Thank you to Team Queen, Andy, Halo & SKINN COSMETICS!!!!!!Nikki, what an inpiration.....

Saturday we visited McQuire hospital in Richmond, Va. Thank you so much to all who shared the journey.

This weekend started out with a visit to McQuire Hospital in Richmond, Va. Thank you to all of my sister queens for sharing the journey and touching so many people lives. I was truly amazed at the courage, strength and truly internal beauty that was in each and every one of the ladies. Thank you to Joe Finch and the Armed Forces Foundation for arranging this. You are an inspiration.

McQuire hospital specializes in spinal chord injuries. Although a veterans hospital,many of the wounded were wounded in the Iraq war and were there due to the severity of their injuries in the spinal region. Many of the wounded showed such courage and spirit. Some were young, some old. There were a few that I think we all were particularly touched by. One was Josh and his fiance. Josh is 23 and has been there since January. He was tubed and could not speak. His body was clearly emaciated from having been in this state for quite a few months. His fiance was by his side. She is all of 21 and has never left his side. The walls of his room were covered in pictures of a life that in all likelihood, they would never live again. I found myself wondering how does someone find this strength at such a young age. Humbled is the only way to descibe how I felt.

There is a picture that was taken with Josh and many of the queens. He looks like he is smiling...I hope so.

The other was Daniel. He has been in coma for a year and is 22. His mother was by his side and showed such strength in spirit and pride in her young son. When you walked in the room it was not initially obvious that he was in a coma as he was blinking. The walls were covered in Army banners. You could feel his Army pride.


Perspective is a funny thing and there are days that I forget just how precious each moment of each day is and just how special family and friends truly are. We all hear life is short but when you see just how short it can be for a 22 or 23 year old who just wanted to make a difference. It puts everything in perspective. These are our heroes and the one's who talked, just wanted to go back. I pray that the heavens will shine down on them and each day I will remember Josh and Daniel. That to me puts everything in my life in perspective.

These are the beauty queens who visited the troops on 22 Sep:
Mrs. D.C. International 2008 - Deanna M. Linz
Mrs Virginia United States 2007 - Jennifer Phillips
Mrs. Galaxy 2007 - Darlene Deeben
Mrs. Mercer County New Jersey United States 2008 - Mary Moulds
Mrs. Glen Allen Virginia United States 2008 - Allison Hubble
Mrs. Richmond, Virginia International 2008 - Joy Phister
Mrs. Southern Chesterfield Virginia United States 2008 - Maria Beall
Ms. American Renaissance 2007 - Marci McNair
Mrs. New Jersey International 2008 - Kimberly Meehan
Mrs. Piedmont Valley International 2008 - Rebecca Crossan



God bless to all who serve, their families, my family and my beautiful sisters in pageantry....

PS-Thank you to Andy for being there and taking our pictures. I LOVE YOU!!!!

I wanted to thank "TEAM QUEEN" for this Sundays walk in Annapolis for Breast & Ovarian Cancer Research. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION!!!!!!

http://www.nbocc.org/

Nikki Karl you are a true inspiration and to Lois Lane...this one is for you! LOVE YOU!


TEAM QUEEN
Deanna Linz- Mrs DC International 2008
Mary Moulds-Mrs Mercer County US
Kimberly Meehan- Mrs New Jersey International 2008
Marci McNair- Ms American Renaissance
Yolanda Makle Rodriguez- Mrs Earth 2008
Ellie Teeson
Kristie Barlow- Miss Teen DC International

I hope you are able to join us!

Also, thank you to SKINN Cosmetics (www.skinncosmetics.com) for your continued sponsorship! I am blessed!!!!!

I will post pictures after the weekend.

United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD

Exhausting day!!!!!



War Memorial built in 2004
The burial site of John F Kennedy & Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
Arlington National Cemetary

Good morning-

This past weekend was a busy weekend full of history & family. A special THANK YOU to Senator Bob Casey of PA for affording us the opportunity to tour the White House. No pictures (or purses etc) were allowed inside for security reasons. It was amazing to see all the history and the various roooms. The decor has been greatly preserved over the years but also refurbished with each new administration. The china patterns of each administration was something my husband thought I would like. I thought the paintings of all of our Presidents and First Ladies were amazing and made me realize how much I have forgotten about US history!!!!

