"..and we can't slow down, 'cause more is best, it's all an endless process.." Rascal Flatts

Since the last time I posted, I've seen everything from local pageants to St. Patrick's day and much in between. From the busy weeks, which I love by the way (I function better when I'm busy and almost overwhelmed), I started wondering when everything started being such a race, competition, and a sacrifice of much-needed rest. There is a song that perfectly describes this.."Mayberry" by Rascal Flatts:

"Sometimes it feels like this world is spinning faster
Than it did in the old days
So naturally, we have more natural disasters
From the strain of a fast pace
Sunday was a day of rest
Now, it’s one more day for progress
And we can’t slow down ‘cause more is best
It’s all an endless process."


Don't get me wrong, I'm all about striving to be the best and reaching for full potential, but I just wonder at what point we started thinking that slowing down will only put us behind. I guess this goes to explain that when you drive a lot by yourself, you get to thinkin'.



Once the snow melted a few weeks ago, I was back on the road, back into schools, and back to being Miss Delaware, however I must say that I enjoyed the few days off. My brother may not agree because 1) I was stuck in the house with him and I get cabin fever pretty easily so the poor guy had to deal with me and 2) I was the reason that the four-wheeler got stuck in the snow and had to be pushed out because it stalled w/ a low battery (hehe). What would I do without my litte (bigger) brother!?

Friday (Mar. 6) welcomed me with classrooms of young children at The Little School in Dover. I made a few more dental presentations to the classes that had missed Dr. Sean and I the first time. The morning went well, but the attention span of 3 year olds is much shorter than I could have anticipated. You live and learn....and..skip lots of pages in the dental cartoon book!!
That evening I was in Georgetown and was the opening performer for Chelsea Betts' Alzheimers Awareness recital. I unpacked the piano, set it up, performed, thanked the audience, packed up the piano, and booked it back up to Milford for the local pageant! I thought I would be late, but somehow, some way, I was early, and was able to emcee the whole night! The local pageant went very well; great talent, great gals, and a beautiful new 2009 titleholder! Congrats Stephanie Bailey!!!!
I wasn't sorry to see my bed that night!

Saturday brought another great day of hanging out with local contestants backstage! We always have so much fun back there finding wigs and making jokes. I only had to perform, so I relaxed and enjoyed the pageant once it started. I spoke with the judges prior to the contestant interviews and had met a few of them before! They were a great panel!! The new titleholders that night were Lorin Walls and Kristina Maynard. Congratulations girls!! We couldn't end the weekend of local pageants without going out to eat! so we all met at AppleBees and enjoyed a delicious dinner. Kristina's mom even treated us all to mini desserts! (woohoo!) I love dessert!



I joined many supports of Locks of Love on Sunday at a large event that even held a fashion show. Many local boutiques including Lady's Image sponsored the outfits, gowns, and tuxedos for the models in the fashion show. They did a great job! and some of the volunteers even had their hair cut off in bob styles right on the runway!..donating their hair to Locks of Love.

Since Dr. Seuss' birthday was snowed out, my appearance at W.B. Simpson Elementary School was rescheduled for Monday. I spoke to the students about why reading was so important and how it has helped me. Then we went over some goals that the students have, and why reading would be essential in reaching those goals. To conclude my appearance, I performed on the piano for the kids, and then handed out signed photopads as the students exited. Many awards were given out for reading accomplishments and we were even treated to performances by the unicycling team at the school!! Now THAT'S talent!!!

As soon as I left the school, I booked it up to Philadelphia to meet a few local titleholders at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. We had a tour of the whole facility, something I had never taken part in even though I've visited the hospital numerous times! The hospital is fantastic, ever-growing, and ever-improving to provide children all over the world with the best possible care. Then we visited with a few patients, and helped out with their Spa Day! The girls loved it!!

I was picked up by Bob Kuhling (my EDs husband) the next day to visit golf courses all over New Castle County (there are tons!). We had many donate foursomes for our Miss Delaware Golf Tournament that will be held on May 20! Lucky for me, Bob drove because I snoozed the WHOLE way home in the passenger seat!..not much of a navigator! Fortunately, once you get to Route 1 in Delaware, you can always find your way home.

I was back on my school territory on Friday to visit the Easter Seals Volleyball Tournament. Easter Seals is and excellent organization that provides care and independence to those with disablities.

Saturday brought yet another baby shower, as promised! We celebrated Tish's baby shower with excellent food, friends, family (well, her family), gifts, and games! It's always nice to see the ladies from the dental office is clothing other than scrubs hehe.

