Mrs. Kentucky 2011

2011-10-04T18:37:00.000-07:00

2011-10-04T18:32:00.001-07:00

October 1: I spent a wonderful day in Hodgenville with my family at Lincoln Days. I was also the guest of honor at a reception for me :) at MAM Candy. Thank you to Linda Lindsey for putting it on. The treats were delicious!! Also, thank you for getting me probably the best ride in the parade. A beautiful horse drawn carriage. I had so much fun with everyone taking pictures and signing autographs.

October 4: My family and I took our yearly trip to Vanderbuilt for my son's check up and to visit the Ronald McDonald house. Boy, did we have a lot of pop tabs to deliver this year. I always enjoy the look on the womens faces that work their when we bring them in. I also love seeing my son's face light up when they make over him for helping others and giving back. I encourage everyone to help out in their communities and give back in some way.

I would like to invite everyone to come to this years crowning of Mrs. Kentucky 2012. It is on October 8, at The Oldham County Arts Center in Crestwood, Ky. The doors open at 4pm and the pageant starts at 5:30pm.

Thank you Kentucky for and INCREDIBLE year!!!!!! ;)

2011-09-25T05:47:00.000-07:00

2011-09-25T05:45:00.001-07:00

September 10-11: I spent the weekend reminiscing about my year as Mrs. Kentucky. I went through all my pictures from Mrs. America and from all my appearances. I picked out some of my favorites to use in this years program book. I also wrote my goodbye letter for the program book :(. This year has flown by but I have truely enjoyed every minute of it and know that I will forever have the memories from it!!

September 17: I was honored to be a judge at Grillin up a cure for Cystic Fibrosis in Glasgow. I brought my appetite with me. I judged bbq sauce, baked beans, pulled pork, pork shoulder and ribs......YUM!! Of course I wanted to contribute myself so I joined in on the festivities and tried the cake walk........ and I won!!!! I picked the most delicious cake; Hershey's Chocolate. It was incredible. My husband and my son also won at the cake walk so not only did I get my belly full of great bbq I also took home some yummy sweets. Thanks to Wendy White and Jamie Britt for inviting me to judge and help out such a great cause. I had a terrific time and a lot of money was raised.

2011-09-11T11:13:00.001-07:00

August 27: I spent the day in Louisville with QM and the queens club for a 10year photo shoot to celebrate Jo Ann's (aka Queen Mom's) tenth year as director for the Mrs. Kentucky pageant. All the formers looked amazing and our photo's turned out GREAT!! Thank you D for letting us use your home for the photo shoot. After the shoot we had dance rehearsal for the dance number all the formers we will be preforming at this years Mrs. Kentucky pageant. Then, since we were all dressed up in our black cocktail dresses from the photo shoot we went out for a nice dinner at Jeff Ruby's..... it was delicious.

August 28: I Went to lexington for the Mrs. Kentucky workshop. It was held at The Wedding Center Tres Chic Boutique and Salon Plaza. Thank you Deata for all your help and letting us use your store for this years workshop. All of the contestants that came were amazing. I had a great time getting to know them and to give them some insight on my year as Mrs. Kentucky. Any one of them would make a wonderful addition to or "queens club". I am looking forward to October 8th to see which one of these lucky ladies will be crowned the next Mrs. Kentucky!!

I invite you all to please come out and join me for Grillin' Up A Cure Cystic Fibrosis BBQ Cook-Off & Auction Sep 17, 2011 at 3:30 pm. Barren River Plaza , Glasgow, KY. I will be judging!!! :) There will lots of good food and games for the kids. All the proceeds will benefit a young girl from Glasgow who is sufferinging from Cystic Fibrosis. If you have any items that you would like to donate for the auction, please let me know. Thanks for all your support!!

2011-08-08T05:31:00.000-07:00

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July 23: I had the privilege to be the Master of Ceremonies for the Pre Teen, Teen and Miss SOKY fair pageants. We had such a wonderful turnout with over 100 contestants competing. It was a joy to seen all their beautiful faces and I would like to congratulate all the winners. Miss Pre Teen Miss SOKY - Hannah Abigail Yonts, Miss Teen SOKY - Rachel Renee Rickard, and Miss SOKY Fair - Katie Himes.

