A Glimpse at my first year in pageants!

I have been meaning to publish this blog post for a while now, so... here it is:

A few days ago, I was honored to win the title of Miss Greater Jonesboro, a preliminary to the Miss Arkansas 2012 pageant.

The wining of my second title in the Miss America system has me reflecting upon my first year of involvement in the MA system which began Aug. 24, 2010.

I picked Aug. 24,2010 because it is a solid date that I can refer to, in truth, my journey towards my current involvement in the Miss America System began long before this point and when following a series of events can be traced all the way back to, well...my birth (and probably even before then)

(My pageant story is told in full on my website: www.wix.com/artisann010/miss-crowleys-ridge-2011)

But, I digress.

What happened August 24. 2010?

Well, on that lovely day, I competed in and won my first pageant. I became Miss Mississippi County Fair (yes, that's a mouthful) and from that day on, I have moved further and deeper into the world of pageantry and loved it more each step of the way.

So, rather than turn this past year into a novel length post, I will do a brief month by month recap of my first year in pageants.

August 2010

- I competed in and won the title of Miss Mississippi County Fair!

September 2010

- I competed in my first Miss Arkansas preliminary, Miss Northeast Arkansas and won 2nd Runner Up!

October 2010

- I competed in the Miss Arkansas State Fair pageant with over girls from all over the state of Arkansas.

side note: Met two future friends here (Latasha Briscoe and Kelsey Dow, I love both of you ladies!)

November 2010

- I competed in my second Miss Arkansas preliminary, Miss Lights of the Delta and won 3rd runner up.

December 2010

- I competed in my third Miss Arkansas preliminary, Miss Crowley's Ridge and was privileged to win the title!

So, without planning to, I competed in five pageants in five months!

After winning my title, the real work began:

PAPERWORK

APPEARANCES

FITTINGS

COACHING

FITNESS TRAINING

April 2011

- I was a guest performer at the Miss Greater Jonesboro Pageant

- I was a guest performer at the Miss Cotton Belle pageant

May 2011

- The Miss Arkansas Contestant Meeting!

July 2011

- Miss Arkansas' Outstanding Teen

MISS ARKANSAS!!!

- After many months of planning, working, saving, and spending, I had a fantastic time in my first Miss Arkansas week, July 10-16th. I met some wonderful people, including all 45 of the other contestants, learned a great deal, and truly enjoyed myself.

- At the end of the week, I walked away having developed new friendships, set new goals, and having been inspired by the people and the system I have the honor of participating in.

- At Miss Arkansas I competed (with group B) in:

Interview

Evening Gown

Talent

Swimsuit

Onstage Question

I won -

Alpha (or Newcomer) Talent

Overall Talent

Best Instrumentalist

and

Top 15

I still get emotional sometimes when I think about it. There is just no describing how thrilling it is to see your hard work pay off!

I could spend another entire blogpost saying thank you to all those whose assistance, encouragement, finances and expertise were lent to make this such a great experience for me, and I'm sure I will, but for now, thank you all sincerely, and I look forward to another great year in pageants!!!




God Bless,


Bethany

Beauty...inside and out!

This past week, I had the delightful opportunity to assist in a local community event that partners pre-teen/early teen girls and guys with local stores that give them the chance to break away from the norm of every day life, shake things up, and have a little fun.

I was asked to come, as Miss Crowley's Ridge, and assist with the young ladies who came into our main street store Me and My Sister/Merle Norman (Clothing, accessories, makeup...), in giving them makeovers! Let me say, over the next hour and a half, I gained a much deeper respect for the task our fabulous makeup/hairdressers at Miss Arkansas daily undertake in prepping us to look our absolute best.

There were 12 young ladies that participated and three of us doing the makeovers, so I had the chance to work with several of them and we truly had a great time. Talking, laughing, and me fixing my uh-oh's with my "MAGIC CREAM" (some skin lotion that was particularly adept at removing wayward mascara!

Here are some pictures of us:

This sweet girl was my second makeover to do and I was so happy that she was pleased with the end result; as was I.

This young lady, at 13, told me she was always used to doing her own makeup, almost daily, so I was a little nervous about meeting her expectations. However, when I was finished she was quite pleased! (and I was relieved, lol)

This lovely girl reminded me of my own sister, Mercy, as, even without heels on, she is just as tall as me! (Thanks goodness for that crown, giving me a couple extra inches!)

