Mayor's Prayer Breakfast

I was very excited when asked to be a part of the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, and of course, immediately accepted the invitation.he first Mayor's Prayer Breakfast was held in 1964 and is patterned after the annual National Presidential Prayer Breakfast held in Washington, DC. The Anchorage Mayor's Prayer Breakfast has been held each year since 1964. The breakfast is sponsored by men and women from all churches and faiths. The breakfast is organized by a committee comprised of people from several churches in the City of Anchorage.

We gathered, in spite of frigid temperatures, in the Hotel Captain Cook Ballroom. After an opening prayer, a few hymns of worship, and a warm, hearty breakfast I took to the podium to do the Old Testament reading- Psalm 32.

My favorite part of this selection was verse 8: "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you." This particular verse spoke to me not only in relation to my platform (promoting the importance of quality experiences for young children) but especially as a mother. David's words spoke to my heart, with gentle reminder that as parents, we are entrusted with the development of our children. We should approach that charge with intention and attentive love. This verse implies that direct instruction is necessary in guiding our children, but that we are called not only to tell them what is right and good, but to counsel them as to why, helping them to develop their own moral compass which will serve as their guide in life. I appreciate the focus on the "loving eye" with which we are to view our children. We are encouraged to cherish our children, rather than lord over them and to look upon them with the eyes of grace the God views us, His children.

Miss/Miss Teen AK US 2010

In keeping with tradition I attended this year's Miss Alaska/ Miss Teen Alaska United States pageant with Mrs. Alaska United States 2009, Renee Scott. Only, this year, we'd reversed roles and I was the reigning titleholder and wearing the crown. We keep to a strict, "don't fix it if it aint broke philosophy" and did our usual pre-pageant dinner and peanut butter pie at the Glacier Brewhouse then scurried our freezing tushies over to the PAC.

As always, the competition was impressive and all the girls looked amazing. Congratulations to all the contestants for working so hard and preparing for this demanding endeavor! And, of course, special congratulations are due to Jessica Chuckran, our new Miss Alaska United States!

CPC's Dessert Extravaganza

My husband and I were gladly accepted the invitation to host a table at Crisis Pregnancy Center's recent fundraiser. This year marked the 7th year of their Dessert Extravaganza, an event that offers tasty desserts, inspiring speakers, fellowship and the opportunity to help provide financial support for CPC's mission. It was a wonderful evening of friendship, prayer, giving (and did I mention, cheesecake?!)I was blessed to spend the evening surrounded by friends and others from the community who proudly stand behind CPC and the lifesaving work they are doing.

And that work is pretty astounding, statistically speaking. As of October 21 CPC has, so far this year:

served an average 109 clients per month (including 127 teens, 13 of whom were under the age of 14)
spent 1,158 hours with clients
provided 314 positive pregnancy tests provided $40,000 worth of ultrasounds
prayed with 342 client, and presented the gospel to 245 of them, leading 19 of them to a salvation through Jesus Christ
helped lead 93 mothers choose life for their babies

Praise God for the work He's doing and the lives that are being saved through CPC. May He bless all those who come through their doors, the clients, those who volunteer their time, lend their financial support and cover them in prayer.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart..."
Jeremiah 1:5
"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11

Thread's Stories Through the Generations

I was very excited to be invited to be a guest reader at Thread’s Stories through the Generations event. This even was part of Thread’s ongoing 25th anniversary celebration and offered an opportunity for children and their families to come and enjoy class stories being read aloud. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, Thread is Alaska's statewide child care resource and referral network, including professionals who work individually with families and early educators to ensure that they are knowledgeable and supported in guiding children to lifelong success.

It was great to be a part of this event not only because of how much I value Thread’s mission and enjoy collaborating with them in promoting my platform, but also because I got to dress up as Cinderella! Since the event’s focus was on stories that have been shared through the generations, I thought sharing my favorite fairy tale would be perfect. And what better way to share in than as Cinderella herself? (Plus, the added bonus was that I got a little more use out of the Halloween costume I’d spent 4 days sewing for myself!)

