MISS/TEEN MINNESOTA USA 2009 PAGEANT - BLOOMINGTON, MN

This year's Miss and Teen Minnesota USA pageant was held in Bloomington, MN at the Sheraton Hotel and I coached four women in the pageant: Jessica Scheu & Delanie Neal (TEENS) and Meredith Rudh & Leslie McConn (MISS). All of my clients made the Top 15 and I am very proud of their performances! What a wonderful group of young ladies!

Way to go Sparkle girls!







My Miss clients Meredith Rudh and Leslie McConn as they prepare for Personal Interview

















My awesome Teen client Jessica Scheu as she gets ready for Personal Interview















My client Leslie McConn looking amazing on stage in Evening Gown!

















I am so proud of my client Meredith Rudh for doing such an awesome job on Prelim Night!

















Catching up with Kaylee Unverzagt - Miss MN USA 2008. Kaylee won her title while wearing my silver Sherri Hill gown that she rented from me. She is such a cool chick!












Sarah Moses (far R) and I with our Miss client Meredith Rudh. I LOVE Meredith's gown! So classy!













It was great to finally meet Travis (Mr. USB) at the pageant. He is a RIOT!

















The Minnesota pageant gals snap a quick photo before the pageant (L to R): Jeanna Perron, my former client Sarah Tichich, Kris Mohlin, me, Sarah Moses, and Penny Godbout












So proud of my two teen clients Delanie Neal and Jessica Scheu, who both placed in the Top 15!










Congratulating Teen client Jessica Scheu and Miss client Meredith Rudh on a job well done after the pageant!












I had such a great time working with Leslie McConn...expect great things from this girl in the future! :)

2008 MRS. AMERICA NATIONAL PAGEANT - TUCSON, AZ

Mrs. America 2008 was once again held in Tucson, AZ at the beautiful Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. I always enjoy coming back to Arizona because the landscape and terrain is just soooooo drastically different from what I'm used to in Minnesota. The year I competed (2006) was the first year to have the pageant held at this location, so it is great to come back and get to experience it as a spectator (and FAR less stressful, LOL). Although now that I am coaching, I get stressed for my girls instead of for myself! Ah, it never ends! I feel like a mother hen...

This year, I had two clients competing--Mrs. Minnesota America 2008 Wendi Russo and Mrs. Iowa America Laura Diers. I was able to attend the preliminary pageant and as always, there were some really beautiful women competing! Both ladies did a terrific job and I was so proud of each of them!

I am VERY proud to announce the Laura Diers won the national Fitness Award! Way to go Laura! I thought both girls would be in the Top 10, but alas it was not to be. The winner was a very deserving Mrs. North Carolina, Maureen McDonald. I was thrilled for Wendy & Fred Galle (state directors for North Carolina) as this was their first national winner and they are just super cool people who do a great job with their state pageant! Congrats to all!








Before Prelims with Mrs. America staff member Runya Simon. Runya is the best!














Swimsuit competition on Prelim Night














Evening Gown competition on Prelim Night












With the reigning Mrs. World Natalya Shmarenkova of Russia












Wendi's cheering section L to R: Robin Williams, Robin Duffney (Mrs. MN America 1995), Wendi's husband Corrado Russo, Wendi, me, and Cheryl Trainor (Happy Birthday Cheryl!)











Grabbing a bite to eat after Prelims









My roommate from Mrs. America Robin Mason (Mrs. GA) now lives in Arizona and drove in to meet up for dinner. She looks better than ever and it was really awesome to catch up with her. She's now a mama herself (she was pregnant at Mrs. America) to darling Evan! Here we are with MN & GA State Directors Carl & Faith Schway.










Gotta say HI to my girls Wendi and Laura before I head out to dinner and they head off to rehearsal. Looking good ladies!










