November days have come and gone

Hello again!

After the fashion show in Tampa, I stayed in town for appearances the very next day.  I visited a few local schools to speak with the students about my platform.  I also had the opportunity to have a mock interview while in town.  My favorite part of the day was when I visited with a preschool class.  All of the students presented me with cards that they had made and they even attempted to build me a castle out of their toy building blocks!  It was so precious.

The following day, Monday, the 15th, I traveled to Winter Springs to speak at Rainbow Elementary School.  There were 3rd, 4th, and 5th, graders in attendance.

The next day, Tuesday, the 16th, I traveled to Lakeland for a mock interview and to have dinner with friends and members of the Miss Florida Board.  It was nice to reconnect with them!

That Friday, Mary and I judged the Mr. UCF Pageant.  This is an annual event at my university (University of Central Florida).  Mr. UCF plays a vital role in most of the university's events and is truly embraced by the student population so choosing the right man for the job was no easy task.  All of the contestants were remarkable!  It was a great experience to be on the other side and get a judge's perspective.  After it was all said and done, I believe that the other judges and I made a wonderful choice!  Congratulations to Zach Cabrera on a job well done!

Saturday, I performed at the Miss UCF Pageant and helped crown our new Miss UCF, Alexa Schmidt!  Congratulations to Alexa!  She will have a year full of memories and exciting experiences!

Monday the 21st, I attended a luncheon with the Central Florida Women's Council, where I had the opportunity to speak about my platform and my experience in Washington D.C.  Members of the Council work closely with the Florida House in Washington D.C. so they were anxious to hear about my experience there.  The luncheon was delightful, especially because Miss Florida 2006, Allison Kreiger, and her mother, Deborah, are members and were also in attendance. :-)

The next few days were spent preparing for Thanksgiving festivities.  My Thanksgiving was absolutely wonderful.  All of my cousins came home from their respective colleges so I was in absolute family heaven! I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving!  Can you believe that Christmas is right around the corner?!

The next two weeks are going to be very busy with travel...I will be in Miami, Tallahassee, and Tampa in a matter of six days!  

Until next time!

Kristina

Adventure Queen

Hello All!

The month of November has been flying by!  It's time to share my adventures during the first few weeks with you.

On October 29th, I attended the Miss Broward County pageant.  I had the opportunity to perform and meet with all of the contestants. Congratulations to our new miss and teen titleholders: Kourtney Gallego, Victoria Kontzamanys, Amrita Singh, Melissa Phillips, and Brandais Austrino!  I was also able to spend time with my sister queen, Rachel!

I spent the next few days in Miami finalizing a few things for Miss America.  I can't believe the time is almost here!

Mary and I had loads of fun on Halloween handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters.  I was really creative and dressed up as Miss Florida...haha...

November 5th, I drove to Apopka to emcee the Miss Apopka pageant.  I held the local title in 2010, so it was a lot of fun reconnecting with all of the people in Apopka that I had spent time with during my year.

November 8th, I drove to Winter Park for talent practice with David Gilbert.  I then drove to Port St. Lucie for a voice lesson with Anna McNeely.  Afterwards, I drove to Miami.  It was definitely a day full of driving!

The next day, I drove to Coral Springs to speak at Sawgrass Springs Middle School to speak with the sixth graders.  I spoke to four different class periods about the importance of protecting our environment and highlighted on the importance of Everglades restoration.  The school was located next door to the Everglades so it was imperative to share how vital the Everglades ecosystem and water supply is to their population.  I was very impressed with the school's emphasis on environmental education.  They have an outdoor classroom which is where I did all of my speaking.

While I was there, I was informed that a former Miss Delaware was a member of the their faculty!  Of course I had to meet her and snap a photo!

The following day, Mary and I drove to Broward Estates Elementary School.  I was to speak there about the same topic that I had the day before.  Well, as soon I entered the school, the assistant principal spoke on the intercom and announced that they were having a code yellow.  Mary and I had no idea what that meant, so while the faculty members were frantically working to calm things down in the front office, I went to the restroom to put on my crown and sash.  During that time, the code yellow turned into a code red and Mary and I were brought into a meeting room where we were told we could not move away from.  We were completely confused as we saw members of the Swat team and policemen with dogs start to search the school.

