On June 17th, 2006, we lost two member members of our 40th EN/Charlie Company Baumholder family. SGT Reyes Ramirez and SPC Robert Jones were killed and PFC Ryan Clark and CPL Cody Stickman were wounded in the incident. CPL Stickman has been since returned to duty.

My heart felt prayers and deepest sympathies go out to their families. Thank you for your sacrifice and for the sacrifice of your soldier in defending our freedom.

Please continue to pray for our military soldiers for their safe return.

God bless~

As a military wife, I have come to really value the support of the military community. Living in Baumholder, Germany has really made me learn first hand the sacrifices that the military soldiers and there families make daily. At times I can tell you that you feel so isolated from the world and as a spouse, the isolation can reach to even deeper levels. We come to rely on each other for support, especially during deployment.

The sacrifices on the part of the military families often is over looked. It is through organizations such as Little Patriots Embraced that the military families that are left behind during deployments are taken care of.

Little Patriots Embraced is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose specific focus is to show support from the American people for the immediate family members of active military personnel. These family members face many stresses and struggles that most people don’t understand. The stresses are even greater during the deployment of the active military family member. LPE was created to assist these families in coping with daily stresses by providing a “family package” of products that are similar to those that are known to reduce emotional and psychological stress. In addition, LPE plans are to activate a fund that will provide supplemental financial assistance for higher education in the form of scholarships for tuition, childcare allowances while attending school, and emergency funds for spouses of active military personnel (MD-TEC Fund). Finally LPE will plan and carry-out special events for the children of the deployed.

1.1 Objectives

Ø Provide financial assistance to military spouses seeking higher education in order to better support themselves and their families by offering tuition scholarships.
Ø Provide funding to military spouses for childcare while pursuing higher education.
Ø Assist families through emergency funding, which will include emergency transportation for healthcare and other emergency financial situations.
Ø Reduce emotional and psychological stress on military family members by providing a “family package” that contains products similar to products proven to reduce emotional and psychological stress.
Ø Plan and carryout events specifically for children of deployed soldiers such as teddy bear parties and bowling parties.
Ø As our organization grows, employ military spouses as Base Coordinators for the distribution of Little Patriots Embraced Family Packages.
Ø Unite citizens in thanking military families for their sacrifices by encouraging them to participate in community awareness events that will educate the public on the needs of military families.

On June 26, 2006, Little Patriots Embraced received a special invitation from President Bush to attend a meeting at the White House regarding our organizations continued efforts to support our military families. Wow and thank you for making a difference!

I am very honored to be involved with Little Patriots Embraced. Please check out www.littlepatriotsembraced.com to learn more about how you can help.

Guten tag!

It is less than 4 weeks until we leave and I am getting very excited. A few days ago, the emails started flowing in from other contestants. There are a lot of beautiful women out there and I am excited to meet them all. Many prayers and blessings have been shared. What a class act this pageant is....it truly is the Universe pageant for Mrs's! Don't forget to check out the pageant website site to meet all my sister queens. www.mrsinternational.com.

I have been working on my wardrobe for what seems like months now and I have some beautiful pieces. I go on Friday for another alterations fitting and I have ordered my last pair of shoes. (My husband laughs at this) The self improvement factor is a wonderful aspect of pageantry. I learn daily and continue to grow. The interview preparation by itself is one that has prepared me for so many life challenges and opportunities. What an wonderful experience this is for anyone who is able to participate.

I want to thank Elizabeth Grant International for sponsoring my wardrobe. I feel like an angel has fallen down on me in so many ways this year. I feel very blessed to have their support. Check out their site as I LOVE their skincare. www.elizabethgrant.com. It is an amazing company with amazing people. A special thanks to Marion Witz with Elizabeth Grant for allowing me to email her and Elizabeth constantly for wardrobe advice! Also, thank you to Joey Rutherford from the Competitive Image for my amazing wardrobe. I truly feel like a QUEEN! Clearly AMAZING is how I feel!!!! :))))

Stay tuned.....I am hoping I can start counting the days until I see my wonderful hubby soon! Thank you for all your prayers for his safe return. He is and always will be my hero.

God bless~

I have been working through America Supports You www.americasupportsyou.mil and various organizations that offer support to our military soldiers and their families. I am attaching a few pics.

I personally would like to thank Mrs. Tennessee International 2006, Joannie Summers-Eckerle for helping out this past Saturday, June 17th with a package drive for Tennessee Marine families. She is truly as beautiful on the inside as she is out! What a wonderful husband and beautiful son she has also! Joannie volunteers with Head Start and her children wrote letters that were included in the packages for our military service members. THANK YOU! Donna Clemons from Tennessee Marine Families www.tennesseemarinefamilies.com and all the volunteers were amazing. I feel continually honored to be a military spouse.

April- Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund

This was a bike rally sponsored by WIMZ, the Bonefish Grill, Yamaha and the Comedy Zone that raised money for CFSRF. The event had a wonderful turnout. I am always humbled by the support for our military soldiers and their families.

www.cfsrf.org

Hello-

I thought it would be fun to create a blog to share in the journey for the title of Mrs. International 2006! I will try to include as many pictures as possible. I am VERY excited.

In case you do not know, here is a little background!

I was blessed with the honor of the title of Mrs. Germany International in January 2006. In answer to your immediate question...we have a beautiful home in Berglangenbach, Germany. My husband and my hero is with the United States Army stationed out of Baumholder, Germany. He is a Captain and a West Point Grad and also has a Masters in Civil Engineering. To say I am proud is an understatement. I am VERY blessed to have him in my life. Andy, my husband, deployed last November back to Iraq. This is his second deployment to Iraq and 5th deployment in 9 years. I have not seen him since November. The most exciting aspect about the pageant for me is that he receives 14days of r&r in July and should land in the US around the 14th. This means...my incredible husband will join me in Chicago for the pageant.

You probably guessed that the picture above is me and yes CLAY SPANN is a fabulous photographer. If only I looked like this when I woke up! The handsome soldier is CPT Christopher Andrew Linz....my hubby!