I performed my Miss America piano piece, "El Cumbanchero" in church on Sunday. It was definitely not the type of Prelude they were accustomed too, but I'm pretty sure that they enjoyed it. If nothing else, it spiced up the service with it's spanish inspiration and powerful tune!!

It was time for our Miss Delaware fundraiser on Monday! It was held at the Georgia House in Milford and I'd say it was a success. I, along with other local titleholders, volunteered to "waitress" for the evening while supporters dined in the restaurant. I also performed at various times throughout the night. My mom is originally from Milford so she was able to visit with friends that she grew up with. My Aunt Brooke and cousin, Breck, were even in town from Florida and were able to make it to the dinner!! I was so glad to see everyone and am so fortunate for their support!

Saturday was SO much fun!! I went to the Heart Ball! The local titleholders and I arrived really early, so Kayla and ran out to Wawa to get some food and redbull!! Redbull would not be in business without my support of their products. My recipe for success: big smile and redbull! haha Just kidding..but, it never hurts! The Heart Ball was an event for the America Heart Association and there were all sorts of attractions like silent and live auction items, hors d'oeuvres, DJs, and a dance floor!! Does it get any better?? I had a great time, and plan on going next year!

This past Monday was spent at the University of Delaware recruiting contestants for Miss Delaware. If we put out the opportunity to compete, maybe we'll have more girls participate. Sometimes a lack of awareness or opportunity reduces the potential of any organization, so I was trying to make the information accessible. It was a fun day and I got to meet new people, but also saw some of my friends that I don't get to see very often =D

I got to spend lunch with members of the Absolam Jones Senior Center in Wilmington. I spoke to them about my year as Miss Delaware, performed for them, and then visited with all of them; chatting with and getting to know them a little better. It was a great afternoon, and some of the ladies are thinking of arranging a bus to take them all to Miss Delaware in June!!

Unfortunately, it was brought to my attention last night that Sue Kuhling my Executive Director, who has been by my side since I won Miss Delaware last June, was resigning. I support her decision, I'm sorry to see her go, but I know that I will always have a friend in her and she will always be a part of my life. I would not have wanted anyone else to accompany my family and I at the Miss America Pageant.


I have a lot to look forward to for the rest of this week and am actually, at this very moment, preparing a dental experiment for the five dental presentations I have in line for tomorrow. It should be a fun day! Anything that deals with dentistry is right up my alley..if only I could get to sleep!

I've also introduced myself to Twitter..if you don't have one, get it! I haven't quite caught on to why it's so enticing, but I'm sure after a few days I'll figure it out! Something tells me that I just don't have enough time to be a successful "tweeter" though..ugh, we'll see! Talk to you soon!

Governors Public Safety Award! Congrats!!!

Amanda has been chosen for the Governors Public Safety Award!!!!!!! (this has been changed from the community service award applied for). The award ceremony will be held Thursday, April 23rd at Dover Downs. Registration Begins at 5 pm, award ceremony to begin around 6 pm. There will be heavy hors d'oeuvres and a DJ.
Tickets are $25.00. Congratulations Mandie!!!!!!!!

Winter Wonderland in...Spring?

After having a few days off (thank you snow!!), I'm all cozy in my sweatpants, cup of tea in hand, and ready to update you on all that I have been up to! It's hard to believe that yet another month has passed!..we're into March already! St. Patty's Day is just around the corner.

In mid-February, I joined the Governor in celebrating National Salute Week to show our appreciation for the great things that our Veterans have done for our country. We visited the patients in the Veterans Hospital in Elsmere, chatted with the staff about the facility, and even joined some of the Veterans at a little lunch party that they were holding. There just happened to be a piano in the room too, so someone asked me to play. I always have to be prepared for anything..performances inluded! We had a great time visiting and celebrating!




Then I was off to the Corpus Christie School in Wilmington to present for Character Counts. I typically make these presentations to 2nd and 3rd graders, so naturally, when browsing through my planner, I just assumed that the presentations were for those grades. The night before, I happened to notice a line in my agenda that read "5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th" under the headline "Corpus Christie School." I couldn't believe it! That important detail went completely unnoticed until the night before. I couldn't very well speak to 8th graders the way I would speak to a 2nd grade class, so I came up with new ideas and examples. The next day, on very little sleep, I arrived at the school ready to present to the 5th-8th graders! The presentations went very well! and once they got warmed up, I had a great amount of participation from the students..which can be difficult at times with middle-schoolers.

