03/03/2026
As my year of service as Mrs. Kansas American winds down, I wanted to share a quick glance at what my last few months as a state titleholder have looked like since I last checked in:
• Volunteered with Unexpected Blooms creating bouquets for nursing homes and rehab facilities
• Started a new program at work creating bouquets for our new homeowners closing on Habitat homes
• Volunteered with the Rose Brooks Center through United Way alongside my Habitat team, preparing their Christmas store for their wonderful and resilient residents
• Supported Harvesters - our local food bank - during the government shutdown’s freeze on SNAP benefits and Habitat KC’s Christmas adopt-a-family through Operation Breakthrough
• Spent a couple days volunteering with HappyBottoms bundling diapers for distribution to families in need throughout the KC metro and surrounding areas (and will be back again next week)
• Watched 5 of my sister queens compete at Mrs. World at the end of January over livestream. This absolutely was the cherry on top of my year! I am so, so, so proud of each of them.
• Resigned from my position as a Housing Counselor to go back to my favorite role - full-time mama - at the end of January/beginning of February (I still will be heavily involved with Habitat through volunteering/committees; my work there will never be done). My first week “home” was spent in Naples, relaxing with my family 🌴
• Began an online class from the University of Pennsylvania called “The Science of Generosity: Do Good… Feel Good” to solidify my giving plan for 2026 (one of the things on my “Goal Bingo” card, which I’m also trying out for the first time this year)
• Got more involved at church including joining the mom group which has welcomed me with open arms 💕
• Was selected as a scholarship reviewer for Great Jobs KC and completed my training. My first round of review starts in 2 weeks! I’m so honored to be able to play a very small role in helping these students get access to an up to $50k college scholarship. Academic scholarships were what gave me access to higher education, and the greatly fulfilling career I’ve had since would not have been possible without the strong foundation I built at SMU (I even got my very first job because the CEO was an alumni who was willing to take a chance on a fellow Mustang ❤️)
• Signed up to be a DECA ICDC written event judge in April (this will be my second time in this role and my fifth ICDC experience overall - this is the same business organization that built up my speaking skills in high school before I competed in my first pageant and gave me the confidence to compete at a high level)
• Among other things, here’s some of the smaller, but still important, stuff I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy recently: brought home our Great Pyrenees puppy, Mac, celebrated Thanksgiving with family in WA/ID and Christmas here in KC with the in-laws, visited Crown Center/Union Station Kansas City/the Hallmark Christmas Experience as a family while they were all decorated beautifully for the season, started instant photography (also part of Goal Bingo), took lots of family trips to the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium, extended my Duolingo Spanish streak (I’m at 597 days so far), and enrolled Grace in kindergarten for the fall!
It’s been an eventful year already, and I am savoring every last minute I have as Mrs. Kansas American. Thank you again to the Mrs. America/Mrs. American org and my sweet director, Diane, for taking a chance on a new Kansan for the role of a lifetime.
If you’re a woman in KS or MO that is 18+ and while reading this post something clicked that, “Hey, I could do that too”, please apply on mrsamerica.com before applications close on 4/1! Our org has titles for both married and unmarried women, so come join the family 💙🌻
