True Beauty!

On April 18 & 19th I was asked to be the guest speaker at a Christian Retreat for Jr and Sr. high school girls. My mom and I traveled about 5 hours to Indiana to spend some quality time with a group of amazing young girls! There were about 40 girls in attendance. They were so much fun and to think they are all my sister-in-Christ is mind blowing!

The weekend was spent learning about True Beauty and what it really is. What is true beauty???? I think that true beauty comes from within. It is how you feel about yourself and present that to the world!! How you give of your heart and volunteer service to others, your integrity, and pure heart. It is not about hair or eye color, or height, or weight, or fancy clothes, or perfect make-up. It is all about knowing who you are in Christ!!! It is that simple! He sees us so differently than how we see ourselves!

Friday night we heard a sermon by Pastor Billy Holden about how we treat others. And how we respond to others who are different than we are. He literally duct taped a man to a chair. His ankles and hands were bound. His ears, eyes, and mouth too. He was like that for almost 50 minutes, but the hardest part was watching him be "tortured" by Pastor Billy. The taped man was slapped, hit, and had a chair smahed over him. It was very upsetting to watch and it was getting hotter by the minute in the "sanctuary" area. Everyone was getting nervous, but it turned out fine and the duct taped man was not injured. It was definitely a sermon I will never forget. It made me think how we torture ourselves at times too.

On Saturday, the guys and girls had seperate agendas. The guys played sports and talked about guy issues. We girls had 3 different speakers on different subjects: inner beauty, purity, modesty. Then we were pampered with hair, make-up, and spa stations to visit. It was fun and I enjoyed sharing with the girls hair and make-up tips. After we were pampered, I was the final speaker of the weekend. I was asked to tie it all together. I was also asked to share with the girls how I deal with peer pressure on a daily basis. How do I view myself? How do I handle the pressure of always having to be "beautiful" when I may not feel like it? And boyfriend issues too.

I spoke to the girls honestly and shared with them that I waited until my 16th birthday for my first kiss. I think they were kind of floored!! : ) But it's true! I wanted to be able to say "Sweet Sixteen and Never Been Kissed" and I am glad I waited!!! : ) I shared how when I am dating someone I let them know right away that I will only hold hands, hug, and kiss. Anything further than that will not happen with me. If they are looking for sex they have the wrong girl. I want to be able to wait for my wedding night.

I shared with the girls that EVERY girl has to deal with self image problems. Even pageant girls including me. When I was 12 years old, I was already 5'8" tall with long red hair and very white skin. My nickname was "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and it really hurt. I thought I was ugly and too different. I had very few friends, didn't fit in, and didn't like myself at all. When I really stopped to learn that it is not the outside that makes us who we are, but the inside, I started to like myself. I began to develop a positive attitude about being unique and different. For me, it has made all the difference! When I truly embraced who I am my life got better and better!! My confidence in myself grew and I realized that I have alot to offer others, and the world, by just being myself! I think once you accept yourself your true beauty will really shine through!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I am sure you have heard this before. We girls were divided into groups and were told to cut out physical features from magazine models to "perfect" a true beauty and glue them on a sheet of paper!! No one could agree on what beauty was and the pictures were hilarious because nothing was symmetrical and the "models" couldn't have been uglier. All we could do was laugh, but it was a great lesson to see that beauty to one person is different for another.

I would like to thank Pastor Mandy Holden for inviting me to speak to these girls. It was such a blessing and honor to be a part of something that was so special!! I think the girls appreciated all the hard work and effort that went into making this weekend all about them! The make-overs were amazing and Pastor Mandy put her whole heart into doing something extra nice for the youth group and speaking so eloquently herself about waiting until marriage for sex!

Many of these girls still write to me through myspace and facebook and text me too! I am so blessed to have all these new friends!

At the conclusion of of one session, each of us recieved a piece of paper marking our promise to wait until we are married to become sexually involved. It was a commitment card and I have it taped inside my Bible! It was a great weekend and I hope that lives have been changed forever and that these amazing girls will know that their true beauty comes from within!

Women helping Women !! :)

On Saturday, May 3, 2008 I attended the Women Helping Women Luncheon & Fashion Show to help benefit the homeless women and their children at Grace Centers of Hope, a shelter for the homeless, which is located in Pontiac, MI. For one and a half years I volunteered at Grace in the Soup Kitchen and it was such a blessing to see a few residents of the shelter that I had worked with!