The children sat, enraptured as I read and the story unfolded. Some were nestled on parent’s laps, some sitting on blankets criss-cross-apllesauce, some just sidled right up and made themselves comfortable with me. As I read aloud the well-known tale, I posed questions to my audience and pointed out details in the illustrations, skills I learned in my early teaching years. The kids loved the story, even though the all knew it well, I’m sure, and begged for me to read more when it was over. So I did. I read through a few other books they picked out and enjoyed visiting and talking with children and parents alike while we enjoyed some casual snacks.

There are many benefits to reading aloud to young children and I was delighted to be able to help promote and demonstrate the practice at this event. Studies prove that the most important thing adults can do in preparing young children for success in school and reading is to read aloud with them. Reading aloud with children regularly is an extremely effective medium to build relationships and communicate with children. Children's self-esteem grows as they experience the security of having a parent or other caring person read aloud with them. Reading aloud allows children to experience increased communication with parents and other family members. Children are introduced to new concepts such as colors, shapes, numbers, and alphabet, in a fun, age appropriate way. Children build listening skills, vocabulary, memory and language skills and develop imagination and creativity. Children learn information about the world around them and develop individual interests in special subjects like dinosaurs, cats, or cars. They learn positive behavior patterns and social values as well as positive attitudes towards themselves and others.

It’s important that we read to children early and often. Infants will delight in being cuddled and hearing the calming voices of their parents even though they don't understand the words. Soon they'll associate reading with attention, love, and colorful pictures. As children get older, parents can introduce them to picture books and nursery rhymes. Even at a young age, they will be starting to learn a lot about reading. They'll discover that books are read from front to back and that pictures stand for real objects. As you continue to read to them and introduce them to stories, they'll find out that the print on the pages stands for words and that pages are read from top-to-bottom and left-to-right. Reading to young children is excellent preparation for formal reading instruction in school.

So much of the intelligence children will ultimately have is developed before they even get to kindergarten. When you read to them, you are building pathways in their brains needed for successful reading experiences. They will be developing auditory perception that allows them to think about how words sound. Furthermore, reading stimulates children's language development as they are like little sponges imitating everything they hear. Listening to stories will enhance their vocabularies and help them use longer sentences. Another wonderful plus in reading to children is that it increases their attention spans and ability to focus to what is being said. In addition, reading makes children more curious - a trait that must be fostered in young children or they will never acquire it. And of course, their knowledge of the world will expand.

More than anything else, reading to young children gives them a desire to read. Many children who are read to begin reading on their own without any formal instruction.

Dimond's Got Talent

Last weekend my husband and I joined the judging panel for Dimond High's annual talent show, Dimond's Got Talent. (I'm quite pleased to announce that my introduction actually scored more applause and cheers than the famous Mr. Wheeles') I always enjoy doing events that bring me back to my alma mater and let me get just a little taste of high school all over again and the talent show did not disappoint.



We were entertained by beat boxers, singers, rappers, dancers and musicians. It was a wide range of acts (which made picking a winner hard!) that all featured some pretty amazing talent (which made picking a winner even harder!) I was impressed by the level of maturity and stage presence these young performers have mastered. Several of them would have fit in just as well on America's Got Talent as they did among their teenage peers on the high school stage.

After all 11 acts performed the judges deliberated tasked with the difficult assignment of choosing an overall winner. My top three choices were all tied, and fairly similar acts (my personal taste must have played out there) but the overall winner was a nearly unanimous vote for 1st place. Congratulations to Scout Smith this year's Dimond's Got Talent winner. She played guitar and sang an original song called Orange Dice. Her performance was somewhat Jewel, somewhat Taylor Swift and pretty darn good for a high schooler. I can't wait to see where her and other performers go in life with their incredible talent!

Advancing in Freedom- Anchorage City Church Ladie's Retreat

I was invited to be a part of Anchorage City Church's Ladies Retreat at the Sheraton Hotel. Originally, I was asked to be a part of a modesty fashion show, but that snowballed into me being a part of the planning committee and being a part of several of the weekend's events. The Retreat's theme was Advancing in Freedom as was based on knowing God and living freely in Christ. The Bible (1 Thess. 5:11) instructs us to "encourage one another and build each other up" and this retreat was designed to do just that. Our society is so focused on competition that it was certainly refreshing to spend the weekend among women seeking God's direction in their lives and focusing on supporting and building up others.

I was able to participate in several sessions, including sitting on a relationship panel where we fielded relationship questions from the audience. As women, we are engineered to be communicators and we focus so much on relationships. It was such a honor to be considered an experienced, woman of wisdom and to be able to offer advice to the women in our audience.
One of the goals of the retreat was to try to bring together the older and younger generations of women in our congregations. Oftentimes a divide develops when the two generations don't have an understanding for the value the other can bring to our lives. I developed the fashion show activity to help be a visual, fun representation to illustration how similar we all really are. We are women, after all, and that alone joins us by a very strong thread!

The fashion show featured "older" generation models wearing fashion trends from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Each "older" generation model was paired with a "younger" generation model who wore updated, current fashion trends from the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Fashion trends are often recycled every 30 years or so today, we see alot of tunic shirts, flowy bohemian skirts, leggings, sweater dresses, mini skirts and boots- all trends passed on from former generations. Fashion was just one example of how the "older" generation continues to be an influence on the "younger" generation. The crowd really loved the fashion show because it not only featured music and fashion they were familiar with, but the models were all folks from our churches, including both our women's pastors, which were a real riot!

Thread Vote for Kids Rally

I recently participated in Thread's Vote for Kids rally. This consisted of three simultaneous rallies in Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks. My youngest daughter Ella and I were able to be a part of Anchorage's rally at the Success by 6 building in Mountain View. This event was part of the National Step Up for Kids initiative which encourages voters to vote for candidates who place children's issues as a high priority.

This is the third year of Step Up for Kids, and this October child advocates, politicians, parents, and kids are joining together across the country to rally for children. Events across the states will raise awareness among voters and political candidates regarding the issues American children face; among them are early childcare, after-school programs, poverty, child abuse and neglect, and health care. Spearheaded by Every Child Matters in Washington, D.C., this is the third annual Step Up event with events taking place in more than 25 states.

Step Up events range from rallies and family-friendly festivals, to candidate forums and press conferences. All include speakers who address the needs of children both nationwide and in their own state, and most of them are professionals who work with children on a regular basis – politicians, teachers, nurses, pediatricians, social workers, etc. The idea is to educate those in attendance (voters) about just how poorly American children fair when compared to other rich democracies, and how it is up to the government, both federal and state, to step up and invest in kids.

Despite the rainy weather, a good crowd gathered to waves signs to raise awareness among voters and speak with the media about our message. Children's issues (and their funding) should be an essential component of our State and National agenda and are often times dismissed because of their price tag. The fact is, research continually shows that the return on the investment in children and their families has some of f the greatest returns of any social program. Longitudinal data shows that investing in quality early care and education of children decreases grade retention, juvenile delinquency, teen pregnancy, and welfare dependence, all thing that come with a huge cost to our Government.



Alaska ranks 35th in the Nation for its provision for the needs of children and their families. This election season I encourage you to talk with candidates and ask what they plan to do to help Alaska move up in the ranks. Help us keep children a priority by encouraging candidates to support programs and policies that meet the needs of our children and their families. And above all else, make your voice be heard; VOTE!
For more information on Step of for Kids visit: http://www.everychildmatters.org/national-campaigns/step-up-2010

Cinderella (West High Production)

West High School put on a spectacular musical production of Cinderella and my husband, and oldest daughter, Sycely joined me for the performance. They had a princess party prior to the show where they invited all the little girls to wear their princess dresses, make crowns and have princessy snacks.
Cinderella, is by far, our favorite princess around here (Sycely was Cinderella for Halloween 3 years ago, I currently compete with a Cinderella skating program and guess who I'm going to be for Halloween?!) so we were excited to get all princessed up and we enjoyed every moment of the show.

