Rounding up the month of March...

Hello my friends!

The months of March and April have flown by.  I have been busier than ever traveling throughout the state and to others!  I am going to update you in this blog with the rest of my March appearances.

On March 15th, I made an appearance at the Make-A-Wish Foundation walk in Orlando.  Miss Orlando, Amanda Harris, and Miss Orange County, Sara York, were also in attendance.  The evening was blessed with beautiful weather and fabulous food!

The next day I traveled to St. Petersburg to attend the Sungoddess Coronation Ball that is hosted by the St. Petersburg Suncoasters.  This is a "civic organization comprised of nearly 200 business leaders who donate their time and resources to produce events that celebrate the city of St. Petersburg to be enjoyed by the total community."  They created the Sungoddess and Junior Sungoddess scholarship program in which they crown 2 young women to represent their organization each year.  Our new Miss Florida Board Member, Kim Futch, joined me at this event.  It was great to spend some time with her!

The following morning, which was Saturday, May 17th, I drove to Miami.  After a five hour long drive I was finally in the city and finally in Mary's home!  I had missed Mary so much and I couldn't wait to have some adventures with her.  

Sunday, Mary, David Gilbert, and I attended the Miss Miami Pageant.  The show was emceed by my Miss Florida sister, Lissette Gonzalez.  It was great to see her and a few more of my friends that had come to support the contestants.  Congratulations to the two winners, Dasha Gonzalez and Azah Awasum!

That following Monday, Mary, David, and I visited Ann Marie at her brand new store!  I got a few new additions to my wardrobe.  I am so grateful for the wonderful sponsorship that Ann Marie provides to Miss Florida!

After Ann Marie's, we met up with two more of my Miss Florida sisters, Kelly Gaudet, and Kylie Williams for dinner.  We had so much fun catching up and sharing stories!

Wednesday, March 21st, I drove back to St. Petersburg to partake in the Grand Prix festivities.  Thursday evening I rode in my very own "Miss Florida" carriage in the Festival of States Grand Prix Night Parade. Miss St. Petersburg, Miss Largo, and their teen queens were there as well.  I had never been to this parade  before so I had no idea what to expect.  I was so excited to see that there were so many people there to watch the parade!

The following night, Miss St. Petersburg, Chloe Lupo, and I attended the Grand Prix VIP Welcome Party at the Mahaffey Theater.  Drivers, sponsors, and big Grand Prix fans were there to enjoy the party as well.  The city of St. Petersburg entertained with a fireworks show and of course fed us with some fabulous food!

 The next night, Saturday, March 24th, Mary flew from Miami to St. Petersburg to come join in the Grand Prix fun!  March 25th, we were up early to meet with Robert Danielson, who is the manager of communications and creative services for the city of St. Petersburg.  During the races, I was able to make a round on the track, meet and greet with people, and MEET CLAY AIKEN!  Mary was in heaven of course because she is the BIGGEST Clay fan I have ever met!

On March 31st, I woke early and drove to Plant City to attend the First Annual Charity Polo Classic.  This was a benefit for the Children's Cancer Center and Kettle Comfort.  I had never been to a Polo Match before so this was a new experience for me.  I had the opportunity to throw the ball to begin the match.  My good friend, Linda McHenry, joined me at this event.  It had been a long time since I had spent time with her so I was so happy that she was able to attend it with me.  At the event, Mayor Raulerson, father of my predecessor, Jaclyn, was there to make opening remarks.  It is always great to see his smiling face!

Right after the Polo match, I drove to Orlando to perform at the University of Central Florida's Knight Thon.  Every year, UCF, hosts this "dance marathon" to raise money for Children's Miracle Network.  It felt great to be on my college campus and seeing so many familiar faces!

Well that rounds up my month of March!  Stay tuned for my April blog!  It's going to be a long one!

Don't forget to follow me on twitter @ MissFlorida11

All my love,

Kristina

Is it really March?!

Hello All!

I can't believe that we are almost half way through the month of March!  Since I last posted I have been traveling and continuing this amazing journey as Miss Florida 2011

As promised, I have a picture with Linda Eder to share with you!  Tom Wopat from the show The Dukes of Hazzard also performed.  Linda was absolutely charming and of course she sang BEAUTIFULLY!  Thank you to my executive director, Mary Sullivan, for this truly special birthday gift!

Robert Warren, a former judge of the Miss Florida Pageant, was my host for the evening.  It was a pleasure to catch up with him and get to know him outside of the pageant world :-)

On February 27th, I traveled to Gainesville to attend the Miss University of Florida Pageant.  It was great to catch up with some friends and fellow Miss Florida competitors!  Congratulations to Ashlyn Roberson on winning the Miss University of Florida title!

Early the next morning, I traveled to Sanford to a local Ihop to participate in the National Pancake Day Festivities.  Ihop partnered with Children's Miracle Network to help raise money for CMN Hospitals on this day.  Later that afternoon, I visited another Ihop in Orlando.  This Ihop raised the most money in the entire nation last year!  They raised $15,191 at that location alone!  

On March 6th, I sang the National Anthem at the Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg for the Opening Night  of International Baseball.  The game was between Canada and the Netherlands.  It was a chilly night in St. Petersburg but the people were so warm and excited to have Miss Florida there!

On March 9th, I made an appearance at Lake Eola in Orlando for the Walk to Defeat ALS.  I sang the National Anthem, made opening remarks with local radio station stars, Johnny Magic and Brian, and helped cut the ribbon to kick off the walk.  There were so many people in attendance!  Oh, I forgot to mention that my short hair is back!

