Be watching for the February issue of MORE Magazine one of the writers contacted me to interview me for a story she was writing on pageants, and what it was like to compete in your forties! She had heard about the work I had done as Mrs. Wisconsin and I was very excited to share about my experiences. It is amazing the doors that have opened being Mrs. Wisconsin United States!

I was invited to speak at the girl scouts troop this week. I used to be a girl scout and my very first goal I ever set for myself was to get every badge. It was the first goal I accomplished and it felt great! I spoke to the girls about setting goals just like I had done as a girl scout and continue to do in my life. The LOVED the crown and everybody got a picture with the crown on. :)

For the last 6 weeks I have been spent 1 day every week volunteering to teach Junior Acheivment to the West De Pere Middle School Economics Class. It has been a very rewarding opportunity and it was not until my last day working with them that I revealed that I was Mrs. Wisconsin they were really suprised! Thank you to Mrs. Devillers class you did a great job!

Educating Students Worldwide
330,377 Junior Achievement volunteers teach 379,968 classes to 9,795,485 students a year...

That’s 26,837 students a day and nearly 1,118 students every hour who become empowered with the skills to create a better tomorrow for themselves and their communities!

JA Worldwide is a partnership between the business community, educators and volunteers — all working together to inspire young people to dream big and reach their potential. JA’s hands-on, experiential programs teach the key concepts of work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy to young people all over the world.

I spoke at The Money Conference today that was held at Fox Valley Technical College in Appelton. The topic was Can a Women's Retirement Income Last a Lifetime? I love being able to speak to women about this and hope that everybody stops to make sure they are saving "investing" their income so they have enough to last them their lifetime. The 8th Annual Fox Cities MONEY CONFERENCE
28. Sep, 2010

Saturday, October 23, 2010, Fox Valley Technical College, 1825 North Bluemond Drive, Appleton, Wisconsin

The goal of The Money Conference is to provide affordable, high-quality, and unbiased financial education in a setting that is fun and inspirational for all. The Conference is built around the premise that everyone can build their own future.

Hi Everyone! Yesterday I did a teleseminar with Marsha Brixby from Money Wise. Tune in and listen and share it with other women! Thank you!
Listen to Can a Woman's Income Last a Lifetime -- http://AttendThisEvent.com/?eventid=14800809
See More

The BIG READ! This morning I was the speaker for the "The Big Read" …brought to you by Money Smart Week Wisconsin's regional partners: Fond du Lac County, Fox Cities, Green Bay, & Winnebago County
Story time, songs and activities for children ages three years to second grade. The goal of the big read is to speak to children about the importance of saving. Each child that attended received a free book about saving! We had twenty children attend our event and all of us parents included had so much fun. :)

If you are a Green Bay Packer Fan you will love this! I was invited to the Welcome Back Annual Green Bay Packer Luncheon. It was great to see all the players out of uniform. One player sat at each table for lunch so it was a fun time of getting to know them. We were not allowed to take our picture with the Packers but the paper did publish some that I can share! Aaron Rogers was sporting a cowboy hat do you know what message he is sending? :)

In August I had the opportunity to speak to over 65 members of the Green Bay Rotary Club about the importance of saving and being retirement ready!

Promoting the "iOMe Challenge" a national college contest that I manage that engages college students in the retirement security problem in America. The De Pere Chamber of Commerce had their national golf drive and the iOMe Challenge along with PAi sponored hole number 5! We spoke with over 28 different businesses in the area about the challenge. Really a great opportunity to promote the contest and give back to the community. www.iomechallenge.org

I attended a Celebration of Historic Proportions in downtown Green Bay today. We broke ground today on construction of two "apartment complexes" downtown that will be turned into - affordable housing for the elderly. We also celebrated the renovation of the historic Hotel Northland. There were so many people there sharing stories and memories of the hotel that was first built in 1903. The Mayor Jim Schmitt was there he believes that the heart of City begins downtown. It was so wonderful to be a part of this celebration and I even got my picture taken with Miss Green Bay 1974 she used to be a receptionist at the hotel and has been a big part of the restoration project.

I am back from Mrs. United States National Competition! I have to say it surpassed all of my expectations. The pageant experience at Nationals was fun and very rewarding. For those who made top twelve you are all amazing women. For the 41 of us that did not make the top ten all were beautiful and doing amazing things!! It was an honor to get to know everyone and I walked away with new opportunities and friendship. My husband and family had such a wonderful time I am so thankful for everything! To the new Mrs. United States - Mrs. Mississippi you are so beautiful inside and out!

