Dillard's VIP Night...

Yesterday evening I was invited to sign autographs and have my make-up done with Dior at my sponsor, Dillard's of Hulen Mall in Fort Worth! I met some wonderful people and had a great night! I would like to send a special "Thank You" to my sponsors, Dillard's & Dior, for an amazing opportunity and Rich Robertson for coordinating it all! I genuinely appreciate it and your friendship!


Getting " Touch-Up's" at the Dior Counter!


Signing Autograph's with 2 beautiful future queens! :)

Sunday December 6th...

I will be appearing all day for a "Holiday Welcoming Autograph Signing" at my sponsor Dillard’s of Hulen Mall in Fort Worth, TX! Come on out & spread some cheer! See you there, will post soon...

Happy Turkey Week U'ALL!!!

Miss Oklahoma & Miss Oklahoma Teen USA Photos...

Late last night I returned from the weekend in Midwest City, OK where I had the chance to judge for the Miss. Oklahoma & Miss. Oklahoma Teen USA! I had a wonderful time & met some really great people! I want to send a special "Thank You" to my director Tracy and the Vanbros & Associates production company for a wonderful experience and I look forward to seeing them again soon! It was a pleasure to be on the other side of a pageant and to watch a wonderful show!

Congratulations to the new Miss. Oklahoma USA 2010 Morgan Woodlard & The New Miss Oklahoma USA Kandis Holt! They are GORGEOUS & will represent the state of Oklahoma well are sure to make Oklahoma proud at the nationally televised Miss USA & Miss Teen USA pageants! Thank You to all the beautiful girls that competed and I met this weekend, it was a group of amazing girls and a hard job to pick just one! I hope the contestants return next year for another chance at the crown, there was some really amazing Girls!!

Here are some photos of this past weekend....


All the Judges on the way to Prelims Saturday


Judges Dinner at the Hotel Sunday


Missy, Mrs. Oklahoma 2007, & I


Before Finals Sunday


The New Miss. Oklahoma USA 2010 & her judges!


My Director Tracy & I


KS Finest Judge, Lee, & I ;)-


Tracy & her "Girls" :)

Departing for Miss Oklahoma & Miss Oklahoma Teen USA...

This weekend I will be appearing and Judging at the Mrs. Oklahoma & Miss. Teen Oklahoma USA! I look forward to the opprotunity, seeing some friendly faces, and wishing the contestants luck with their final preparations!

See you in OK! :) I will post photos on Monday of the my weekend and of future queens of OK!

My apologies...

I want to apologize for not posting for a few weeks... It seems there hasn't been enough time in a day lately ;) But I wanted to let you' all know that I will be posting an update this week and am honored to take part in the Miss. Oklahoma & Miss. Oklahoma Teen USA Pageants this coming weekend!

Enjoy your Monday! :)

Until next time...

Miss Oklahoma & Miss Teen Oklahoma USA !!!

http://www.missoklahomausa.com/

PRELIMS: Saturday, November 21
FINALS: Sunday, November 22!

Midwest City, Oklahoma!

See you there!! :)

Pottsboro Homecoming!

Friday, October 9th, I attended the Pottsboro HS Homecoming! It was FREEZING ;)- But My husband & I met a ton of great fans and I want to Thank PHS for incredible generosity and hospitality! Hope to see you again soon!

Here are some photos compliments of the Strotcher Family! ;)

My past 2 weeks...

Since I've been home from Arizona I've finally settled back at work, home, and life! The past few weeks we've had my parents and grandparents come in from out of town for my son, Trae's, 1st Birthday Party! We enjoyed having friends and family visit and Trae had a BLAST at his 1st Birthday Party! Wow- Time is just flying by! ;(

So since I was gone I missed my family terribly, so we've been spending allot of quality time as we get settled back into our daily routine, besides Trae's 1st Birthday Carnival we also took him to his first pumpkin patch last week!

I thought I'd share my past few weeks with my family...

Now that we are back to speed I have several appearances scheduled for this fall already and look forward to getting out there as much as possible!

This Friday night I will crown Pottsboro High school’s Homecoming Queen at their Homecoming in Pottsboro, TX! I've heard the local media will be attending and PHS Football team is great! So if you're in the area come on out, rain or shine ;)-

Stay tuned for more appearance photos for this weekend!!!!!


Trae's 1st Cake, and the 1st Big Cake I made!



Our first visit to the Pumpkin Patch!



" It's not where you go in life, it's who you take with you!" -anonymous

Mrs. America Online Tonight!

I want to apologize for not posting for a bit...