Many supporters came out to attend this wonderful event! It was such a blessing to be invited! I greeted the guests at the door and distributed program books. The event was hosted by three lovely women: Ruth Spencer an anchor from Local 4 News and known as "Ruth To The Rescue" because she does a special segment where she helps consumers find solutions tot heir complaints about businesses, products, or services. Doris Briscoe also hosted. She was a former anchor for WXYZ-TV/ Channel 7 News, but now owns her own Communications company. The last host was Teresa Tomeo who is an author and Syndicated Catholic talk show host. The three of them worked very well together and were very humorous! They kept things light and funny!

The first part of the event was a silent auction and the gifts were amazing!! I wish I could have bid on several of the prizes! But my favorite part of the event was seeing the women and their children from the shelter actually model in the Fashion Show!! The clothes were from the Somerset Collection from the Somerset Mall in Troy, MI.

Over seven hundred people attended this event and raised over $45,000 in a few short hours through all of the donations! It was a huge success and the women and children will benefit greatly from everyone's generosity! :)

Clarkston Youth Recognition Volunteer Award :)

I have a passion for volunteering!! I started volunteer work when I was 12 years old at a Homeless Shelter for Women and Children when I lived on the other side of the state. When we moved here in 2005, I continued to work at a different shelter in the Soup Kitchen! It was hard work, but very fullfilling and I was always so deeply blessed by the many "thank-you's" that came my way. Putting a meal into their hands (and stomachs) and a smile on their face made me feel like I really helped to make a difference in someone's life.

Now I volunteer my time with the National Osteoporosis Foundation as their official Teen Ambassador!!!! When I am able I also volunteer for the American Red Cross, Special Olympics, National Kidney Foundation, speaking at middle schools about self-esteem issues, and Christian retreats as well. I also participate in the Autism Walk, SADD Sticker Shock Distribution, Clarkston Coalition For Youth and the list . . . goes on . . . and on!!!

It was very exciting for me to recieve a Clarkston Community volunteer Youth Award! There were about 107 of us students from K-12th grades that were honored for our efforts in the community. Special music was provided, a guest speaker who thanked us and encouraged us to continue on, and a reception following the award ceremony!

Clarkston is a great place t live and I love to volunteer here whenever I can! :)

Michigan District JOOI Conference 2008

On Friday & Saturday April 25-26 I attended the JOOI Conference in Waterford, Michigan. This conference provided Leadership skills and information to make each Junior Optimist and Octagon clubs a huge success!!


My best friend, Amanda Cornwall, is the area President of our club and is also the Governor over all Clubs throughout the United States! I am sooooooooooo proud of her! :)


Friday night was mostly to socilaize and meet everyone. We had a pasta dinner, movie, games, gym fun and a pool party! Girls slept in the library and the guys slept in the gym.


On Saturday we started off with a Continential Breakfast and then had guest speakers, officer elections for next year, breakout sessions, we learned about Parlimentary procedures, problem solving, team building, advisor training, and finished with a film about ideas to use during the upcoming year. Our break included pizza (everyone's favorite!) and then we kept learning about how to have a successful year with new ideas!


I thought only our high school had the Octagon Club (a school volunteer organization) and so I was surprised to see so many other schools represented! I had a blast! As you all know by now, I LOVE community service! It's a great way to give back to your community and help others in the process! And if you are not involved in volunteering somewhere I hope that you will because it will change your life! It sure has mine!!:)

"Sticker Shock" Distribution with S.A.D.D.

This is my second year as a member of the S.A.D.D. (Students Against Destructive Decisions) club and each year, during the end of the school year, we go out with our club Director and a DARE police officer to local grocery, party, and liquor stores to distribute stickers to be placed on liquor bottles. These stickers bring attention to the need to monitor sales of alchol to minors. I feel this is very important and I am proud to be a part of this organization.


With all of the proms, Senior parties, Open Houses for graduates, etc. this message needs to be a reminder to others. Not just for this time of year, but all year round too!


I can honestly say that I have never tried alcohol and I have no intention of doing so. I have a great time without it and I know that the decisions I make will be clear and healthy ones and I will have no regrets when making postitive choices for my life and future!! :)

PS> I am the second from the right. The red-head!! :)

Youth Symposium with Clarkston Coalition For Youth!

