Today I got interviewed by Nicole Buckley from The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada (CCFC). I am trying to get involved with my platform, so the other week I emailed Kemayla Fleming the development coordinator of CCFC, and I asked her how I Miss Mississauga can get involved and help.

We have been communicating and talking about upcoming events, where I am going to make appearances and speak. I am going to be making an appearance in the June 2010 15th anniversary of the annual Heel ‘n’ Wheel-a-Thon for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada. The goal this year is to raise $2 million. I hope I can get my family and friends to come out and get involved in this event so we can raise that money effortlessly.

The other day Kemayla Fleming asked me if I would like to get interviewed by Nicole Buckley a journalist, for an article on the CCFC website. I was more then happy to share my story with Nicole, and tell her how I would like to make a change. We talked about the struggles I went through, and I told her how I got diagnosed. Nicole said she would like to get the piece of writing out by this Friday, so I will keep you guys posted, and place a link to the article.

Alysse

Last Friday was my birthday! It was so much fun to see all my friends together. Since I have friends from dance, school, camp, and from my elementary school, it was great having all the different groups together. I love it when all my friends get along!

For my birthday we went to the movies and saw “Dear John”. The movie just came out that day so all 13 girls had to come and hour in advance. One of my friends Shaunice thought it would be funny if we put caution tape on the seats so that if anyone tried to take the chairs they couldn’t. Right before we went to the movies we stopped at dollarama and bought caution tape. We ended up taping 13 seats. Some people got mad but hey it was my birthday!

After the movie all the girls and I went back to my house for a slumber party. We played silly games like Wrap the Present, and Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

There’s this game that my elementary school friends and I always play at birthday parties, we call it the dance game. What you do is you pick a group of 4 or more people and you make up funny dances to a funny song. We have judges that tell us who wins. It so much fun to watch the dances because they are so funny!!

My favourite thing I got for my birthday was from my parents. I got an iphone!!! I was so happy because my last phone broke and I had a “hand me down” from my dad for soooooooo long…lets just say it wasn’t in good conditions.

My birthday was so much fun. All my friends are so great, and I love them to death!

The other week I got interview by Julia Le a Reporter for Mississauga News. It was great to talk to her and tell her all about myself. She was a very nice lady, and made me feel comfortable while getting interviewed. She asked me about how it felt to be Miss Teen Mississauga, and asked me all about my platform. We talked about the changes I would love to make and how I’m planning on achieving them. I was so excited when I saw my picture and article about me in the newspaper! It was interesting to see how she put the questions she had asked me into writing. I thought it was funny how Julia wrote my wrong age in the newspaper. The article said I was 15 and going to be 16 this Friday, which is wrong I am going to be 17 Friday. I emailed her letting her know the mistake. It’s exciting knowing that so many people have seen the piece of writing. The other day I had one of my friends tell me that he read about me in the newspaper. So much is happening already, and it's thrilling! Can’t wait to see what’s coming next!

http://www.mississauga.com/community/community/article/531324
Beauty Queen Vies for National Crown
Alysse Charbon was recently named Miss Teen Canada Mississauga. Now she's setting her sights on the national crown.

Now that she's been named Miss Teen Mississauga-World, Alysse Charbon is setting her sights on a national crown.
The 15-year-old Etobicoke School of the Arts student, who captured her title last month, will compete July 10-18 for the Miss Teen Canada-World 2010 title. The pageant takes place in Toronto. A venue will be announced later this year.
Charbon, who was born and raised in Mississauga, says it'll be her first time competing in a pageant.
She hopes to be crowned so she can draw more attention to an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) which afflicts about 200,000 Canadians.
"I want to bring awareness to Crohn's and Colitis...tell my story, help raise money and make a difference," said Charbon, who was diagnosed with the disease two years ago. "I know that when I was in the hospital, it was really hard for me. I was sad, upset and hurting inside. I didn't think I could dance anymore...I thought there was no hope."
Charbon also wants to inspire and encourage others to overcome challenges and pursue their dreams.
The Miss Teen Canada World is the preliminary to Miss Teen World in Aug. 2010. Teen girls aged 13 to 19 from across the country will participate in swimwear, evening gown and personal interview segments and compete to win more than $25,000 in cash, prizes and scholarships. The winner will serve as an ambassador for Canada, empowering youth to take a leadership role in their communities, as well as contribute to charities and non-profit organizations.
jle@mississauga.net

Sometimes when I have no money, I wonder where it all goes. I want to believe someone has hacked my bank account, but I know that it's me who is spending it. When I go to get my bank statements, there are the most random things listed!

