Teenage California

Happy Birthday Mom...were going to watch a pageant! Not exactly the words my mom wanted to hear but over the course of these last few years she has definitely grown to love my "sport" of pageantry. Actually, I can say that it is days like this that are so special. Having the opportunity to drive an hour and have that mother/daughter bonding is priceless. More importantly we were in route to watch my "little" (Claire

Wright) compete for Miss Teenage California, and we would not miss it for the world! The pageant was huge and we enjoyed watching all the girls compete. It was so nice to see so many familiar faces from the International Pageant system on the stage competing. (Taylor Kandris **TOP 10**, Andrea Barrett,

Paige Knight, and Jayne Geist **3rd Runner Up**....great job ladies!) It was a pleasure to also see one of my sponsors, Tiffany Tollett from Crowns & Gowns, as well as Courtney Critz (Miss Teen Nevada International 2012), Shalyn

Stanfield & Kara Knudsen (Crowning Moments), Karen Wright (Claire's mama), Christian Pelay & Kristen Bradford (Crown Diva), and last but not least my sister titleholder Amanda Jenkins (Miss Teen California International 2012). I am so proud of all of the ladies who competed and congratulations to Cassandra Kunze for being crowned Miss Teenage California 2012 and to my "Little" for her 2nd Runner Up placement, so proud of you!

3rd Annual Toy Clean Up Project Golf Tournament

I believe with all of my heart that people must choose to take whatever hardships and challenges life hands them and make the best out of it. I am honored to say that one of my very good friends has done just that. Courtney Critz (aka Cha Cha) was born with a life threatening illness that required her to have an emergency tracheotomy at the age of 3 months old. This posed as a struggle for her and her loving family everyday who lived day to day not knowing what the certainty of Courtney's life would be. Now, Courtney is 16 years old, she is

Miss Teen Nevada International 2012, and has raised thousands of dollars for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never have to pay

for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family's inability to pay. Courtney has not only made giant strides for St. Jude, but in her own life as an intelligent, caring, beautiful young lady she has inspired

others to persevere in any given circumstance. She has also founded her own organization called the Toy Clean Up Project, which raises funds for St. Jude through the collection of new or gently used toys. She then holds garage sales and donates all of the proceeds to St Jude.

This past Saturday Courtney held her 3rd Annual Toy Clean Up Project Golf Tournament at Empire Ranch Golf Club in Folsom California. Rain or shine (and boy did it rain!), these golfers were out on the course, eager to play and support such a worthy cause. Courtney invited several familiar faces from the International Pageant family to help with her event, including my sister titleholders Chelsea Vuong (Jr. Miss California International 2012) and Amanda Jenkins (Miss Teen California International 2012),

Taylor Kandris, Caitlin Ross, and Katie Cryder. After a rainy day of golf the attendees were treated to an amazing dinner while us ladies sold raffle tickets and Courtney auctioned off live auction items. I would like to personally thank Ken Daurio (the writer of such movies as "Horton Hears A Who", "Despicable Me", "Hop", and many more) for donating autographed copies of all those movies as well as a signed movie poster of "The Lorax" for the live auction. Keep up the great work you're doing Cha Cha. You are a true blessing, I love you!

Marths's Village & Kitchen Thanksgiving 5K

During Thanksgiving I like to take the time to give back to those who have a similar past as mine. This year I had the opportunity to run in the Marths's Village & Kitchen Thanksgiving 5K run with my sister, Megan Brunett and a very dear friend of mine, Miss Teen Nevada International 2012, Courtney Critz. This race took place in beautiful La Quinta California. Martha's Village & Kitchen is the largest provider of homeless services in Riverside County. Annually they provide over 43,800 nights of shelter, of which 22,338 are for children under 15. I am blessed to have supported this amazing foundation, and honored to have been asked to share a little bit of my past with the runners prior to the race and why I chose to participate that day.

$200 Donation to Courtney's Toy Clean Up Project

My dear friend Courtney Critz is the reigning Jr. Miss California International 2011. She uses her title to champion her cause, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. For those who do not know, St. Judes is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never have to pay for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family's inability to pay. To help raise funds for St. Judes, Courtney started Toy Clean-Up Project. Through this, Courtney collects new or gently used toys. She then holds garage sales and donates all of the proceeds to her cause. I am very inspired by Courtney's dedication and perseverance. So, I could not think of a better way to support her efforts than by collecting toys in my area and holding a garage sale of my own. Through this one sale we were able to raise $200! All of the proceeds from the sale went to Courtney and her project. I am so proud of you Courtney and all of your efforts with your cause. Keep up the great work girly!!