After sometime, we learned that someone had trespassed onto the campus.  The code red continued for about an hour and a half.  Unfortunately, I was not able to speak to the students because dismissal was soon after the code red was over.  Mary and I could not believe what had happened...I guess I really am the Queen of Adventure...haha.  I must say though, that I was very impressed with how the faculty handled everything!

Of course the code red didn't stop me from taking photos!

  
The next day, November 11th, I attended the Pineapple Ball with Ann Marie Griffin and her good friend Rosalie.  The Pineapple Ball is an annual fundraiser for Homestead Hospital.  I sang the National Anthem right before dinner.  I had the best time!

The evening at the Pineapple Ball was just the beginning of an extremely busy weekend.  Before the sun rose the next morning, I was up and getting ready for a drive from Miami to Orlando to attend the Children's Miracle Network Torch Relay.  Miss America 2011, Teresa Scanlan, Miss America's Outstanding Teen, Elizabeth Fechtel, and my sister queen, Rachel, were also in attendance.  It was great to catch up with all of the ladies!

Right after my appearance at the Torch Relay, I traveled to Plant City to attend a dinner show at the Red Rose Inn with David Gilbert and Mary.  The dinner show is an annual event that is held to raise money for St. Jude's Children's Hospital.  The three of us had a blast watching the show!

The next morning, November 13th, I traveled to Winter Park for a fundraiser party that my good friends Michael and Ron were throwing for me.  All the money raised at this event will be used to help me with my Miss America expenses.  Many people came to the party, including my family, the mayor of Winter Park, Miss Florida 2006, and many more!  It was such an awesome event and I couldn't be more grateful for Michael and Ron's kindness and for everyone's undying support!

After the party I drove to Tampa for a Fashion Show at the Sears in Citrus Park Mall.  Former Miss Florida contestants were also a part of the show.  This was a fun event.  Who doesn't love fashion shows?

Whew...what a busy first two weeks of November I had!  Well, it didn't slow down after that!  Be sure to visit my blog soon.  I will be posting about the rest of my November adventures!

Much love,
Kristina

Miss Florida + October = Busy Bee!!!

Greetings!

The month of October has flown by so quickly!  I can't believe that tomorrow is Halloween and that November will begin!  October has been the busiest month of my reign thus far.

The first of the month I traveled to St. Petersburg to attend a playoff soccer game between FC Tampa Bay and the NSC Minnesota Stars.  The FC Tampa Bay fans were loads of fun as they showed their support for the team.  I had a great time taking pictures and speaking with people in the crowd. Thank you to Bill and Kim Doniel for being my chaperones for the evening!

The very first week of the month, I traveled to New York City, to meet with designers, Stephen and Shawn Yearick, as well as Jovani.  My visits with them were very successful as I was able to find exactly what I needed...but you'll have to wait till Miss America to know anything about it ;-)  Hehe.

As soon as I returned from New York I went straight to work. On the 12th, I spoke at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School. I visited the preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students. During my visit I taught the students about the importance of protecting the world around us. To teach them about how beautiful our world is, I brought miniature pots for planting. They had so much fun getting their hands dirty in the soil! I also left with each classroom a caterpillar to watch through it's life cycle and become butterflies.

The following day, I had a meeting with MetroPlan Orlando which is the metropolitan planning organization for Orange, Osceola, and Seminole Counties in Central Florida.  The organization was created by federal law, state statutes, and progressive regional thinking to address the communities transportation needs now and in the future.  I arranged to meet with MetroPlan to learn more about the air quality needs for central Florida.  Due to the fact that air quality is directly related to transportation, MetroPlan created the Clean Air Team, that works to educate others about the importance of protecting the air we breathe. 

