Today's Dynamic Woman

So, I guess it was about a year ago (maybe longer) that I did an interview w/ Sandi Jordan from the e-zine "Today's Dynamic Woman". I never realized it was published and as I was poking around in the internet tonight, what do you know, I found it! It was a great opportunity to chat it up about the importance of a healthy family lifestyle among other things. I hope you have a chance to take a peak at it and let me know what you think!
http://todaysdynamicwoman.tripod.com/id2.html

Northern Lights of Life - DBCC - Longwood Gardens

The Northern Lights of Life is truly an amazing event to honor breast cancer survivors and raise funds in the fight against breast cancer. I was privileged to work with a superior group of breast cancer survivors as my models for the event. My oldest model, Betty, is actually a 57 year survivor and my youngest model, Leba, just finished up her treatment. Breast cancer is not just for women over 40 and many of the survivors are in their 20's and 30's. We must listen to our bodies and stress to our physicians what we find. Men are not immune to breast cancer either, so gentlemen, please be aware of this disease and fact. October is breast cancer awareness month, so take the time to get a mammogram and see a doctor, it is worth it!

Northern Lights of Life Rehearsal

For those of you who know me, this is one of my biggest passions. For the last three years I have worked with the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition (DBCC) on their annual event Northern Lights of Life. I am privileged to work with the breast cancer survivors who are our models for the evening. Each year we hold a rehearsal, and well let's face it, this is more like a little party. All of the models get together, have their make up and photos professionally done and then we have some fun practicing our model walk. Of course, a little bit of wine and cheese keeps the event light and fun. The ladies love to try on our crowns. Many thanks to Marci McNair, Mrs. Delaware United States 2009 for her help and participation.

American Heart Association

I had a great meeting with the American Heart Association recently. I am passionate about my platform, a healthier family lifestyle, and the AHA has a focus on this as well. We discussed one of the casuses known as Alliance for A Healthier Generation, which I have referenced for many years in my presentations and community involvement. This sub-cause of the AHA emphasizes all of the same points I reference, such as getting plenty of fruits and vegetables and at least an hour of physical activity daily for children. It is already a great partnership! I am putting together a team for the Heart Walk in September 2009 and I will also be the chair for the Special Appeals committee for the upcoming Heart Ball. This committee will raise funds to go to a specific cause. Stay tuned for updates on funds raised and the decision on the "special cause".

Cesar Rodney Club Speaking Engagement

I was excited to present my platform to a group of interested participants just a week ago. The Cesar Rodney Club meets on a weekly basis to bolster community involvement and hone their respective speaking and leadership skills. It was an honor to speak at their meeting recently and share my experiences about my platform, Mom's Who Care and how to create a "healthy family lifestyle". One participant in the group shared with me his experiences with obesity and all that he has done to overcome this challenge. He said I inspired him to get more involved with his 17 year old nephew who is considered morbidly obese. I am looking forward to trading e-mails with him in the coming months to keep him inspired and not give up on the "healthy family lifestyle".

Relay for Life

As many people know, the Relay for Life has been an important event for me to participate in for several years now. Since my Dad passed away from cancer nine years ago, this is my way of paying tribute to him and hoping to someday very soon find a cure for cancer. The event was awesome! I had the pleasure of meeting many of the Relay-ers as I stopped at most of the campsites as I was making my own laps. The weather was a perfect Friday night and Saturday morning to hold the event. I was on hand for the Miss Relay event which raised over $2000 in just under an hour. I had my trusty companion and sometimes bodyguard, Austin, with me. Great job to everyone that works to put on such a phenomenal event.

PageantCast Interview

It was a fun night doing my first interview with Tim at PageantCast. He grilled me with questions about my platform, what it is like to be Mrs. Pennsylvania and more. It is so important for me to spread the word about childhood obesity and how to create a healthier family lifestyle. In fact, so I could do the interview in quiet, my awesome husband took Alex out to play football. They both got great exercise and had a lot of fun. That is what a "healthier family lifestyle" is all about...doing fun things as a family and getting the physical activity at the same time. Also, having family dinners with healthy proteins and lots of fruits and veggies. Thanks Tim for making my interview a lot of fun. Check back with my blog to find out when it will air.

T.O.P.S. (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly)

I recently had a great opportunity to me will a local support group for T.O.P.S. What a fabulous group of women. I shared with them my story and mission to make a difference in the lives of children and their families. We all talked about our tips and shared advice on weight loss, exercise and eating healthy. They play games each week to encourage one another to stay focused and motivated on their weight loss goal. It was a wonderful evening.

