The Finals

As you are reading this, I am in my dorm room in Phoenix. It is completely surreal that 24 hours ago I was on the Miss Oklahoma stage and 12 hours ago I was boarding a plane to embark upon this next chapter of my life. As you can understand – I’m mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. Last night, Oklahoma crowned a new winner – Congrats Betty Thompson! It was a fantastic show and everyone in the top 15 was deserving of their spot.

I’m amazed at how quickly time can fly. Before you know it, Miss Oklahoma week will be here once again and we will all wonder how an entire year has passed. I hope to earn another title and make my way back to that stage next year, still blogging every step of the way! I cannot begin to thank everyone who has made the past few months not just happen, but the most fantastic experience I could have asked for. There are countless people who care about the organization and the women involved in it, and without them, Miss O week wouldn’t take place. Thank you to everyone who has supported, cheered, and prayed for me as I made my way to and through last week. I am forever grateful for the people God has placed in my life and hope someday I can give to them what they have given to me.

Thank you for following Miss Sooner State and stay tuned for more in the coming months! 🙂

Day 5

Yes, I know it’s 1:30 am and yes, I am admittedly, pretty tired by now! I had to look back at my last post to actually remember what day this is! Sorry, but this will be short and sweet – Gown rehearsal this morning, rehearsal, lunch with Selby, a bit of relaxing at the dorms, gave an interview for the Shawnee News-Star, then dinner at McNellies (I want sweet potato fries almost as much as I want a cinnamon roll!!). Tonight my group competed in on-stage question and talent. My on-stage question was not my best. I actually got off track when Lauren mentioned that RA is more prevalent in girls (I couldn’t stop myself), and had to ask what the second part of the question was. The questions overall were fairly lengthy, but I would rather have answered the entire question(s) than not answered completely.

Evening gown went really well! My stars, Kaylin and Teegan, are two of the most precious girls ever. They are absolutely radiant in this picture! I love my gown and am so thankful to Kayne and his staff for the countless, last minute hours spent creating something which I love. Congratulations to Betty Thompson, swimsuit winner, and Sarah Klein, rookie and overall talent winner! Tonight I had a HUGE group of supporters and was excited to see each and every one of them! Tomorrow is swimsuit….so I need my rest! Here is a picture from gown, thanks to Amanda Barfield!

Day 3

I’m going to try to make this a short one – today was too full and my eyes and feet need a break! This morning we had rehearsals, then the Kiwanis luncheon. I absolutely love the Kiwanis luncheon and was able to meet several Kiwanians – always wonderful hosts. Sarah Klein and I sat next to Steve, who you may remember normally runs the stage. Steve is awesome and has been volunteering for years (even in my one year of Outstanding Teen competition!), but is unable to help backstage due to job commitments. I think I speak for all of the girls who have been joked with or calmed down by Steve backstage!

At the Kiwanis luncheon the community service awards were given out: 3rd place Talia Berning, 2nd place Alex Eppler, 1st place Heather Harris. Heather also won the Miss America Community Service award and Sarah Jensen won the academic award. Congrats!!! Afterwards, we jetted back to the Mabee Center to prepare for interviews. The judges were fantastic and meshed so well! Can’t give away the questions – but I truly enjoyed my time with them!

I was able to see Selby after dinner… a much needed break! It was great to discuss my interview and she brought me ANOTHER wonderful gift!! I am so spoiled… but I’m definitely not going to complain. 🙂 More rehearsals, dinner at Rib Crib, and a night filled with rehearsals later – and I am here!

On a side note, this is the conversation which occurred in our car earlier

Me: Have you guys had issues with there not being a toilet lid in your room? I’ve nearly dropped my phone, make up, and brushes in that thing!

Car: No, we just close the lid.

Me: What lid?

Car: The lid on the toilet…

Me: Oh….I don’t have one of those.

 

Please say an extra prayer for me tonight that I do not drop anything into my lid-less bathroom toilet and that God blesses me with the ability to dance between now and 7:30 am. I’m kind of kidding…but really. It wouldn’t hurt. 🙂 I’ll be praying for an inner calmness and may throw in a request for a non-slick stage….couldn’t hurt to ask, right?!

Day 2

Day 2 is complete! This morning was the Miss Oklahoma church service – a perfect way to begin our week! Corbi Winters delivered a wonderful and incredibly relevant message and we were fortunate to be led in worship by Lauren Nelson Faram. Emoly West, Heather Rasmussen and Lacey Russ also spoke. We closed with one of my favorite songs, which we also sing before each competition, “Surely the Presence.” The church service reminds us that the winner has already been chosen and a perfect plan made for her – now all we can do is our personal best and find out Saturday who He has provided the most amazing opportunity.

