May 25, 2010

Even though I have not had any major appearances lately does not meanthat I haven't been extremely busy. When we were warned about paperwork before the pageant, well....let's just say they weren't exaggerating! Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork! But don't get me wrong, the paperwork does have an upside. Each time I work on it, I begin to feel more and more excited about the pageant in August. I can't wait!! Also, not too long ago, I got to see my dress. It was sooooo beautiful!!! Thank you tons, Paige! I didn't want to take it off, haha. Not only do I now have my dress, but my talent costume is in the making as well! The sketches look amazing and I'm sure Kenerly Kreations will do a great job on it. I've always wanted one of their costumes!

As I continue my year as Miss Tennessee's Outstanding Teen, I am awarded many opportunities to work with my platform. This summer I will be helping the Greenfield First United Methodist Church with the Summer Food Service Program. The program offers a free lunch every single day to anyone up to the age of 18. It also gives the participants a chance to be surrounded by a positive, Christian atmosphere. It will begin on June 1st, 2010, and we would love to give as many meals as possible!

May 15th, 2010

Another one of my favorite things about being Miss Tennessee's OT is getting the opportunity to work with my platform. My platform is hunger awareness. I chose this platform because of the 30 Hour Famine event my youth group had attended a couple of years ago. During a 30 Hour Famine, you go without food while completing community service work and having worship services. This enables you to understand the real effects of hunger that some children (and adults) go through every day. During this event, I learned about how much of a problem hunger really is, even in our small communities. If children do not get the nutrition they need, they are set up to fail later on in life. They cannot concentrate in school, develop behavioral problems, and develop health issues. Last Saturday, I was invited to help with the Stamp Out Hunger program at the Crockett Care Food Bank. During this event, anyone who wished to donate food to the food bank could put it in their mail boxes and the postman would pick it up. Once it reached the post office is where we came in. My granddaddy and I loaded up the goods and transported them to the actual facility. Once they reached the food bank, they were weighed and then sorted so they could be put to use. As I stayed to help sort the food with the rest of the volunteers, Granddaddy (as well as other men) went to pick up more food. In Crockett County alone, more than 500 pounds of food was donated!

After I finished helping out at the food bank, I headed to Union City to JoAnn's. Jared had asked me to help him emcee and perform at the Jr. and Miss South Fulton High School pageant. I had a great time meeting everyone who was judging while also getting to know Leah Beth Bolton more! After a few technical difficulties with my music, I performed my talent routine. I love being able to perform and show everyone the sport of baton twirling! We saw tons of beautiful girls that night and crowned two of them. Congratulations, girls! Thanks to all the parents who organized the pageant. It was great. :)

May 3, 2010

As I've said before, appearances have to be one of my favorite things about being Miss Tennessee OT. This past Saturday was no different. Did it matter that it was pouring rain (soon to be the flood of 2010)? Did it matter that there were thunderstorms and tornado watches throughout the area? Noooo, it did not! Parades were cancelled, but not to worry, the pageant was still on. Haha. The Miss Paradise Island and Miss Tropical Princess pageants were held at Crockett County High School on Saturday, where I had been asked to emcee. After driving through many backroads because main roads were closing and running into the building in the pouring rain (ruining my curly hair and makeup, lol), I met Mrs. Danielle and Mrs. Misty. They were both so kind and did a great job hosting the pageant! The stage was beautiful, the food was great, and the whole pagaent was very organized. Thank you, CCHS FFCLA and HOSA! [Plus, huge crowns! Go Mrs. Janet!] Due to a judge cancellation, Mom had been asked to help judge. She helped make a panel of four judges. Mrs. Sherri, Mr. Steven, and Jennifer (Miss Nashville 2010) all kept me very entertained and I had a wonderful time getting to know them! Jennifer was so sweet and I wish her the best of luck in the Miss Tennessee pageant in June! :)

To help me with the pageant, I had a very special helper. The former Miss Paradise Island 6-9 yrs. queen, Caleigh Erwin, was there to present awards. She was adorable and I loved getting to know her! We even did some onstage "interviews" to kill time while the judges were making decisions. It was a wonderful pageant and even though it was pouring, we had some beautiful girls come out. Congratulations to all of the winners, and to Mrs. Janet who had several queens crowned and new royalty members! All in all, I had a fantastic day and cannot wait to do it again.

