Countdown to Graduation

I have only two weeks left of school.......3 major projects and then final exams.
I can't believe I will have my MBA and an M.A. so quickly.  I have learned so much and am so thankful for the opportunity SMU has given me.

I hope to see you at Graduation on May 18!!!!

Month of April.....so far

What a great Spring Meeting we had at the beginning of April.  There are so many girls this year and everyone was so nice. 

I was able to honor Dr. Zannie Voss, at the Women of Achievement Awards Ceremony, for her contribution to the development and sustainability of organizations in the non-profit sector.

I made a trip to Houston on April 13 to make appearances scheduled by Duc Nguyen.  We went to Texas Children's Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House.   Of course we had to stop for lunch in between at the 59 Diner!!!!

 

 

March Update

March Update!!!
 
Spent an incredible week with my family at Lake Tahoe.  We were snowed in for a few days, but still had a great week......skiing was rough though!!!


Marathon Kids - 3/23 The weather stopped the opening festivities, but did not stop the kids from celebrating the success of running a full marathon - 26.2 miles this school year!!!. They ran the last lap indoors!!!! I am so proud of this group of go getters that met their goal!!!

 

Many thanks to the Marathon Kids Organization, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Whole Foods, Children's Medical Center and JC Penny!!!.

 

 

 

That same day I went to the House of DIFFA event to help with selling raffle tickets!!!

 

 

 

Enjoyed speaking with the kids about healthy eating and exercise at:

                   Children's Courtyard 3/26  and Worley Middle School 3/28

 

 

 

Events from February 23-24 2013

What a crazy, but amazing weekend. Between Little Miss Fort Worth, Toast To Life Gala, Cowtown Marathon, oh and finals this next week, this weekend was a busy one.

Saturday morning we had our Little Miss Fort Worth pageant.  We crowned a new Baby, Tiny, Petite, and Junior Little Miss Fort Worth.  The girls were so cute!! I am so glad I got to audit and did not have to judge the precious young girls. On top of auditing, I also got to sing the opening song to kick the pageant off! I must say the costume competition was my favorite! One of the Baby contestants dressed up as the Little Mermaid and had her very small Chihuahua dressed up as a fish!! I have now decided that I want my puppies to be a part of my talent for Miss Texas :-)

Later Saturday night I got together with a bunch of other pageant sisters to help out at the Toast To Life Gala.  It was so much fun talking with all of the guests and selling raffle tickets to a trip to VEGAS! I got to put my amazing sales skills to work. Khrista Bishop, Miss Hunt County, and I worked together to sell a ton of these raffle tickets.  I think our spiel went something like “Have you heard about the amazing raffle? Well, it's a 3 night trip to Vegas with round trip airfare for two…….” It is so much fun to raise money for a good cause!

Sunday morning I was back in Fort Worth for the Cowtown Marathon. It was so exciting to be at the finishing line and cheer on all of the Half, Full, and Ultra Marathon finishers.  Probably the most exciting was to watch the Woman Full Marathon winner cross the finish line, breaking the Cowtown Woman’s Marathon record. Pictures from this event are posted on my twitter- @rachel_garrett and facebook. 

Follow me on twitter to stay updated on all my events as Miss Fort Worth 2013!

How to Stay Healthy During Flu Season

Top 5 things to do to combat the flu

With it being flu season and hearing from so many people that they are sick with the flu, I though it would be a great time to remind people how to avoid getting and spreading the flu!

1.     Stay hydrated- Drink plenty of fluids

2.    Maintain good health- by having a healthy living lifestyle, you can reduce the effects of the flu. This includes exercising regularly, getting plenty of sleep, managing stress levels, and eating healthy foods regularly

3.     Don’t share germs- cover your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing to help reduce the spread of the influenza virus.  

4.     Keep you hands clean- carry hand sanitizer and wash your hands regularly especially when in public places

5.   Supplement your diet- take vitamin and mineral supplements to make sure you are receiving adequate nutrition

http://www.superpages.com/supertips/top-10-tips-for-combating-flu.html

New Year's Resolutions

It is that time of year again to make our New Year’s Resolution, so I thought it would be a great time to share some facts about those resolutions that we never seem to be able to keep and ideas for how to make them more effective and more likely to keep.

The Top 10 New Year’s Resolutions for the past year were losing weight, getting organized, saving money, enjoying life, staying fit, learning something new, quitting smoking, helping others, falling in love and spending more time with family.