On April 4-5 I attended the Youth Symposioum for the Coalition for Youth. I am a second year member and student representative on the Executive Board of the Clarkston Coalition for Youth ~ CCFY!! This is an organization that is community service based with many business people from our community on the Board. We meet once a month and work together to bring fun events, education, and services to the residents of Clarkston. It has been a pleasure to serve on this committee and I hope to continue during my Senior year of high school and beyond!


The Youth Symposioum had all students in the surrounding school districts come together to share our ideas take back to our own local towns. I roomed with Kelly Hyer, our acting President! She is sooooooo nice and works really hard to bring great things to Clarkston!



There were many different topics that were covered over the weekend which included leadership, how to recruit new members and ideas to use in our own Coalition. I learned a ton and found everything to be useful information. Each school made a poster or large trifold covered with information about their community and we had one too. This was also the time we could "steal" (not really, more like trade) others districts goodies (like mugs, pencils, key chains, etc.) I was very happy to represent to Clarkston at this Symposium and plan to attend next year!

Miss USA ~ Vegas Baby!! :)

Vegas, baby!!!! Yes! It was everything I was hoping for and more!! It was such an honor to be able to attend the Miss USA pageant and to cheer for the beautiful Elisabeth Crawford ~ Miss Michigan USA 2008!! She was gorgeous!! I wish that all of you could have the opportunity to see how truly beautiful she is on the inside too! Raised by missionary parents, she has a pure and sincere heart for the Lord and other people! She did a fantastic job at the pageant! I was sooooooooooo proud of her!!! And to cheer for her and say she is my pageant sister, friend, and sister-in-Christ was a thrill! She is awesome and I have no doubt that she will go very far in this life!!



I traveled alone by plane to Vegas and met up with the gorgeous Miss Ohio Teen USA 2008, Chelsie Folden, her mom, and little sister! We had a blast! The other teen contestants are gorgeous and fun too! The competition for the title of Miss Teen USA will be fierce, but I am definitely up for the challenge! I had the chance to meet several of the girls and each one is so special in there own way! All of them are trying to make a difference in their corner of the world and I am so happy to be in this Class of 2008 teens!

I had the opportunity to meet Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA. Those girls are absolutely STUNNING! Hilary was so sweet and I can't wait to get to know her a bit better during the competition!!!

I also had the opportunity to meet Mr Donald Trump and spoke to him two times!!! He was very gracious and held my hand as he pulled me through security to get our photo taken together!! I was very grateful that he did that for me! I also met Paula Shugart, but was not able to get a picture with her! Maybe I can the next time I see her!

I did get a photo with Joey Fatone from 'N Sync too! He was funny!! As well as Jason Crawford from Gossip Girls! They both were very nice!! Rob Schnider was a hoot! On the way back to our room Chelsie's sister, Taylor, saw him and he mouthed the words "I love you," as the elevator doors were closing. It was so funny! Too bad I didn't have the chance to meet him, but from a far he was hilarious!!

I was told that many people saw me on national television during the opening of Miss USA!! I have not seen it and my parents forgot to tape it. They didn't expect me to be on, but I heard they both jumped up off the couch when they saw me!! Haha!!! :) Hopefully someone recorded it and will be able to send me a copy, that would be very kind!

The USA pageant was so much fun! I wish you could have been there too! Everything was happening at once and all of it was glitz and glamour!! I loved it, that's the kind of thing I thrive on!! And everything was VERY loud! The energy in the auditorium was electric! It was truly amazing!!

Crystle Stewart (Miss Texas) won the title of Miss USA and she will be fantastic! She looked great and was in terrific shape! I am sure she worked really hard to get her swimsuit figure!! On stage she looked about 10 feet tall and very beautiful and really white teeth! Hopefully I will have the opportunity to meet her at Miss Teen USA!

I LOVED Vegas and I would love to return!! Planet Hollywood was amazing and stunning beyond belief! I wouldn't mind living there!!! ; )We stayed at the hotel and the food was delicious! It was REALLY hot in Vegas and once we checked out of the hotel I wore my heavy winter Michigan coat everywhere and looked like a goof ball!! I expected it to be much colder in the morning, but it was really 80 degrees when we got out in the sunshine! But what can you do??? I had a fantastic time and I would do it all again! Vegas was everything and more than I was expecting or hoping for and I wasn't disappointed one bit!!

And if you are wondering . . .yes, I hope to compete for Miss USA someday in the future!! :)