Goofing around after dinner at Firebirds with some of the gals from the Class of 2006! L to R: Jodi Bernhardt (Mrs. MI 2006), Robin Mason (Mrs. GA 2006), me (Mrs. MN 2006), Victoria Broz (Mrs. NV 2006), and Jennifer Bradley (Mrs. NE 2006)









OK, a non-laughing photo now (but of course we have our pageant smiles on!)














We ran into the reigning Mrs. America Kelly McBee on our way out. Wow everyone is tall!













Running into the always lovely Dale Smith Thomas on the evening of Finals. This woman is AMAZING. If you ever get the chance to attend one of her lectures, GO!!!












Wendi's cheering section...












Robin Williams, Robin Duffney, and I holding up our "Go Wendi" signs












It was great to see Sheryl Ellison (Mrs. CA 2006) who was in attendance as well. She recently won Mrs. CA International 2009 and is now officially a triple crown holder...way to go Sheryl!














After the pageant with my client Laura Diers - Mrs. Iowa America 2008. I am so proud of Laura for winning the National Fitness Award! WAY TO GO!!!










L to R: Diane Tucker (Mrs. Arizona/Mrs. America/Mrs. World 2006), Natayla Shmarenkova (Mrs. World 2008), me (Mrs. MN America 2006), and Wendi Russo (Mrs. MN America 2008)













So proud of "my girls" after the pageant!















I love how totally happy Laura's expression is! No caption necessary!












Congratulating the newly crowned Mrs. America 2008 Maureen McDonald. She is gorgeous and was a very deserving winner!

SEND-OFF PARTY FOR WENDI RUSSO - MRS. MN AMERICA 2008 (NORTH OAKS, MN)

Sarah Moses (owner of The Pageant Shop) and I had the honor and privilege of hosting the Send-Off Party for our client (and my Mrs. MN America pageant "sister") Wendi Russo - Mrs. Minnesota America 2008.  Sarah was unable to attend but was certainly there in spirit and helped us put on a great night.  The party was held poolside on a beautiful August evening and the weather could not have been more perfect!  Wendi looked gorgeous and I have to give special thanks to Donnell Rank - Mrs. MN International 2007 for all of her help (she was a godsend!).  It was so neat to see some former Mrs. Minnesotas, some of whom I had never met! Wendi received some wonderful gifts and hopefully she felt like the true queen that she is!

Me proudly showing off our new addition to the family, our 8-week-old basset hound Toots Louise Lollipop Ernst (guess who named her--yes, our 3 1/2 year-old daughter Ava!).  We had just gotten Toots a week earlier...is she cute or what!?! (not that I'm biased or anything, but there are not many things cuter than a basset hound pup!)

My husband Matt was actually not fishing for once and was a great help at the party!  In addition to Matt's "regular" job, he is also a professional walleye fisherman and fishes in many tournaments in the spring, summer, and fall.  When I said I wanted to marry someone who was passionate about "something," little did I know how true that statement would be!  I am very proud of him and incidentally, he has invented and patented a special strike sensor rod holder, so check it out! www.carterday.com/bulldogstrikesensor/ 

Former Mrs. Minnesota America queens gather to wish Wendi good luck!

Wendi's cake.  How the heck do they DO that?!?

Partygoers wishing Wendi the best of luck!

L to R:  My friend and client Tamara Jett, me, and helper extraordinaire Donnell Rank (Mrs. Minnesota International 2007)

Wendi's gift opening...I got her a personalized picture frame with her name and title, and a Juicy Couture "good luck" necklace.

Wendi holding her cake!

Melissa Hall-Young - Mrs. MN United States 2008 (and former Mrs. MN America 2004), Wendi, and I celebrate.  I did Melissa's paperwork for the Mrs. United States pageant and am happy to announce she placed as 3rd RU!  Way to go Melissa!

L to R:  Jason Young (YoungQuest Fitness), Melissa Hall-Young, Wendi, my hubby Matt, and me holding our very squirmy daughter Ava

I had to include this photo of Ava "helping" bring the balloon decorations inside after everyone left.  She was SO excited and my house smelled like latex for a week, ha ha!