I wanted to send a special thank you to Allison Hubble, Mrs Glen Valley, VA 2008, Jennifer Phillips, Mrs VA US 2007 and Marci McNair and for volunteering their time and support to the Armed Forces Foundation on September 22nd at McQuire Hospital. Check out www.armedforcesfoundation.com and America Supports You.mil to learn more.

If you are interested or able to help out, information is listed below.

Here is the info:

We are joining forces with VFW post 6364 and will have a Monte Carlo and
casino day, followed by dinner.

The location at H.H. McGuire on 22 September is the Spinal Cord Injury
unit (SCI) patio. There will be plenty of signs showing you the way to
volunteer parking etc and you will see us out there.
It is on the South West side of the hospital.
Turn right as you enter the main gate and follow signs to Spinal Cord
Injury unit.

Please mapquest for directions to the hospital.


Thank you Joseph R. Finch!!!!!! You support and dedication to our military personel and their families. You are amazing!!!!

Good morning-

Below is an email from Becky Campbell, the Founder/CEO of the CHildren of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund. If you are able to help or want to become involved, please feel free to email me or Becky. Her email is listed below.

God bless and God Bless America!

Dear Friends and Associates,

Just a note to let you know that we are still here to help fallen service members families with financial hardships, college scholarships as well as severely wounded veterans affected by the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, however, we are slow in receiving applications and ask that you share our website with those that may have a need. Since 2005 our Grant Committee has approved a total of $133,542 in awards & scholarships and we are certain there are many more families in need of help.

Also, we have many members of the public that would like to help our troops by mailing items overseas, visiting them in hospitals and providing items during their medical stay and/or rehabilitation. If you know and can share information with us so that we can have items specific to a service members needs, unit, etc., please feel free to contact us.

Many of our inquiries come before the holidays and last year we managed to put together our "Adopt A Family" program where we matched surviving service member families with sponsoring families, classrooms, etc., it took several weeks of full-time effort to handle the incoming requests from sponsoring families and the matching, Xmas lists, etc., but time willing and with the help of volunteers we would like to do it again this holiday.

For updates on our progress, events that our wonderful supporters are planning and further information, please visit our website.

Thank you for your time and God Bless!

Becky Campbell, Founder/CEO

http://www.cfsrf.org
(301) 865-6327 (CFSRF)
Email: yellowribbon7@msn.com


"Giving a gift back to those who serve"

Hello-

My nephew, Jason Logan,just deployed to Iraq.

Logan, Jason T SPC
Delta CO, 1-168 IN
APO, AE 09342-1400

If you are able to send care packages to him or his Battalion, please direct them to the Chaplain. Don't FORGET THE LADIES!!! A Vogue(even back issues), personnel items or pajamas...always appreciated.

I wanted to send a special shout out to Jaime Estrada, Adrienne, Susan (DC) and Angela (DE) at Mrs America. Also many blessings & GOOD LUCK to Mrs Tennessee! She was bitten by a rattle snack and I understand is just an amazing lady!

Also to Kelly Pickens at GLOBE!!!!! Bring it home...!!!!!! Love you!


Deanna

My wonderful hubby and I!
Lisa Zitello & I
Paul Sorchy, Christine and I.


Hello-

We had a great time in Florida but it was a QUICK TRIP! The reunion was nice, I just wish more people would have showed up. We had 700 people in my graduating class and only about 50 showed up with spouses. There were a lot of people I was hoping to see!

Lois is doing well and her hair is growing back curly!!! She is beautiful as ever.

Love to all-

Deanna & Andy

Well as you can imagine, it has been a crazy week with a lot of emotional ups and downs. I have know deleted all of my Voy links in hopes that I will stay FAR away from them. It was hurtful to have so many people write comments but as I posted, I did put myself out there to be judged. I guess my breast are now notorious:)))) In the big sceme of things, it means nothing.

Good luck to all of the ladies competing at Mrs International this weekend!!!! I am excited for you all. It was such a wonderful experience for me as I am sure it will be for all of you. Suzy, you are such a gift. You have represented us all so well this past year. Thank you for all you do in regards to Breast Cancer Awareness also. I am so proud to call you friend!!!!!

If it weren't for the International alumni, I may not have made it through the past week. What a classy group of ladies! Laine, Christine, Jervaun, Autumn, Suzy, Niki,Nicole,Joannie...I LOVE YOU GUYS. THANK YOU for all the support.

