Miss International 2014 Pageant Day 6 July 31st

All the Miss contestants were able to attend the Miss Teen Preliminaries tonight.  It was great to relax and enjoy a night off!  Miss Teen Utah International, Maddie DeLoach, looked amazing onstage and represented Utah so well.  I really loved the fun fashion portion of the competition.  I wanted some of the outfits for me to wear!

A huge thanks to One Stop Dress Shop for sponsoring me with this amazing blue dress I wore tonight.

Miss International 2014 Day 6 July 36th

Interview Day!!!

Tell me about your platform?
What super power would you have?
Do you have any tattoos? What do you think about people who have tattoos?
Did you choose the platform or did your platform choose you?
If you could have lunch with anyone famous who would it be?

Those are just a few of the questions I was asked today.  Overall I loved having the opportunity to meet and connect with each of the judges.  They all helped me feel comfortable and could tell they wanted each girl to do well.

Most of all, it felt amazing to sit down and speak about my platform and my plans for the future. 

Miss International 2014 Pageant Day 5 July 30th

Wednesday! It's hard to believe that the week is half over already! 

Today began at the PACE Center at 8:30 AM. Girls come to the Jacksonville PACE center for counseling and education in a nurturing environment. These girls have lived through trauma, neglect, or abuse. They must have at least four risk factors, and be at least one year behind in school to enroll. PACE really leads these girls to success and gives them the ability to improve academic performance as well as their confidence and job/school enrollment! I felt so privileged to have the opportunity to meet so many of these girls and speak with them this morning!!

We all introduced ourselves, our platforms, and how we got into pageantry, and then we broke the girls up into four groups. They rotated between stations we set up: Interview Skills, Volunteerism, Pageant/Runway Walking, and Public Image. I was part of the Pageant/Runway walking group, and it was so much fun! We talked to the girls about how modeling differs from pageant walking, and then discussed posture and alignment. We shared that body language really makes such a huge difference everywhere you go in life! Our group then had the girls think of words while they walked and we had a fun runway show with poses! The girls loved modeling the word "sassy"! 

Following this amazing morning, we had rehearsal from 1:30 until 9:30 (with breaks of course) to prepare for the pageant! I am so excited to see the teens compete tomorrow in preliminaries (GO MADDIE DELOACH- MISS TEEN UTAH INTERNATIONAL) and I am stoked for my competition on Friday!

I have my interview with the judges tomorrow at 2:15!

Miss International 2014 Pageant Day Four July 29th

The events of the day started bright and early at 7:45 A.M.! I was in the third group, as my contestant number is at the end, and we began the rotations with a service activity in the Omni Hotel. We made no sew blankets for Worshan Children's Hospital, which was so fun since I have had so many opportunities to make these in the past.  I felt like a pro! 

Members of the Florida American Heart Association Chapter spoke to us about a boy who is receiving a new heart in surgery tomorrow. He had a very touching video about how he would never be able to play sports, go to college, or grow old. Best wishes and prayers for him as he undergoes surgery tomorrow- hopefully he will get the chance to live his life. 

Our second rotation was to Pete's Candy Shop, which is the cutest Candy Shop I have ever been in! They have an artist who changes out the decorations seasonally, and they are all handmade and so creative!! The candy is also so amazing and I loved the chance to make my own lollipop- though it did not turn out as perfect or pretty as I wanted! 

Our third rotation was a walking tour of Jacksonville. We went into a building that was the tallest building in Jacksonville in the early 1900s. There are secret tunnels underneath it that lead to a giant bank vault!! This was so cool to see as some of the safety deposit boxes are still unopened- and the public at the time had no idea of the existence of the tunnels! Such a fun piece of history! 

We traveled to the Jacksonville visitors center, where we learned the Jacksonville is the largest city by land area in the continental U.S., and used to be used by 26 movie producing companies as it has all types of scenery! So glad the pageant is held in such a beautiful city! 

My group traveled to the newest tall building, which provided an outlook over the whole city, and then to the Wells Fargo building. Such a fun walking tour!

Following the rotations, we met back with all the teens and the misses and went to the Jacksonville Jaguars Stadium where we asked questions to the team manager and got to see the pools, cabanas, weight room, and go on the field!! I love sports- playing and watching- so really appreciated this cool opportunity to go behind the scenes of an NFL team!

