Miss Teenage California Pageant

Last weekend, I attended the Miss Teenage California pageant here in Los Angeles. I have not attended this pageant before and I was so surprised and impressed. First of all, they had 165 contestants. There were so many lovely and impressive ladies. What impressed me most was listening to their speeches about their career and educational goals. It gives me so much hope for the future. All the young ladies had impressive aspirations. Many included medicine, physics, and entertainment.

As Ms. California Globe, I was treated very well and gived a seat up front. Everyone seemed so professional and concerned with the ladies. By the end of the afternoon, I saw an amazing court with a darling winner. I talked with several of the young ladies and continued to be amazed by their speakign abilities and kind hearts. My hat off to this outstanding system. I will recommend it to any young lady I meet!!

Walk Now for Autism

It is another beautiful spring day. My garden is floursihing. I can't believe how much easier everything is to grow in California as opposed to Washington. It is great fun to try and grow different veggies that I knew wouldn'tsucceed before. And this home garden will make my vegetarian living so much easier this summer. I have enjoyed finding new recipes and trying new dishes. I have discovered that altering meat recipes isn't as easy as I thought it would be. But that's okay!! I love the challenge.

This weekend, I did a march for Autism at the Rose bowl. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and I had a great time. I was actually surprised how many people were part of the walk. It must be inspirational to those with children with autism. There were so many resources available. I have spent quite a bit of time researching the link between vaccinations and autism, as well as other diseases. My training is in traditional medicine, and I have, quite honestly, accepted what I was taught without questioning. The researc I have done has opened my mind to further research. I don't embrace anything without data, but the data isn't supporting everything I learned in school. Very eye-opening!!

I had a lovely time on the walk, accompanied by my dear friend esther and her darling daughter Isabella. We followed the walk with a little shopping and a delicious organic/vegetarian breakfast. Esther is Sevemth Day Adventist and is helping me eat healthier and providing me with great resources and inspiraton!! Thanks Esther!!!

Food Bank and Photo Fun

Spring is off to a gorgeous start. The weather has been beautiful and my vegetable garden is off to a wonderful beginning. I am trying a few new addtitions this year as I have been adjusting to the long growing season of California. I have added banana trees, tomatillos, and am trying to grow papaya.

Already established in my yard and many surrounding yards are citrus fruit trees. So I went on a mission to gather fresh fruit and bring it to the local food bank. They were so excited by the arrival of oranges because they rarely get fresh fruit. the staff was delightful and very grateful.

This past weekend, I was able to do some preliminary photos for head shots and Ms. CA. We tried to get some photos the first night, but it turns out, the ones taken in natural light the next day were far superior. And it is always fun to get made up and be playful.

I am entering my third week of being vegetarian. For the most part, it has been much easier than i anticipated. I am enjoying my meals and having fun trying new recipes. But I don't think I will try to simply subsitutue tofu in meat recipes anymore...didn't quite work as I anticipated.