11/18/2015
Miss Ashleigh has come down with a bug.. Praying that it has a very quick visit and realizes she is too healthy and the virus is not welcome to nestle in. She has such a crazy week of very important things to do prior to leaving next week to go to Nationals to see if she can win the National Title representing California. She takes a very important board exam this weekend and needs EVERY piece off her mind and heart to study and prepare for this and then take the test without having to worry on anything health wise. Then packing and preparing for her trip and be out of town for a very intensive week of activities to get that National Title.
I'm asking if you could please;
1. Send her some love and prayers that she recovers fast from this whatever it is going on with her body right now. That she wakes up tomorrow feeling less symptoms and more energy and vitality and health.
2. Send her some love and prayers that she passes her test with an amazing score!!!! She is taking this test against the advice of a few nay sayers and she knows what she is capable of and knows she can't run from her fears so she faces them and knocks them down every time with the mindset of "oh you don't think I can do that? hmm, well I think I can and I'm going to see if I can, watch this!".
2. Send her some love and prayers that she does amazing at the pageant, interviews, and all that goes with this crazy but fun week of meeting people from all over the USA and proudly representing California with her Beauty, her Smarts and most importantly her message of living a life of healthy whole lifestyle choices to prevent or reverse illness and disease.
She has worked so very hard to get to this place. For all of you that think 'this is just a Pageant, and very artificial and so not a way of being authentic in the world' so I'm not going to support that aspect of Ashleigh even though she seems to be a nice young lady. I want you to know that when Ash got into this she was so far from pageant material because she doesn't fit that persona. She is very REAL. It has been a wonderful learning experience for her to find perhaps parts of herself that needed to be worked on, such as speaking to large groups of people, speaking to people one on one (interviews), creating a resume, volunteering in her community and finding some things she has developed an interest and love for that she wouldn't have known otherwise, stage presence, dressing for success, confidence and the ability to carry herself in a professional way regardless of the person she is speaking to. On another level when she started this and came home frustrated with the shallowness and petty ways of of some of the girls in the pageant as well as people running the pageants, she was tempted to say forget this! But, because it is a challenge and she is not one to walk away when people think she is not able to do something. She has something to prove to them and herself.! So, she stayed with it, and our mantra was always 'You are in this to change the mindset and the pageant world to be more transparent and real. To show them someone can be beautiful in a variety of ways and not just their looks. And by doing so it's amazing how some of the pageants have changed just a hint because she was in it and put that light into their world. By her choosing to stay in this game, it has helped her get her name out there, to create networking opportunities with people who may just one day work with her while she builds her own dream but in the moment it's helped her pay for her schooling to be a registered dental assistant. I can't say how proud I am of her and what she has accomplished and what she seeks to accomplish. Her persistence, her drive and her desire to never give up - makes us proud to be her Mama and Daddy and know that we've had a little something to do with this special young lady and what she is giving the world.