Mrs. Maryland International

It was tons of fun to catch up with my sister queens at the Mrs. Maryland International Pageant the first weekend in April. My date was my little Austin. He became so tired that we had to depart a little early, but he was truly a great sport!

Mrs. PA/MD United States

I had a chance to attend the Mrs. Pennsylvania/Mrs. Maryland United States pageant directed by my good friend Siouxzan Moore. She is a fabulous lady and she had a great group of contestants. Of course, attending local pageants is a great opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones. My date for the evening, my little banana-rama Austin. He was such a good guy! Congratulations to Kate Cohen and Ginny Meerman, Mrs. PA and Mrs. MD respectively.

Neiman Marcus Fashion Show

Participating in the Neiman Marcus Spring Fashion Show was a ton of fun. Especially since I was in it with one of my boys...Austin! He was a wonderful model and really seemed to enjoy himself, even thought he was just a little shy. This was one of my earlier events as Mrs. Pennsylvania and I had a great chance to chat with the other parents at the fashion show about my platform. It seems like parents everywhere face the same struggle of how to get their children to eat better and get more exercise. Once we all started talking about a "healthy family lifestyle" the conversation flowed easily. Parents are eager to share what they have tried and what worked. It is also great for parents to know that their peers are also struggling with some of the same challenges. My advise is always to take it slow, make small changes and keep trying!

Avon Grove Memorial Day Parade

It was a beautiful Saturday in Avondale and West Grove Pennsylvania for their 11th annual Memorial Day parade. I had the honor of participating in the parade and my son, Alex, accompanied me in the car. The ceremony was very moving to hear from World War II veterans and their experiences. It was also wonderful to share this event with my son who is interested in history and the community. It was a great day!

PLE Health & Wellness Fair

The Penn London Elementary School held it first ever health and wellness fair to encourage children and their families to be healthy. I had a great time talking with the kids and their parents about a HEALTHY FAMILY LIFESTYLE! The kids love to hear about all of the activities they can do instead of watching TV. Also, I chatted with many, many parents about how they too can incorporate more fruits and veggies in their families diet. We are certainly making great progress in the great state of Pennsylvania.

Third Graders excited about being healthy!

I had lots of fun today talking to 30 third graders at Avon Grove Intermediate School. The topic for discussion...how to be healthy every day. The great news is they loved to hear about all of the different kinds of fruits and vegtables and why they are so good for you. The class talked about what are some of their favorite fruits and veggies and how they like them prepared. As I recall, blueberry smoothies were the class favorite. Two hours of "screen time" was the next piece we discussed. This is difficult for most of the kids but when we started talking about all of the different things you can do instead of watching TV or playing video games they loved it! That moved us right into a chat about one hour of physical activity daily. I found out that the class really likes to play outdoors. Some of their favorite activities to do indoors are; karate, basketball, swimming at the Y and dancing. We I talked about limiting their sugar intake there was a collective groan. This group of kids loves their soda and sports drinks. I am sure I converted a few to flavored and vitamin water and of course, chocolate milk.

We did some fun activities which included "Fruit and Veggie Trivia" and an action story. Each child in the class received a small box of raisins and an activity sheet of fun things to do to stay active. They were a great group of students and I am looking forward to visiting their class in the future.

Health and Wellness Fair

On April 20, I had a great opportunity to participate in a Health and Wellness Fair at a local school. Even though the weather was not great we had a wonderful turnout for the event. I was able to do a few activities with the children to test their knowledge about serving sizes and sugar in soft drinks and juices. As it turns out we do have some smart children when it comes to serving sizes. Most of them picked the right ball, which was the tennis ball to illustrate an appropriate serving size. On the other hand, when it came to sugar both parents and children had no idea there are 12-20 teaspoons of sugar in soft drinks!

One Month as Mrs. Pennsylvania International

Yes, officially I have been Mrs. PA International for one full month. Wow! It has been exciting and exhausting all at the same time. In my first full weekend I had three appearances. As a mom, it is important to keep my family involved, so guess what...my little Austin was with me on all three appearances! He was quite a trooper and even had a lot of fun.

So here I am with my "sister queens" Jordyn and Danielle. They are both so impressive and accomplished, not to mention beautiful. One of our first appearances was at Tiger Lili's in Reading PA. Great store, fabulous accessories and clothes. Of course, we all had to buy something! So much temptation.