The one thing I spend the most money on is FOOD! It’s crazy because I normally only buy my lunch once a week. On the other hand, when I work I buy my dinner, and sometimes drinks or smoothies. The drinks can be expensive, starting at $3.00, and it all does add up! I can't believe almost all my money ends up at Sherway Gardens Food Court.

I absolutely love shopping. I feel that for most people, clothing reflects who you are. My favourite places to shop are at thrift stores. They are great because you can buy a lot of different items that you wouldn’t be able to purchase anywhere else. There is a great place downtown Toronto, called Kensington Market. A couple months ago I bought a super cute pair of boots there, and now I can't get enough of them! The boots are vintage, and they also go great with any outfit!
Some other favourite stores of mine are:
1. Aritzia
2. Abercrombie and Fitch (Of course, I do work there! haha)
3. American Apparel
4. Forever 21
5. Guess
6. H&M
7. Lulu Lemon
8. French Connection

So tell me, what do YOU spend your money on??

Today I spent all day at the hospital, because I was getting medication infused into my body.
Since I have Crohn’s Disease, I am on a medication called Remicade. This medicine helps keep my disease under control. Crohn’s Disease is an ongoing disorder that causes inflammation in my digestive system. I get my infusion once a month, to keep my Crohn's Disease from coming back. Remicade is not a cure but it helps for the time being. If I don’t get my medication I start to feel sick to my stomach. While getting infused I watched the movie “Julie and Julia.” I didn’t really enjoy the movie, but it made the time go by faster. I'm not quite sure which one I wanted to be over sooner, the movie, or my infusion. Once my infusion was over, I went home to sleep because the medication makes me feel very tired. Once I woke up from my nap I felt perfect and healthy. This is why I am passionate about helping the Crohn’s foundation. Their dedication towards finding a cure for Crohn's, is slowly but successfully introducing new discoveries to patients. These advancement have helped me and many others live a happy normal lifestyle to the best of our abilities.

If you want to learn more about Crohn’s Disease you can visit this link provided…
http://www.ccfc.ca/English/info/diagnosed.html

Wow it’s just crazy that another year has gone by. I can’t believe its 2010!
My Christmas and New Years was so much fun. It was great to see my brother Dayne who I haven’t seen in such a long time. He goes to Niagara College for police foundations, and I miss him so much.

Right when my brother Dayne came home all we did was tell each other stories about what we have missed in each others lives.
It so crazy how close we have become in the past year. Since Dayne is in collage he obviously has no money, so we both decided we weren’t going to get each other anything for Christmas. So as a surprise on Christmas day Dayne woke up to a gift from me … I know I'm so sneaky. He was so happy because it was the sweater he was telling me he wanted from Bench. I love it when the gifts you give to people make them so happy. It makes the gift that much more meaningful.

On December 25th my family and I went to my Uncle Ron’s house for ordure’s and drinks.
I got to see my cousin Amanda who I haven’t seen since thanksgiving. It's crazy how everyone is growing up so fast. Next year my other cousin Lauren will be going off to university. Ill be the only Charbon left. After we ate some munchies and caught up my family and I headed to my other side of the families house. Since were so different, for dinner we ate LOBSTER! - What a great Christmas dinner.

Through the break I was fortunate enough to experience the cold and hot weather. On December 27th my family and I headed off to the Dominican Republic.
I had so much fun there on New Years. I will never forget the friends I met, and all the memories we shared.

Right when the clock hit 12:00 my mom started screaming, and running around tell people, I didn’t even know that I was officially Miss Teen Mississauga. Oh man how embarrassing, but hey you got to love her. On January 3rd my family and I headed back to Mississauga, in the snow and cold. All I can think about right now is how much I want to go back!!!!!