Yep, I'm actually going to do it

That's right. On April 17th I will be competing to win the title of Mrs. Oklahoma.

I have one year of pageant experience from my past. In 2001 I won Miss University of Central Oklahoma and went on to Miss Oklahoma, a preliminary to Miss America. It was fun and I was able to earn quite a bit in scholarship money, but I was in it for the wrong reasons and I didn't want to go back the next year.

At that time, my major was Music Theatre. I looked at the Miss UCO pageant as a chance to perform on stage and I knew that if I made it to Miss O I was going to get a gorgeous evening gown.

I picked a platform that was extremely worthy but that I wasn't all that passionate about at the time. At the end of Miss O I knew I didn't want to come back the next year. Even though other preliminary pageants were asking me to enter, I knew I couldn't travel around the state talking to children and adults about something that my heart wan't really devoted to. I would have felt like a fraud.

Fastforward to 2010 and my platform issue is the sole reason I'm entering this pageant. It isn't because I want to perform (there's no talent portion) or because I want a new dress (I'm going to wear the same one from Miss O if I can fit in it!). It certainly isn't because I want to parade around on stage in a swimsuit! It is because I think having a title could get my voice heard even more as I try to raise awareness of my daughter's disease and all the wonderful things the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is doing to save lives.

This pageant goes on to Mrs. America. Don't think I haven't been daydreaming in the shower about what I could accomplish if I were to win that title! One of the first things on my agenda would be to travel to the states that do not have newborn screening for CF mandatory. I would love to meet with their governments and get them to understand how important the screening is. It absolutely saves lives.

One of my REALLY big daydreams about winning the national pageant would be going on Ellen...or even Oprah! Ok, ok I know it's a major long shot but a girl's gotta dream. :)
First, I need to win Mrs. O. We'll see come April 17th!

Amen, Sister!

I have written a couple of times about Brock, the little boy battling leukemia, asking you to pray for him. Well, his mother, Vanessa, has started a blog and a I want you to read a post she wrote. You can read it here. I have only been around Vanessa maybe ten times at the most (her daughter, Jaycie, is in Hayden's gymnastics class) but the more I learn about her the more I like her. She, like me, LOVES Glee and is as OCD about things matching as I am. Most importantly, however, I love what I have learned from her faith. Read her post. You'll see what I mean.

Our 2009 Christmas Season Review!

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We sure did. I feel like we have done a lot of different things in the past couple of weeks so I thought I'd just post a whole bunch of pictures for your viewing pleasure.

One of our favorite things to do each Christmas season is drive around in the car looking for Christmas lights. Well, I hope all of you that live here in Oklahoma got to see the lights at Chesapeake. They were AMAZING!!! This picture doesn't do it justice. There were lights all over the campus and up and down both sides of Grand Avenue. They were LED lights in purple, pink, green, blue, red and white. If you missed it, you need to go check them out before they take them down. Another fun thing we did was attend Hayden's dance recital. Oklahoma Gold Gymnastics offers a class that is half dance/half gymnastics and it goes back and forth between ballet and tap each session. This was the end of a tap session so they did a tap dance to "Frosty the Snowman". It was very cute and Hayden is quite the performer (I have no idea where she got that!). At one point she stopped dancing to point at me and then to her to make sure I was getting her on film. It cracked me up. Here is the video:

Make a Smilebox greeting

Here's a couple of still shots:

Hayden with Coach Melinda:

With her favorite friend at dance class, Jaycie:

We had Christmas with Ryan's parents and brother the Saturday before Christmas because that's when Nathan could come home from Brooklyn. It's a really good thing he came early because, had he planned to fly in right before Christmas, it wouldn't have happened due to the weather. I didn't take many pictures that day but I did get a really cute one of Hayden and her Chippy right after she had decorated his head with a bow..
Tim and Sherry got Hayden a really cute pink sweater and some pink "ugg" boots from Target and I just had to take a pic of her all dressed up the next day because I thought she looked sooo cute.Well, we were snowed in on Christmas eve but we still had a great day watching the blizzard and staying warm by the fire. In the late afternoon we took our bath and got on our Christmas jammies and slippers.Hayden then helped me make sugar cookie dough and we cut it out into Christmas shapes and baked them in the oven. Hayden then got to paint some cookies with food coloring to leave out for Santa.
Before she went to bed she picked the perfect spot to set out Santa's cookies and milk on the fireplace hearth.As we were reading bedtime stories, we heard Santa's jingle bells from his sleigh outside Hayden's window! She was VERY excited! We told her that meant he was in the neighborhood but he couldn't come in until he knew she was sleeping. The next morning she woke up to find all the cookies and milk gone, a letter from Santa and lots of presents to open. It was a great Christmas morning.

We then piled in the car and went back to my in-laws' house to hang around for the afternoon. Hayden had tons of fun playing in the snow. Here she is making a good snowball:

With Mommy in the snow:
Helping Chippy and Daddy make the snowman:
The finished product! We then went to my parents house for dinner. She had a wonderful time playing with Tinkertoys with her Pa-Pa and getting rides on his shoulders.
And for one last Christmas present for Hayden (and me!) was the new addition to our family:Tux!!!!

He is a whippet and the sweetest boy! I don't have many pictures of him yet. I will post a lot more soon! Here's one in the car on the way home from the breeder's house in Tulsa.

We hope you had a wonderful 2009 and that you have a Happy New Year!

The new Hayden's Heroes store!

I have set up a Hayden's Heroes merchandise store! You can visit it here and check it out! All profits from everything sold go directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for medical research. We have all different styles of shirts as well as license plate frames and even mugs!
I have designed an entirely new logo and these shirts will be what we wear for the Great Strides walk each year. If you want to join us for the next walk in May, you now have plenty of time to get your shirts!
Check it out!

