Well Overdue Congratulations

KC board and 2009 and 2010 former titleholders

Getting my wisdom teeth extracted has totally thrown off my schedule! I was out, literally and figuratively, all last week, leaving this week to catch up on school, friends, family, volunteer work, and, of course, blogging. :)

Carolyn and Alexis

Megan, Alexis, Carolyn, and Mickayla

At any rate, I never got to congratulate two wonderful women and welcome them into the Miss Missouri class of 2011. Last week, I attended the Miss Kansas City pageant. The audience swayed and swooned to the Mike Needleman Band that played live on stage while the girls competed for the Miss Greater Kansas City and Miss Kansas City titles. Since I was Miss Greater Kansas City 2009, going to the Miss Kansas City pageant always feels like coming home to me. It was wonderful getting to catch up with my friends and "family" in KC. The board and crew are so supportive of their girls; their new titleholders are in for a great year. Angie, Celia, and Tim, you put on an entertaining pageant: a huge success that was a blast to watch!

Catching up with Brittney Sears, Miss Audrain OT 2011 :)

Love this girl! Congrats Megan! You earned it!

Visiting with Lauren, Miss Greater KC 2010 and Seanica, Miss Northwest Counties 2010. Both girls have AMAZING talent. Lauren always gives me chills when she sings, and Seanica makes me want to dance with her. So blessed to have such outstanding women as my friends :)

Congratulation to Alexis Albright, Miss Kansas City 2011; Megan McWilliams, Miss Kansas City OT 2011; Carolyn Cianciolo, Miss Greater Kansas City 2011; and Mickayla Nigles, Miss Greater Kansas City OT 2011.

Priceless support... tribute to sponsors

Definitely, my favorite picture of the 4 of us. Love you, girls!

How can a girl or a pageant be so blessed to have so many sponsors? My last few visits to St. Louis, I've spent most of my time meeting, thanking, and supporting our Miss Gateway sponsors. As you know, the Miss Gateway pageant, as well as the Miss Missouri pageant, are all 100% volunteer run and 100% funded by local businesses and individuals. I, truly, would be nowhere without the devotion, both physically and financially, to these programs. Thank you, to all of you who volunteer your time, effort, skills, money, and life to the Miss Missouri Organization and the Miss Gateway to the West pageant. You all really do make our dreams come true.

Melissa and Gina, from Estee Lauder. I'll let my makeup speak for itself :)

First, I stopped by our makeup sponsor, Estee Lauder, for the "royal" treatment of a face massage and make-over. It is always so nice to be pampered, but even better when you get to do so in the company of so many supportive women. I had a blast getting all done up and sharing with our Estee Lauder ladies about Miss Missouri and Miss America. Thank you, Melissa and Gina, for giving me the color I always needed!

Barbara, from Kirkwood Bridal. Thank you for letting us play with you for a day!

Next, I headed to Kirkwood Bridal, one of our dress sponsors. Morgan, Charlee, Jillian, and I had so much fun trying on almost every dress in the store, as well as playing on the stairs a little bit. :)  Thank you, Barbara, for your support, discount, opinions, and warm hugs! See you soon!

Danielle (far left) and Ashley (far right), from Sassy Chic. Thank will never be enough for you girls!

Also, I had an opportunity to meet with Gateway's other dress sponsor, Sassy Chic in Kansas City. Ashley and Danielle have always made me feel welcome in their dress shop, and year after year, I have loved getting to know them better and shop through their fabulous selection. Thanks girls; can't wait to see you again!

I had a wonderful time getting to know some of our Gateway sponsors, and I cannot wait to go visit with more. Again, I can never thank all of you enough for your amazing support. What you do for us is priceless.

Little Sister Linnemeyer

Coming home from Vegas and Miss America, I had a little time to spend back in Columbia, Mo with my parents. And while I cherish the few visits I get with them, the true highlight of my visit was having dinner with my Miss Missouri little sister, Kate.

I've been blessed to get to know this wonderful girl for the past 4 years through the Miss Missouri Little Sisters program. I am astounded at how much she changes, matures, and grows each time we get together. It's strange to think that 4 years ago we were talking about her learning to write, read, and spell; now, we gush about her new outfit and painted nails (even though she had a broken arm). Then, she got excited over the coloring books I had brought her; now, she shows the same enthusiasm for her gift of a daily planner.  I have loved spending time with her, playing with her, learning with her, and being friends with her, but most of all, watching her grow into the fun, adorable, and intelligent young woman she is.

Showing off the new cast :(

Fortunately, some things never change, like our dinner dates. This visit, we went to "our place" (D. Rowes in Columbia), had "our usual" (grilled cheese and fries for her, bacon cheeseburger for me), talked about our favorite times spent together (always riding in the annual Miss Missouri parade together), and were joined by Grammy Karen Linnemeyer, her mom Kara, and my mom (who ordered their usual of portobello mushroom fries). Through Kate and my time together, I have had the joy of getting to know her family as well, especially my Miss Missouri host mom, Karen. This woman has done absolutely everything for me during my week competing at Miss Missouri, and I will never be able to thank her enough for all her help. Love you Momma Linnemeyer!

