Mrs. California United States Workshop

March 2, 2013

Got to meet some very amazing women today!  They were incredibly sweet and great fun!!

Workshop in Nor Cal with some of the sweetest women I know

I also learned a lot about myself at this workshop.  I was hoping to, but I was surprised that I learned so much more than I even imagined I would.  I remember running in my first pageant ever and having one of the judges ask me, "Who are you?"  I can't remember to this day what I might have said to her, but I remember very well what I was thinking...  I didn't know.  It had only been one year since my second traumatic brain injury and I was struggling to admit that I wasn't fully healed.  I desperately wanted to be okay and have life return to some kind of normalcy.  I felt devastated that I didn't know how to get back there.  I used to know who I was.  Now, I felt torn apart from the inside out...but there I sat with a smile anchored in place looking this woman in the eye and saying who knows what.  Even my bio was upside-down and backwards.  The biggest problem:  I was afraid to tell people who I really was.  How could I say, "I am a traumatic brain injury survivor and I'm still healing."  To me it sounded like I was trying to be a brain surgeon with no hands.  No wonder my husband was trying so hard to be supportive, but very concerned that I wasn't ready.  He was right.  Still I learned something along the way and wouldn't trade the experience for the world.  I continued to run in pageants and learn while continuing to heal and grow.  When my husband began to urge me to run for Mrs. California United States, I knew that I had somehow made it through an unbelievable healing journey.  Now as I participated in an incredible workshop, I realized that my life would never be the same again.

Having a good laugh with Tracie while working on pageant platform

 

As I began to share my story, a picture of who I am began to unfold.  I had healed emotionally, psychologically, and cognitively and had become so much more than I could have ever dreamed.  I hadn't really taken the time to think about or revel in it before, but I was suddenly humbled, overwhelmed, and grateful beyond words by all I'd been given and given again.  The very events of my life that at one point I thought had destroyed me, instead became an opportunity to become the courageous and empathetic leader I had become...by the grace of God.


April 24, 2013

A couple weeks later in another incredible workshop, I had the amazing pleasure of meeting some of the most sweet, gracious, and accomplished people who were so kind in lending their time to help several of us with interview...so grateful to have been so graciously bestowed such a wonderful opportunity! 

Mock Interview

Thank you to Tracie, Janice, and all of the mock judges for putting so much time and energy into helping us be the best we could be!  I learned so much that will help me in life!  Thank you Sharon for sharing your home!!