That weekend, the Miss Delaware's Outstanding Teen orientation took place. I spoke briefly with the contestants about my experiences at Miss Delaware and Miss America, and I gave them a little advice that I thought would help them feel comfortable at the pageant. I'm so excited to see who my new "little sister" will be, but I will miss having Mandie around!! We are in the process of choosing a song for our joint performance at the pageant (she dances while I play the piano). I can't wait!! We were actually supposed to rehearse today, but the snow kept me from leaving the house! (Can we say CABIN FEVER? hehe). Anyway, we are going to have a fantastic pageant in late March for the Miss Delaware's Outstanding Teen contestants!!! They are a great group of girls!! That night, I joined all of the contestants, their families, and the MDOT board members for a fundraiser at Buffalo Wild Wings!! It was so nice to just sit back, relax, chat, and eat with everyone. All of us have such hectic schedules; it isn't too often we all get to be together at once!

The next week, I was greeted by oodles of pre-schoolers and kindergarteners at the Little School for dental presentations. Afterall, February is Children's Dental Health Month!! I actually went there with Dr. Sean, one of my bosses at the dental office, and Jen, a dental assistant who will be a first-year dental student at Temple in the fall!! (So excited for her!!!!)! We had a blast! I always enjoy the responses from all of the children. One little girl said that the dental masks are worn "so that you don't smell the bad breath." haha Normally we get the "germs" answer, but hers was just as good!

Later that week, I went to the Southern Lights of Life event that benefits Breast Cancer Awareness. I had volunteered at the event back in high school, but had not been back since then. I dressed up in my powder pink cocktail dress and sold the "lucky ducks" for $10 a piece (or 3 for $25 hehe). Before the dinner even started, all of the duck-selling teams sold out completely! The silent auction and duck-selling were very successful! Then it was onto the dinner..that's when I got to kick back and relax!! The volunteers had already eaten before the event started, so is was our downtime. Before dinner was even over though, I was pulled backstage to help show the live auction items. These ranged from bikes, to signed footballs, even a mo-ped!! They had it all! I had so much fun walking the runway with all of those prizes. The last time I walked the runway at Dover Downs was when I was crowned Miss Delaware!! Oh, the memories :) After the Live Auction came the Fashion Show. The models were all Breast Cancer Survivors and they looked absolutely stunning!! I could tell that they were having so much fun too! What an experience that was! All of their family members and friends were in the audience cheering them on as they walked down the runway!! One of the models was a teacher of mine in high school; GO MRS. THOMAS!!!!

That weekend, I took off the crown and went to...a Baby Shower!!! It seems like half the ladies in our dental office are pregnant, so what more would you expect than a handful of baby showers? Ashley's shower was so much fun! She looked so happy to see everyone, and her cake was beautiful; Hailey had a great time helping her mom open presents, and everyone got to visit with eachother! I could really get used to these baby showers!..good thing, because I have another one in a couple weeks!

Last week, in the spirit of I love to Read Month, I read to a couple kindergarten classes at Fairview Elementary in Dover. I read "The Rainbow Fish." They seemed to like it and had a bunch of questions for me afterwards. One child asked if my sash had real diamonds...I jokingly said to the teacher "they're real rhinestones!," but I told the student that they were jewels hehe.

The next day brought another dental presentation! I went to Lake Forest North to present to second graders. From dental office items like masks and gloves, to dental-related experiments and games, the kids had a great time learning! We cut into good foods like apples and then cut into bad foods like Carmello Bars to show what is left on the knife afterwards...resembling the amount of food that sticks on your teeth. We brushed hard-boiled eggs, that had soaked in coke, with toothpaste to show what brushing does for your teeth. We even played a question and answer game with my Sandbag Toss!

The next morning came sooner than later! I was up in Wilmington at Darley Road Elementary to participate in the Dr. Seuss event, in honor of his (then) upcoming Birthday. I went in with the idea that I would be reading, but quickly found out that I was actually performing!..again I say, be prepared for anything! It went very well! and after the assembly, I went around with my second grade teacher, Mrs. Aldridge, to visit the classrooms in the school. It was great to see her again!!


After that, I left to go south to the McIllvine Early Child Center to read to the kindergarteners. Because Dr. Seuss' birthday was close, I read "Green Eggs and Ham." I had them share something that they didn't think they would like until they tried it! I got answers like broccoli, cupcakes, carrots, and even brushing teeth! One student asked me how my crown stays on..so I shared my little secret with them hehe. The last class invited me to their room to join them for a birthday party. I ate cupcakes and veggies with them, and somehow managed to fit into their chairs!!



As most of you know, it started snowing on Sunday, so my Monday and Tuesday events were cancelled. The rest of this week should probably get back to normal..as long as the ice melts! As quickly as the snow came though, it will soon dissipate. Our Winter Wonderland in the Spring is just another example of our unpredictable Delaware weather! One of Delaware's many surprises.