Providence St. Peter Foundation Christmas Forest Gala Dinner Auction

Mrs. Washington 2011 and Mrs. Pierce County Amy Evers

Inside the dining area surrounded by the amazing donated and decorated trees!

My personal favorite tree for two reason 1. It was the Queen of Hearts tree & 2. There were soldered ornaments on it!

Amy with our 25 balloons we had to sell!

The Christmas Forest is an annual event for the Providence St. Peter Foundation. The money raised is used to support the Providence mission of providing health care services for those in need. I was invited by Mrs. Pierce County Amy Evers to help out tonight. Amy is a ER nurse and knows first hand how much these funds are needed.

The gala is a fabulous event. It is a dinner and an auction. All of the trees around the room are auctioned off to the highest bidder. The trees are then deliver to their homes and set up for them. Some of the trees come with trips and other prizes too, pretty amazing stuff!

Before the auction got started our job was to sell 25 balloons at $50 each. Each balloon had a piece of paper in it and one of them was the lucky balloon that had the ticket for winning the prize of a $3,200 diamond necklace donated by Panowicz Jewelers. Amy was amazing!! She was great at approaching everyone to get them to buy a balloon, I was more her wingman! I am proud to say we sold all of our balloons!! There were 4 teams working the floor and we were the only ones to sell ALL of ours!! Was it our amazing sales skills or possibly our crowns and sashes... who knows!!

Downtown for the Holiday's Olympia Christmas Parade

Well it was another soggy parade! The rain didn't dampen our holiday spirit though! Mrs. Olympia LaReina Delay, Miss Thurston County Tasia Jungbauer, Thurston County Outstanding Teen Meghan Anderson and I piled in the back of our pickup truck driven by my son. We did our best to decorate it and used my neighbors Patio Umbrella to cover us from the rain! It worked pretty well.

We had a good time despite the weather and at the end we enjoyed the music from the singing Christmas tree. It was very festive and WET!! But hey that's how it is in Washington and I love my state so much I can put up with these drippy days!!

Mrs. Washington Pageant 2012

My Family on stage for the last time with me!

Opening number so fun to get to dance with the contestants!

Jessica Riggs!! Mrs. Washington 2012

2 Decades of Mrs. Washingtons!!

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Wow what a fun weekend! The Mrs. Washington 2012 Pageant was another huge success!! I had so much fun being able to encourage and mentor the contestants. I really got to know each and every one of them. They are all amazing women with incredible passion for their platforms, their marriage and their families.

In the end one woman is crowned and that was Jessica Riggs! This was her 5th attempt to win the title. She placed 1st runner up 2 years in a row took a year off due to a knee injury and came back better than ever. She has worked hard promoting her platform and being an active part of her community. I am so proud of her. She was one of my first friends and mentors in the Mrs. Washington Pageant. My very first year we got together to go for a run, not knowing each other at all, after the run was over we knew we were destined to be BPFF's (Best Pageant Friends Forever)

I am honored to be a part of the Mrs. Washington Family and will continue to support this system for the rest of my life!

11/13 Mrs. Washington Dance Practice

Mrs. Seattle, Mrs. Snohomish County, Mrs. Washington 2011, Mrs. Olympia, Mrs. Pacific Northwest & Mrs. Pierce County

Our Charlies Angel's pose!

Our last dance practice before we head over to Moses Lake for the pageant! Carla Richards Mrs. Washington 2010 hosted it once again at the Lakewood YMCA. It was a lot of fun as usual. We practiced the opening # then worked on stage walking. Everyone is doing fabulous!! I have to say I am glad I am not competing this year!!

I can't believe in less than 5 days another Mrs. Washington is being crowned!! It is so exciting I can't wait to add another sister into our pageant family!!!

10/5 Queens For A Cure Pageant

Over $15,000 raised by this event!!!

Me here with Victoria who competed in the baby group so stinking cute!! Her mom Laura Hunter Mrs. Washington International and Queen's for a cure Ms. Winner last year & Jessica Riggs Mrs. Snohomish County.