The next 3 days were devoted to an appearance at the Orlando Southern Women's Convention.  I was there on behalf of Artistry by Amway.  Each day, I had the opportunity to speak on their main stage.  I took the time to share with the audience the benefits of the Miss America Organization, my duties as Miss Florida, and the importance of my platform.  I was also able to perform a few of my favorite songs.   The rest of the time I spent at the Artistry booth signing autographs and promoting Artistry.  I also had the unique opportunity of petting a penguin!  

After making my appearance at the last day of the Convention, on Sunday the 16th, I traveled to Plant City to attend the Homecoming for our new Miss America's Oustanding Teen Elizabeth Fechtel.  Many people were in attendance and it was great to reconnect with everyone!  I was so excited for our new Miss Florida's Oustanding Teen, Rachel Strever, who had her official crowning at this party.  She was beaming!

The next morning, October 17th, I traveled to Gainesville to participate as a judge and special guest at the University of Florida's Mr. and Miss AASU pageant.  AASU stands for Asian American Student Union.  During the pageant I judged the contestants in evening wear, talent, national costume, and onstage question.  It was fun to be on the other side of competition as a judge!  It was much more difficult than I ever imagined!  You want all of the contestants to do well and you wish that you could crown them all.  At the pageant, I was brought on stage to speak about my year as Miss Florida and to perform. 

 The following afternoon I took a tour of Shands Children's Hospital in Gainesville.  Shands is a Children's Miracle Network Hospital.  It was great to learn what CMNH has done and continues to do for Shands.  My absolute favorite part of the tour was being able to interact with the children who are patients there. 

I was Orlando bound the next day.  I was there for two days to work on a few Miss America preparations which included talent practice with David Gilbert.  Miss America 2011, Teresa Scanlan, was in town for a Children's Miracle Network appearance, so I was able to take her out to lunch!  She is a such a delightful young woman!  We laughed as we shared stories with each other.

That weeked, October 21-23, I was in Jacksonville to work with Artistry again for Jacksonville's Southern Women's Convention.  My duties were just as they were at the Orlando convention.  I had fun spending time with the ladies of Artistry!

After a great weekend in Jacksonville, I traveled south to Miami.  I made a stop in Port St. Lucie to meet with my vocal coach to practice my talent for Miss America.  Once I was in Miami, I was able to relax for the rest of the evening.

The next morning, a makeup artist came to Mary's house to do my makeup for a photo shoot that I was having with Elizabeth K. Sanchez at Deering Estates.  Deering Estates is a beautiful location in Miami.  My wardrobe for the photoshoot was provided by Ann Marie Griffin.  I had a blast having my pictures taken!  Below are a few photos that were taken from my camera.

The following day, Mary and I visited Ann Marie at her store to choose more apparell for my appearances.  I am so thankful for Ann Marie's kindness and gift of beautiful clothing to ensure that look fabulous everywhere I go! :-)That night I attended a Toastmaster's meeting where they gave me the opportunity to have a mock interview to better my public speaking skills.

I was Orlando bound the next morning to make appearances at my college, the University of Central Florida, and my high School, Bishop Moore Catholic.  It was homecoming weekend for both and the greatest part about it all is that both schools' colors are black and gold! Friday, the 28th, I attended the UCF Spirit Splash which is a tradition in which all the students can jump into the school's famous reflection pond to kick off the weekend.  It was absolute madness as there were thousands of students in attendance filled with school spirit!  They cheered so loud when the found out that Miss Florida was a student at their school and it made me feel so proud be a UCF Knight!

That night I opened my high school's football game with the National Anthem.  I am proud to say that it was a big win for us that night!

Yesterday, was the UCF Homecoming parade and I got to be a part of it!  I have always loved parades!

Right after the parade I was in my car and traveling to Broward County to attend the Miss Broward County Pageant.

I am now in Miami for a few days to work on Miss America preparations!  Tomorrow is Halloween...Mary and I will be dressed up for the trick or treaters that will be ringing the door bell for some candy...hahaha.  Can't wait!

Until next time!

Kristina