After church, we met our families and friends for brunch at the Hilton! I was able to sit with my mom, dad, sister, “Grand MaMa,” (a nice French accent makes it all the better) and Selby. “Graaaaaaaaaaand MaaaaMa” is Selby’s mom, Margie, and my adopted grandmother. Margie is a handful – loads of personality and a heart deeper than the South! Since two of my biggest supporters live in Lawton and Houston (Selbs and Margie), I love to soak up every minute I get with them. At the brunch, I was so thrilled for a very worthy winner, Sarah Klein, to receive the Esther Scholarship! Ad sales were also applauded, and after avoiding the seemingly delicious muffins (talk about self-control!), we headed off to rehearsal.

First, I would like to say that I thought last year was the year to “expect the unexpected!” Kent, while keeping everything fresh, likes to keep us on our toes…literally! Not only will we be performing two opening numbers, but we also learned the swimsuit production (yes that’s right – dancing IN bikinis on-stage!), along with introductions and the closing ceremonies. After several hours of rehearsal, we were given roughly 20-30 minutes to put on as much make up as possible and make our hair Victoria’s Secret sexy for our swimsuit video. After that, I think it’s safe to say any of the 43 contestants could get ready at Miss America on time for a live pageant! Remember how I don’t know how to curl hair? I was determined to get the luscious curls Kent had requested. Having a limited amount of time, I received a 60 second demo from Talia (thank goodness for her) about how to curl your hair with a straightening iron! Hopefully it wasn’t beginner’s luck, but her trick was fantastic! Larry would fall over if he could have seen my wavy hair!!!

The red coats then rushed us over to Schlotzsky’s for a great dinner, and headed to North Tulsa for the video taping. Kristen is my red coat chauffeur this year and I LOOOOOOVE her!!! Kent prepared an awesome swimsuit video and after it was complete, we went back for more rehearsals. During our practice, a few very important guests were introduced to us…THE JUDGES!

Did your heart just stop? Mine totally did. Expect the Unexpected – 2.0! We were all floored to see them walk in, introduce themselves, and provide a few words about what they were looking for in the next Miss Oklahoma. THEN Kent asked us to perform our second dance in front of our judges. After that dance, we were all so exhausted that all personality had left us! Guess we need to have another 6 hours of rehearsals tomorrow if we intend to do this dance that well (or better!) every night! 🙂

I’m sure Kent could tell we were beyond surprised and worn out, because he let us out of rehearsal an hour early AND gave us an extra hour to sleep in tomorrow. Good thing, since I can’t seem to close my eyes! Tomorrow is another full day of interviews, the Kiwanis lunch and more rehearsals. I can’t believe it’s already the Monday of Miss Oklahoma week…wasn’t I just crowned yesterday?!

Lincoln Elementary

Last Friday I spoke to Lincoln Elementary’s 3rd, 4th and 5th graders! They were a fantastic bunch and absorbed everything I said. Though it was 9 am, the students were not only alert but interested!! I always love speaking with students who are the older trend setters in their schools. Often, they set the examples for younger students and I encourage them to model better behavior in order to create the safest social climate at school, home and in extracurricular activities. They loved their bracelets and enjoyed the gossip game we played even more! One of my new favorite things to take from schools is a list of memorable questions or quotes. Unfortunately, my memory card is being crazy and I cannot access the pictures taken on Friday. Hopefully my dad will have an answer for this when he gets home from work and I can upload them tonight!

• “How long does it take you to do your make up?”
• “How long does it take you to do your hair?”
• “If you absolutely had to change your name, what would you change it to?”
• “What is your favorite color?” “What is your favorite movie?”
• “Do you like Taylor Swift?” (Uh oh…I’m in trouble on this one!)
• “Are your bullies jealous of you now?” “Did your bullies ever apologize?” “What was the meanest thing you ever said about someone?”
• “Who do you think is going to win American Idol?” (Little did they know – even if I guessed, I know oh so little about singing!)
• “What is your talent? Will you tap dance for us?” (Met my screams and urging, I did a few wings!)
• “I know at Miss America you have to change clothes like super fast, so how fast can you change clothes?” (I may have to ask the Red Coats to time me this year!)
• “What is your favorite romance movie or book, you know, like Twilight?” (After proclaiming that I am, in fact ‘Team Edward’ the crowd went wiiiiiiiild!                                                                                                                                                      Lincoln’s students were awesome, and not only cared about anti-relational aggression efforts, but are already involved in a program to stop bullying in their schools! They have a program called Positive Leadership which consists of a few students, selected by each class for being consistently kind and caring towards others. After speaking to the groups, I was able to chat with these students about what they have learned prior to my visit and how they are preventing relational aggression at Lincoln. It’s always encouraging to see schools which know bullying is one of the greatest issues facing our students, and implement programs of this nature to protect their students!