Well, I WAS feeling good about my Christmas decor....

...until I saw this on the Party Wishes blog. Don't think I won't steal that Grinch theme for next year ;)

Cystic Fibrosis Gala 09 - pictures

I just received a disc of pictures from the gala's photographer so I can now share some with you!
The event was at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and we had about 325 in attendance. It was a lovely evening! We raised over $150,000 for medical research!!!
Me and the hubby:

My lovely mother:
My bff, Kristin. In case your saying to yourself "Man I love her necklace!", it's Stella and Dot and she sells it. www.stelladot.com/kmiller. I had to help her out. She's just starting up her business :)

From left to right, Ryan's best friend Jonathan Pillow and his wife, Ensa, Ryan and me (obviously), Ensa's sister and brother-in-law, Jenni and William Choi.You might remember my post here about modeling in Dallas and meeting another model whose brother and sister both have CF. Well, Allison, her mother and father, and her brother and his wife all drove up from Dallas to attend the event. I was so thrilled they came. Here she is with her mother. Yes, I know she's gorgeous.From left to right (excluding me and Ryan): Jerry Streck (his wife Sage has CF and was given an award at the event. Sage wasn't well enough to attend so Jerry accepted the award on her behalf), Jake Moran (my friend Allison's brother who has CF), Ryan's parents, Tim and Sherry Siler.This is Jackie Dubois Miller with her husband and her little son, Max. Jackie has CF and is doing well enough that she was able to go through pregnancy and stay pretty healthy. Getting pregnant can be a huge risk for CF females. It is very difficult on the body and can cause a drop in lung function. Little Max attended last year as a brand new baby and wore a onesie that said "Find a Cure for My Mommy".
Ok, I'm not sure exactly who all is in this picture but I know that some of them are from the family that owns Cuppies and Joe. I wanted to mention that they donated all the amazing cupcakes we had for dessert in honor of their friend who passed away from CF. The cupcakes were WONDERFUL and we so appreciated the donation! Go give Cuppies and Joe your business if you live in the OKC Metro area! (While I'm doing plugs, florist shop Designs by Tammy from Edmond donated all the floral arrangements on our tables for the third time in a row this year. If you need flowers use Tammy!)

Ok, back to the pictures.

This cutie is Julia Kate Richter. She also has CF and was featured in a video that we showed that evening.Here is Aubry McLendon, CEO of Chesapeake Energy, presenting Jerry Streck with his wife, Sage's, David Kenworthy Kerr award. Mr. Kerr was McLendon's cousin and he passed away from CF when they were teens.My executive director, Celia Palmer, asked if I would have Hayden do a painting to give to Mr. McLendon as a thank you for his involvement. I presented it to him before he gave his speech. He has since sent Hayden a letter thanking her for her "masterpiece"! Here he is with Hayden's "Beautiful Monster", as she named it.
Here is the Faulk family receiving the Breath of Life award. This amazing family quit their jobs, sold their house, picked up their entire family and moved to Tennessee so their daughter, Capri, could be a part of a clinical trial for one the foundation's most promising drugs. Without people like them we wouldn't have the medications that are available today.
My father-in-law, Dr. Tim Siler, gave a medical research update. Behind him on the screen is the CF foundation's drug development pipeline. This bar graph has every single drug in development and it shows what phase it is in. There is sooooo much promise in that one graph!
Here is the canvas and outfit I did for Hayden's auction item all in place.
This was Capri Faulk's auction package. Considering Hayden is slightly Tinkerbell obsessed, my dad staked out this package making sure no one outbid him on it. Hayden was so thrilled the next morning when she woke up and found this in the living room.
It was a wonderful evening! Now I have a few months off before we start planning for next year! Put November 12th, 2010 on your calendars!

Christmas Traditions - Old and New

I have something very special in my home this year. It is the first year for me to have my grandmother's Christmas village. The buildings, part of the Dept. 56 New England Village, are beautiful but that's not why they are special to me. Every Christmas break as a little girl I would help Nana set up this village in my grandparent's home. I remember loving watching her lay out all her white batting to look like snow and I always enjoyed her telling me what each building was as the placed them in their exact spot. My favorite part, however, was helping sprinkle the fake snow everywhere once everything was in place.

My grandparents moved into an assisted living apartment in Ponca City last year due to Nana's declining health. Since she no longer had room for her village she asked if I would like to have it. Without hesitation I said yes. I asked if she would help me put it up for the first time when they were down for Thanksgiving. I will always cherish this picture of her with the village in my home and each year in the future that I put up this village, I will think of her. I can't wait to have Hayden help me each year and I hope that she grows to love it as much as I do.One of the many things I love about being a parent is getting to continue cherished traditions from your childhood while also starting new traditions of your own. I decided that, out of the tradition of Nana's village, I would start Hayden her own Dept. 56 village and get her one piece from it each year. I decided on the The North Pole Village. It is very colorful and whimsical and I know Hayden will love it. Here is the first piece - The Twinkle Toes Ballet Academy:

I love picturing her passing both the New England Village and her North Pole Village down to her children or grandchildren someday, telling the story of how she and I put them up together every year. My mom has always said that I got Nana's sentimental gene. It's something we have in common that I love. She knows that each thing she passes down to me will be treasured and I hope that means something to her. When I told Nana that I was starting this new tradition she immediately said she wanted to buy Hayden her first piece. The fact that she has started Hayden's new collection means a lot to me. This way she will always be a part of the Christmas traditions - both the old and the new.