Plymouth Ice Festival!! :)

Genysis is a tremendous sponsor to so many events! Love them!

What a pleasant surprise to be interviewd by Fox 2 News!!

His mom said I was his very first crush and he wanted to meet me! He was so cute!!

Hi there!

It was a little cold, but made for a great throne!! Hee hee!

Fox 2 News wanted to do my interview behind the ice podium, but the cameraman said my sash didn't show! So we did it in front!!

This reporter who interviewed me was from the Detroit Press!!

One of the many very talented ice scupture artists! He had started this one the day before!!

Here we go!! :)

Very unique sculpture with faces coming out of the ice!!

Having a good laugh with the Fox 2 News reporter!

I LOVE happy surprises!! Friday, January 20th found me in downtown Plymouth for an appearance at the Plymouth Ice Festival!! I used to live in Canton, during my middle school years, and have attended the festival almost every year since then so it was great to go back this year as a titleholder in the Miss America Organization as Miss Lady of the Lakes! While I was there, I was approached by Fox 2 News for an impromptu television interview! I was told it would air on Sunday morning the 22nd!! What a joy to be able to share with the viewers about the newer Miss Lady of the Lakes pageant, Miss Michigan, and Miss America pageants! It was bitterly cold, in the single digits, and I could hardly move my mouth to speak as my lips were freezing! Ha ha! But still fun nonetheless!

We also talked about the beautiful ice sculptures! It is amazing to me how talented these artisits are! Watching someone create a stunning piece of artwork out of a block of ice with a chainsaw and a chisel is nothing less than miraculous! I just couldn't choose a favorite one because each one was so unique in its design! These sculptures are particularly majestic at night when the ice is illuminated with different colored lights, but with an impending snow storm in the forecast I didn't think I should stay until dark! I was absolutely thrilled to be there to take in what I could! And a surprise interview was the cherry on top of the cake!! :)

Mr. Milford 2012 Pageant!!!!

Practicing my song before the show!

I wore the t-shirt tux's to promote the sale of them during the show! All of the money raised for the tee's also went towards the CARE House program!!

Some of the contestants during swimsuit!! Even our former Mr Milford, Brandon requested to be in the swimsuit portion of competition!

The staff and contestants during intermission!!

On stage question!! Each contestant recieved 2 questions, a funny/light hearted question and a serious question. They all did a fantastic job!

Singing my talent song!!

Dylan's crowning moment as the new Mr Milford of 2012!!

The King and his court!!

My "boyfriend" Dylan, Mr Milford 2012!

My wonderful emcee partner, Tre Cruz!!

Kyle our 2nd runner up! He plays phenomenal drums!!

Our first runner up and Mr Congeniality, Tommy!!! He stole the crowds heart!!

Dominic!! During his on stage question part of competition his question was, "Do you believe in love at first sight?" Dominic looks over at me and smiles for a second and then responds, "Um. Yes, yes I do!" Talk about a priceless moment!! It made me feel special!!

Wednesday, January 18th found me emceeing the 2nd annual Mr Milford pageant where I had the pleasure and honor to co-emcee it again with my friend Tre Cruz!! The contestants were as funny as ever and I am so proud of every single one of them!!! The talents have improved immensely and the crowd was louder than any pageant I have ever been to - it was amazing!!! I also had a chance to see a few of the former contestant (from last year) competing again this year, in fact my "boyfriend" (as he always calls me his "girlfriend" haha) was Dylan!!

All of the students raised $1,250 for the CARE House of Oakland County which is a child abuse center where kids can stay for extended periods of time for help to recover from sexual, physical, and mental abuse.

It really was a great turn out from the crowd considering all of the students are having their exams this week due to trimester schedules! I hope this pageant continues to be an annual event that the students look forward to participating in and continue to raise money for CARE House!! This has always been one of my favorite events and I always have a blast!! The pageant is always full of surprises and laughs and last night was no exception! Congratulations to all of the contestants!!!

Vegas Baby! Miss America Pageant 2012!! :)

Our incredible Miss Michigan director, Shelley Taylor!! Love you so much! <3

My former Miss Oakland County director, Francesca!!

So proud of our Elizabeth for placing second runner up for the Quality of Life Award!!

Visitation!

Our stunning Miss Michigan's Oustanding Teen, Marissa Cowans!

"Elizabeth squared"

Nathan Burton from the 'America's Got Talent' show after his Magic Comedy show!!

Our reigning Miss America's Outstanding Teen, Elizabeth!! I saw her being crowned back in August when I was working at Disney World! What a doll!!

Katie Stam!!!

Our very own Miss America 2008, former Miss Michigan and Oakland County, Kirsten Haglund!!

Erika Dunlap and Katie Harmon!

Nicole Johnson!!! She remembers me as the "swimsuit girl" from last year in the trade show when she helped me pick out my swimsuit for Miss Michigan!

The last redhead to ever be crowned Miss America in 1997!

                                                  Our very own Kay Lani Rafko Wilson!! :)

Bebe!!

Mr and Mrs Haglund! Kirsten's parents! Love them! 

One of the Miss America's sponsors, Wen!

                                            Miss Michigan's Outstanding Teen Marissa Cowans!

Dalia!! Love you!!

Sydney and me!!

                                  All the gang from Michigan that came out to support Elizabeth!

After final night with our amazing Miss Michigan Elizabeth!!

Wow where do I begin!?!? I had such a blast this year at Miss America!! It was a blessing to be able to go to Vegas for the second year in a row and see for myself what it's like for the girls while they are at Nationals!! I roomed with Francesca, who is my former local director, of the Miss Oakland County pageant!! Not only did we have fun with our pageant experience, we also had fun taking photos in a wax museum, seeing Nathan Burtons Magic Comedy show, and watching the AMAZING Phantom of the Opera performance (which I found out is closing down in September) and we can't forget all of the shopping!!
This years competition was strong!! The talents were very entertaining, the girls were in fabulous shape for their swimsuits, and the gowns sparkled like the sun!! It's kind of surreal watching the pageant live, especially since I've watched Miss America pageant since I was a little girl!
I also had a blast meeting the former Miss America's again this year and they were so sweet and encouraging!! It was incredible that most of them remembered me from last year!! They meet so many people throughout the year and it made me feel extra special that I was a face that they remembered!!
Interestingly enough though we will actually have 2 Miss America pageants in the same year!! It was recently announced during the pageant that Miss America will be moved to September of 2012!!! I don't know where it will be located yet as rumours abound so we will have to wait and see for final details!!
Our beautiful Miss Michigan, Elizabeth Wertenberger, did an outstanding job!! She looked GORGEOUS in every phase of competition and was very consisitent in each category! She really did make Michigan proud!!!! As the second runner up for the Quality of Life Award, Elizabeth recieved a $2000 prize for future tuition! What a tremendous honor for her! It was an amazing opportunity to be there and support her on her journey to Miss America and I couldn't be happier for her!! Now she will continue promoting her platform and making a difference in our state up until the Miss Michigan pageant in June!!! Love you Elizabeth and I hope you had a blast!!