Mrs. Washington 2012 has a NEW blog!!!

Please visit www.jessicariggsmrswa.com for all of my new blog updates. Thank you for your support!

Thanksgiving Meal for the City!

At Journey Church we are in the heart of downtown Everett. We are so blessed with our location because we have an opportunity to reach out to the many homeless and less advantaged that walk right past our front door every day. Last year we were only in our location for 2 months before Thanksgiving and our Pastors decided we needed to provide a meal for the city. With very little time to prepare, our church body banned together and produced a meal that fed over 70 people. I was honored to help out with all the decorations, table settings, and center pieces. It was amazing to see the Lord work through our church and help others have a traditional Thanksgiving meal that would not have otherwise. This year, I did the decor again and was there tonight preparing the tables and dining area to make it feel like home for those that may not have a home. This was my first volunteer opportunity as the newly crowned Mrs. Washington. It was very special to me. My sweet daughter Avery came with me and was a tremendous help! She not only helped with the decorations but she helped entertain the little ones while the adults finished up getting things ready. I am so blessed by my church family! I am excited to see the turnout tomorrow night and hopefully speak to others about the Lord as well as enjoy fellowship with new folks. It's going to be a fantastic evening! For more information visit http://www.joininthejourney.com/event/2011-11-23-thanksgiving-meal-for-the-city/

Somebody pinch me!!!

WOW! I am still in shock. I am incredibly humbled and just as excited that I have achieved one of the most important goals I have ever set for myself....I am your Mrs. Washington America 2012!!! It took me 5 attempts at the crown, and I must say I am so thankful and proud of that. Not only did each attempt help me to mold myself into the kind of wife, mother and queen I would like to be, but I also NEVER gave up on myself! I am so grateful for this experience because this has taught my children to never give up on their dreams as well. Those kids are the lights of my life and I tell you what, there where times where I questioned if this was what God really wanted for me in my life. It was these precious children who would give me loves and tell me "Mom! You can't give up! You have to keep trying to be Mrs. Washington!" I must say, the thought of disappointing them one more time scared me. But I realized that they just wanted to see me live my dream because they love me so much. I am so thankful for that encouragement and this year kids, YES!!! Mommy brought home the crown! I have so many people to thank....and I need to do individual blog posts to truly share with you what these people have done for me in my life. I plan to post every week so please stay tuned.

I want to thank my husband, Mark. If not for him and his "holding down the fort" I could not have trained with my trainer, made as many appearances as I did promoting my platform, or have felt so secure about my goals this year. He has been a blessing to me and I so thankful to God for his divine choice of a husband for me.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank my directors Dr. David and Pamela Curnel. These two have dedicated their lives to helping women empower themselves, be better, live better and are true examples of what a great marriage is and should be. Their love and support made me keep trying and I am forever grateful to them.

That is all for now and please know I truly appreciate ALL of you who have supported me and will continue to support me on my way to Mrs. America!!

EEEEH! Butterflies!!!

With Love,
Jessica Riggs,
Mrs. Washington 2012

Queens for a Cure

Queens for a cure was founded in 2009 by Victoria Knight and Kennedy Miller. Recently, a pageant friends mother had passed away from breast cancer and Kennedy and Victoria began discussing the impact of breast cancer on their families and loved ones. In 1995 Kennedy's cousin Kimberly died from breast cancer at the young age of 26 and was survived by her two daughters ages 1 and 4 years. Inspired by the love of their own mothers,... together they wondered if they could do something to help prevent more daughters from loosing their mothers. It is from this that Queens for a Cure was formed.

I was so excited to support Mrs. Washington 2009, Elizabeth Larsen as she competed for the Ms. title for 2012. She was first runner up, and absolutely stunning! Congratulations to Latasha Reines who won the title. Attending other pageants is always a fun way to support others and in this case Breast Cancer. I believe Queens for a Cure raised over $15,000 toward research for a cure. I was happy to support such a beneficial cause as well as see some fantastic people!

Congratulations to the NEW ROYALTY!!!