I have attached a few additional shots from Vegas. Thank you again to Joe & Leah Peri for our day at the pool at the Mandalay Bay. We had a great time hanging with you guys. Thank you for your sponsorship, believing in me and friendship...surely to last a lifetime!!!!

Andy & I fly to Florida tonight for my High School reunion. It is hard to believe it was a mere 5 years ago that I graduated. (she says while rolling in laughter on the floor while holding her nose). I was hoping to make it to the International pageant but there was a scheduling conflict AND WE JUST BOUGHT THE TICKETS LAST NIGHT! Crazy.....

Love to you all-

Deanna, Andy, Halo & Josie

I recieved this email and I wanted to share. I have visited soldiers at Landstuhl, Bethesda and Walter Reed. This email to me says a lot. Supporting ALL of our military personnel and families is so important.

If anyone is interested in visiting McQuire, please let me know. I will be there. We also have a dinner in Bethesda coming up also. They really appreciate having someone to talk to.

Thank you for your consideration and God bless all who serve.






Hi Deanna,
I am with the Armed Forces Foundation. I am our coordinator for dinners and
support to our wounded troops at McGuire Hospital in Richmond, VA. McGuire has
nearly twice the number of patients as Walter Reed.

As you know there are a large number of help organizations visiting the troops
at Walter Reed and Bethesda. Also, VIPs in town who go to those two hospitals
for treatment can drop by and look in on patients easily so patients in DC get
lots of visitors.

McGuire does not have that luxury, is a little more inconvenient for people to
visit and many of those men and women had never had a visit group show up to
thank them for their service.

One of the patients my wife, Monika, and I were following, Josh Hoffman, was
transferred from Bethesda to McGuire so we went there to see him, his mother and
Fiancé. As we walked through the hospital to get to the Spinal Cord Injury ward
we came across a WWII veteran sitting in his wheel chair. (His WWII hat gave him
away.) When Monika said 'hello' to him he became flustered and couldn't talk for
a few moments. We stopped. When he was able to speak he eventually told us he is
a survivor of the Battle of the Bulge ( bloodiest battle of WW II).

18 years ago he suffered a stroke that left him in a wheel chair and he has been
at McGuire ever since. We asked, and he told us his children live in Georgia
and Texas so he only gets about one or two visitors per year. We thanked him for
his service and chatted with him a little, then as we moved on towards the SCI
ward, Monika grabbed my arm and said "That isn't right! After all he has done
for us and the memories he is living with he deserves better."
We decided to try and set up parties every month at McGuire like the ones at
Bethesda and Walter Reed.

Monika and I went to the office and met the hospital director Mike Phaup. We
told him what we wanted to do and within an hour we met the entire management
staff of the McGuire hospital. They appreciated the interest and attention, and
were enthusiastic about supporting our plan. WE try to bring some entertainment
and have had a live band each month and we had Miss Sunburst International last
month who was just dynamite. She put smiles on people's faces all over that
hospital.
We serve a dinner, mingle with the wounded troops and their families and where
we find something they need that the system can not provide, we go about getting
it for them. Aside benefit has been the networking of the family members which
has given them a fresh strength to go on with the knowledge they are not alone
and can get through the crisis.

It is a very good thing we are doing. The drive to McGuire takes less time than
it does for me to drive to Walter Reed. Traffic snarls in DC are notorious. We
have not had any problems getting to McGuire

We have our next party scheduled for 20 July 9, 2007. If there is any way to get
you to come down there. Please let me know.

Congratulations to Stephanie Hunt!!! She will make a fabulous Mrs. United States!!!!

Also, THANK YOU AGAIN TO MY SPONSORS, Joe Peri & Dimitri James for making this happen for me. I have memories that will last a lifetime. THANK YOU!

Good morning-

First and foremost, Guam is doing good. She competed last night and looked amazing. She was checked out at the hospital so she and the baby are fine. YEAH!!!!!

Prelims...well...you just ever get that feeling like it was "just great to be here"...???? That is really where I am at. Even my sponsor agreed that to pick 10 ladies out of this group would be tough.

Off to rehearsal...I will try to post tomorrrow morning as to the winner.Tonight I will probably just enjoy the evening with my husband and a cocktail or two :)))))

I already have my top 10 picked and my winner!!!! Good luck ladies!!!! I really have enjoyed meeting so many of the ladies!