"Chaos is a friend of mine" -Bob Dylan

What a crazy week I have had!!  I was blessed with so many opportunities this week and now it's time to catch everyone up!

I had the pleasure of visiting the Hattiesburg Kiwanis Club this Tuesday and sharing with them my personal platform as well as advocating for the Miss America Org.  I thoroughly enjoyed spending time talking to the Kiwanis members and answering all of their questions.  They were so kind to invite me and they even gave me my own official Kiwanis coffee mug as a gift.  How did they know how much I love coffee?! A big thank you to Mr. Vance who was kind enough to invite me and his wife who gave him the idea, haha!

Later that afternoon, I joined the Hattiesburg Junior Auxiliary for their “Girl Power” event at the Boys and Girls Club.  There were girls from 7-17 at this event and I was able to share with them my Confidently You message.  I absolutely love working with the Junior Auxiliary and once again they have done a great job empowering girls in our community.  I’m so thankful to be able to be a small part of the work they are doing! 

To finish off the week, I visited Maddox Elementary School in Laurel.  These girls were so amazing and sweet, I could not have asked for a better audience!  One of the hot topics for this group was the importance of being nice.  Several of the girls asked me questions about how to deal with bullying and I shared with them one of my favorite philosophies: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”  This is something that we all have to work on, myself included…no one is perfect and we all say things that we wish we could take back.  However, I believe in the magnitude of small acts of kindness.  Being kind to someone else is sometimes the great self-esteem boost because it makes us feel good about ourselves.  On that note, I have chosen a quote from one of the most inspirational and loving women of all time:
Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. -Mother Teresa

COMING SOON!  I’m waiting to receive pictures from my conference before I post a new blog…stay tuned!

Say YES to the dress!

A few months ago, I was extremely inspired by a girl who was organizing an event to provide Easter dresses for girls in the Laurel area.  I was so impressed with her and the idea that I wanted to help and decided that I would start collecting dresses to donate.  I started by asking my Kappa Delta sisters and some of my 5^th grade friends at PCS to jump on board.  After several weeks of collecting, I was bombarded with dresses of all sizes, colors, and styles for this event.  With the help of my friends I was able to collect nearly 200 dresses!!  Giving a girl a dress is such a simple gesture, but one that really can go a long way!  

Yesterday, I attended the “Picture Perfect” Easter dress tea in Laurel and was overwhelmed by the love and commitment that went into this project.  The girls were so excited to receive their new dresses and could hardly wait to show them off!  I was able to talk to the group for a moment about what true beauty means. True beauty is not defined by a new dress, but by our character and kindness.  Yesterday’s event was truly amazing and made me think of one of my (many) favorite quotes:

"For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."  -Audrey Hepburn

This week is going to fly by!  I have several speaking engagements this week leading up to the BIG day!  The Confidently You Conference is this Saturday and I could not be more excited.  Stay tuned!