July 31: A day at the ballpark with Mrs. Kentucky and the Bowing Green HotRods. I had such a good time throwing out the first pitch (and yes I made it to the catcher!! :D ) and my son really loved getting to clean home plate and say "Play Ball" before the game started. Thanks to Kyle for inviting us out and giving us these opportunities. It truley made my sons day. What a treat it was to watch the game with my family and friends from a box suite. Thanks again to the Bowling Green HotRods and best of luck in the playoffs.

2011-07-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

2011-07-17T13:40:00.001-07:00

June 25: What a great day to spend on the lake with Queen Mom and my Queen's club sisters. Nolin Lake was the perfect place for a little R&R. Thanks to Jennifer and Brad for a wonderful fun filled day.

July 6: I had a terrific time judging the Miss Hart County Fair pageant. Thank you Amy for the invite. I have such fond memories of competing in county fair pageants. What a blast!! Congrants to Ashton Wallace for winning the crown. Best of luck at state.

July 14: I was asked to make an appearance at the National Corvette Homecoming VIP party. It was fun to meet so many people with a passion and love for the corvette. I am proud to say that I live where they make the corvette. This was a very special homecoming because it makes 30 years of the corvette being made here in Bowling Green Ky and they had on hand to first corvette to roll off the assembly line. Thank you Joe Pruitt for inviting me to share in the festivities.

July 16: I was in lexington at The wedding center, Tres Chic Boutique for Party Princess where I had the opportunity to meet all 32 bluegrass princesses. I signed autographs and took pictures with the girls. It was also fun because several of my sister queen where there to share this day with me.

That night was the Miss Kentucky America pageant, held at the Singletary Center on the campus of the University of Kentucky. This was my first time to attend the pageant and what an honor it was. My favorite part was the talent competition. There were so many talented young ladies competing. I was blown away. Congratulations to Ann-Blair Thornton of "Bowling Green" for capturing the crown. I know what an amazing year she will have representing this wonderful state of Kentucky!!!

2011-06-22T10:18:00.002-07:00

2011-06-22T10:18:00.001-07:00

June 3: After a 12hr day at work, I went out to the Bowling Green High School track to join my team for Relay For Life. This was such an amazing event that the Warren Co. chapter of the American Cancer Society put on. There were a ton of people, survivers, caretakers and people who just wanted to support such a great cause. It was also a night to remember those who have lost their battle with cancer.
My team raised over $2200 and togather with the other teams warren county raised over $220,000 I really enjoyed the evening and was so glad to have been asked to be a part of it all.

June 4: I spent the day in Casey County at their County Fair judging the Pre Teen, Teen and Miss pageants. I had a wonderful time and congratulations to all the girls for coming out and participating. I look forward to seeing all the winners at the state level and I wish them the best of luck.

2011-05-04T16:20:00.000-07:00

2011-05-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

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April 30:
On Saturday April 30, I came out and supported the Bowling Green Chapter of the March of Dimes. I was at Phil Moore Park in Bowling Green bright and early to register walkers for the March for Babies walk. We had about 500 walkers and raised over $50k. I am so very proud to have been a part of it all. I had a wonderful time meeting families who had or know someone who has had a preemie. It is such a great place for people to get to know each other and share their stories. I got involved with the March of Dimes five years ago because my son Cayson was born premature. I wanted to help raise awareness and money for research so that one day all mothers could have full term healthy babies. I want to say a big THANK YOU to all those who came out to walk and show their support for the March of Dimes.

2011-04-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

2011-04-18T07:06:00.001-07:00

April 11-14:
My final week at the Mrs. America pageant in White Sulphur Springs West Virginia at the Greenbrier America's Resort. Monday was interviews and they went very well. I had four minutes with five different judges. After interviews I had some free time and Mrs. Kansas and I went for a two mile walk around the property. It was one of the nicest days we had so far. Tuesday was preliminary competition. I competed in swimsuit, evening gown and state costume. My mom and sister in-law as well as my director and hair/make up artist had dinner with me that night. It was great to spend some time with familiar faces. Wednesday was rehearsal day and we did so all day except to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. We did a complete run through of the pageant for the production crew to make sure that everything would run smoothly on thursday night.
Thursday we had more rehearsal and then it was time to get ready for the final night of competition. It was a little bitter sweet. I was ready to get back home, but I was sad to leave all my new friends. I am very thankful for the opportunity that I had to get to know 50 amazing women from all over the country and to share stories and this journey that is definately once in a lifetime. I am very proud of myself for the personal growth that I had during these last two weeks.
Mrs. Florida is the new Mrs. America and I am so happy for her. She is so deserving and I hope she can raise awareness for her platform about retinal degenerative diseases. I am excited to report that I was awarded the Mrs. America Fitness Award!! Thank you to everyone that has followed my blog and for the continued support and Love that you all have showed me. I am so BLESSED!!!! Thank you all.