I feel like I am still trying to organize things around here and get caught up! The past almost 2 weeks that I've been back home seems to have FLOWN by! LOL! Not to mention I swear it's been raining for the entire time! But the good news is the weather is starting to clear and cool and I'm now back on track!

My son's 1ST Birthday is this Sunday!! We have my grandparents and my parents coming into town to join us, along with all of our family and friends!! So not only have I been catching up, unpacking, sending my many thanks to my sponsors and support staffs but also trying to plan my first Birthday Kid Carnival and get my appearances on the go!

I really want to make the most of my year and have a few more appearances in line and hope to have many more! For all those interested, it would be my honor to make appearances at your local schools, hospitals, festivals, charity events, and more! So please feel free to contact my director Tracy Crist or myself for any request!

So stay posted for my upcoming events! I will post again after my son and our family's big events this week/weekends!

Thank you for your patience.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY.. I wanted to share that the Mrs. America pageant will be online tonight at www.mrsamerica.tv!

Tuesday, September 8th FINALS!

Tuesday was yet another early morning… Hair & make-up at 7am, Rehearsals 9-1, Lunch, and back to Rehearsals! And I still managed on missing a beat or two! LOL! Than down and ready for the show at 6!

I was extremely excited for Finals! After prelims, I felt it was not my best performance, but would be given another try to really give it my all finals night! BUT I was wrong ~ Lol! There were so many beautiful ladies, I didn't make it into the finals, but I wasn't the only blonde, there were many- lol! But with the comfort of my friends, family, and a TON of audience members remarks that I belonged there, made me feel I wasn't left behind! ;)- Most importantly though, as life, sometimes you win big and sometimes you lose even larger! Well, this was one of those times...lol... But I feel I did so with pride and class and that's all that matters.

I do want to apologize to my Texas Gals, Friends, Family, Directors, and all those whom have been helping me along the way... You ‘all had such great expectations from me and such a strong belief and support in my dreams - I want to Thank You! At first I thought I may have let you down a bit... but after getting home and thinking what a great time I had I realized you ‘all would’ve been proud of me the entire week I was at Mrs. America! I wanted to do well, especially for you, but in my own way... I learned a TON this past week about myself and about others - I Thank You for that as well! But most importantly I realized my day to day life is a blessing!! And I stepped out of that for one week and had an experience of a lifetime that I will cherish for years to come!

I also met a TON of new girlfriends and created friendships that I'm sure will last a lifetime! After going through an experience away from home with girls you can relate too, makes a bond unforgettable! I want to Thank My "Rommie" Heather Rouba, Mrs. Oklahoma! I had a great time getting to know you and so fond of the MANY laughs we shared (esp. those when we were extremely over tired)! LOL! I had a blast and hope we keep in touch! Thanks for putting up with my flowers, and with me! lol!

I want to Thank my mother-in-law, Phyllis, although because of a last minute family emergency, most of my family was unable to attend.. I knew she wanted to be to there to support me, but by picking up all my responsibility while I was gone and going above and beyond "lending me a hand" displayed more than support! I am so Thankful to have you in my life to help me be a great " Mom!"

My Mom & Dad - WOW! I can't even describe all the places they've traveled to support me! I want to Thank You for coming to route me on, for helping with Trae, but most importantly being the BEST Mom & Dad a girl could have!

My Director, Tracy! Thank You for being you and the support and encouragement through a long and eventful week! It was great to see you laugh than to hear it over the phone for a week! lol! AND Thank You for the "gifts" everyday!! It was like Christmas!! I LOVE gifts!! ;)- LOL,! Most importantly Thank You for your time to listen and faith in me! I'm excited to see and share the remainder of the year together!

My Husband and Son!! GOSH I missed them!! Thank You for "managing" without me and putting in 200% so I could have a shot at a dream! You both mean the world to me and it tore me to be away from you!! I’m thrilled you ‘all got some "man-to man" time but I'm so happy to be home to add the feminine touch! lol! Zoli, Thank You for believing in me more than I do! I Love You so much!

Well, after all that, I just Thank EVERYONE! lol! WOW- what a week! And what a weekend to recover! I don't think I've ever been so tired or exhausted! But after 7 loads of laundry and 2 days of unpacking, I think I'm just now starting to feel at speed!

Here are a few pictures of Finals night... I will post some more when I receive them so I will keep changing this post to add more photos...

Looking forward to be back in the "swing of things" but even more HAPPY TO BE MRS. TEXAS!!! Looking forward to a year that's not even near close to being complete! :)










This is a sign my mom made to hold up at the pageant- we never got to use it becuase the whole family couldn't make it- but I had to share because it was so cool!!

