Who doesn't love DISNEY and the HAPPY HAT! Can you spot Benjamin?
Lois, Benjamin, Danni and I

WWW.AVONFOUNDATION.COM

DC WALK- 4 DAYS TO GO!!!! Walking 39 MILES!

This walk is for my beautiful sister Lois


Deanna Linz



Goal: $2,000.00
Achieved: $1,860.00

For Lois Pemberton!!!! Love you sis!!!

Thanks for visiting my Avon Walk page. I’ve committed to participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. It’s a big commitment, one that will require me to spend the next several months training and fundraising. But breast cancer is a big disease, one that still affects far too many people, and I’m determined to do everything I can to help put an end to it. The money I raise will be managed and disbursed by the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade to help provide access to care for those that most need it, fund educational programs, and accelerate research into new treatments and potential cures. I’ll be just one of thousands of people that will walk up to a marathon and a half over a weekend, raising awareness of the cause and educating even more people.
I can’t do it without your help. Though I’m required to raise at least $1,800 in donation, I plan to raise much more!

I hope that I can count on your support.




http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk2008/WashingtonDC?px=3841838&pg=per



As I prepare for this exciting event, I plan to update this page frequently so that all my supporters can follow my progress, so please visit often. While you're here, you might want to spend some time on the site to find out more information on why this event is so important, and the organizations and people that will be helped by the money we all raise.
Thank you in advance.











Topics


About the Avon Foundation and the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer
The Avon Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity, was founded in 1955 to improve the lives of women and their families, and Avon philanthropic programs worldwide have raised and awarded more than $500 million. Now past the half century milestone, the Avon Foundation brings this mission to life through two key areas: breast cancer and domestic violence. The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade launched in 1992, and Avon breast cancer programs in some 50 countries support advancing access to care and finding a cure for breast cancer, with a focus on the medically underserved. Funding is awarded to beneficiaries ranging from leading cancer centers to community-based breast health programs for awareness and education; screening and diagnosis; access to treatment; support services; and scientific research. Fundraising is through a variety of “pink ribbon” products, events, races and walks. The largest is the U.S. Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series, which began in 2003. For more information on the Avon Foundation visit http://www.avonfoundation.org/.

Military kids are such a point of inspiration and little blessings. The USO &
Fleet & Family Support Center held a BBQ in dedication to the Month of the Military Child &
Child Abuse Prevention

It was a great day with a great turnout turnout. The kids were excited and the families very appreciative. Thank you to Ashley Alexander for doing such a great job of organizing the event!!!! Andy and I blew up a lot of balloons, signed photos and enjoyed speaking with the families.

The smiles left us humbled…it was a beautiful day~

Deshawn (Virginia International Director and AN AMAZING LADY!), Sarah (the beautiful...Miss Teen Virginia International 2008), myself, Joy (Mrs Virginia International), Tanya(former Mrs International who looked incredibly stunning) and her beautiful daughter
Queens in action- Alison (Mrs Glen ALen VA United States 2008), Petra (Mrs Columbia Maryland United States 2008), Myself (Mrs DC International 2008), Joy (Mrs Virginia International 2008), Sarah (MISS TEEN VA INTERNATIONAL 2008!) & Maria (Mrs All American 2008)
So I didn't get to meet Mario but I did get a picture with him:)))) Still think Andy is far more handsome!

My perfect husband- Andy

SEMPER FI! MARINES!
GO ARMY!!!! Allison, Petra and some of our nations finest at the Chili Cook off!!!!

Andy and I were honored to have attended the Southern Women's Fashion Show and model for KristiJ fashions. Many sisters in pageantry were involved and it was great to see all the love and support in the room.

Following the fashion show we attended the Chili Cook off in Richmond, which was just a tailgate ride away from the convention center where the fashion show was being held. (a parking lot but the back gate was blocked off from the race track)A very nice gentleman offered to give a few of us, including a few teachers, a ride over to the front gate in his truck. So we hopped on and a few minutes later, we arrived in style :)))) We did try a lot of the chili and Andy was a good sport and almost made it through. Alison, Petra and I were honored with Jalepeno necklaces and invited back to the "Jalepeno Pageant" until they found out we were very happily married. They did let us keep the necklaces:)))))

It was a great Saturday. Thank you KristiJ Fashions for having us be involved for such a worthy cause, The National Melanoma Society.

Support the Hubbard Act - Contact Your Senators and Congressmen

Bill would ensure benefits for sole survivors

By Garance Burke - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Apr 17, 2008 7:50:16 EDT

FRESNO, Calif. — Forced to leave the combat zone after his two brothers died in the Iraq war, Army Spc. Jason Hubbard faced another battle once he returned home: The military cut off his family’s health care, stopped his G.I. educational subsidies and wanted him to repay his sign-up bonus.

It wasn’t until Hubbard petitioned his local congressman that he was able to restore some of his benefits.

Now that congressman, Rep. Devin Nunes, is leading an effort to pass a bill that would ensure basic benefits to all soldiers who are discharged under an Army policy governing sole surviving siblings and children of soldiers killed in combat. The rule is a holdover from World War II meant to protect the rights of service people who have lost a family member to war.

“I felt as if in some ways I was being punished for leaving even though it was under these difficult circumstances,” Hubbard told The Associated Press. “The situation that happened to me is not a one-time thing. It’s going to happen to other people, and to have a law in place is going to ease their tragedy in some way.”

Hubbard, 33, and his youngest brother, Nathan, enlisted while they were still grieving for their brother, Marine Lance Cpl. Jared Hubbard, who was 22 when he was killed in a 2004 bomb explosion in Ramadi.

