Cristie Kibler

I recently was invited to sing and speak at the Black Stallion Literacy Foundation's Program for 4th graders who had recently graduated from their program. Below you can see pictures from the Arabian Night's Horse Show and also pictures from the "after show" where I was asked by nearly EVERY student to sign to their copies of The Black Stallion! It was so exciting, I felt like such a celebrity! This program is an excellent way to teach literacy to children, so if you're a teacher I strongly suggest utilizing this program! More pictures from other appearances coming soon, including pictures from the Arlington Relay for Life!!

I had the opportunity recently to attend the 4th Annual Miss Texas Capitol Day. I love seeing how this event has evolved over the last few years, as each year something new and excited is added (and of course, our plans change depending on whether or not we are in session). This year we added a trip to the LBJ Library (my favorite president) and stopped at the Waco and Temple VA Hospitals on our way down to Austin to visit the Veterans. 

I truly loved seeing all of my pageant sisters and friends. Can't wait to see you all again at Spring Meeting in 2 weeks! 

Me with Miss Texas 2009, Kristen Blair, outside the State Capitol. Early morning! 

Miss Arlington, Miss Texas and Miss Woodlands

Shannon, Miss Teen Arlington. She thinks we look like sisters  She's in flats, I'm in heels ... otherwise there is only about a 1/2 an inch difference in our height! 

Miss Irving and Miss Arlington ... The I-30 Sisters  

On Tuesday January 19th, the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life of Arlington, Texas hosted their kickoff celebration, letting everyone that Relay has arrived here in Arlington! We're ready to sign up teams and have an awesome Relay here in the entertainment capitol of Texas! We had a great evening and even left with more volunteers and participants! I can't tell you how excited I am about this event and how blessed I am that my entire family and all of my friends are 100% behind this effort and making it a success! 

I was asked to be the "Special Guest" for the kickoff at Bobby V's Sports Gallery. I would NEVER say no to anything that involves my two favorite things: Relay for Life and Sports! Of course, I am a huge Texas Ranngers fan, so I had a field day taking pictures. I even went on a treasure hunt looking for a Nolan Ryan jersey (My first crush!). FOUND IT!  Of course Janet had to find a Farve jersey too! 

If you would like to join the Arlington Relay for Life by creating a team, please visit the website below! We would love to have you for this all night event! For more information, please visit my Relay for Life page (link below). 

relayforlife.org/arlingtontx

http://www.cristiekibler.com/relayforlife.htm

The day after I was crowned Miss Arlington, I performed with God's Country Kids at the Cedar Hill Nursing Home. After singing "How Great Thou Art" I was approached by nursing home staff and asked to speak with a resident who was touched by the song. It turns out that this particular resident was about to turn 100 years old on January 7th, 2010 (at this point, this was a few weeks away). The resident, Mr. Benny Johnson, asked me to return on January 7th to sing at his birthday party. Of course, I agreed, but had NO idea how much this man and his birthday celebration would change my life. 

When I arrived at the Nursing Home on January 7th, I was led to the same room where GCK had performed weeks earlier, only as we walked into the room I could barely make it two inches into the room! It was jammed packed with people. As the birthday celebration began, I was amazed to see many elected officials from the City of Cedar Hill, Council Members and State Representatives in attendance to celebrate the Mr. Johnson's birthday. I, again, sang "How Great Thou Art" which quickly turned into a group sing along rather than a solo... I was holding back tears by the end of the song. 

Mr. Johnson was asked to say a few words about what he had learned and how he had survived 100 years on earth. He stood from his chair and and a booming voice stated, "Live by the Golden Rule. Treat others how you want to be treated. That's all you need to be happy." I was amazed that one man's simple words could hit so close to home. It is so true! If you treat others they way you would want to be treated, life would be much easier, I have tried to put his words into action in all aspects of my life and in all of my roles: Miss Arlington, student, Social Worker (to be), friend, daughter and teacher. 

(Everyone enjoying the party)

Finally, as the formal part of the party began to wind down, and it was time for cake to served to all of the guests and residents, the staff member who originally asked me to entertain asked me to get some practice in for my future profession (we had discussed my future career in social work at our first meeting). Her exact words were "My future social worker, ready to practice?" And with that, I was serving residents cake and ice cream! I was blessed to wear my two hats in one day: Social worker and Miss Arlington. Looking back, I realize that thanks to Mr. Johnson, I was also wearing the hat of student. 

(Mr. Johnson is the one in red in the back)

One day back in October while I was preparing for the 2010 Miss Texas Preliminary Season, I walked into the UTA gym and was pleased to find a Pink Treadmill! For every mile that was logged on the treadmill, money was donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  

As the month of October came and went, and noticed the Pink Treadmills never left, which was a pleasant surprise. A few days ago when I was in the gym, I decided to use the pink treadmill again. It was then that I noticed these new plaques on the treadmills. Now UTA will forever remember giving back to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation during Breast Cancer Awareness Month! I'm so proud of my Alma Mater for giving back to such a wonderful cause!

I have always been told that no matter how bad things get, there is someone out there dealing with worse. The recent tragedy in Haiti really brought a new meaning to this for me. I donated to the Haiti Earthquake Relief fund via iTunes, but I still wanted to do something even more to give back to the community.

After Christmas, I noticed that my closet was very full, and I had already intended on donating a few items to a local charity. However, after the devastating events in Haiti, I decided there was no better time than now to give back in any way we can. I decided to clean out my closet of anything and everything that I have outgrown, never wear etc. I also did the same thing with my shoes. I ended up with two VERY FULL trash bags of clothes and shoes. Being Miss Arlington and a resident of the City of Arlington, I am a huge advocate of Mission Arlington. I encourage everyone to do a little closet cleaning and see if there is anything you aren’t wearing or have outgrown and donate it to a local charity of your choice! If you would like to give to Mission Arlington, their website is below.

http://www.missionarlington.org/

(Side note: If you want to give back to Haiti Disaster Relief fund but do not want to charge your phone bill by using the text message option, using iTunes is a great alternative. The money goes directly to the American Red Cross. Additionally, If you already have an iTunes account set up, it will simply charge you using the payment option you have saved for purchasing songs and albums and, as usual, iTunes does not sell your information to 3rd parties).

https://buy.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/buyCharityGiftWizard

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I wanted to post a few pictures from the Miss Arlington Pageant so that everyone could enjoy them! (I apologize that they are a little out of order!)

Also, I wanted to note that all of these pictures were taken by Ken Prachar of Portrait Gallery of Savannah. Thank you for the pictures, Ken!

I was blessed to have been crowned by my good friend Candice Bennett, who was Miss Arlington 2009

This is a picture of me receiving my Preliminary Talent award from Candice.

First walk as Miss Arlington

Modeling Evening Gown

I won Swimsuit! 

Singing "How Great Thou Art" for Talent

Welcome to my blog! I named it "Cristie's Corner" as I am an avid Winnie the Pooh Fan and thought it was appropriate. I will try to keep you updated with Miss Arlington appearances. For now, all I have to say is simply I am THRILLED to be the new Miss Arlington 2010. As someone who lives, works and goes to school in the City of Arlington, I am SO happy to be able to represent my home. My goal this year is to bring the crown home and win the title of Miss Texas on the very stage where I graduated with my degree from The University of Texas at Arlington! 

Thank you for ALL of your support!