2011-04-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

2011-04-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

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2011-04-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

2011-04-12T04:41:00.001-07:00

April 10: The day started off with a bus ride to the gun club. After we got on our vests, glasses and ear protection it was time to shoot some guns :). I think skeet shooting is my new calling. LOL. Just joking but I did hit three out of four. Maybe it was beginners luck, but I will take it!! Then it was time for lunch and off to rehearsals which lasted for a couple of hours and then we were done for the day. It was nice to have dinner and not feel rushed. I was so excited today because "Queen Mom" and Deata came today. It is really nice to see a familiar face. After dinner we got a game plan for Monday which is interview day. I really feel at peace with this whole process because I truely feel that the outcome has already been determined and this will play out the way God has intended it too. I am just so happy to have this opportunity to represent the married women of Kentucky.
I would like to take this time to say thank you to my family and friends for all their support and love. I am such a lucky lady :)

2011-04-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

April 9: Today was a great day because we finally got to do our gift exchange. I got 50 amazing gifts from all the contestants. To be honest there were so many I don't even know exactly what all I got. I figure I could continue my gift a day and open one everyday for 50 days when I get home from the pageant. That way I can ease myself back into reality!! This has been such an increadable journey. All the Mrs. America staff and the resort staff are just wonderful.
We worked on our opening number and our flagography, yes I said flagography. At the beginning of the finals we are all walking in through the audience with our state flag. It should look really good. We were all so excited to get our flags. 51 women with full size flag on poles, you knew someone would get hurt and yes one lady got smacked in the face with a flag. She is okay though, no permanent damage. Tomorrow I get to go to the gun club and I am excited about that. We are also having a photo shoot in our swimsuits down at the pool, then more rehearsals. I can't wait for everyone to see the final production and to know all of our hard work has paid off! Hope everyone in Kentucky is having a great day :)

2011-04-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

April 8: Only 6 more days until the big show. We have been working very hard on the openning number and It's going to look phenominal. I am so happy to be one of the ladies in this group this year. There has been so much more attention to detail because we are going to be nationally televised. I as well as all the ladies were so excited to get our swimsuit. The color this year for prelim's is turquoise and if I make the finals the swimsuit color will be a hot pink.
Tonight we went into Lewisburg to eat dinner at a restaurant called Bella Casa. It was very good. I had filet and for dessert we had cannolies. Everyone has said we would loose weight while we were here, but I think I need to worry about fitting in my gown. LOL!!! It's so hard to say no to such good food.
Tomorrow we will finally be able to rehearse on the stage. It will be good for us to see exactly how things will look for the openning number. Today was another wonderful day at the Greenbrier and I feel so blessed to be here.

2011-04-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

2011-04-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

2011-04-08T09:20:00.001-07:00

April 7: Now it is getting down to business and emotions are running high. It has been one week and I am missing my family and from the vibe at rehearsal so was everyone else. We are having a lot of rehearsals to learn the opening number and our routines for swimsuit, evening gown and state costume. Today was breakfast then rehearsal, lunch then rehearsal and dinner. The next few days will be like this as well. I am still having a great time though!! I have met so many people from Kentucky that I feel like a local celebrity. Everyday the other girls are telling me that someone is looking for Mrs. Kentucky. It is so nice to have a lot of support being this far from home. I can't wait until Sunday when I get to go the the gun club for a photo shoot, so stay tuned in for that. The pictures should be great :)

2011-04-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

2011-04-07T07:42:00.000-07:00

April 6: Today was a fun day. I got to go golfing. I considered it a sucess because I hit more golf balls than grass. LOL. After golf I had some free time so Mrs. North Dakota and I went on a 2 1/2 mile walk around the property. This place is so gorgeous. I wanted to stay outside all day. After the walk I rested in my room until my roommate got back from her falconry excursion. We got ready for dinner but first wanted to try our luck at the casino. I just contributed to the house :(. After dinner we had rehearsals until 10pm, and as they say here at the Greenbrier "It's sleepy time down south y'all"

