in tears ~ she was so convincing. The only reason I was able to hold it together was because my interview was up right after she was done! Kaylee and I hit it off immediately when we met!! She is an amazing person and absolutely gorgeous with a warm and genuine personality! She and I share the same platform of building confidence in youth while speaking on self-esteem issues! We are both Christians and we know the gift that has been given to us as titleholders because of the Lord's blessings!

I plan to attend the Blossomtime pageant to see each city titleholder come together and compete for the Miss Blossomtime title!! I'll let you know how it goes! :)

Miss Capital City!

On Saturday night, Nov 10th, I attended the very first Miss Capital City (MAO) pageant! It was held at the Cadillac Club in Lansing! It was great to be able to cheer for so many of my friends that have cheered for me in the past! I love all pageants and all things that sparkle!

The whole night was fun and the competition was fierce! I am so glad that I was not a judge because all of the contestants were beautiful, wellspoken, and very talented! There were a few girls I have competed with before that have moved up to the Miss age group and they were awesome! I am so proud of them!

My friend and mentor, Tiffany Griffin, won the title and has an exciting year ahead of her! On Saturday she will be in the Silver Bells lighted parade which will end up at the steps of the Capital!! I would love to be there to see it!!!

Even though the room was full of MAO fans, I was deeply touched by the kind words of congratulations and the hugs! It was such a special night and I was happy to be a part of it!

Speaking on Self-Esteem at Malow Jr. High !! :)

Malow Jr. High students rock! What a great group of kids! Go Mustangs!

Because of a wonderful invitation from the school guidance counselor, Mrs. Witt, I had the amazing opportunity to go to Malow Jr. High, in Shelby Twp, and speak to eighth grade students for six hours on Friday, November 9th. Before I even started to share my message I was presented with a beautiful plaque to thank me for coming in! I was so surprised and I will treasure it always! The day was very exciting! I was on my feet for most of the day and I now have a new appreciation for all of my teachers! My feet were "dog" tired by the end of the day if you know what I mean! It was my day off from Clarkston High School and I was so thrilled to be asked to share my story with these students! :)

Malow Jr. Highers are required to take a Life Skills class. I spoke during each of the six classes ~ about one hour for each class. That is almost six hours of talking! Believe me, I was tired by the end and slept great that night! During the six hours, I talked about self-esteem issues, peer pressure, and I especially tried to help them with practical ways of finding out "who they are" and, of course, shared my pageant experience.

I am now hooked on public speaking and I hope that I will have many more opportunities to share my story and help other students to find out who they are! Motivational speaking is awesome!

Shortly after returning home from Malow Jr. High several of the students contacted me through myspace! It's great that they learned something that I had said or that maybe they don't feel so alone in a situation! I am thrilled they have written to me! I understand the responsibility I have been given with this title and just wanted them to know that if they had anything personal that they wanted to discuss with me that they could contact me on myspace. I have heard from several of the guys too ~ they weren't bored ~ they were listening! :)

I gave all of the students a challenge to take the time to find out who they are and I hope that they will do just that! And YOU can too! :)

I support ALL pageants!!!!

Saturday evening on November 3rd I made a Royalty appearance at the Miss Washtenaw's Outstanding Teen Pageant (MAO ~ Miss America Organization)!! I was there to support my friend Richelle! She did an awesome job and I was so proud of her! :)

For those of you who may not know, I have competed in several different pageant systems: Sunburst, Dreamgirls, National American Miss (NAM), MAO, International, and this year the USA pageant. I support ALL pageants! :)

I have now won three State titles: in 2005 Michigan Dreamgirls State Pageant, 2006 Miss Michigan Jr. Teen ~ National American Miss and now Miss Michigan Teen USA 2008!!! I was first runner-up in the Michigan International pageant in March 2006 just before the win at NAM!! I have been in the top 5 in a few MAO pageants as well and won a local Sunburst when I was 12! :) Every experience (win or lose) has taught me alot about myself and has helped me to grow and develop into a confident competitor!!

If you have never been in a pageant I encourage you to try at least one! It will change your life. It sure did mine!! :)

Clarkston News :)

On Wednesday, October 31st (Halloween Day) I had my first official interview as Miss Michigan Teen USA 2008!! My little hometown has a newspaper called The Clarkston News and it is a once-a-week publication. I recieved a phone call from Trevor Keiser, the staff writer, and he asked me to stop in after school for a casual conversation about the State pageant in Port Huron, what it felt like to win, what my plans are for the year, prizes won, and the National pageant. It was fun and Trevor was so nice that he made it enjoyable and I wasn't nervous at all. He took my picture as well and it is scheduled to be in the newspaper on Wednesday, November 7th!

Tim Priest Photoshoot!! :)

Yesterday was my photoshoot with fashion photographer, Tim Priest, and it was an AMAZING experience! I had such a blast! He was really nice and very funny! Everything was unique, original, edgy, and different!! I loved it!

I had five outfits chosen and had three different hairstyles. The make-up was amazing and my hair was great and looked flaming red! Alicia, Tim's assistant for hair and makeup, is so talented! And she is very sweet and supportive. The photoshoot was in Grand Rapids at 9 A.M. but I didn't get finished until 12:30pm. Tim knew of some really great backdrops around Grand Rapids for the outdoor shots. My USA sister queen, Elisabeth Crawford, had her photoshoot after me!

I had a few photos taken downtown right in the middle of rush hour traffic right beside the outdoor skating rink! They are some of my favorite pictures! A man driving by in his car told Tim that we could not work in the street according to Police regulation, but after the man drove around the block we went back and got the shot! My mom heard people commenting "I bet she is cold!!" Yes, I was. It was freezing out there! But I was all too happy to do the photoshoot! Even two Griffins ice hockey players walked by so my mom grabbed them for pictures too! It was just a wonderful day for me in every way! :)

I am SOO excited to see the pictures when they come back to me on a disk! I had my mom take some behind the scene pictures so you can see a little bit of how my day went! I will post my professional photos at a later date after I recieve them!

This was a great experience for me because my ambition is to return to Paris, France after I graduate from high school to model for two years! Then I will return to the US and continue modeling here. At least that is the plan! Yesterday's photoshoot was just another fantastic opportunity leading me toward my career ambitions! I am excited to see what other blessings God will have in store for me throughout this year and the rest of my life! :)

God bless!

Elizabeth :)