Miss Green Country 2012

I hate spoiler alerts….but I suppose after the site title and address change you probably already know that Miss Sooner State 2011 is now Miss Green Country 2012! I’ll try to recap as best as possible…

The day was fantastic! In the morning we rehearsed and later in the afternoon we had interview and talent rehearsal. Before you knew it the pageant was about to begin! On-stage competition went well – except for the moment I realized my swimsuit was not fully glued down! Fortunately, the glue helps but isn’t 100% necessary… When we found ourselves back on-stage after competition, the teen awards were announced first and then the miss. Congratulations to my new teen – Mi’Shell Garrett! She will be a fabulous Miss Green Country’s OT! Kevin Chumley, Miss Green Country director, was also serving as emcee. Let me preface this with – the award music was very loud from on-stage!!

Kevin named Miss Congeniality and then a tie for talent – between ME and Mariah Jacobs! I was so floored that I said “TALENT? ARE YOU SURE?!” Since the music was so loud I was convinced that there was no possible way that I had tied for a talent award. As my friend Josh said, they could have given me the talent award instead of winning and I would have been equally as excited. Talent is my weakness and I have struggled with it for years, so by winning a talent award it has given me great hope that if I practice enough I could achieve my goals at Miss Oklahoma this year!

Kevin then announced Mariah Jacobs as the swimsuit winner, Jessica Rhodes as 2nd runner-up, Mariah Jacobs as 1st runner-up and then contestant #3 Britan Mills as Miss Green Country!!!! I think I was still so surprised by a talent award that I didn’t even realize winning was an option! My jaw fell open and in the video I actually said…”SHUT UP!” Where did that even come from? I hugged Brittany as she placed the crown on my head – for the second time in my life!

When I won Miss Oklahoma City two years ago, Brittany crowned me as well! Ironically, I was #3 at that pageant too! Looks like it may be my lucky number? Brittany was glad to see that I had a lot of hairspray on (fun fact of the day: hairspray protects against lice – the life of a teacher!). It was wonderful to have my whole family at the pageant – mom, dad and Kurstyn, plus Kimberly’s mom – otherwise known as PH! They were all equally as excited as I was!!!

At Miss Edmond Libertyfest and Miss Green Country, several people have encouraged me by telling me how much I have improved in the past year. I have been amazed at how many have been so supportive and uplifting! I need constant positivity in my life and am very thankful for those who cheer me on!!

When I was Miss Oklahoma City, Jennifer Hancock was Miss Green Country. Jennifer and I became very close at Miss Oklahoma since she was right after me in the line-up. She constantly spoke of what a wonderful experience she had as Miss Green Country and how much she loved everyone she worked with. Obviously, this made ME want to become Miss Green Country! Last year I competed in the pageant as well, the day after I had been hospitalized with kidney stones (and in turn, on some other planet due to medications). It’s amazing how life can work out so well. I was not meant to be Miss Green Country last year – I was meant to meet and befriend Selby as Miss Sooner State!

Now is the ideal time for me to serve as Miss Green Country. Kevin and Eddie are just down the street from my home and my school in Tulsa. I can’t wait to get started in my new home, with my new job and as my new title, Miss Green Country 2012!

Sparkles and Stars

A few weeks ago I competed at Miss Edmond Libertyfest. The ELF organization has a mentoring program much like the Oklahoma Stars. It is for local girls who wish to walk on-stage with contestants during evening gown and also attend a picnic before the pageant with their contestant. I didn’t know my two “stars” prior to the pageant – but  boy were they a hoot! So much personality in such precious, tiny little beings!!!

We had rehearsed what we intended to do – walk straight towards the audience, curtsy(they had never done a curtsy so this was super fun to practice!) and blow kisses to each other. These two had it DOWN! On the night of the competition I walked out from the middle of the stage and stopped for the two sisters to join me. The oldest took my left hand while the smaller one stood there staring at me. I took her hand in my right hand and guided her to my right side. We paused to look at the audience (I like to do this since they really don’t get a lot of time on-stage!) and I felt something on my side.

Confused, I looked down to see the littlest star touching my dress with her free hand! Immediately, the audience and myself, began laughing hysterically as she drug her hand down my dress in bewilderment. Her eyes were locked and her sweet little mouth was hanging open. After she was done touching all the stones to see what they felt like, she looked behind me to make sure the back had the same thing!

We walked forward, did our curtsy and blew kisses. I watched the girls walk off stage – and of course the tiny star had her hands on her waist while she gave a sassy, hip-throwing walk off-stage. I couldn’t even keep a straight face! Hopefully my students will have just as much personality! Luckily, Leigh was at Miss ELF to capture it all on film – thanks for the great pics Leigh!!!