KGY 1240 Interview with Dick Pust

This morning I was interviewed on the Radio for the Mrs. Washington Pageant. Dick Pust has been a local DJ for many years and happens to be a friend of my parents. He asked me lots of very good questions I think he would make a great judge for a Pageant. I brought my son Cameron and his friend Kelsey as they were out of school this morning. It was very comfortable chatting with him, it was easy to forget there are people out there listening. I have a tendency to talk fast because I have so much to say, but I did my best to slow it down!

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Roosevelt Elementary 4th and 5th Grade Music class

Today I went to Roosevelt Elementary and spent time with 3 different classes. The students were very fun and energetic. They sang and african song that had dance moves with it as well! I sang along and took pictures of them doing their thing! Mrs. Richart is their music teacher. She travels around to several schools in the district. I will be following her around this week to other classes. Mrs. Richart is an amazing teacher who puts a lot of time and effort into each of her classes. She produces several musicals with her Junior High kids each year.

South Bay School Mrs. Gerard's 3rd Grade Class

My second visit was to South Bay Elementary my Alma Matter! Wow the school has sure changed since I was a student there. This time my visit was with the 3rd graders. We had a great time together. We talked about how important music education is and how much fun it is. I got to put Music tattoos on everyone and then they sang and played some songs for me. I even got to join them in a song game. Music class can be so much fun thanks to amazing teachers like Mrs. Gerard!

Seven Oaks Elementary

My first class visit for music in our schools month was at Seven Oaks Elementary, Mrs. Hathaway's 6th grade class. I had so much fun! I got to talk to the kids about the importance of music education in their lives and many other things! They were very respectful and well behaved. Mrs. Hathaway even got me to sing for them! They were a great group of students, bright and energetic full of questions! After the class was over Mrs. Hathaway taught me and my son Cameron (the photographer) how to play the Marimba. What an amazing teacher she is, it is obvious she loves what she does and cares about her students.

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March is Music In Our Schools Month

The Mrs. America Organization has a strong and continuing commitment to MENC: The National Association of Music Education working everyday to advance music education by encouraging the study and making of music for all students!

In an effort to promote and support music education in our schools, each contestant raises funds and volunteers at various schools and music events in our community. I personally am very passionate about music. I am a vocalist and percussionist. I along with my husband and friends practice and perform as a band. I have also been the music director for our local vacation summer school for 10 years. We have an average of 1000 kids within our community who attend each year.

The MENC has dedicated March as MIOSM: Music In Our Schools Month. I will be visiting school music classes in Thurston County to share some words of inspiration to the students. My message is simple, to the let students know the benefits to them to be part of a music program and to encourage them to pursue more music classes throughout their education. The students will be filling out a card that says "What music means to me..." I will be using these cards to make a poster collage that will be displayed in their classroom for all to admire!

Little Miss Washington Pageant

The search is on for the 2010 Little Miss Washington!
June 19th, 2010 1:00 pm Moses Lake High School Theater

This is a no makeup all natural sweet little girl pageant!
The purpose of the pageant is to provide guidance and assistance for young girls in developing their self confidence, self esteem and educating them about charitable an community service. All proceeds go to the local food bank.

Go to www.littlemisswashington.com for more informationan and a application

It's been awhile...

Everyone always says how time flies, I get tired of hearing it, but it sure is true! I've been so busy through football season and the holidays with my family and friends. I have had no time to blog!!

The whole month of January I have been working overtime in my business Simply Swank to get all my new products done, samples made and the booth built for the Craft and Hobby Association Trade show. Often times people are curious how you set up a trade show booth so I tried to take some photos with my iphone during set up. The photos are a little fuzzy but you can see in the photo box below a little of how it all goes together. You basically start with an empty space that is 10x10 and build it within that space. We actually built this booth ourselves me, Melissa & Nanette from scratch about a week before it had to ship! The whole booth weighed 600 pounds! That is small in comparison to other booths. It turned out pretty nice!

The show was very successful for my company. We have many new customers, several chain stores and new distributors. Our products will now also be sold in Tahiti, Italy, Germany, Sweden, & Mexico! I have also been offered to write some new books! I am excited to show more advanced techniques for art soldering and new project ideas.

We taught a class to 50 people, with amazing help from our Swanky Volunteers. It was very fun and not one accident with all those hot irons being used! The class sold out as soon as registration opened up for classes! Next time we will have to do more than one class!

It was a lot of work but also a lot of fun. We feel blessed to have such great customers and colleagues who make being in this industry worth wile!!

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