Jessica & I again with Elizabeth Larson Mrs. Washington 2009 who competed in the Ms. category!

Queens for a cure was founded in 2009 by Victoria Knight and Kennedy Miller. Recently, a pageant friends mother had passed away from breast cancer and Kennedy and Victoria began discussing the impact of breast cancer on their families and loved ones. In 1995 Kennedy's cousin Kimberly died from breast cancer at the young age of 26 and was survived by her two daughters ages 1 and 4 years. Inspired by the love of their own mothers, together they wondered if they could do something to help prevent more daughters from loosing their mothers. It is from this that Queens for a Cure was formed.

Kennedy and Victoria not only wanted to raise money to donate to breast cancer research, but they also wanted to inspire their friends to do the same. Queens for A Cure raises money by holding the pageant event and donating proceeds to breast cancer research and in addition, the Supreme titles encourage participants to go out into their communities and raise additional donations. Kennedy and Victoria also wanted the winners of Queens for a Cure to have an opportunity to participate in events within their community and so they decided to donate their proceeds through the Race for the Cure. At the race all Queens for a Cure participants will have the opportunity to proudly display their banners and crowns in recognition of their fundraising efforts.

I was honored to be one of the 9 judges for this event. There were many different age groups and it was a very fun event! It is very special to me being the daughter of a survivor as well as a niece. I fall into that high risk category and have gone through genetic counseling. It is extremely important to know your history and be active in getting your yearly checkups and tests.

11/11 KGY Interview for Miss Thurston County 2012

Tasia Jungbaur Miss Thurston County 2012

As a volunteer for the Miss Thurston County Scholarship Program I get to help be a chaperon for Tasia at events throughout the year. Today we met at the KGY radio station for her first on air interview. She was amazing and did a fabulous job. Smilin Jay the radio host got me on the microphone too talk about being Mrs. Washington and how I am affiliated with the Miss Thurston County Program. I got a chance to share what a positive experience it is for the ladies and how it's more than just a crown and sash.

Tasia shared her platform and how she wants to make a positive impact on her community. I was so proud of her!! Next week I will accompany her to another event where she will be singing!!

10/29 Mr. Washington Dance Practice

Mrs. Washington 2010 Carla Richards hosted us at the YMCA in Lakewood for our opening# dance practice and walking practice for the girls. It was great fun, I love any chance to dance! The contestants looked fabulous and are ready to compete the countdown is on!!

10/27 Style for Safeplace

Style for safeplace was organized by several amazing women. The event proceeds went 100% to SafePlace. SafePlace is the only advocacy agency and confidential shelter for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Thurston County.

We are a private non-profit organization. Our sexual assault program is one of the oldest in the nation. A board of directors, a paid staff, and over 90 trained volunteers operate the agency.

SafePlace was formed on October 9, 1981, by the merger of Rape Relief and the Women’s Shelter, two programs operated by the YWCA since 1973 and 1976, respectively.

The evening provided cocktails, hoers devours, a raffle, shopping opportunities and a fabulous fashion show. It was a fun ladies night out but it also benefited a very important program. I met the directors and offered and idea I have to help with SafePlace. They were excited about my idea and I hope we can make it happen soon! I will post details at they unfold!!!

10/24 Queen it's a new day

Mrs. Seattle, Judy Hoff Founder of Queen it's a new day, Mrs. Washington 2011, Mrs. Snohomish County
Mrs. Washington 2009, Mrs. Snohomish County, Mrs. Washington 2011, Mrs. Seattle

Bellingham Fire Department guys saving us from the fire??

Helping Women Find Their Worth

Transforming Communities one life at a time.... Judy Hoff.
What we Do? Bring focus to the forgotten! Why does it matter? Lives change in moments and we create moments for that change. Who cares? Communities who know that a powerful women can do powerful things!

We open our hearts to thousands of women. The women receive: brand new work clothes, shoes, haircuts and styles, chair massages, manicures, pedicures, makeup application, professional photo shots of themselves, five course professionally catered dinner with a key note speaker and professional entertainment. In addition, the Queens stay overnight at the hotel, have breakfast and attend life skills training classes throughout the second day of the event.

