It's a FAMILY AFFAIR

I love being Mrs. International. I had the chance to travel back to Chicago 4 days after being crowned to attend the Miss Teen & Miss International Pageants. I was welcomed with open arms by the Richardson family! Mel & Mary are just amazing people! Not only do they absolutely love the International system and what it stands for, but they “LIVE” the motto, “It’s a Family Affair”. They made me feel right at home the moment I arrived and I was honored to sit with the entire Richardson family during preliminaries and finals.

With Mary & Mel Richardson

The night of Teen Miss preliminaries, I immediately realized as I sat in the Richardson’s theatre box that my “fan club” sat very close to the Richardson’s theatre box during the Mrs. Pageant. If you were not able to attend the Mrs. Pageant, you missed Halle-Grace reminding everyone that I was HER mommy each and every time I hit the stage! YES, she was adorable! Jason was seated with the 50+ husbands and was able to witness her cheering, “that’s my mommy, that’ my mommy…hey mommy” a section over. During the evening gown portion, he escorted me on stage, and although I didn’t hear him, he assured me he cheered, “that’s my wife, that’s my wife”. Haha! Halle-Grace was so excited! She loved every minute of the show! This was my first time competing as a “mom” and I know I was beaming with pride and absolute JOY! Smiling was the EASIEST thing for me to do! I will save our mommy/daughter “preparation for the pageant” story for a future post…it’s just too cute!

My Fan Club! My Mom, Halle-Grace and My Awesome Friends, Julie & Wendy

As I mentioned, I had the best seat in the house and I was blown away at the caliber of young ladies competing for the titles of Miss Teen International and Miss International! On finals night, I was moved to tears during the on-stage interview portion. Seriously, these young ladies touched my heart! To give you an example, Miss Teen California was asked to share with the audience more about her platform, “Luggage of Love”. She spoke so eloquently about a young girl in foster care who would carry her belongings from place to place. That young girl was Miss Teen California!

Since being adopted, she has collected over 2000 pieces of luggage to share with foster children so they have an actual piece of luggage vs. a paper bag to carry their personal belongings when they move from foster home to foster home. She is now with her forever family and helping children across the country! I wanted to adopt her myself! Talk about a precious young lady! Each of the top 10 finalists in both the Teen & Miss pageants touched my heart. Each and every one of them incredibly accomplished! At the end of the evening, the judges selected Juliana McKee, Miss Teen East Coast as the 2010 Miss Teen International and Ashley Smith, Miss Texas as the 2010 Miss International. Both ladies are SO beautiful and they work very hard for the causes they champion. It was truly a great night! Congratulations ladies, I look forward to an amazing year together.

Adorable Halle-Grace During Finals Night of Mrs. International 2010

Until next post, God Bless,

Shannon

White Sands National Monument in a United States

White Sands National Monument is a United States National Monument that is in the southeastern region of the state of New Mexico. The monument contains the world's largest gypsum sand dune field 275 square miles of fine white sand, formed by the prevailing winds into large ridge-like dunes.

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White Sands became a national monument on January 18, 1933 by order of President Herbert Hoover. Efforts to preserve the area's brilliant gypsum dunes had begun in the late 1800's, but it was the enthusiasm of local booster Tom Charles that finally led to the park's creation. In his words "gypsum may be divided into two classes - Commercial and Inspirational. The former everybody has, but as for recreational gypsum, we have it all. No place else in the world do you find these alabaster dunes with the beauty and splendor of the Great White Sands".

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Amazing the 800 year old cattle market at Smithfield London

The 800 year old cattle market at Smithfield London was moved to Copenhagen Fields, Islington in 1852. Sir Horace Jones designed the Victorian Central Market in 1868. It cost £993,816. It has cast iron elliptical arches and domed towers at each corner.

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cattle-market-londonSir Thomas Bennett designed the current concrete dome, completed in 1963. The original buildings that still exist are in severe urban decay and are slated for demolition.

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Real Wedding: Mike and Sheryl - Part 1 of 2

We hope you enjoyed our post last Friday on Mike and Sheryl's gorgeous E-session at Coney Island.  Today we are thrilled to share this lovely couple's special day with you.  These images were captured by the very talented duo, Wayne and Angela, from Wayne Yuan Photography.

  

There were so many stunning shots that we couldn't pick just a few, so we've decided to split Mike and Sheryl's wedding into two parts - getting ready/pre-ceremony portraits and  then next week tune in for the ceremony/reception. Getting ready is a sometimes fun and sometimes stressful time for a bride and Sheryl was happy to share some of her feelings with us.  When asked how she felt the morning of her wedding Sheryl told us she was actually pretty calm and relaxed and then she followed with, "I think the most memorable part was when the flowers arrived at the room. I was already all done up and dressed, and the photographers were taking some portrait shots. They were so beautiful and they really pulled everything together. It was the last thing I needed to feel like a bride and then we were off to see Mike!"  



Sheryl and Mike decided to take their pictures pre-ceremony (obvi the best way to do it since this ensures the hair and makeup is still all in place).  They had a romantic rendezvous at the bottom of the Hilton Newark Penn escalator and, blessed with a gorgeous day and bright shining sun, they were whisked away to Branch Brook Park for some pre-ceremony portraits with the Bridal Party.

Thanks again to Sheryl and Mike for sharing these with us!  Be sure to check back next week for the finale which will include details on designers & vendors and, of course, beautiful shots including the ceremony, reception, general decor, and more!

XOXO,

Jen & Saira