Miss VC 2012: Miss Garden Grove 2013!

This past Friday, the pageant season in So Cal kicked off with the Miss Garden Grove 2013 Pageant at the Marriott in Garden Grove (a hop skip and a jump from Disneyland!)! The theme was Bring it On; all of the contestants were cheerleaders seeking to be the next JV (Teen) and Varsity (Miss) "captains;" it was VERY cute and a well-run night of entertainment and pageantry!
For the Miss CA Class of 2012, it was also a HUGE reunion!! Over a dozen of us local titleholders in the Souther California Region attended the event to support Bree, Jazmin, and all of the competing contestants; it was SO wonderful to see all my favorite ladies again! =)
The pageant featured three beautiful women that mean so much to me: first, our very own Miss California 2012 Leah Cecil was there! A former Miss Garden Grove herself, she helped MC the event and provided some beautiful entertainment playing her harp and singing.
Second, the now former Miss Garden Grove's Outstanding Teen Jazmin Avalos provided entertainment performing a slow tempo modern dance; she also assisted the JV contestants in their onstage questions and crowned the 2013 winner (more on that later...!). She was absolutely beautiful and very gracious; her farewell brought tears to my eyes!! I am confident she will hold more titles in the Miss California Organization; we have not seen the last of Jazmin!
And finally, the now former Miss Garden Grove Bree Morse welcomed the crowd to the pageant, provided entertainment with an upbeat aerobic dance routine, assisted the Varsity contestants with their onstage questions, and crowned the 2013 winner. I had such a blast competing with Bree at Miss CA; she is such a warm person and absolutely beautiful inside and out! I definitely teared up during her farewell as well... I feel so blessed to know her! <3
At the end of the evening, two ladies were awarded the titles of Miss Garden Grove and Miss Garden Grove's Outstanding Teen 2013... and they were Karina Valdez and Missy Mendoza!! They both shined onstage, inside and out; I was very happy and excited for them both!!
It never gets old watching these wonderful young ladies' lives change as they get crowned; being a local Miss America titleholder is such an incredible adventure, I can't wait to see what Karina and Missy do in their years of service!
Overall: an absolutely wonderful evening!! =)