The group picture was taken, and we were treated to a delicious dinner accompanied by an amazing speaker- Eddie- who talked about 4 girls: Cinderella, Snow White, Little Mermaid, and Esther. He shared that we are not all here to win- but we are here for a reason and we have a destiny. This powerful talk was an awesome way to end such a great fourth day here in Jacksonville, Florida! 

Thank you Cami from One Stop Dress Shop for the gorgeous dress!!

Miss International 2014 Pageant Day Three July 28th

After completing all of my homework this morning and making sure I was caught up with my schoolwork, I took a walk on the beach with my mother then headed back to the Omni Hotel for Check-In!! We prepared my meals and unpacked everything for the week. We took a couple pictures-finally got a picture with the gorgeous Suzanne Plant (Lookie Loo Photography) who is always behind the camera, and then it was time for orientation!

I loved meeting Mary Richardson, the International Pageants Director, and finally putting a face to all of the phone calls and emails! It was great to meet the rest of the International Pageants staff and sponsors as well! I sat between Miss Texas International and Miss Vermont International, and loved hearing more about these ladies! I'm excited to get to know everyone a bit better! I loved seeing Miss Idaho again as well as my Miss Teen Utah International Maddie DeLoach as she came out of the Teen Orientation!

I am contestant #45, LAST, and my interview time is at 2:15 on Thursday!

It was great to hear about how the week would go, as well as know the schedule for tomorrow! I was not expecting to answer a question in front of the group, but it was an awesome opportunity to get to hear a little about everyone!!

I am so excited for my week at the Miss International Pageant here in Jacksonville, Florida!

Such an awesome surprise to get so much swag from the International Pageants!!
Below is my gift- a crown keychain with a "hand" charm for all of the other contestants!

Miss International Pageant 2014 Day Two July 27th

After a relaxing morning, ordering room service of fruit, yogurt, and oats (Yes, Kristy Jo, I did stick to my meal plan today!), and packing all of my belongings, I sat in the lobby and chatted with several Miss and Teen contestants as they arrived! 

I was honored to see my face on the poster next to so many amazing contestants in the Miss International pageant!

My sister, Karissa, who has been in Peru providing service for a few weeks, flew into Jacksonville this afternoon with my mother!  So excited to reunite with them this week!  They picked me up at the hotel and I was able to see the fun beach house where they are staying this week.   I was able to have a fun day reuniting with them and relaxing with a fun beach soiree!

The weather here is great! I’m so honored to be here and representing the great state of Utah. 

I’m excited to catch a little sun in the morning and then prepare for orientation tomorrow night.  Can’t wait to meet the rest of the impressive Miss contestants tomorrow!

Sweet dreams!

Miss International Pageant 2014 Day One July 26th

The day to travel to the international pageant has arrived!

 

After a mad dash to get my hair done, tan refreshed, and packing finalized, I arrived at the Salt Lake Airport with the lovely Suzanne Plant for the red-eye flight through Atlanta, Georgia. I was hoping to catch up on some much needed rest, but it was freezing on the plane so I was not able to sleep at all! Luckily, we only had an hour-long flight between Atlanta and Florida, and then a shuttle promptly drove us to the Omni Hotel, where I was able to finally get some sleep!

 

The Mrs. International Pageant was earlier this evening and I absolutely loved the opportunity to attend with Suzanne! It was so fun to see all of the Miss contestants there to see the Mrs. Finals night! I loved meeting Miss Tennessee, Miss Alabama, Miss North Dakota, Miss Illinois, Miss Texas, Miss Northeast, and of course Miss International 2013! I also loved meeting the photographers and all the other amazing affiliates of the International Pageants.

I love this hot pink dress I got from One Stop Dress Shop!!
 

The pageant was amazing. All of the Mrs. contestants did such a fabulous job, and the top fifteen were very impressive women! I loved hearing their on-stage interview answers and seeing the elegance and beauty that accompanied each woman. They took my breath away in the evening gown section, escorted by their husbands, and I was so happy to watch Maggi Thorne, Mrs. Great Plains International, crowned the new Mrs. International! It was great to see Mrs. Utah International, Amy Farnsworth-Stratton, and celebrate her accomplishments. Attending the finals last night helped me get a better idea of the logistics of the Miss International pageant!

So excited to be here in Jacksonville and meet some of my fellow contestants in advance! Beautiful hotel, beautiful theatre, beautiful venue!