MRS. INTERNATIONAL 2008 - SKOKIE, IL

It is hard to believe how quickly time flies! It seems like yesterday that I was here in Skokie for last year's Mrs. International pageant. However this year was different, as this time I wasn't just here to support Mrs. Minnesota International as a "former," but I was also here as her coach! It was so wonderful to see Leisha Gust - Mrs. MN International 2008 finally realizing her dream of competing on the national stage. Leisha did an AWESOME job and performed flawlessly. I love seeing so many pageant friends at these events...it is so fun to catch up with everyone and cheer on not only the Minnesota gals, but other competitors as well.






Here we are with our "Leishas on a Stick!" L to R: Donnell Rank (Mrs. MN Int'l 2007), me, Becky Ringen (Miss MN Int'l 2006), and Tamara Jett (Mrs. Hame Lake Int'l 2009)














Chatting before the preliminary pageant with my clients Mary Swenson (Miss Woodbury International 2009) and Tamara Jett (Mrs. Ham Lake International 2009) who came to support Leisha. It was Mary's 20th birthday weekend--Happy Birthday Mary!











A quick photo with clients Michelle Allen-Parker (Mrs. Davidson County International Tennessee 2009) and Tamara Jett (Mrs. Ham Lake International 2009). Two terrific and FUN women!













Very proud of my clients Leisha Gust - Mrs. Minnesota International 2009 and Jeannie Siegenthaler - Mrs. Wisconsin International 2009.










Catching up after prelims with (L to R): client Jeannie Siegenthaler (Mrs. WI Int'l), Barbara Frye (GA director), me, and Susan Jackson.











It was so fun to cheer on two of my "Mrs. America Class of 2006" pageant sisters, Shannen Woodside and Jessica Plante. Here I am pictured with Shannen...we had a great group that year and it is neat to see the sisterhood continue.











A group shot before the start of finals (L to R): Randa (Mrs. IL Int'l 2007), Donnell Rank (Mrs. MN Int'l 2007), Tamara Jett (Mrs. Ham Lake Int'l 2009), Tamara's sister Tara (she had the CUTEST dress and shoes!), make-up artist extraordinaire Brenda Torre, and me.











With the incomparable Gaspar Cruz. This man is the magic maker when it comes to hair and makeup! I HIGHLY recommend his services (and he is hilarious, too!).








With the darling Megan Herickhoff (Miss Teen MN Int'l 2008) and Tina Rosenthal (Miss MN Int'l 2008) who were there to support their sister queen Leisha. While I did not coach these two ladies, I think they are FABULOUS!!!











Laine Berry is crowned as the new Mrs. International 2008! Way to go Laine!











Congratulating my dear friend and client Leisha Gust on a wonderful showing at the Mrs. International pageant. Leisha is one of the most kind, loyal, and dedicated people I know--she has truly worked her platform for nearly 20 years and is an inspiration to all! I was honored to work with her and am sooooo proud of her!















Congratulating the new Mrs. International 2008 Laine Berry. What a well deserved win! Beautiful!















Skokie, IL was the place to be if you wanted to run into royalty past and present! It was great to see the lovely Dana Opsincs, who was Mrs. United States 2001. Dana is a really neat lady and it was great to catch up with her!













Saying hello to Tim Kretchmann of PageantCast










It was great to see Shannon Devine - Mrs. NC International 2008. We met when we were both judging the MN Vikings cheerleader auditions a few years ago and hit it off...this is one cool chick! :) Shannon is a triple crown state titleholder AND also a former Mrs. United States 2006! Dang, is she good or WHAT!?! :)











A group shot of Mrs. Internationals past and present...













Last but not least I got to catch up with Michelle Fryatt whom I competed with at Mrs. International 2003 (she won!) and also to meet Deanna Linz - Mrs. District of Columbia International (and 3rd RU to Laine Berry). Congrats Deanna! (I LOVED her gown!)