At their request, the pair were assigned to the same unit, the 3rd Brigade of the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, and deployed to Iraq the next year.

In August, 21-year-old Cpl. Nathan died when his Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Kirkuk. Jason was part of the team assigned to remove his comrades’ bodies from the wreckage.

Hubbard accompanied his little brother’s body on a military aircraft to Kuwait, then on to California. He kept steady during Nathan’s burial at Clovis Cemetery, standing in dress uniform between his younger brothers’ graves as hundreds sobbed in the heat.

But Hubbard broke his silence when he found his wife, pregnant with their second child, had been cut off from the transitional health care the family needed to ease back to civilian life after he was discharged in October.

“This is a man who asked for nothing and gave a lot,” said Nunes, R-Calif., who represents Hubbard’s hometown of Clovis, a city of 90,000 next to Fresno. “Jason is one person who obviously has suffered tremendously and has given the ultimate sacrifice. One person is too many to have this happen to.”

Hubbard went to Nunes, who began advocating for the former soldier in December, after hearing the Army was demanding that he repay $6,000 from his enlistment bonus and was denying him up to $40,000 in educational benefits under the GI bill.

After speaking with Army Secretary Pete Geren, Nunes got the repayment waived, and a military health policy restored for Hubbard’s wife.

But the policy mandated that she be treated at a nearby base, and doctors at the Lemoore Naval Air Station warned that the 45-mile trip could put her and the fetus in danger. Hubbard said doctors offered alternative treatment at a hospital five hours away.

Meantime, Hubbard and his 2-year-old son went without any coverage for a few months.

The Hubbard Act, introduced Wednesday, would for the first time detail the rights of sole survivors, and extend to them a number of benefits already offered to other soldiers honorably discharged from military service.

The bill — co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Costa, D-Calif., Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga. — would waive payback of their enlistment bonuses, allow them to participate in G.I. educational programs, give them separation pay and access to transitional health care.

“I’m honored to be a part of this process, and although it’s me that is involved directly, it’s more than that. There are numerous other people out here who have been discharged under this sole survivor code,” Hubbard said in a phone interview from Washington, where he joined lawmakers who introduced the bill Wednesday.

The Department of Defense has identified 52 sole survivors since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Meanwhile, Hubbard, his wife Linnea and his son Elijah, have permanent health coverage now that he is once again working as a Fresno County sheriff’s deputy, the job he left in 2004 to serve in Iraq.

The Army will adopt to any changes in policy springing from the legislation, Army spokesman Maj. Nathan Banks said.

“Foremost the Army itself sympathizes with him for the loss of his brothers,” Banks said. “We will do everything within our means to rectify this issue. He is still one of ours.”

Hubbard’s father, Jeff, said that resolving the family’s bureaucratic difficulties would provide some comfort, but would not help lessen their pain.

“We’re still very much deeply involved in a grieving process. We’re pretty whacked,” he said. “This doesn’t relate back to the loss of our boys, it can’t, but we would consider it a positive accomplishment.”

Our little patriots...true blessings...

You have to be tall for the Navy Guard....so they tell me :))))))





The "uniform" weighs roughly 45-50lbs!

Happy Saturday!

Nothing is prettier than the Cherry Blossoms and today was the annual Cherry Blossom parade. We got a bit wet but it still was a great time. It was great to meet so many people and those who serve this great country. After the parade was the 17th annual BLESSING of the FLEETS at the United States Navy Memorial.

What is the Blessing of the Fleets?
Passed down through generations of sailors, fishermen, merchant mariners and navies around the world, the centuries-old “Blessing of the Fleets” ceremony is intended to safeguard fishing crews and ships from the danger of the seas through a traditional blessing given by a clergyman at the water’s edge.

As a tribute to our nation’s rich maritime heritage and the men and women who have contributed to its growth and success, the United States Navy Memorial hosts its annual Blessing of the Fleets ceremony each spring. The event is free and open to the public and is an official event of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

At the United States Navy Memorial, the ceremony’s highlight occurs when Sailors from the U.S. Navy’s Ceremonial Guard proceed across the Memorial Plaza’s “Granite Sea” to pour water from the Seven Seas and the Great Lakes into the surrounding fountains, “charging” them to life and ushering in the spring season.









Lots of love-

Deanna & Andy

Armed Forces Foundation Gala- (Andy is on the right)

Andy and I attended the Teen and Mrs Maryland International Pageant. It was a first class event and Sherri Benson did a wonderful job. The band was incredible. It was a steel drum band comprised of some very talented kids!I also had the pleasure of meeting Rebekah Negrete, Mrs International 2007. What a warm demeanor she has. Her beauty is obvious but her class and heart just shined through. It was a sincere pleasure to meet her!!!

Deshawn and Marcellus "The Bassman" Shepard emceed the pageant and did a fabulous job. I think the world of Deshawn and I feel honored to be able call her friend.

Congrats to all of the winners!

Teen- Miss Teen Montgomery County- Brittany Sullivan
1st runner up Rubi Perez-Howard
2nd runner up- Rachel Leight ( also won photogenic)
3rd runner up- Brittany Canter
4th runner up- Christin Coleman

Mrs-Mrs Annapolis- Heather Ablondi (also won photogenic)
1st runner up- Ginney Meerman

Happy Birthday Daddy-this will always be your day. May the heavens celebrate with you today. I love you.

In loving memory of my Dad & Mom. I miss you daily.