2012 Queens for a Cure Royalty
Cover Model - Destiny Atchison
Pink Model - Isabella Mills
... Baby - Olivia Owens
Princess - Brianna Whiteley
Jr PreTeen - Deja Fitzwater
PreTeen - Zoe Brown
Jr Teen - Macy Berg
Teen - Tara Uson-Fee
Miss - Megan Leibold
Ms - Latasha Raines
Talent Queen - Libby Myers
Queen of Queens - Sami Schubert
Supreme Sweetheart - Anna Wiley
Supreme Princess - Audrina Campos
Supreme Queen - Alexa McNaughton

                                                            

"Queen, It's a New Day"

For 105 homeless women Monday October 24, 2011 was indeed a NEW DAY! I was so excited to once again volunteer massage during the ladies makeovers. This year was extremely special because it marked the 1st annual Gala and Auction. Judy Hoff, the founder of Queen, really outdid herself this year. This amazing woman and pastor, has put alot of her time and effort into making this event a huge success. I have had the honor of volunteering for this organization for 4 years now, and I enjoy making it a part of my platform; "Massage on a Mission". This year, however, I was also able to wear my sash and crown as Mrs. Snohomish County and hand out roses and hugs to the Queens at the end of the evening. It was so touching for me to have worked on these women and then watch the transformation from earlier in the day to the evening events where the women were dressed in their fabulous new clothing and looked amazing with their new hair and makeup. I appreciated our current Mrs. Washington, Lisa Bluhm, Mrs. Washington 2009, Elizabeth Larsen and Mrs. Seattle, Tamara DePorter for also attending the event. I know it made the ladies feel special to have pageant queens remind them that they are the real queens that evening.

For more information please visit www.queenitsanewday.org

Mrs. Oregon America 2012!

Congratulations to Erin Piibor, Mrs. Oregon 2012! What a fantastic evening. I love attending pageants for many reasons, but one of the best reasons is to see friends! I ran into my friend Tia Hunsperger, who is one of the board members of The Ruby Room. Love her! We also saw our own Mrs. Walla Walla who was judging the pageant. It was a long drive, but well worth it!

For more information please visit www.mrsoregon.net

Boy Scouts of America annual auction

I had the privilege of attending the Boy Scouts of America annual auction on Saturday. My husband Mark is an Assistant Scout Master for Pack 90. We so enjoy going to these events and supporting our local Boy Scouts. My son, Teague is now is Weebelo 1! It is so hard for me to stop calling him a "Cub" Scout! He is always quick to remind me "MOM! I am a BOY Scout now!!" I am so very proud of him for continuing his journey with the Scouts to become an Eagle Scout. My father was an Eagle Scout so it is something that has been important to my family and I for decades. We are happy to support anyway we can, and tonight was extra special because one of the hosts for the evening was King 5's Jeff Renner. He is an Eagle Scout as well. It was a fantastic evening, and I even was able to purchase some amazing artwork! I can't wait to redecorate my house with it!!

Mrs. Washington Workshop hosted by Beth Kovacevich, Mrs. Washington 1996

I was so excited to attend Beth's annual workshop! I was a great time to get to know the contestants, get pageant questions answered, and learn more about each others platforms. Beth is always a gracious host, and we were so lucky to have Helen Bacon-Florentine, Mrs. Washington 2000 there as well to share her experience at Mrs. World. She was 3rd runner up and won the fitness award!

Run 4 the Orphan

Journey Church is my church home. My husband, kids and I have been so blessed by the fellowship, ministry, and love that is the heart of Journey Church. One of the many ministries they offer is called Passion 117, our Orphan ministry. We have several families at the Journey who are adoptive and foster parents, and we feel called to not only support them, but other adoptive families as well. We have partnered with World Orphan to serve our orphans the way God has called us to. This was our first 5K event and it was a huge success! All proceeds went to orphan care.

For more information please visit: http://www.joininthejourney.com/passion117/

NAM National American Miss

 I had the pleasure of judging Washington's National American Miss pageant. This is another fantastic system that provides young ladies with scholorships, leadership, poise, and a wonderful life experience. While I was there, I ran into some lovely ladies!

Mrs. Washington 2010, Carla Richards and Mrs. Washington 2011, Lisa Bluhm were also there judging the teen and miss portions of the pageant. I had the princess and pre-teens. It was it fun filled weekend and so nice to see some familiar faces!
 For more information about NAM please visit:
 http://www.namiss.com/eventresults/winners/?id=2011%20State%20Washington

I have trouble writing blogs....