This was an amazing event. My friend Jessica Riggs Mrs. Snohomish County has volunteered at this event for the past 4 years. She is a massage therapist and donates her time to give chair massages and spa treatments during the day for the ladies. I was invited to come attend the gala as a special guest and to help give the women attending the "Royal" treatment.

Each of the ladies crossed the stage in their special moment during the rose ceremony, we were there on the end to give hugs and encouragement. These ladies were glowing! They all looked so fabulous.

We enjoyed a fabulous dinner, had an auction, heard an inspiring speaker and saw some artistic dancers. Then the it was time to cut loose and light up the dance floor! And oh how we did!! We were singing, dancing even group dancing! It was so fun and everyone had smiles ear to ear!!

10/23

Mrs. Snohomish County Jessica Riggs, Mrs. Washington 2011, Just Crowned Mrs. Oregon 2012 Erin Piibor, Mrs. Seattle Tamara DePorter, Mrs. Olympia LaReina Delay
This sweet little girl was collecting autographs from the royalty in the audience, I was honored to be included!

Being recognized as visiting royalty during the program!

Pictured here with Beauties of America 40's Carolynn Ladd, who happens to be a former Miss Oregon America but lives in Washington now.

Pictured here with Libby Crawford Mrs. Oregon's former director and one of the judges who helped award me my title! She retired as director and reached a personal goal to compete in the pageant itself! She was 1st runner up and did an amazing job!

For my second appearance this crazy weekend we drove down to Portland Oregon to watch the Mrs. Oregon Pageant. We had a fabulous time hanging out, having dinner and enjoying the pageant. Congratulations to Erin the new Mrs. Oregon 2012 I wonder who will be competing with her from Washington???? Can't wait to find out!!!!

10/22 Miss Thurston County Scholarship Pageant

Tasia Jungbauer Miss Thurston County 2012 with me Mrs. Washington 2011

All of the contestants plus Miss Thurston County 2010, Miss Washignton 2011, & Thurston County Outstanding Teen 2011.
Mrs. Olympia LaReina Delay's sister Mallory competed and won 2nd runner up! Mrs. Pacific Northwest & Mrs. Seattle came to help me out by taking tickets at the door.
We started the day off playing apples to apples... the card you end up with are supposed to describe you! My cards were not that great!
Brooklyn Miss Thurston County 2010 brought the game to keep us occupied while waiting to go into interviews! It was fun and the girls really appreciated the distraction!

What an amazing event! I had so much fun helping the girls all day and throughout the evening. I helped apply lashes, fix hair, fix makeup, fix wardrobes and applied a lot of Butt Glue! Yes I had a very important job!! My job was to keep the girls calm and help them to know what was going on in the program and get them backstage and offstage when they needed to be. I was like the momma hen taking care of her baby chicks! I loved every minute of it. They are my girls not just contestants. I got to know all of them and what an amazing bunch of ladies.

In the end Tasis Jungbauer was crowned Miss Thurston County 2012, Jessica Shaffer was 1st runner up, and Mallory Arnold was 2nd runner up. Congratulations goes out to everyone especially the Director Dianne Partridge! Without her this could not have been possible. It was her first year as a director and she comes from no pageant experience!! She had a cousin who was a Miss Washington and after seeing the positive experience she had Dianne wanted to offer that to more girls. Dianne was an excellent role model and leader throughout the entire process!! I look forward to working with her throughout the year with Tasia and next year on the 2013 pageant!

10/20 Miss Thurston County 2012 Dress Rehearsal

Wow what a busy day! We were at the venue from 4 until 10:00 pm!! We had the girls run through all parts of the program while trying to get out Tech all organized as well. This was my first time to help produce a pageant and I sure learned a lot! My job was to not only help the girls backstage but also to make sure everyone was ready to go on stage at the right time too! I made lots of notes and paid attention to all the details that were going on.

I was also in charge of the food for tonight! I made a healthy salad with chicken, garlic bread and some brownies (for energy!) It was enjoyed by all and I was glad to help out!!