2011-04-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

2011-04-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

April 5: Today started with rehearsal until lunch. We broke up into groups and my group will be in thefront during the opening number for the final night of the pageant. :) After rehearsal we had lunch and then all went bowing. There is a 8 lane bowling alley in the resort. I think we should have told them to put up the bumper bars. It is safe to say their aren't any future professional bowlers in the group. After bowling I went back to the room to get ready for out chairsmans dinner. This was where we gave one of our dignitary gifts. We gave our gifts to the owner of the Greenbrier, James Justice. He was very intertaining telling us numerous stories about he and his wife. He also gave each contestant a gift bag which included a large book about the history of the Greenbrier, an ornament of a rhododendrom (which is the state flower of WV), a bag of cornbread mix and of course James' favorite a bag of M & M's. I am getting so spoiled here with all the gifts. I am not complaining at all though!! It was a late night but another amazing day here at the Greenbrier.

2011-04-05T07:11:00.002-07:00

2011-04-05T07:11:00.001-07:00

April 4: Today was the Habitat for Humanity build. I helped unload drywall and put up siding on the exterior walls. I am proud to say that my girls and I finished a whole wall of siding. It was hard work, but a lot of fun knowing it was for a deserving family. After lunch I got to go on a horse back ride and a carriage ride. The weather was phenomenal here in White Sulphur Springs. It was the perfect day for outside activites. It was then time for rehearsal for several hours, then dinner and rehearsal again. I got back to my room about 10pm. What a long and exhausting day it was today. I am ready for sleep now...........

2011-04-04T07:17:00.000-07:00

2011-04-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

2011-04-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

April 3: This morning I woke up a little sad because Kentucky lost their game last night, but what do I have to be sad about? I'm at the Mrs. America Pageant at the Greenbrier!!! So, I got over that real fast. I had a great breakfast and we took a goup shot outside in front of the resort since the sun was out. We had been waiting for that to happen since thursday. After that, it was on to rehearsal which was another good workout. After lunch we took the bunker tour and I am sorry to report that although it has been declassified, you still can't take electronics down in it. So, no pictures :( Our tour guide was really enthusiastic about its history and I was very interested about it as well. It is a part of our national history and it was fun to see and learn about all of it. After the bunker tour we went into the kitchen area and took some fun pictures of us in chef's hats. Then it was time to go back to the room and get ready for the Marmel's cocktail party. The party was in another elaborate room with huge chandaliers hanging from the ceiling. Everything about this resort is just stunning. The Marmel's are wonderful people and they gave us all a huge Vera Bradley bag. I got "of course" Kentucky Blue!! :) It was a great ending to another funfilled day at the Mrs. America Pageant.

2011-04-03T09:32:00.000-07:00

2011-04-03T09:25:00.000-07:00

2011-04-03T09:21:00.000-07:00

April 2: The day started as I was falling to sleep at midnight. At 2am we got a wake up when the fire alarm was going off and telling us to evacuate the building.....twice. I never made it fully outside becuase some of the staff said someone on the floor below ours burnt popcorn. Don't they know there are 51 women trying to get their beauty sleep. LOL!! At 4am their was another wake up when my roomates clothes rack masteriously fell to the floor. We are wondering if their are ghosts at the resort. ??? You never know it is over 150 years old.....Another two hours of rest and then it was time to get ready for the day. This was our first rehearsal. Boy, was it a workout. After several hours of learning dance moves we had lunch and just enough time to change clothes to go over to the fitness center to film and take photos. After that it was time to go back to the hotel, change clothes and go shopping to take more pictures and video for the pageant.
We had a "Ocean" themed dinner. It was a huge seafood buffet. I had lobster and crab and it was delicious. The food, accomodations and the staff here are all GREAT!!

2011-04-02T07:44:00.000-07:00

2011-04-02T07:31:00.000-07:00

2011-04-02T07:22:00.002-07:00

2011-04-02T07:22:00.001-07:00

April 1: Orientation dinner was A-mazing. The food was wonderful and the ballroom was beautiful with huge crystal chandaliers. All 51 women were decked out in full length evening gowns. It definately felt like a royal affair. I just can't believe I am here at Mrs. America. What an amazing once in a lifetime experience I am living right now. I am so thankful and blessed. Day two done.....thirteen wonderful days to come.

