Prelim Nights 2 and 3!

Good morning! I cannot believe that today is THE DAY that I’ve been preparing for, without always knowing it, for my entire life! I know God will continue to open doors for me to have amazing and unique experiences but this one is topping the charts for now! I woke up ridiculously excited to finish packing (we have to be completely packed before leaving the room this morning) and to get ready for the day! I want quickly catch you up on the happenings of the past 3 days.

Wednesday was our second day of preliminary competition. We started the day out with a “late” start at 7:30! It was so nice to have a little extra time to be peaceful and reflect before the day started! We headed out to one of the pent house suites in the Planet Hollywood hotel to continue filming for the Planet Hollywood commercial! The suite ended up being the same one used in the movie “21”, which I thought was AWESOME! We sang, danced, played pool, and had a blast together! The amazing thing about all the filming we’ve been doing is that we are truly having a fabulous time together, not just acting. When you see the commercials later today, rest assured that while sometimes we were being goofy, it’s all real! J

After shooting the commercial, we headed to lunch then to rehearsal. Since the mu group had swimwear and evening gown Wednesday night, we spent a few hours running through the patterns and practicing in our gowns. Swimwear practice went great but evening gown was a little difficult! First of all, my dress had become a little bit too big (most of the contestants end up losing a little bit of weight here because of the high stress levels, etc) but I had fit it to me PERFECTLY so even just a centimeter of loss made the dress feel like it was slipping down! NOT a good feeling! Then, as I was walking down the stairs, my heel caught in my dress hem and ripped it! Oh my goodness, I was a little distraught. But, as I felt that anxious feeling well up in my stomach, I realized what was happening and gave it to God. I knew at that moment that everything would be just perfect and I had no need to worry. The seamstress helped me out by putting elastic in my gown to make it fit tighter and repairing the ripped hem! WHEW! I’m so thankful for the amazing staff here! We completed a full dress rehearsal run through and got ready for the show! Amazingly, as I was finishing my make up and hair for the show, my tummy was at ease and butterflies were gone. I felt so ready to “strut my stuff” on the stage and I had a blast doing it!

Swimwear came first in the competition and before it was my turn, I did ab exercises backstage with Miss D.C., Ashley! When it was my turn, I flexed as hard as I possibly could while still breathing (haha) and headed down the run way! I had so much fun walking to the beat of the music, picturing myself on the beaches in Waikiki, having a blast and feeling beautiful! Although the swimsuit is fairly small, I have been working out hard and am thankful for the body God gave me! It was AWESOME! Then, we had to wait on stage while all the other women finished their walk. I had to pose for almost 5 minutes flexing as hard as I could! Haha! It was pretty funny!

Evening gown was beyond incredible. I felt beautiful in my dress but most of all, I felt so blessed to be on that stage, walking as a graceful, confident woman. I tried to soak in every second, making eye contact with the judges, looking into the audience and savoring the amazing feeling that bubbled within me the entire time I was onstage. Directly following evening gown, the rest of the women came out and preliminary awards were announced. It was so fun to congratulate the women who had won and we headed to visitation! Again, it was the BEST thing to see my family and celebrate this amazing experience together! We had a blast talking about the swimsuit walk and some of the incredible talents that were onstage that night.

Thursday morning rolled around and it was time for talent practice! As I mentioned at some point, I have some type of cold/sinus infection. I have been so thankful to continue having a strong voice but it was a little tricky to practice and warm up that morning. My roommate has been so wonderful putting up with my vocaleses in the mornings! Haha! Thursday morning, there was no filming so we headed straight to rehearsal! Each member of the mu group had the opportunity to practice her talent full-out twice. After the first time, each woman was allowed to talk to her coach for 2 minutes to receive feedback and pointers to improve the second performance. Unfortunately, in both of my performances, I had some difficulty. The way that the ‘lottery’ system worked to decide which woman would be in which position is fair but as it turned out, my spot directly followed Miss Kansas who performed a dance to my same exact song, Rolling in the Deep. Her song is 2 full steps above mine (I had mine lowered) and it threw me so off balance to hear the song in a different key right before I went out to sing mine! It was difficult to work through the emotions of not performing the way I hoped to perform on the Miss America stage but I had great comfort in knowing that I had one more shot that night. Miss Missouri was so wonderful after I performed as she saw that I was upset. She grabbed my hands and we prayed together for the peace, comfort, and strength that only God can offer in those types of situations!

