Since my last blog update I have made some wonderful appearances! As a tax professional at a Big 4 firm, this time of year is extremely busy and I have been working long hours often, and although I'm pretty much tired all the time, I have always been a hard worker, and that hard work is what has gotten me where I am today and I would not change that for the world. Miss Connecticut USA is the dream job of a lifetime and one that I put my heart and soul into.

One appearance that I will never forget was hosting the Ultimate Red Party at Shrine at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino. Shrine hosted me for an amazing dinner, and treated me like a true celebrity. The turnout for the party was awesome and the whole event was a big success!

Next, I modeled in the Kelly Fashions show at District. Kelly has a really impressive line of cutting edge dresses and to compliment the clothing, I had an equally cutting edge hair style by Highlights salon and of course gorgeous makeup from Makeup by Jacquelyn!

I then traveled to Studio 33's Fashion Fridays Susan G Komen Breast Cancer fundraiser. Also at the event was Mrs. Massachusetts who is truly an inspiration as a mother and tireless community activist to whom breast cancer is a personal cause. Thank you for allowing me to support such a worthwhile event!

Modeling in Fashionably Late at the Liberty Hotel with designer Samuel Vartan was a blast as well. Elyse Jewelers, my sponsor for the year allowed me to wear several stunning pieces in the show, my favorite being an elaborate diamond and ruby flowered piece. Samuel's Spring collection was a joy wear and model.

My Miss USA trainer Katie Boyd of Miss Fit Co was so kind as to have my model in her opening celebration at Bond at the Langham for LuluLemon. The hair by La Tete salon was so incredibly fun and I even got to have some pink hair in the process :) The show was such a success and a deserving celebration for a great trainer and exceptional gym!

The Industry Unites for Haiti fundraiser at the Top of the Hub was another very successful event raising a ton of money for the World Vision foundation. It was my pleasure to attend and use the "power of the sash" to help raise even more money for this cause.

Late last week, I attend the Hope Funds for Cancer Research Panel discussion - Translational Cancer Research: Opportunities and Challenges at the beautiful Boston Athenaeum. Panelists included: Antonio J. Grillo-Lopez, MD, retired chief medical officer Idec Pharmaceuticals; William Hahn, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Center and The Broad Institute; and Amy Dockser Marcus, Wall Street Journal reporter on rare cancers The Hope Funds is an organization that I have been volunteering with for several years now and the organization never stops amazing me with the incredible people they unite in the fight against the most difficult to treat cancers. Everyone from the doctors, research fellows, business leaders and volunteers are wonderfully accomplished and passionate people. I am greatly looking forward to continuing with my role on the audit committee as well at the white tie gala at Marble House in Newport this summer!

Most recently, I walked the red carpet for the official Oscar Night Hartford event to benefit the CT AIDS Resource Coalition. Thank you to the Crowning Touch for dressing me so exquisitely for the evening. Red carpet interviews were conducted upon arrival by Channel 8 news. The venue for the event was the Dish and although it was my first time there, was very impressed with the atmosphere as well as food. A real asset to Hartford! The event was a lot of fun for a great cause right down to the life size Oscar statuette with which to take pictures! Oscar Night Hartford to benefit the CT AIDS Resource Coalition was an honor to attend and will be fondly remembered as such a successful and fun event during my journey of a lifetime as Miss Connecticut USA.

~Ashley

Very early Saturday morning I woke up to take on a task outside my comfort zone. I've spent my entire life pushing myself and testing my limits and its led me to do life changing things like traveling to volunteer in West Africa on my own and jump out of a plane at 10,000 feet. I truly believe there is not one thing in this world I cannot do. I may not always be the best at it, but I sure put my whole heart into it and that rings true for building my second Habitat for Humanity house. I've been quoted as saying "home is where the heart is" on more than one occasion and that is why Habitat for Humanity is such a life altering organization to support. The gift of home ownership is truly something special and I am proud to have helped give that gift to the Wiggins family. Even though it was freezing, it was a really special day that I was happy to share with Miss MA USA, Miss MA Teen USA and Mrs. MA International. We like to call it, "beauty queens build". That we do, and we do it well!

Last week I had yet another great photo with Avrian Levy and Jaquelyn of Makeup by Jacquelyn. A big thank you to Jackie and Avrian for the beautiful photos! The day after my photo shoot, I headed off to Lynchburg, Virginia to the StandOut Productions State Titleholder retreat led by Chelsea Cooley Altman and AT Dunn. 26 Miss USA contestants attended and 22 Miss Teen USA contestants attended as well. I loved getting to meet so many of the girls before Las Vegas in May and am even more excited to be able to stand among so many amazing women when we do get to that stage! Overall, the retreat was one of the best and most memorable weekends of my life! We did everything from rock climbing, to zip lining, to climbing a pole and taking the leap of faith, to horseback riding and roller hockey. All of this tested us mentally and I departed with a renewed mindset with which to head off to Miss USA. A big thank you to Chelsea and AT for everything! Thanks to them, I am ready to go to Miss USA stronger than ever before!