JANUARY 11, 2007
MEET & GREET FOR MINNESOTA INTERNATIONAL PAGEANTS

Tonight I attended a "Meet & Greet" get-together for the MN International Pageants held at my good friend Paula Preston's photography studio in northeast Minneapolis ( http://www.paulapreston.com ). Due to Paula's talents, I was honored with the Mrs. Photogenic title this past summer at Mrs. MN...thanks, Paula! This event was also sponsored by The Pageant Shop by Michael's ( http://www.thepageantshop.net ) and pageant coach Cheri Kennedy ( http://www.cherikennedy.com). I actually attended this event not as Mrs. Minnesota America, but as a "former" Mrs. Minnesota International (a title I had the good fortune to win in 2003). It was great to see old friends and faces, and I was able to answer some questions from the current contestants as well. When I competed in the International system, there was only the MRS. division, however, now the system has grown to include MISS and TEEN divisions as well, which is really neat to see. In Minnesota, we are lucky to have AMAZING directors in BOTH the International and America systems, and what is especially great is how they support one another (in fact, my former Mrs. MN Int'l state director Allison Stavrakis even flew out to Tucson, AZ to cheer me on at Mrs. America--how cool is THAT!?!).

PHOTOS:
1) Catching up with pageant sponsors Sarah Moses (Owner of The Pageant Shop by Michael's) and photographer Paula Preston.
2) Two "formers" with the current Mrs. MN Int'l: L to R Nancy Paradeise (Mrs. MN Int'l 2004), Angela Haseman (Mrs. MN Int'l 2006), and me (Mrs. MN Int'l 2003)
3) The "Class of 2003" (we have remained close friends!)...L to R: Nancy Paradeise, Donnell Rank, Leisha Gust, me