The year 2011 was the beginning of a magical year for me and my family!! There has been so many blessings that I am thankful everyday to God above. As my world made an unexpected twisted turn on February 1, 2010 with the diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa (retinal degenerative eye disease that results in blindness) to my children and myself I was determined by the grace from above to make a difference.

Exactly one year after my family's lives changed forever, I was blessed with the title of Mrs. Florida America 2011 on February 5, 2011. However, my quest for the crown was never for self-discovery or personal growth, there was a bigger motivating factor. My ultimate goal was to raise awareness for Retinitis Pigmentosa and for the Foundation Fighting Blindness that I have been advocating for and working tirelessly since 2007. My crowning sparked the interest of magazines and local newspapers......I was amazed how they wanted to hear my story. My reign as Mrs. Florida America 2011 was short lived, though. After 6 weeks of reigning as Mrs. Florida America 2011, I ventured on to the National Mrs. America pageant. I was astonished and humbled to be there!! I shared my story with whomever asked and was totally amazed when I was crowned Mrs. America 2011 on April 14, 2011. Wow, I asked myself....is this for real?!?!

My amazing journey as Mrs. America 2011 sparked even more media exposure as well as a PBS special on my family. I reigned for a busy amazing 8 months as Mrs. America 2011 before venturing to the Mrs. World competition. Knowing Mrs. World was on my soil here in the US (Orlando, FL) I came full loaded and prepared. I was ready to prove to the world that I was the best contestant for the international title. With God on my side, we conquered the pretigious Mrs. World 2011-2012 title on December 5, 2011. My new reign as Mrs. World 2011-2012 has exploded more national & international media awareness for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. My family was just published in "Women's Day", "Reader's Digest" and "Hollywood Weekly" magazine publications. Many local speaking engagements as well as NYC, Chicago, Nebraska, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China to name a few. My crowns are the keys to open doors that I could not open before.

I truly believe that the America/World organizations are not just for beauty but to give the woman a voice & spotlight to shine the light on what she is passionate about. As a grateful wife and mom of 3 the Mrs. Florida America 2011, Mrs. America 2011 and Mrs. World 2011-2012 has just done that for me. However, there many more blessings to come as my reign has just begun as Mrs. World 2011-2012