After attending last Saturday's 5K race, I have been inspired to do more than just wish I could run. Tonight, I (as well as two of my best friends, Laura and Callie Croom, because what fun is running alone?!) completed the first session of my 5K running plan. To be quite honest, I was dreading it because even though I work out and twirl daily, running has never come easily to me. After running/jogging 2.5 miles, I felt completely exhilirated. It was a huge surprise, and I was very happy, ha. Now, I am definately beginning to understand what people mean when they say they love to run. We will run again tomorrow night and I can't wait! :)

April 29, 2010

It doesn't seem true that over a month has already passed since the night I was crowned Miss Tennessee's Outstanding Teen. Yesterday, I opened the mail to find that Mrs. Missy had sent me my pageant dvds. I was so excited to finally get to watch the actual pageant. It was made into a family affair as I watched what they had already seen once. As I watched the dvd, it reminded me again of how lucky I am and of how special being in the Miss Tennessee's Outstanding Teen pageant is. I thoroughly enjoy competition and this was the most rewarding experience yet. As I viewed the dvd, I was amazed at how I missed talking to all the girls I had met, even though I had just met most of them that day!

Last Saturday, I made another appearance at the Greenfield Fiddlestick 5K. The run was put on by the Greenfield First Baptist Church's Relay for Life Team. Even though it was cold, windy, and rainy we had a good turnout and actually managed to complete the race and awards before the storms set in. Congratulations to all the participants and winners!

Tuesday night, I attended the 2010 Weakley County Youth Leadership banquet. It was the ten year anniversary of the Weakley County Youth Leadership program. For those of you who don't know exactly what the program is, I will give you a quick explanation. Every year, each student in the sophomore class from all Weakley County schools is given the opportunity to apply for the Youth Leadership program. They must fill out an application to turn it. Once the application is turned in, all their identity information is then taken away to be sure everyone has an equal chance. Then, five students from each school are selected as the WCYL class for that year. Beginning in October and continuing through April, these students work together and learn leadership skills that will last them a life-time. They learn about how Weakley County operates as well as how we can all work together to achieve more as a county. They go through team-building processes, make life-long friends, travel all across the county, visit banks/businesses/community service organizations, and tour our state's capital. It is a wonderful program to go through and I would recommend that everyone apply. As a member of last year's class, I returned to help celebrate the occasion. To my surprise, Mrs. Jan had been kind enough to nominate me for the Youth Achievement Award. Near the end of the banquet, they began reading off a list of achievements the winner had accomplished and I was shocked to realize that the award went to me. I was very honored to recieve such an award! Thanks so much!

I am working hard on my talent routine and continuing to book appearances. This Saturday, I will emcee and perform at a double pageant in Crockett County! I cannot wait to discover what else this year will bring for me.

April 16, 2010

Even before the night that I was crowned came to a close, I began to realize how busy I would be the next few weeks. I interviewed with the Jackson Sun before I ever left the building! It all seemed unreal and took a while to sink in. For the next three days, I was on the cover of one of our local newspapers. I couldn't believe it! Soon after, the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle TN notified Mr. Tim because they had read in the newspaper that my platform was Hunger Awareness. They wanted an interview so they could publish an article on their website and invited me to work with them. I was thrilled because this would allow me to promote my platform on an even bigger scale.

After the initial shock wore off, one of my favorite parts of being a titleholder presented itself. Appearances!! My first official appearance as Miss Tennessee's Outstanding Teen was April 9th when I was invited to perform at the Miss Obion County Central High School pageant. Before this appearance, I traveled to JoAnn's where they supplied me with the perfect dress. I always love going into JoAnn's!! All the girls in the pageant looked beautiful and I met so many new people! I'd have to say, meeting new people would be on the top of my "Favorites" list, haha. I had a great time performing my talent routine, sitting with Jared, and watching the new Miss OCCHS be crowned. Congratulations, Jerrie!

