CMN Radiothon and More!

Hello friends!

What a wonderful weekend I had at Shands Hospital in Gainesville. On Friday I participated in the last day of the Children's Miracle Network Radiothon and was able to visit some of the children. I learned a lot about CMN and its impact on the lives of children and families all over the state. Seeing the personal testimonies made me very proud of the partnership between MAO and CMN. In total, the Radiothon raised over $240,000!!

On Sunday me, Courtney, and six local "Miss" titleholders were back at Shands for the CMN Art Day. It was so nice to see my fellow Miss Florida sisters! We mingled with the children and helped them paint their blues away! Once again, it was a great opportunity to interact with the children and families on a personal level. The art will be auctioned off on October 30th as another fundraiser for CMN. What a neat idea! I painted the "sun" on a big wooden puzzle and then autographed the back in hopes to attract a higher bidder!

On Monday night I met Mary in St. Petersburg for the 2009 Miss America Contestant Placement Lottery. I wasn't really nervous about it until "Florida" was the 42nd state called!! That means that I was the 42nd contestant to pick my group (order of competition) and placement within that group. Needless to say, most of the spots that I had picked out as favorites were taken by then. I ended up sticking with my first choice for group which is Sigma (the other two are Mu and Alpha) and then chose spot #3. Therefore I will have Interview on Tuesday morning, Swimsuit/Evening Wear Tuesday night, Talent on Wednesday night, and On-stage Question on Thursday night. Now we're just one step closer to January!


Yesterday I had an interview on the Studio 10 Morning Show in St. Pete. It was my first "Talk Show" experience and it was a lot of fun! I was accompanied by Bill and Kim Doniel who then took me to Gold's Gym to take pictures with the owners and thank them for their sponsorship. Next we went to Pepin for lunch - a delicious authentic Spanish restaurant! It was a busy morning, but I wouldn't have it any other way!








As of tonight, L.A. is less than two weeks away! I'm excited and know I'm in for quite an adventure! I wish I could tell you more, but I don't even know where we're staying when we get there! Everything is going to be a surprise...you'll just have to tune in in January!

Love,
Sierra

P.S. Here are the pictures from the ESPN Reception I promised:

with Mike Alstott!