The following day, I attended the Philippine Medical Physicians of Central Florida Dinner.  The new president of the organization, Dr. Flores, was inaugurated that night. He had invited me to perform at the dinner.  Little did I know that I would run into family friends that I had not seen in over a decade!  I had so much fun catching up with them and meeting with all of the people at this event!

That now brings you to yesterday's appearance at the Harley Davidson in Sanford.  The local Bahia Shriners hosted a fundraiser to help raise money for their Children's Hospital.  They raised $270,000!  My teen queen, Rachel appeared at the event with me.  It is always so much fun making appearances with her!  :-)

Until next time!

Kristina

Miss Florida after Miss America

Hello All!

The day after I returned from Las Vegas, I went straight to work!  I traveled to Tallahassee early in the morning on January 17th.  I had the opportunity of meeting and introducing Gavin Degraw at the Everglades Water Supply Summit!  Chuck Todd from NBC news was there to moderate the Summit.  The Everglades Water Supply Summit was filled with "informative and thought-provoking events designed to build momentum towards the restoration of a national treasure and secure Florida's water supply."

The next morning, I was up early and off to the Capitol to Lobby for funding for Everglades Restoration.  Since I had had the opportunity to Lobby in December, many people recognized me and congratulated me on my top 12 placement at Miss America.  It was so heart warming for me to know that I had so much support! 

Needless to say, after my time in Tallahassee, I was absolutely exhausted.  My body was still operating on Vegas time!  Mary was kind enough to let me recoup for a week and a half before hitting the road again.

On January 22nd, I went to Miss Florida 2006, Allison Kreiger's, baby shower.  It was a pageant reunion as well as there were many former contestants and titleholders at the party! Yes, Allison wore a "mom to be" crown.  Haha!

 On January 28th, I attended the Plant City Strawberry Festival Queen Pageant.  Mary judged the competition, along with David Gilbert, Michael Nutter, Deb Knoske, and Megan Clementi.  All great friends of mine!  The pageant was exciting to watch!  I was able to reconnect with a lot of friends and sign autographs for precious girls who had watched Miss America :-)

January 31st, I attended the Mitt Romney Rally for the Florida Primary.  I was invited to his VIP Reception as well.  This was such an exciting event to be a part of!  I was able to connect with many legislators and meet people from all over the nation!

February 4th, I made an appearance at the Children's Miracle Network Butterfly Kickoff in Oveido  Several Miracle families were in attendance.  We released butterflies into the brand new butterfly garden that had been built at the Oveido Mall.

That same night I attended the Miss St. Petersburg, Pinellas County, and Largo Pageant.  Miss Florida 2010, Jackie Raulerson was there!  It was great to see and catch up with her.  Congratulations to all of our new winners!  

The following week, on January 8th,  I visited Chris Martin at Copperhead Salon who gave me a new look! That night I drove to Miami and had dinner with Mary and Miss Florida 2007, Kylie Williams.

The next morning, I traveled to Ft. Lauderdale to speak at Broward Estates Elementary School.  After my appearance I drove home to Orlando.  January 9th, I attended the Miss Orlando's Outstanding Teen Preliminaries.

The next day was the Miss Orlando Pageant.  It was a great show!  Congratulations to our new Miss Orlando, Miss Orange County, and Miss Orlando's Outstanding Teen!

The next morning, Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen, Rachel, and I traveled to Ponte Vedra to have a tea party with our Little Miracle Maker, Amelia Grace McDonough.  She was such a precious little girl with so much personality!

February 15th, I participated in Valentine's Day Bingo at All Children's Hospital.  I had a blast calling out  the numbers and getting to meet some of the kids there.

February 17th, I taveled to Palm Beach to attend the Everglades Foundation Gala.  Dave Matthew's Band gave a special performance.  Eleven time World Champion Surfer, Kelly Slater, was there as the Honorary Chair and MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough hosted the event.  I modeled a swimsuit during the live auction portion of the event.  Good friend and former competitor of the Miss Florida Pageant, Danielle Mueller, came with me to the gala.  This event was a blast! Oh and I got to meet living golf legend, Jack Nicklaus!

February 20th, I celebrated my 25th birthday!  Twenty-four was an amazing year!  I can't wait to see what 25 will bring!

Two days later, I attended Veronica Livesay's retirement party at the University Central Florida.  Veronica has worked at UCF for 32 years and has served as director of the Miss UCF Pageant. It was great to be on the UCF campus.  We will miss Veronica very much at UCF!  You probably notice the black spot on my forehead on the photos below.  It was ash wednesday!

The next day I sang the National Anthem for the Osceola County School District's Championship Game.  My former Sunshine Princess, Cortney Taylor, played for the winning team!  Way to go Seahawks!

The following day, February 24th, I watched Linda Eder in concert at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center in Sarasota!  I also had the opportunity to meet her!  I am a big fan of hers.  I sang songs sung by her at both Miss Florida and Miss America for my talent pieces.  Photos are soon to come!

So this brings us to last night, February 25th.  I co-hosted the Miss Pasco County and Miss Pasco County Fair Pageants with David Lang.  Miss Pasco County Fair was my very first title in the Miss Florida Organization in 2007!  It was great to be back and boy how time flies!

Well this brings you up to date with all of my adventures since I've been back from Miss America!  I can't wait to share my next adventures with you!