This sweet young girl, overheard me telling someone else who I thought their "Celebrity look-a-like" was and insisted I come up with one for her as well. So, I settled on Maggie Gylenhaal.

This young lady was my final charge, and biggest challenge. She, and it seemed her friends as well, didn't think she was the "type" for makeup. She told me

her favorite pastimes were skateboarding, playing the drums, and basketball. So, as I began applying her foundation, ten other eager faces crowded around wondering how this was going to turn out. And, my young muse, although she laughed it off, seemed rather skeptical as well.

However, in the end, we were triumphant, and everyone was truly delighted (and not surprised at all...of course)

As the event came to a close, I gave each of the young ladies homemade sugar cookies shaped like lips with a verse attached to the outside that looked like this:

It reads: Proverbs 6:8 ...I open my lips to speak what is right.

With this, I hope to remind each of these young ladies that beauty is not only found on the outside, but by what comes from the inside as well.

America - - - Miss America: A Celebration

As Independence Day grows close, I find myself reflecting on the correlation between our nation’s cause for celebration and the Miss America system. I know, I know, but hear me out:

What is America? America isn’t a person or even people; it isn’t a mass of land and rivers surrounded by oceans. America isn’t a government or a system.

AMERICA IS AN IDEAL

When you hear those five words: “The United States of America,” your heart swells with pride not because you know we have one of the most advanced and strongest military forces in the world, or because we have some of the most prestigious colleges and universities to be found anywhere, or even because we have been blessed with a contingent of freedoms some will never know. No, we feel that sense of impassioned pride because we know what America represents. Outside the buildings, the people, and the systems, we love our country because we recognize the incredible connotations that come with merely saying its name: strength, fortitude, hard work, opportunity, freedom…independence.

The Miss America system is similar in many ways to this image. For she, too, is not merely a single person, or even the scores of amazing women who have held the title of Miss America.

MISS AMERICA IS AN IDEAL

While Miss America’s history isn’t quite as old as our country’s, it has conquered many of the same challenges and struggles as our nation and is continuing to grow and change for the better. Although a single face may flash into your mind when you hear the words “Miss America,” you will probably also begin to envision a contingent of characteristics that the Miss America system embodies; Intelligence, Confidence, Beauty, Style, and Education. These are the characteristics that set Miss America apart and that inspire and empower the thousands of young women that strive toward that ultimate title and ultimate responsibility of representing our nation.

So, this Monday, as we celebrate together let’s remember the many years, prayers, and lives it has taken to establish those ideals we know as;

1. The United States of America

and

2. Miss America

God bless,

- Bethany

Although I only focused on one main correlation, there are many others:

(What are some parallels you see between our country and Miss America?)

W

UCA, Here I Come!

I rather frequently, and sometimes jokingly, tell my mother that all roads lead to Miss America and I suppose in some ways that mentality is parallel to the "red car" syndrome (you know, where you buy a red car and all of a sudden everywhere you go, behold, RED CARS!) Yes, i'm sure there is a more accurate psychological term for it, but I'm sticking with red car syndrome for now.

Anyways, once I began competing in the Miss America system, I began to frequently take note of things, people, and events that all had some affiliation or connection with the Miss America system. I've gotten now, where when I see a woman wearing a stylish dress in my mind I think: 'hmmmm, arrival? Interview?'

But, since the Miss America system truly promotes and believes in the pursuing of education, I feel it's appropriate to mention my recent admissions to and registration with the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

I will be pursuing my Bachelors of Music, focusing on Piano Performance, and minoring in Broadcast Journalism.

During the fall semester, I will be taking six classes including American History, Intro to Drama, and one I'm really excited about, French I (Oui, Oui!)

I look forward to continuing my never ending education at UCA and hopefully, in the process, I will develop that elusive collegiate ideal, school spirit.

Go Bears!

- Bethany

Meetings, Moms, and Miss Arkansas!!!

Wow, what a busy few weeks this has been!

Last week, we (my faithful mother and I) set out for Little Rock, AR for the Miss Arkansas contestant meeting!