Hello again, first of all I am very sorry I have not posted anything recently. That does not mean however, I have not been busy! I am so excited to share what I have been up to the last 5 months, but I have found that I have a really hard time writing a blog. I do not want to be about self promotion, I want to promote the causes I am passionate about, and I pray that I am known more for my faith than my good works. That said, I hope that I can find the words to share with you my experiences and volunteer opportunities in a way that will inspire people to help and "Make a Difference" in their own communities. I will be getting this blog up to date with my current events, pictures, and volunteer opportunities I am involved with. I will be posting every week from now until the pageant to showcase how the Lord is working in my life, humbling me and grounding me as I embark on this pageant journey once again. Thank you all so much for your support and for reading my blog! I hope you will find it to be inspiring and informative.

Busy Weekend!!

First, it was the Miss Washington USA preliminaries. We attended to support Mrs. Washington 2008, Marikay Coyer's daughter Miss Sammamish USA, Demetra Coyer. She placed top ten and was stunning! We were so proud of her! Then we had a delicious dinner at The Outback and stayed over night in Sea Tac so we could get up bright and early for the Vision Walk. Mrs. Washington 2011, Lisa Bluhm organized a warm up doing Zumba. She was awesome! The Foundation for Fighting Blindness is the new platform for the Mrs. America organization. Donna Cohen was one of the chair persons of the event and said they raised over $48,000 dollars for the walk. That is truly exciting. It was a pleasure to be a part of it. I also learned about some resources for my son that suffers from color blindness. I had no idea they had so much information. This event was a blessing in so many ways!

For more information visit http://www.blindness.org/

Photo shoot with Alicia Mae Photography

I am so blessed to know such talented people. Alicia Erickson is an up and coming photographer. She also happens to be one of the most amazing women I know. She is such an artist when it comes to photos. She helped me tremendously with poses, lighting, and just kind encouragement. She made me feel relaxed and confident, and when you can get to that place that is always beautiful! I truly enjoyed my audience, who were full of suggestions and energy. These kids are precious, little angels. I was so blessed by them that day! Vist Alicia's website, she also does amazing family photos.
http://aliciamaephoto.wordpress.com/

The Ruby Room

The Ruby Room is a non-profit ran by Nyla Jordan-Bitterman who is a dear, Tia Hunsperger, who is also a dear; and along with several other board members who are all fantastic. I was so impressed at all their hardwork and the VIP gift bag they put together. It was full of delightful goodies. This is somewhat an annual tradition because we all can relate to needing that perfect dress, and we love to support this cause. The Ruby Room provides a way for lower income gals to "shop" for that special gown that makes them feel as beautiful on the outside as they are on the inside. They set up appointments almost like a bridal salon, in that the girls have a personal shopper that helps them try on gowns and look for shoes and accessories. Please support this organization! For more information please visit http://www.rubyroomseattle.org/

Sand in the City

 It is so much fun when you can bring your children to an event! Mrs. Washington 2011, Lisa Bluhm invited the contestants to participate in her city's local summer event called Sand in the City. We volunteered to help children make crafts. We made dozens of seagulls, and we were told it was the hardest craft to facilitate! I was very proud of my children whom behaved very well and had a blast. It was a beautiful, warm summer day. Being in Olympia by the waterfront with all the people watching the sand castles being made, was fantastic. There were some serious works of art that day made out of sand....and seagulls!

Fourth of July parade!

Mrs. Washington 2011, Lisa Bluhm, was kind enough to invite me to attend her local Fourth of July parade. We had so much fun riding in her husbands restored Camaro! We met up with the current Miss Thurston County's Outstanding Teen, who will be relinquishing her title on October 22, 2011. If you would like to follow or attend the pageant visit http://missthurstoncounty.org/. As a part of Mrs. Washington America, we like to promote and support our sister pageant organizations like Miss Washington America and Miss Washington America's Outstanding Teen. This pagent is a preliminary to these pageants. These organizations provide thousands of dollars worth of scholorships every years to several talented young ladies. Come out and show your support for our young women!

MENC, Edmonds Itailian Party!

Normally, I would not post a picture of myself enjoying a beverage, but this was for a good cause! This event was called the Edmonds Italian party and there was live music all night long by Tony la Stella and the Goombas. All of the beer proceeds that night went to support MENC, or NAfME which is the National Association for Music Education. This organization was the former national platform for Mrs. America. I was excited to continue to support this important cause. We raised over $2000 dollars! People do love their beer and music!

For more information visit http://www.menc.org/ and http://tonylastella.com/TonyLastellaAndTheGoombas.htm

Honoring our Military Wives....

