The start of a blog...

Well it all started with a speech...

A speech I needed to give when I gave my crown away as "Miss Celebrity USA." I was supposed to talk about the things I did during my reign that made a difference. Well when it came time to write this "speech" I really didn't have anything to write about. So I went to my Mom in desperate need of her motherly advice. I was surprised to hear what my Mom had to say... I had changed so many people's lives without even knowing it.

Just by driving our elderly neighbors to the grocery store, or house sitting when friends were visiting family, or starting a walking program with our neighbor who had high cholesterol, or by volunteering at the Weetbix TRY-athalon where I stood for 5 hours cheering children on as they ran by, and even just smiling at someone for no reason... Simple things that I never realized changed the lives of the people around me.

So it got me thinking... I was driving home from LA trying to write my speech, when I got a text from my friend saying Michael Jackson had just died. Wow... I was driving right past the hospital Michael was in at the exact moment he past...

I got a little teary, and my Mom told me this, "I look at all of us like shining stars, some of us so bright and beautiful like shooting stars changing everyone's life that they come across, but they burn out too quickly. While the rest of us are just always shining bright and beautiful."

Well the rest of the ride home the radio played Michael's music on every station. When my favorite song came on.. The Man In The Mirror.

"I'm talking with the man in the mirror,
I'm asking him to change his ways,
And no message could have been any clearer,
If you want to make the world a better place take a look at YOURSELF and make that change,
You've got to get it right while you got the time,
You've got to stand up and make a change,
MAKE THAT CHANGE"

Then it hit me... We are all shining stars here, able to make a difference to "anyone we come in contact with..."

So this blog is my little way of showing and encouraging people to go out and make that small change in someones life. Just start with a smile...

Good luck!