Visiting LaGrange

I really enjoyed making friends with the police officers and firefighters from the city of LaGrange. Anyone in these professions has my heart. I truly believe these are two of the most selfless and heroic careers anyone could have.

My grade group girls

These are some of the girls that I meet with once a week to help mentor. They are truly the greatest girls by far!!!

Mrs. America Pageant

Here are some of the professional photos that were taken on stage at the preliminary and nationally televised Mrs. America pageant. The costume represents a white swan because in 1868, the first gift presented to Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo was a white swan.

NAM Girls

A couple of my favorite National American Miss girls are of course my daughter Christina who is Miss Illinois Pre-Teen and how cute is the little Miss Illinois Princess, Kaylyn.

Opening day at Six Flags

Being invited to be a part of the opening day celebration at Six Flags Great America was very fun yet very very cold.

Spending time with the 3rd grade

One of my favorite days was getting to read and spend time with my son Sean and his 3rd grade class.

Latino Fashion Week

The top photo is me with Sylvia Periz who is a news anchor for ABC ch 7.

Miss Illinois USA Jill Guiseth and I had a really fun time presenting together at Latino Fashion Week.

ACP Seminar

Speaking at the ACP seminar was so much fun. I really enjoyed sharing some of my experiences with the wonderful ladies who were there.

St. Jude fundraiser

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital fashion extravaganza was an extraordinary event. I really enjoyed eating lunch with a getting to know Robin Robinson who is the anchor for Fox News hear in Chicago.

Fashion shows

I had a blast doing some really fun fashion shows for Tracey from Zazz Productions. Thanks a million !!!!

Girls Night Out Convention!!!

The lovely lady I am standing next to in the first photo is Glenda. She was kind enough to give me one of her beautiful purses along with having one of the most inspiring stories I have ever heard. She started her own company at the age of 65 called "one of a kind purses by Glenda". Over the past three years she has sold over 1300 purses and Oprah Winfrey even has one.

The next photo is me with a group of interesting hat women from Naper Settlement. These a just a few of the many wonderful people I got to meet while visiting all the booths at the convention.

Christina and I at the SOS Childrens event

Christina and I had a wonderful time helping out at the SOS Childrens Village of Illinois. SOS helps to provide safe and loving homes for Children.

9/06/07 Day of sightseeing at Tombstone

I was so glad that my family decided to stay an extra day to go sightseeing. We had a wonderful time!!!

9/05/07 Mrs. America Finals (Air date is 9/21/07 on WE-TV)

From the bottom of my heart, I cannot thank my family and friends enough for all the love and support they have given me!!!

It was such a surprise to win THE MOST PHOTOGENIC AWARD:) I was truly honored to receive the award especially after seeing all those amazing and beautiful women.

9/03/07 Breakfast

I was so excited about getting to meet my family and friends for breakfast after not seeing everyone for two weeks.

9/02/07 Opening Production Number Dresses and Family

After shooting in our opening production number dresses, I was sooooo excited because my family and state directors arrived.

9/02/07 Preliminary photo's

Here I am with some of the beautiful women in their evening gowns. From left to right starting with the woman in the red dress is Mrs. Deleware, Mrs. Kentucky, Mrs. Kansas, myself and Mrs. Montana. The next evening gown photo is Mrs. Connecticut, Mrs. Wyoming, myself, Mrs. D.C. and Mrs. Idaho.

The beautiful ladies in their swimsuits are Mrs. Georgia, Me, Mrs. Maryland, Mrs. Kentucky and Mrs. Connecticut.

My costume is a white swan. The reason I picked this is because the first gift ever given to the Chicago Lincoln Park Zoo was a white swan

9/01/07 Interview with the judges

Today we had our interviews with the judges.

8/31/07 Dinner @ David Marmel's suite

We had a wonderful buffet dinner and were given a beautiful bag.

8/31/07 Golf Competition

I definitely need to brush up on my golf. Even all the putt-putt I've been playing didn't help me out.

8/30/07 Horeseback ride and pancake breakfast

We took the most beautiful horseback ride up to the top of a mountian where we were treated to the most delicious pancake breakfast. This was by far my favorite activity!!!!

8/29/07 Visiting Nogales Mexico

We received the most amazing reception when we vistited Nogales Mexico. We also got to meet the Mayor and Governor of Nogales.