After talent rehearsal, we had a chance to rehearse the rest of the show and I took that opportunity to take a little snoozer in the aisle of the theater! As I laid my head down, it felt like I was sinking into the grown and spinning off into oblivion, I was THAT tired! I woke up about 20 minutes later feeling so refreshed and encouraged-ready to handle anything! Thursday we started to rehearse for the live television show on Saturday. We worked with cameras and it brought the energy of the show to another level! It was so amazing to think of the cameras videoing US doing the different areas of competition! I was so excited to think of my wonderful friends and family at home supporting me and being able to watch me on television! I have been envisioning that and I am so thrilled to be this close! Please know that I as look into the camera on Saturday night, I am looking straight at you with thankfulness, joy, and excitement! Thank you all SO MUCH for all your support!

Before the show started, Miss America 2011, Teresa Scanlan came to visit us in the tent. She thanked us for all that we have done to help make her reign a success. She explained that our job is an extension of hers and that we are all ambassadors for her crown. The people that we meet and get to experience are influenced by the Miss America organization and she is so thankful for what we have done with that. She said that she wanted us to know how much we are a part of her success and she had 53 stones removed from her crown and set them in necklaces for each of us! Of course, this brought most of us to tears. What an amazing woman. She is an inspiration with her love, grace, and tender heart. I am so proud to wear my necklace!

As it always does, the show rolled around so quickly and right after opening number, the mu group members rushed back to the tent to change into our talent outfits. I got permission to bring my ipad with my talent music backstage with me and while Miss Kansas performed her beautiful dance to Rolling in the Deep, I listened to my on loud. I didn’t hear even one note of her song and as soon as it was my turn, sweet Miss Missouri grabbed my ipad and I walked out on stage. It was time for the show to begin. I had so much performing my song, really let my heart show, and hoping to evoke emotion from my audience! The adrenaline in the moment unfortunately made me a little sharp on a few of my high notes, but overall I was so thankful that I DID it! I performed on the Miss America stage! What an incredible experience! Right after that, I shed tears of joy and relief. I could hardly believe that part of the competition, MONTHS of hard work and dedication from my teachers and myself, were finished (until Saturday, that is!) J.

Before the show ended, I was able to go onstage with 15 other women to receive the Duke of Edinburough award. This was the program I completed for the last 6 months including 3 months of 1 hour per week of talent practice, physical fitness, and community service and 3 extra months of physical fitness. In addition, I competed an adventurous journey which was a blast to complete! You can find pictures of my journey on facebook! It was wonderful to be a part of such an amazing program and it was so fun to be on the stage in that light!

After the awards ceremonies, visitation was amazing. It was an emotional time for me because the stages of competition that decide the top 15 for Saturday were FINISHED. Although it has been out of my hands the entire time, it was really and truly complete. My precious friends from high school, Meredith, Sarah, and Lauren were all at visitation along with my Uncle Joe! It is so special to have these amazing people supporting me and believing in me! Wow!

I will try to catch everyone up on Friday soon, but I have to finish getting ready for the day! I am completely packed up (another step of believing towards the Miss America crown) because Miss America will be moved directly following the competition to another suite! Brittney and I are having a hard time believing that the past 10 days have flown by like this and are so thankful we had the opportunity to spend this time together. I couldn’t have had a better roommate or made a more wonderful friend.

As I head to rehearsal, I won’t be returning to this room til after we know who the next Miss America will be. Wow. I want to thank everyone for all that you have done to help me get to this point. My heart is so full and I am so excited to walk out on that stage tonight. Regardless of the outcome, I am so thankful for how God has worked in my life and how my heart and mind have been open to so many new and enlightening feelings, relationships, and opportunities! This has really been the best experience and I can’t wait to see where it leads. I love you all so much and can’t wait to share more of this with you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart!