Friday
night I arrived in Palm Desert for the 2014 Mrs. California International
Pageant. As soon as I arrived and
unpacked I saw the beautiful Amy Gregorio, Mrs. International 2013 checking
in. I helped her to her room, and we
decided to have a few moments of catching up and let me tell you that I am SO
excited to watch her year as Mrs. International. When you remove the crown/sash from this woman,
she is as sweet and gracious as before.
Amy is a real person – she is a proud mom, wife and huge advocate for
CASA. It was such a pleasure to sit and talk
marriage and children together – being moms is always a great ice breaker. She also taught me a little more about CASA.
That
evening we attended the Mrs. California orientation. After
meeting the contestants, each very sweet and excited, I had a few more ‘tearful
moments’ and headed off to bed. When I
woke up Saturday morning, I felt calm and ready. I went in and began to tape my farewell
speech – thanking my amazing family brought me to tears. Competing and being a titleholder is a family
event, it’s an all or nothing on board type of a year. I am so very very blessed! Attending rehearsals was such a neat feeling
- I teared up talking to every contestant as I remember being in their shoes
last year, seeing their excitement and hope.
Saturday
night was my final walk as Mrs. California International 2013 – I was,
admittedly, very overwhelmed with emotion.
Sharing a few moments with Grant before my final walk was precious. He is the man that will continue walking by
my side just as he always has. He is my
best friend.
Before
I knew it… it was time to present awards and crown the new Mrs. California
International 2014. With each award I
could feel the tension grow until it was time.
Congratulations
to Stacy Ortiz-Davis Mrs. California International 2014. She will do great things this year and is in
great hands – I look forward to watching her.
I
will say this in closing – as I left on Sunday and hugged each contestant I was
reminded how much of an impact I have made over the past year, I have left a
legacy that I can be proud of (I even had a sweet young girl tell me that she
follows me on FaceBook). I am grateful
to each person I have met along my journey, grateful to Eddie Peterson for
being who he is (I can never begin to articulate all he has given me without
ever knowing), grateful to Dennis Cooke for a perfect farewell and grateful to
the International Pageant organization for allowing hard working women to
follow their dreams and promote their passions.
If
you would like to stay in touch please follow me on Twitter or Facebook.
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| Here I am... Mrs. Grant Smith |
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