Mrs. Washington 2010, Carla Richards hosted and coordinated an event at her local church honoring Military Wives. She asked me to come, promote my platform; and do what I do best...give chair massages! These are the events I love doing! I so enjoyed listening to the women, praying with them, and learning about what it really takes to make such a commitment. Not only to their husbands but to our government as well. These women serve just as much as the men do. It was also interesting to meet women who are in service and their husbands are home taking care of things. It was a wonderful evening! I would like to thank my sponsors for donating goodies to put in the gift bag we gave away....
PCA Skincare http://pcaskin.com/  Soothing Touch http://www.soothingtouch.com/

Queen, it's a New Day!

http://queenitsanewday.com/

I have been volunteering for the past 4 years for this organization. I am one of the massage therapists that gives chair massage to the Queens. I have seen amazing transformations in these women over the years, and I have been able to personally witness 2 of the Queens get jobs with medical benefits that allows them to continue recieving massage therapy. I am honored to work with Judy and Marcia. I look forward to this years events on October 24th and 25th in Lynnwood, Wa. at the Courtyard Marriot. This year is very special as we are holding a Gala event as well! Please consider purchasing tickets for this fantastic event. There will be a silent auction, quest speakers, and inspirational stories that will move you. Healing Kneads Wellness will be donating a gift certificate for a day of relaxtion, which will include a massage, a facial, and a chemical peel. Hope to see you there!

Precor Photshoot!

This was so fun! It was the first time I was ever paid for being a model. I was asked to do a photoshoot for Precor, and when I got there they were down a blonde, and asked if I knew anyone. Well of course I know some gorgeous blondes! Mrs. Washington 2010, Carla Richards was gracious enough to rearrange her busy schedule to head all the way from her home town of Lakewood, WA to Woodinville, WA to help us out. We had a fantastic time!

You can see some of the photos at http://www.precor.com/health-clubs

Massage Emergency Response Team

I am a part of the AMTA Massage Emergency Response Team (MERT) which committed to serving our communities by providing massage to our local firefighters, law enforcement officers and other EMS agencies during emergencies and pre-scheduled community outreach.

The Massage Emergency Response Team (MERT) has two programs. Our first is Emergency Deployment, where we respond to emergencies (floods, wildfires, earthquakes, etc.) within our state providing massage to emergency workers. The second is pre-scheduled Community Outreach, where we give massage to crews at fire halls, police precincts, etc. during non-emergent times.

MERT'S GOALS
1. To be a leader and resource in massage emergency response as support to emergency responder and disaster communities.
2. To create the standard by which massage therapy at disasters is measured.
3. To have an organized and effective response structure.
4. To be aligned with governmental and non-governmental emergency management agencies.
5. To enhance the personal growth and professional development of AMTA members.
6. To be inclusive of the massage therapy community.
7. To promote the visibility of AMTA and the massage therapy profession.

In April, I took the required training to be a volunteer in our local MERT Chapter. I am honored to work on people in these disaster situations. I have specific training in dealing with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and Survivors guilt, which is personal to me because of what my husband went through during his commercial diving accident. My heart goes out to all of our service members who respond to disasters and save lives without any concern for their own. They put their lives on the line and it feels so good to be able to give back to them and show them how much they are appreciated.

Volunteering can be as much or as little as your schedule allows. There are numerous ways to help with the MERT Team. From helping organize events, to doing strictly community outreach events, fundraising, bringing food to MERT Team members while on deployment, or helping with trainings. We would love to have more volunteers!

For more information please visit:

http://www.amta-wa.org/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=about_mert&category=MERT

Live well with a chronic condition, I'll show you how!

I am a credentialed medical provider for Group Health so I see alot of patients who are Group Health members. I heard about this program through one of my clients who was helped tremendously by it. I was moved to volunteer my time by teaching a 6 week class for Group Health called "Living Well With Chronic Conditions".

Two specially trained volunteers lead the workshops, at least one of whom has a chronic condition. Participants are encouraged to attend these workshops with a partner or caregiver.

These six-week in-person, group workshops help people learn how to manage their chronic conditions and improve their quality of life. Participants learn to improve their health one step at a time by setting goals and then breaking the goals into small steps, week by week. Workshop participants support each other and work together to solve their problems.

I have been so blessed by leading these workshops. The people I have met have been so inspiring. It has not only been educational for them, but for me as well.

More information is available at http://www.ghc.org/healthAndWellness/index.jhtml