The first phase of this journey began Saturday evening when I participated in the incredible Tony Bowls fashion shoot at Jason Masters Studio in LR. I can confidently say that the few hours I spent there, literally getting the royal treatment, were some of the most fun I've ever had.

I was so impressed by the stylists, hair/makeup, photographer, assistants, and of course, Tony not only for the fantastic job they did, but their enthusiasm and excitement throughout the shoot considering they had been working since 8:00 am and mine was one of the last shoots at 8:00 pm that evening.

I absolutely loved my hair and makeup as well as the beautiful dress and accessories Tony picked for me to wear. The professional pictures will be online soon, but here's a little sneak peek of what I looked like:

The next day following the shoot, we made our way to the Pleasant Valley Country Club for the Miss Arkansas fashion show and contestant meeting. I had so much fun modeling my cocktail dress from Applause and then my TB opening number dress.

The fashion show was followed by the contestant meeting in which we learned the various rules and regulations, scheduling, and overall process of the Miss Arkansas competition week and beyond. It was great getting to see all of the contestants, meeting many new girls, and the realization that right there, in that room, sat the future Miss Arkansas.

They also gave out some great door prizes to each contestant! During this meeting, each contestant chose their placement for competition nights. You can check out my placement and photo on the miss Arkansas website: http://www.missarkansas.org/contestants.htm

The next day, Monday, all the contestants, and our lovely Miss Arkansas, Alyse Eady, gathered once more for the Annual Golf Tournament, again at the Pleasant Valley Country Club. Wearing our matching t-shirts, sponsored by Venue (Tommy Lyons) we hit the golf carts and made our way through the beautiful course occasionally stopping to watch the golfers, chat with the other girls, try to decide whether or not it was appropriate to clap when a golfer made a particularly good hit...swing...(Obviously, I'm not up to date on my golf lingo.), and of course taking pictures with the golfers and the two fabulous prizes.

1. a beautiful yellow (Transporter style) camaro

2. an equally beautiful black and red Harley Davidson motorcycle.

I had a fun time driving around with the other Northeast Arkansas area contestants, Natalie Marcus (miss greater jonesboro), kelsey dow (miss arkansas state university), and somer allen, (miss northeast arkansas).

The neat thing was that as well all rode around together in our golf cart doing what we do best (being fabulous!) all of our mothers were also together doing what the do best, (talking and shopping :)

Sunday evening, after the contestant meeting, several of the contestants met up at Solemates, a delightful boutique shoe (and accessories) shop and I got two delightful new pairs of shoes for which I am looking for an excuse to wear.

Here is one of them, the name of which is: Emerald City...isn't it fabulous!

All-in-all, it was a great weekend from which I gained new memories, friends, pictures, and shoes!

The meeting really put me in the mindset of a competitor and I am more focused and determined than before.

PEO and MAO

Wednesday afternoon I had the lovely opportunity to speak and perform for one of the PEO chapters here in Blytheville. I was privileged to speak to the women about the correlation between the Miss America Organization and the PEO (Philanthropic Education Organization) which is another organization that promotes the advancement and education of women. I also performed three pieces, A Stormy Voyage by Christopher Goldston, A Whole New World (from the movie Aladdin) and my talent piece for Miss Arkansas.

Music at the Manor!

Music. Living, changing, moving. Music is one of those inexplicable gifts that we all have access to and for those of us who have made a study of it, we have the pleasure of sharing it with others; which is what myself and my teen queen, Emma Jumper had the privilege of doing this past saturday.

We were invited to perform for the residents of Magnolia Manor, a lovely assisted living community, in Piggot,AR. We were both delighted to find the lovely baby grand piano they had available for us to play on. One bane of being a pianist is that you are unable to take your instrument with you wherever you go and must make the best of what your provided with, but I digress.

We spent the better part of 90 minutes speaking about our experiences in the MAO, sharing about our respective platforms, and telling about ourselves personally, as well as performing several pieces of music for the residents and their families. As the residents were mostly of an earlier generation, I performed three selections for the WWII era, Some Enchanted evening (South Pacific), My way (Frank Sinatra), and a requested piece, As Time Goes By (from Casablanca)

It was a lovely afternoon and I was glad to be apart of it!