Twenty Something Preview

If you’ll recall a previous post, I was selected as the Twenty Something Magazine winner for the June Twenty Something Girl contest. Yesterday I met Kelsey and Bethany, the editors, in Oklahoma City for the photoshoot. If you don’t know these two, you need to, because they are beyond fun! Bethany is an amazing photographer (check out her work in the magazine) and Kelsey is not only a sylist, but a Thunder Girl! I really enjoyed getting to know them and trying my hardest for a serious face every now and then (Leigh, Larry: I think you would agree that I am seriously not serious. Maybe ever.) Jamy did my hair and make up which was faaaaabulous! I was dressed up like a pin-up girl – red lipstick and all! They were surprised to learn that I had never worn red lipstick, just recently learned how to curl my hair, and my ears are not pierced. And I call myself a pageant competitor?

We had a wonderful time and here are a few sneak peeks at the shoot, featured in the upcoming June issue. Be sure to like their Facebook page and check out their website to view the magazine!

Children’s Miracle Network

May is for Miracles and the perfect time to help a child through the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals! When I speak about the Miss America Organization, many are surprised to hear that the organization has a national platform, among the contestant’s platforms as well. Children’s Miracle Network and Miss America have teamed up for the past few years to provide mentors and funds to children’s hospitals across the nation.

CMN was founded partially by Marie Osmond (trivia for the day!), and you have probably seen their signature yellow balloon in many ad campaigns throughout America (above). As of this year, CMN hospitals have raised over $4.3 billion to help kids in every community. Children who benefit from CMN often have life-threatening illnesses including cancer or birth defects, but many are also treated for asthma, burns, broken bones or the flu. The most amazing aspect of CMN is that, while the organization often receives large donations, most funds are raised one or two dollars at a time.

An example of this is IHOP’s National Day of Pancakes. If you refer back to previous posts (A Syrupy Sweet Saturday, National Pancake Day) you’ll remember that IHOP helped fundraise nationwide for CMN hospitals. that day, participants could purchase bracelets or a paper balloon for just a few dollars to aid in the organization’s mission. Isn’t it amazing that donating one dollar can change a life in the big picture?

Right now, I am fundraising as a Miss Oklahoma contestant. My goal is $650 and I have raised $550! While only $100 shy of my goal donation, every dollar counts – and this is where I am asking you to join in my efforts. Please consider donating to the link below. As you’ve learned, every dollar counts and can make a huge difference in a child’s life. For more information, visit the link below or Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. 

DONATE HERE: CHILDREN’S MIRACLE NETWORK

Truman: Take 2

Truman is a fantastic school which invited me back AGAIN! I spoke to two groups of 4th graders and another group of 5th graders. Their P.E. teacher, Mrs. Barr, and music teacher, Mrs. Tune (still cracks me up!) are strong advocates of anti-bullying behavior and were excellent resources. The fourth grade groups were a lot of fun, and as always, highly curious about how the crown stays on, if I would dance for them, and the most consistent question asked at every appearance – do I have a boyfriend!

We play the telephone game to show how gossip can spread and change over time, which is incredibly relevant to relational aggression. With the first group, we created one big circle, which took a while but the kids loved! When the second 4th grade group came in, we decided to split them into the boys and girls – somewhat of a competition. At the end of the game, there wasn’t even one word they said which was in the original sentence!

The 5th grade group was super sassy! The girls were so intrigued while the boys were focused on the bracelets I provided, what they could do with them, and gaining attention from their friends. Let’s just say that I received A LOT of experience handling those boys that I will use as a teacher next year! When they played the telephone game, I noticed that this age group of boys were less interested in gossip and more interested in blaming members of the group for “messing up” the sentence. I also was surprised to hear the boys tell me flat out that only girls used relational aggression (gossip, rumor spreading, alliance building, cyber bullying, name calling), to which I gladly and kindly told them that was incorrect.

I hope the boys took as much from my presentation as the other grades and the girls of the class did, but only time will tell! If nothing else, awareness and a strong role model was needed about RA and I am thrilled to provide both.