The best way to make a resolution that you will keep is to set a specific goal. Goals like being healthier, saving money, or work out more are not “resolutions” that will likely be kept.  By making your goal very specific, like “I will go to the gym Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 7.30 to 8.30” or “I will only have fast food two times a week” will have a much higher success rate.

After making a change and keeping the commitment for three months, it is much more likely for you to stick to it long-term.  There are even organizations that will set up a contract with you where if you fail your resolution, they will charge your credit card and donate the money to a charity of your choice.

Some additional recommendations:

1.     Write it down

2.     Don’t try to do it all in January- spread your goals out through the year

3.     Let your friends help you- get your friends involved in your resolution

4.     Create a plan

5.     Less is more- don’t try to do too much, only commit to do what you are able to do

http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/news/story.aspx?id=841842#.UOBlj7ahAy4

http://www.cbs42.com/content/localnews/story/How-to-set-New-Years-resolutions-and-keep-them/XOcdAlhZn0q6s7dJSONDeA.cspx

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-25/how-to-keep-new-years-resolutions-make-them-in-august

http://www.beliefnet.com/Health/Healthy-Living/Simple-New-Years-Resolutions.aspx?b=1&p=10

An Eventful Few Weeks!

Wow – this month has been a whirlwind……photo shoots, parades and appearances.  I am going to outline what I’ve been up to below and add a few pictures.

DIFFA Burgers and Burgundy- I did this event with Ivana, April, and Brittney. There were several great chef’s at the event making gourmet hamburgers!! An added plus :-)

Miss Southeast Texas October 20  –  went down to Houston to support Duc and his pageant.  Congratulations to Elizabeth Gardner, Miss Southeast Texas and Kassidy Brown, Miss Southeast Texas’ Outstanding Teen.

I had the opportunity to emcee the Miss Keller’s Outstanding Teen pageant on October 28 with Kaylee.  Congratulations Alison McClelland, Miss Keller’s Outstanding Teen!!

Photo shoot with all the girls at Zac’s.  Poor Zac,  he must have been exhausted after shooting all of our head shots and crown shots…..then we did  several group Christmas pictures!!!   Zac was a trooper and all the girls looked beautiful!!

THEN… April, Kaylee, Tiffany and I all went to the Cowtown Ball benefiting The American Cancer Society. What a long day, but the Cowtown Ball was definitely worth it. April and I were selling a “Bling” raffle for a Diamond Ring!! It was such a fun evening and knowing that the event benefited such a great cause made the appearance that much better. AND.. Can't forget the VERY unique experience that April and I had... Armadillo Racing... Yes, April and I touched, held, and raced Armadillos!!!! 

Mental Management Open House – Got to see Danae and so many other’s at MM.  Thank you Mental Management Systems for the inspiring presentations.

Cancer Care Services- Joy of Life Gala- Brittney and I helped out at this event. Probably the best part of the event was at the end when we sold PINK boas for $100 to raise even more money for Cancer Care Services.  It was amazing to see how fast these boas went!

Trains of North Park – I attended the kickoff for this benefit for the Ronald McDonald house.  This was the sponsor event and was so much fun.

Miss Dallas, November 18 –  I was so excited to watch this amazing competition….so many great talents!!!  It was so nice to see Danae Couch,  she looks amazing and  ready for Miss America!!!  Congratulations to Monique Evans the new Miss Dallas and Tatianna Valentine the new Miss Dallas’ Outstanding Teen.

Superfeast in Houston on Thanksgiving – Travelled to Houston to have Thanksgiving with my family and while there I had the opportunity to help serve food at the Houston Superfeast.  Many thanks to Duc for always arranging this wonderful event.

Parade of Lights November 23 – Had so much fun at the Parade of Lights in Fort Worth.  The crowd was amazing and so friendly…..all waving and yelling Merry Christmas !!!   So much spirit and fun!!

Miss Duncanville November 25 – Congratulations Lakesha and McKenna!  You will have an amazing year with Jim and Sherry!!!   It was so nice to be recognized as a former Miss Ellis County and have special pictures made of all the formers…..this is a great tradition.

So I think that is it for now... I'll be back soon

Try not to let the Holidays become an excuse for not staying Healthy!! 

Dessert is fine... just remember it is all about moderation :-)