The musical numbers were great and the acting of the Stepsisters was a riot! I especially liked the creative costumes and props they came up with for the production- The Fairy Godmother wearing light up wheeled shoes was an interesting touch. All in all, we had a great time and it was such fun to be there among all those little princesses, and I got so many great ideas for our Halloween costumes this year!

Dimond Center Anniversary Skating Show

I put on my first pair of skates 24 years ago at Dimond Ice Chalet when I was 5 years old. I can't even begin to fathom the number of hours I spent skating there as a child-early morning Freestyles and late night public sessions make up the bulk of my childhood memories. I even had two, yes TWO birthday parties there (one of them was kind of a bust because the ice started melting and by the end of the party only half the rink was left!) My closest friends shared the ice with me for years and are still in my life today, through our graduations, weddings, and the births of our children, the bond and strength of our friendships built on the ice remain our foundation. I skated in my first competition at that rink when I was 6 years old and went on to do so many exhibitions on that ice surface that I can hardly even remember them all. Even when I was in high school, at the height of my competitive skating career, I always felt Dimond was my "home" rink even though I rarely skated there anymore. The early morning smell of chlorine mixed with cinnamon rolls, the sight of the "walkers" getting their daily exercise, the sound of blade scraping ice always bring me back to all the memories of this place that have such a special place in my heart.

Needless to say, when my skating club, the Alaska Association of Figure Skaters asked me to be a part of the Dimond Anniversary Show I enthusiastically agreed. This show, honoring the opening of the Dimond Center Mall over 20 years ago, featured some of our club's rising stars. It was such fun to see everyone perform their programs as full run-throughs, in full dress. Usually I only get to see these routines as partial run-throughs during practice.


I also enjoyed seeing how much our young skaters are maturing and advancing in their skating and performing. One of the girls who performed, Hannah O'Brien was in my Pre-School class 8 years ago! Skating was such a huge part of my life and such an impacting experience for me that I look forward to all the success and growth these skaters are going to achiever throughout their years of skating. Another great thing about exhibitions is the ability to perform for an audience without the pressure of competition. It's a great way to try out a new program and see how it works before using it in competition, or to get to show a side of yourself you usually don't by choreographing a number that is strictly for fun and pleasing the audience. All the skaters did an awesome job and the audience sure did get a treat in their performance. I was happy to be there to participate in the finale and thank the audience for attending.


For more information about our skating club, group, or private skating lessons, visit our website at www.akafs.com

Dimond High School Homecoming

Apparently, playing the judging role suits me well as I was asked to be a float judge at the Dimond Homecoming game. It turned out to be a beautiful, warm fall (yes FALL!) day with gorgeous sun and not a cloud (or raindrop) in sight. I was able to have my girls there with me, and of course, my hubby was there as the Student Government Advisor so it was for sure, a family affair. Doing events with my family is my favorite! I love when they're able to come along and share in my fun.

The floats brought back lots of High School memories for me (though I remember most of my Homecomings involving snow or sleet and being REALLY chilly!) The Sophomores were probably my favorite, and not just because I'm partial to Harry Potter, but because I thought they did the best job with their costumes, characters and set. They portrayed lots of different elements on their float and did it well. The Senior's Avatar float was my second favorite. I mean, you have to give them credit for being willing to paint their whole bodies with blue tempura paint a few hours before the Homecoming dance!

The Homecoming game festivities also included a presentation of the Homecoming Court. It was a please to get to give some fashion advice to these young ladies (even if they didn't all exactly follow it!) and to get to know some of the teens who get to spend their days with my husband. I enjoyed helping them decorate for the dance that morning and loved working the front door at the dance because I got to see everyone's dresses as they came in. I wish they would have given me score sheets for THAT!

Alaska State Fair Carhartt Competition

I was honored to have the opportunity to be a part of this year's Carhartt Competition at the Alaska State Fair. There are several categories in the competition, including Crusty Carhartt (they actual have a smell criteria on the judging sheet for this event!) Carhartt Costumes for adults and kids and the Carhartt Relay. As an added bonus we got to enjoy entertaining music by the Carhartt Brothers throughout the competition.