Preliminary Competition Saturday...

Saturday, today, is the preliminary competition!!! Again we started breakfast at 8am and Heather & I had to be in Hair & Make Up by 7am to get Roller Set for the day and then touch-Ups after the 2nd rehearsal before we were to report in the dressing room!
We got to Bed at 1am & Again Up at 5:30! Whoohoo I feel like superwoman! LOL!

My Monday(Labor Day)Schedule Summarized: 7am Hair & Makeup 8:30 Breakfast 9am Rehearsal 12:30 Lunch 1:30 Rehearsal, 4pm Hair & Make Up, 5:30 Report Dressed and Ready for competition and dinner in dressing Room. 6:30 Line Up for Prelims! WOW! Back to Back... But it went by SO FAST!!!

Here are some pictures of today...


Rehearsal Monday Morning


Mrs. Utah & I ready for swimwear!!


Mrs. TN & I after Evening Gown!
MY GOWN IS BY FRANKIE COUTURE!! I wish you could see the back in this photo- it is Backless and BREATH TAKING!!! I received SO many compliments Monday & Tuesday on my gown!! GO FRANKIE!! Luv & Thank U!!


Evening Gown photo taken by a photographer in the audience...


My YELLOW ROSE Costume!! EVERYONE Loved it!! It was still Catchy and appealing yet tastefull & cute!! The girls were calling me tinkerbell! LOL! Thank You Tracy Elliot ( Mrs. TX '06)!

And let the competition begin...

Interview Sunday!

Sunday was the day the actual competition began! You could feel a bit more tension in the morning, but as the day went on and girls were finished with their interviews, it was a relaxing but busy day!

My interview began at 4:10PM! YES PM!! I was "geeked" Saturday night when I went to bed late catching up on some work emails and posting photos - that I could finally sleep in! NO ~ of course I couldn’t sleep in ... 6am I was awake and ready to roll! lol! Tired of course, but didn’t feel it until after interview ;)- Thank Goodness

I wasn't supposed to be in hair and makeup until 1:30pm, but I went early so my room mate could rest a bit and to say a "Good Luck" to Kansas and Kentucky while they were getting theirs done.. well, Tamara and Joann said why not now, since your here and ready after KY & KS! So I was ready to rock at 1pm! LOL! With no where to go! LOL!

Anyway, Tamara Matthews ( Make-Up) and JoAnn Peterson (Hair) did an INCRECIBLE job!! My interview dress was incredible too!! I received a compliment from EACH judge on how gorgeous my interview dress was!! Good Job Mel! lol!

Anyway, My interview went EXTREMELY well!!! I had each judge laughing and relaxed! I felt 110% after leaving interview!! The interview portion of the competition is my favorite and went well!

Here are some photos...


Hair & Make-Up in Mrs. Leigh & Mrs. Zoe's suite! THANKS GIRLS!! xoxo


Tamara Matthews( Make-Up) & I


Happy After Interview!

After Dinner and Interviews were over, we were to attend a Jazz Fest before Rehearsal...




Rehearsal lasted until 10:45 and we were off to bed for another early morning and LONG day!

BUT MY HUSBAND, SON, MOM, & DAD arrived this afternoon!!! YEAHHH!!!! It was so NICE to see them!! I missed them SOO MUCH!!!

Saturday at Mrs. America!

This morning we started bright & early for a group swimsuit shot at the pool at 6:15 so we all got up around 5:30! And we are just now getting in at 11pm! WOW!

Today we had an MENC Seminar after breakfast, than to rehearsal than to lunch and back to rehearsal and the same for dinner! Than to rehearsal again! :)- We also exchanged our gifts with everyone! That was fun it was almost like Halloween emptying all our bags and sorting through everything! LOL! It was great!

A REAL SPECIAL surprise today was Mrs. Leigh Geittman Allen and her mom arrived this morning!! They have traveled all the way to Tucson to watch Mrs. America and Route me on!

Another Surprise is OUR SHOW WILL BE ON TV!! We just got the news last night at dinner from Mr. Marmel!! So stay tuned- here are some of the pictures I took today...


My “Partner” in line up, Mrs. Tennessee!


Mrs. Texas & Mrs. Indiana!


Dinner with my “Roomie”!

Friday Day 4 at Mrs. America!!

The President's Ball


The Girls in Pink! ;)


Mrs. IL & Mrs. TX! She (Anji- IL is a TRUE beauty!)




OK, TX & IL at Dinner!


Rehearsal this morning


Golf Outing this morning at the Resort