As always, it was great catching up with Kate, asking her if she picked a new dress to wear to Miss Missouri, or how she was going to do her hair for the parade. A wonderful girls night before headed back to Kansas City. :)

Miss America... Working to make my feet bigger

Going to Miss America was... seriously... life changing! Seeing the 53 most poised, driven, and intelligent women compete for the iconic title of Miss America reminded me of everything I love about the Miss America and Miss Missouri Organizations. Every night that week, the audience was dazzled by these women, and you all can share in that experience! Every night of competition is on Youtube. Check out the Miss America channel to watch all the preliminaries and the final night.

Ashley and me in front of the Miss America stage

From the beginning, my Vegas trip was an unforgettable one! Ashley Skinner, Miss Sikeston 2010, and I were scheduled to set off from St Louis to Las Vegas Tuesday morning, so we wouldn't miss the first night of preliminaries (when Erika would be walking in her evening gown!). Obstacle #1: Missouri got 4 inches of snow that morning. But, thank God for 4-wheel-drive! Obstacle #2: there was a four tractor trailer (non-injury) accident on I-70, aka my only way to get into St Louis! My parents and I (and the Miss Missouri board) were trapped on the highway until the accident was cleaned up in an estimated 3-4 hours.  Obstacle #3: I missed my flight. Ashley was able to leave on time so she could reserve our hotel room. Thank God for friendly people at Southwest Airlines! I was able to get my flight changed to later in the day, but I was still stuck at mile marker 186 with no way to get around the accident. Thank God I had friends staying in Columbia. Tyler drove on the access road to pick me up on the highway and drive me to the airport. Obstacle #4: the access road was across 4 lanes of traffic, both east and west bound I-70. Thank God that I have a family that's as crazy as I am! Dad grabbed my suitcase, I grabbed my carry-on, and we ran across I-70, dodging traffic and all. Thank God, that it all worked out in the end! I made it into Vegas and had 40 minutes to throw on a dress, re-curl my hair, strap on some heels and make it to the theater to watch Preliminary Night 1! Erika looked absolutely stunning in her gown and swimsuit (and really stood out in that blue!). Watch her here!

Night 1

Erika's introduction

Ashely and I spent Wednesday meeting some of our favorite people: dress designers Sherri Hill and Tony Bowls. We had a fabulous afternoon of trying on evening gowns and gushing about how wonderful the show was the night before.

Tony Bowls (and Allie Black, Miss Mo OT 2010!)

Sherri Hill!

Night 2 meant that we would watch Erika's talent. We could not be more excited to cheer her on. Erika is a gorgeous dancer. She has a mesmerizing way of pulling you into her performance, making you want to dance with her. She danced beautifully. Watch her perform!

Talent

Night 2

Night 3 Erika was going to answer her on-stage question, and Ashley and I were going to see the city. After spending the day site-seeing and (what else?) shopping, we shared a delicious dinner at the Paris Hotel and enjoyed the stunning views of the Vegas strip!  Onstage question was a breeze for Erika. She was able to share her platform of Asthma Awareness with the audience.

On-stage question

Night 3

There was no preliminary competition on Friday, and while Ashley and I were bummed that we couldn't see Erika or the other girls preform, we were excited for a night off! Every other night, we would get out of the show at 10 and go to PF Chang's for some Chinese. Needless to say, our 2:00AM bed time was wearing on us!

Miss America furniture collection... what little girl wouldn't want this?!

Saturday, we were ready to meet the new Miss America! We started our day at the Show Us Your Shoes Parade. Each girl decorated a DSW shoe and wore a costume that represented their state. We were able to share in the parade with our Miss Missouri board and Miss Jackson 2011, Mary Bauer and Miss River City 2011, Sawyer Powers. Erika and Phillip (her escort) proudly wore the red and white uniform of the St Louis Cardinals! Later, we were able to attend the Miss America press conference, were we met 45 previous Miss Americas. These women were amazing. As each one spoke, you could instantly recognize the poise and eloquence that is synonymous with Miss America. I think that these women are why someone once said, "they still got it!" because, they do! Then, we got ready for the final night of competition were we would learn who would be the next woman inducted into that most prestigious sorority of Miss Americas. Teresa Scanlan lives up to the reputation these former Miss America's have established, and I am excited to watch her represent our nation and the Miss America Organization during her year of service.

Parade

Final night

I had an absolutely BLAST! at Miss America. Thank you Mom and Dad for this most wonderful Christmas present.  Thanks to the Miss Missouri board and the Hebrons, for welcoming us into Erika's support group and sharing such a wonderful week with us. Thanks Phillip, for sharing your gummy bears and singing along to songs with us! Thank you, Ashley, for sharing a great week! You're the best!
Although Erika didn't win, I am so proud of her performance, and I am overjoyed that Missouri gets to keep her for her entire year of service! Walking away from my experience, though, I think I would change the phrase a "year of service" to a "life of service." That no matter what obstacles you face, or what crown you do or do not walk away with, or how long ago you gave up your title of Miss America, we, as present and past Miss America representatives, have a responsibility to uphold that reputation. A responsibility to be the best version of ourselves so we can better give and serve others with our God-given talents. Even when we put away our crown, we retain that responsibility. After my week at Miss America, I am more motivated than ever to fulfill my responsibility of a "life of service." Hopefully, as I work toward this goal, my feet will grow a little bigger. Because, now more than ever, I realize if I want to be Miss Missouri or Miss America, I have some big shoes to fill (be they DSW or not).