This weekend I was in Madison judging the "National American Miss Pageant" and I was truly amazed at all of the wonderful young ladies. I met so many nice people who were judging the pageant with me. The pageant is such a positive experience for our girls because it really builds self esteem. Imagine a five year old sitting through an interview; granted it only last thirty seconds, but it was with five separate judges. I am so excited for the winners -- and thank you to all of the lovely girls. There were over seventy of them that I got to judge and interview. What a rewarding experience!! My kids had a blast in the pool!

Big day today! We kicked off the 2010 iOMe Challenge with an advisory
board meeting. The board, which consists of Dave Wegge and Kevin Quinn
of St. Norbert College, Carol Karls of Wisconsin Public Service,
Michael Bina of Intellectual Marketing, and Adi Redzic of The
Ecumenical Center, and I spent several hours pouring over the details
of the contest for this year. It is a huge undertaking but we are so
excited to start getting the word out to every college and technical
school in the United States. Last year we had teams from all over the
United States, including Harvard, Yale, and Boston College -- but we
want schools from even more states represented this year. You can read more about the competition at www.iomechallenge.org

I was at the Green Bay Chamber Annual Golf Event today where I promoted The iOMe Challenge. We were able to share about the I Owe Me Challenge with over 40 businesses in the Green Bay area. The challenge is a national college contest that engages college students in helping to solve the retirement security problem in America. You can view details at www.iomechallenge.org We are getting ready to kick off iOMe Challenge 2010! We had a great day and gave away lots of good luck golf tees with the iOMe website address on them. Thank you to my friend Jen who helped promote the contest with me. A big thank you to the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce for helping to raise funds that will help our city!

Last night my husband and I were VIP wine servers for a fund raising event for The 2010 United Hearts for Health Wine Tasting at Whispering Springs Golf Course. Funds from the wine-tasting as well as the Super Spin event held earlier this year, along with donations from area organizations, citizens and the surrounding medical communities, are used to purchase and ship medicines and medical supplies and to help cover other expenses connected to assisting the Nicaraguan village of Rosita. Craig and I served wine with State Senator Robby Hopper and we had so much fun. I am pictured with State Senator Robby Hopper and U.S. Congressman Tom Petri, who also attended the event. The picture with the little girl trying to take my crown was so funny she was not going to let go! Future pageant girl in the making :)

On Friday June 19th I had another unique opportunity to present my views
on family finance and retirement issues. The company I work for hosted "The
Legislative Update" for the De Pere Chamber of Commerce. We met with
Senators, Congressman and Represenatives to get an update on what they have
been working on in our state and in Washington. I had the opportunity to
speak to many people about the poor savings rate and how we need to work
together to help all families become financially fit and retirement ready! I
am pictured with the President of the De Pere Chamber, Cheryl Detrick, and
the representative from Congressman Kagen's office, Gail Garrity-Reed. We
had a great talk and Gail asked me to be on the advisory board that
meets quarterly for Congressman Kagen because of my travels and
many opportunities to speak with people about saving/retirement readiness.
This advisory board is a way that the congressman can hear exactly what
people are concerned about and are saying. What a great surprise and
opportunity to be asked to be a part of this board!

Thank you to Debbie Spagnoletti who helped me to put the final artistic touches on the book that I wrote and published called "Why Do I Learn Differently?" The illustrations were done by an 8th grade LD student at West De Pere Middle School. You can read about the book by going to my website:
www.missionabc.org
click on "Childrens Book" on the left hand side.

Today my husband Craig and I had the honor of being volunteers for the "Special Olympics" in Steven's Point. I love their new campaign to Spread the Word End the Word!

Across the United States and around the globe, young people on college campuses, in high school cafeterias and workaday offices have joined a movement of mutual respect and human dignity called Spread the Word to End the Word. The goal: get people to stop and think about their hurtful and disparaging use of the word “retard” and pledge to stop using it.

March 3, 2010, marked the second annual day of awareness for “Spread the Word to End the Word.” With more than 20,000 pledges on March 3 at www.r-word.org we achieved our goal of reaching 100,000 pledge

I was so touched to be able to present the medals to everyone! I think the Gold Medal Winner's expression sums up how we all feel when we achieve a goal that we have dreamed of.

Last night I was invited to Governor's Mansion for a reception to celebrate
Wisconsin Womens Business Initiative Corporation,"WWIBC", and what they do to help women start and own businesses in Wisconsin. I work as a volunteer for this wonderful organization that has helped 1000+ women to open businesses and bring jobs to Wisconsin. Over 150 people attended the event at the Governor's Mansion. You can read more about this great organization at this link - http://www.wwbic.com/
Thank you to the Governor Jim Doyle and his wife, Jessica, for supporting the work that WWIBC does! Hope you enjoy these beautiful pictures of the mansion.