Happy Holidays from the Miss Irving Scholarship Organization

Happy Holidays from Miss Irivng

The holidays are a special time of year when so many reach out into the community and do small acts of kindness to help others. People help in many ways including donating money to a charity, spending time serving food to homeless at a food kitchen, donating items to a food pantry, or buying a toy for a boy or girl who would otherwise not receive a gift. I believe that it is these acts of kindness and selflessness which characterize Christmas and that makes it my absolute favorite time of year.

After Christmas, people go on to make resolutions as they commence the new year. In the past my resolutions have included sticking to a diet, exercising daily, cutting out soda, etc. but this year in addition to my usual resolutions I am taking on a much larger task. This year, I have resolved to make Christmas last all year. No, I do not mean that each of the upcoming 365 days will be filled with actual presents (unfortunately! haha) what I mean is that I want to continue the giving and loving spirit of Christmastime all year long.

The love you give to another by helping them is the bet gift you can possibly give and there is no day better than today to give it. My platform is about the little things each of us can do to help ease the burden of AIDS on families that are impacted by this disease. My "Pennies With a Purpose" campaign is a great way to donate your spare change to a worthwhile cause. To donate you can check us out on Facebook (www.causes.com/StarfishSociety) or at my website (www.jordanjohannsen.com)

Not only do I encourage you to go out into the community to help others but also to help yourself. There are so many benefits of providing for those who are ill or less fortunate. The smiles, the appreciation, and the love that you get in return are absolutely priceless. Love is the best gift you can give or receive. I encourage everyone to open their hearts this year and fill each day with the gift of love. Give and receive and you are sure to have a year full of Christmas!

Holiday Greetings From Miss Irving

Happy Holidays! My name is Jordan Johannsen and I am so excited to be Miss Irving 2010! I am a 21 year old student at Texas Christian University where I am majoring in Business. I am so excited about serving as Miss Irving 2010 and can't wait to see what the year brings!

The first weekend in December, I had the opportunity to be in the City of Irving Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting. Despite the cold winter weather, many people came out to show support and to see the incredible floats in the parade. A HUGE Thank You so much to Grapevine Ford for allowing us to borrow a beautiful convertible for the afternoon.

Lydia ( Miss Teen Irving) came into town for the parade as did all four of our princesses. This was the first time all 6 of us have been able to get together and we have the best time getting to know each other! We spent the afternoon sharing laughs and talking about what we hoped to get from Santa while enjoying hot chocolate and of course riding in the parade.

We also all got announced at the tree lighting ceremony for all of the toys and food we collected for the City of Irving's Blue Christmas food and toy drive! We only had a week to collect things and I was so impressed how much we collected between the 6 of us! Hopefully we are able to help put a smile on several kids and parents faces this holiday season!

But the day wasn't done yet! After the parade and tree lighting ceremony we headed to the Magic Time Machine in Addison for the Miss Irving Holiday Party! Several of the board members, as well as family came to join in on all the fun! Lydia, the princesses and I got to be seated in a really cool tree house and had dinner served by Dennis the Menace! I was feeling brave enough to try one of the "special potion" drinks that came in all sorts of colors! Mine was bright red and bubbled! Lydia, was daring enough to try the one the called "Ugly" and was black and bubbly! After dinner we all exchanged gifts with each other and finished the night off with an ice cream treat! Needless to say it was a great way to top off a fun day!

I had such a great time hanging out with all of my awesome princesses, Lydia and of course the entire Irving board. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this event a great success. At this time of year I am especially thankful for my wonderful pageant family. Merry Christmas to all! May your holidays be filled with lots of laughter, love and family!

All my love,
Jordan