2011-04-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

Photos: WUHU studio's with Brooke Summers and me in my pink headset. Love that!! :), WELCOME TO WV signs!, @ Mrs. America making my lil man a special gift (its a surprise!), and a group picture from breakfast this morning with some of my new amazingly beautiful friends.

2011-04-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

2011-04-01T07:30:00.001-07:00

March 30: I enjoyed my last day at home before leaving for two weeks. I finished packing and got a manicure and pedicure. I also visited the WUHU and Beaver radio stations in Bowling Green to record an interview. It was really fun and exciting listening to myself on the radio.

March 31: I woke up with an array of emotions. I was nervous, excited, happy and sad. This is the first time I have left my family for so long. I know we will all be fine and have wonderful memories of this time to talk about for years to come. I left home about 8am and after an eight hour drive I finally made it to the Greenbrier. Everyone here is so nice and courteous. I have met many of the 51 contestants already. They are all so beautiful and amazing. We took lots of pictures and had a great dinner at one of the restaurants at the hotel. It has been a long day but a good one.

2011-03-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

These are the photos used for the Mrs. Kentucky America lifestyle photoshooot

2011-03-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from March 15 at Western Kentucky Diagnostic Imaging 15th Anniversary party!!

2011-03-24T08:05:00.001-07:00

March 24: I was nominated for a Women of the Year award through the Bowling Green Human Rights Commission. This will be voted on my a panel of judges and the award ceremony will be held on March 25 at the Carol Nicely Center in Bowling Green.
I have also been named Alumni of the Month for the Bowling Green Technical College. You can view this information at www.bowlinggreen.kctcs.edu

2011-03-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

2011-03-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

March 4-5:
I traveled up to Louisville and spent the night with Queen mom. We got up early and met some of the formers "the Queens Club" for a day of shopping. I found some wonderful clothes, accessories and shoes at Dillard's. We also went to Olivia and Co. who is a sponsor for Mrs. Kentucky and I got some amazing clothes from there to take to Mrs. America.

March 9:
I was asked to be the guest speaker for a charity fashion show to benefit the Youth Service center of LaRue County. I grew up in LaRue County so I loved being able to give back and motivate the youth there. The show was going to be held on March 13 and I was going to be out of town so I recorded a speech to be played during the fashion show. The recording took place in Hodgenville at "My Gal" Boutique and "MAM" candy, who are sponsors for the show. I had a fun day with the folk of LaRue County and can't wait to visit them again.

March 10-13:
My family and I got away for a much needed weekend trip. We headed down south to CAT-lanta for the SEC tournament. We went to the Georgia Aquarium and saw some amazing fish and SHARKS!! We also went to the CNN Center as well as all of the U of K basketball games. We had some great weather and were able to take my son to play at Olympic Centenial Park. This was a great family trip with an added bonus, our Kentucky Wildcats won the SEC tournament. GO BIG BLUE!!!

March 14:
I am getting used to this driving. After coming back from Atlanta the day before I am now heading up to Lexington to shop for formal evening gowns and cocktail dresses for events at Mrs. America. My mom and I met Queen Mom at Miss Priss, another Mrs. Kentucky sponsor. A special thanks to Elizabeth, you are great! She helped us pick out two really beautiful evening gowns. Thanks again for the dresses!! Next stop Tres Chich where I found my competition gown and a really cute cocktail dress. Thank you Deata for the gorgeous gowns and the shoes!! I can't wait to wear them at Mrs. America.

March 15:
This was the date of my first official appearance as Mrs. Kentucky. My employer Western Kentucky Diagnostic Imaging hosted a chambers after hours party to celebrate 15 years in business and serving our community. I got to mingle with a lot of local business owners, managers and staff not to mention my own co-workers who were thrilled to see me dressed up in crown and banner. This was a really fun night.

March 26:
The Queens club and Queen Mom threw me a send off party at Denise Y.'s lovely home. We had good food, good times with good friends. After dinner I played "barbie" and showed off my new wardrobe for Mrs. America. They helped me match up all the right accessories. Thank you Denise for your hospitality and to everyone who attended for such a memorable night.