In the midst of everything involved with my new crown, I also had to prepare for Beta Convention where our club ran Hank Greve for Secretary and I competed in special talent. This year's Beta Convention was the most memorable convention yet. I had the time of my life meeting literally hundreds of new people and campaigning for Hank. We had worked so hard on our skit (which I designed the music, dance, and props for, ha) and Hank's speech and could not wait to perform it on stage! I would like to take the time to thank my club and sponsors (We love you, Miss Michelle and Miss Farmer!) for working so very hard on this. During the special talent preliminary rounds, I performed my talent routine for the judges and competed to make the Top Eight. I was awarded this honor and moved into the finals round. This meant that I would perform my talent routine in front of everyone at the next session! I was excited, but nervous at the same time. Performing my talent routine in front of the thousands of Betas at convention was truly exhilarating! Sometime during the convention, Mrs. Barbara (the National Beta Club Sponsor) found out that I was Miss Tennessee's Outstanding Teen. She was so kind to me and announced me in front of the whole convention, as well as requesting that I took pictures to put on the website!

Everywhere I travel provides unique memories that I will carry with me throughout the rest of my life. Now, I cannot wait for my next appearance/performance as Miss Tennessee's Outstanding Teen!!

Preparation for the Big Day

Being crowned Miss Tennessee's Oustanding Teen in March of 2010 is such an honor. I feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity! I am thrilled that this year has begun, and I know it will open up a new chapter in my life.

When I began preparing for my first preliminary pageant, I would have never dreamed this would be the outcome. During the Miss Music City pageant (my first ever in this pageant system) I had such an amazing experience. Even after not placing, I knew immediately that I wanted to compete in as many Miss America Organization pageants as possible! Everyone there was so kind to me, and I had a blast. I then competed in the Miss Lexington/Henderson County pageant where I was crowned Miss Henderson County's Outstanding Teen. Once again, I had an unbelieveable experience and met so many new friends!

After winning my preliminary title, I only had about a month to prepare for the state pageant. Believe me, I was busy! While trying to find the perfect dress, fitness wear costume, and make appearances, I also practiced my talent hundreds of times! I wanted to make certain I could do it perfectly in my sleep before I did it on stage during the actual pageant.

As the pageant grew closer, I became more and more excited. I worked with Mrs. Janet and Mrs. Rita every chance I got while also working with Mom daily. My mother is my biggest supporter and is never afraid to give me the most honest constructive criticism, which I believe everyone needs! Jared, Paige, and all of the JoAnn's staff worked several long hours with me trying to choose and alter my dress. They are all great and I don't know what I'd do without them! The day of TOT, I woke up early, dressed for interview, and rode with Mom to Jackson. While in the hotel lobby, Mr. Tommy was so sweet and surprised me with a good luck gift! I met up with several old friends who were also competing with me, while making several new friends as well. Savannah waited with us out in the hall before interview and tried to calm our nerves. She and her mom were so sweet! After interview, I went on to talent rehearsal with Victoria, then rehearsals for our opening number. By the time seven o'clock came, we were all ready to go. There are no words to describe how amazing the experience of competing is. You bond with all the contestants while everyone goes through adrenaline rushes, nervousness, and excitement. These are friends I will never forget.

Standing onstage waiting for results was one of the most nervewracking moments of my life. I was pleased with the performance I had given and could not wait to find out the judges' opinions. After being announced the talent winner of the evening, I was elated. For me, the talent competition is one of the most special events. I have been participating in baton twirling since the age of five and am a third generation twirler. When my name was called as Miss Tennessee's Outstanding Teen 2010, I couldn't believe it! I was ecstatic, but tried hard not to cry. Jared did not want me to mess up my make-up for pictures, haha! This had turned out to be the best night of my life. Thank you so much to all who have made this possible! I am looking forward to the wonderful year I will have and the chance to represent our state at MAOT!