It was so fun to see the creative ways folks have put their Carhartt to use. People really get into doctoring up those ol' Alaskan standard work wear. One contestant wasn't even human, that's right- one lady entered her dog (and won second place!)

The kids, as always, were adorable. Some were shy, some were total hams, including one little guy who was decked out head to toe in hard hat, safety goggles, tools and work boots.

One of my favorite entries was the Carhartt Bride. Showing her true, home grown, Alaska spirit, she modeling a Carhartt wedding gown-with matching white hard hat.

Carhartt has been such an amazingly generous sponsor to me, that I was quick to jump at the chance to be a part of this event. I had a great time visiting with folks at the fair and sharing some of the things I love so much about our great state. Special thanks to the State Fair Volunteer Department for making my experience so stress-free: I greatly appreciated their complimentary parking and admission as well as the meal voucher they provided me (let's hear it for salmon quesadillas!) Also, I'd like to send out a shout out to the ladies who so graciously gave me a free order of Cheese Curds! And, thank you, too God for keeping that giant rainstorm from hitting the fairground til I was walking to my car and heading home :)

Thread's Book Party in the Park

I had the honor of being invited to be a guest reader at Thread's Book Party in the Park. Thread, formerly known as Child Care Connection is an agency I have worked with for several years. They are one of the organizations I do Early Childhood and Child Development trainings for.

Thread is a statewide network of professionals who work individually with families and early educators to ensure that they are knowledgeable and supported in guiding children to lifelong success. Thread offers services to families, communities, and early educators in their attempt to ensure bright futures for Alaska's children. As a resource and referral agency, Thread aims to empower parents and early educators with information and resources that will support meaningful adult/child relationships and healthy child development. One of their important roles is to provide child care referrals to families and training for child care providers.

The quality of early care and education a child receives is directly related to the education and training of his/her early educator. Thread provides multiple training and educational opportunities to individual early educators and early care and education programs. They provide both on-site and classroom based trainings to enrich early care and education experiences for Alaskan children and families. Thread is committed to working with individuals, early care and education centers and homes to improve the overall quality of early care and education programs in Alaska.

Recognizing parents as a child’s first teacher, thread understands that families want the best for their children including ensuring they have great care and maximizing their development and learning potential. Thread staff are dedicated to helping families make informed choices about early care and education by providing customized child care referrals and providing individualized information, community resources and short term support to meet families needs. Thread supports all families to maximize their child’s experiences in quality care and learning.

One of the community activities Thread does is their Book Party in the Park, and annual event that features music, games, and lots of other development-based activities for kids, and most importantly...FREE books! I was very honored to be featured as one of their guest readers this year. I brought along a bunch of my favorite picture books (wore my Very Hungry Caterpillar shirt) and enjoyed my time reading aloud to the crowd of youngsters gathered around. Between being a parent and a teacher I've done my fair share of reading aloud, but I can't remember ever doing it with a microphone. That took a little getting used to!

Senator Mark Begich was also on hand to give his remarks about the important of early learning and literacy and to pledge his continued support or Thread and other programs like it that support children and families in their quest to securing school and life success.

I'm very grateful to be a part of such an active, selfless group of colleagues who work tirelessly for Alaska's children and their families. For more information about Thread you can visit their website at http://www.threadalaska.org/

Official Mrs. United States Photo by Joe Pier

Here are some of the official photos from Mrs. United States, taken by Joe Pier:

With Tammy Johns-Brown, Mrs. United States 2009 at Registration

With some of the other delegates at our welcome dinner

With my line leader buddy, Mrs. Alabama. We developed our own combination of hand signals, eye contact, head nods and cues to keep us perfectly synchronized as we took the stage and lead our groups in the opening number.

On our night out on the town to see Menopause, the Musical

6am swimsuit photo shoot

Portraits in my interview suit just before my panel interview

Lem, serving as my personal valet/bellman, carrying my gear backstage on prelim night

Opening Number: Simply Irresistible

Intros of the Delegates

On-Stage in Swimsuit Competition

On-Stage in Evening Gown Competition