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| AS 300 Cadets-Chris' class and I, in front of what looks like a giant penny. |
Last night I had the wonderful opportunity of singing the national anthem for the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps Detachment 465 annual Dining Out. This opportunity came to me only moments after I was crowned Miss Omaha 2011. After greeting my close family and friends I went out into the hallway and found Jessica States, Chris Jeffers, and Kayla Decker all running towards me in congratulations. After some pictures and talk with friends I noticed that Chris was still hanging around. He finally aproached me again and asked, "What are you doing November 20th?" I almost had to laugh, because with the kind of schedule I run, thinking more than a day into the future is a challenge let alone an entire month. But I found out what the event was and that it would be a Saturday night (usually a pretty safe free night in my planner) so I agreed. It wasn't until the next day that I found out Miss Lincoln/Star City would be that same evening. I will say that as Miss Omaha, I almost felt a sort of responsibility to be at the pageant. But after consulting my director and my mama, we agreed that singing at the ROTC event would be a great place for more doors to be opened to me. And I was a wonderful experience! I am definintely satisfied with the decision I made. I do have to confess something here though...because the pageant was happening at the very time I was eating...I may or may not have been hiding my phone under the table at times awaiting updates from Miss State Fair, Kayla Decker :O....shhhhhh don't tell!! Congrats to Jessica States, the new Miss Lincoln, and Rachel Foelinger, Miss Star City and Meghan Thalken, Miss Lincoln's Outstanding Teen!
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| The fabulous Chris Jeffers, planner of the evening. |
Dining Out represents the most formal aspects of Air Force social life. This event has been a tradition for many years for the Air Force, but not exclusively. These dinners have become traditions in all the the branches of the armed forces. It was interesting and entertaining to see some of these very traditions that were a part of the evening. After the commencement of the Mess, I sang the National Anthem. I had a different experience than ever before when I didn't get an applause after I sang. I didn't take any offense to this when I realized the traditions and military procedures. After many announcements and explanations of the evening, we were able to sit down for our wonderful meal. I took this time to catch up with Chris and the Jeffers clan and to read the program book. At the beginning of the night, a few rules were stated...little did I know that these rules covered an entire page in the program. Here are just a few of my favorites:
- 5. Thou shalt not leave the mess whilst convened. Military protocol overrides all calls of nature.
- 9. Thou shalt not murder the Queen's English.
- 15. Thou shalt not laugh at ridiculously funny comments unless the President first show approval.
- 23. Thou shalt express they approval by tapping thy spoon on the table. Clapping of thy hands will not be tolerated.
- 24. Thou shalt enjoy thyself to the fullest.
You may consider some of these rules a bit...ridiculous (no clapping, no obnoxious laugher) but don't worry, we were allowed a 15 minute intermission! :) All in all, the evening was great, even with the harsh rules. Along with dinner and some commentary provided by Mr. Vice and Mr. Versa, I had the honor of witnessing another tradition...shown below!
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| The grog. |
Yes, this is indeed a toilet bowl, and in my hand is a cup full of the concoction that was inside that very toilet bowl. The bowl was filled with mildly distasteful beverages including: pickle juice, ginger ale, kool-aid, mustard, lemon juice and a few other ingredients. Although I though it would be of great entertainment to be sent to the grog myself to drink that nasty fluid...I didn't get sent! There were a few ways to be sent to the grog. If you were caught committing a serious breach of protocol or violating any of the 24 rules of the mess, you would be punished by being forced to drink from the grog. Chris was actually sent because, as the coordinator of the whole event, he set the date during a Nebraska Husker football game. At the time everyone thought that was a horrible thing, when after seeing the results, I think we were lucky to miss it! Cadets were also sent with rhymes. Rhymes were created to, in a sense, humiliate or poke fun at other cadets. One cadet had a rhyme recited to him about driving a VW bug...while his girlfriend drives a Mustang! I would have to say this was my favorite part of the evening. The creativity of the rhymes was very impressive, many even came up with rhymes to throw back and defend their own trip to the grog.
I asked Chris if I could be invited back again next year to sing, and when I do I will come fully equip with a stack of rhymes to send people to the grog! :)
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| Mr. Vice and Mr. Versa, myself, Chris and a couple lucky cadets chosen for this photo shoot. |
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| Lt. Col Golda T. Eldridge Jr. was the guest speaker of the evening and the newest Hall of Fame inductee. |
The evening ended with a speech from the distinguished speaker and Detachment 465 Hall of Fame Inductee, Lt. Col Golda T. Eldridge Jr. His speech was directed at the cadets but I found it to be very conveniently comparable to the normal citizen, like myself, as well. Lt Col Eldridge shared with us things that he wished someone would have shared with him; setting goals, making decisions, mistakes, and failures and how to handle them. He explained that many of us usually seem to have short term goals and long term goals, but we lack the goals that link those two things together. He challenged the room of cadets not only to consider the immediate goals and the big picture but also the little things that lead up to that, because those are the goals that are sometimes the most important. In making decisions, he shared that there are three different kinds of decisions; good decisions, bad decisions, and no decision at all. He encouraged us to make a good decision as often as possible, and when you couldn't to make a bad decision, because any decision is better than no decision at all. "We all make mistakes," he said, but he emphasized that when those mistakes are made, make them only once and learn from them, and don't make the same mistake again. The same idea went to failures. We will all have failures in life, but it is key to learn from them and move past them. I enjoyed his speech because I was able to relate to these things. I feel that we can all relate to these situations and I felt that it was very helpful information to be reminded of.
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| Family picture minus Britt and Charlie. This is my Team Jeffers...or Batt now I guess! |
And this section of my blog is dedicated to my Jeffers family. I am blessed to have them in my life! I don't remember exactly when I officially met each of them but they have been watching me since I was a 17 year old competing for Miss Nebraska's Outstanding Teen 2007. At that time I only knew them as Brittany's family, but over the years I have had the opportunity to get to know them personally and am honored by their support. I specifically remember talking to Mama Lisa after my performance at the Saturday morning brunch at Miss Nebraska 2008. It was the morning after I gave up my title and I was performing two songs, and afterwards Lisa came up to me and shared that I had nearly brought her husband, Scott to tears with my performance. :) Now I don't know if that's entirely true but I was so happy to hear that. Since then I have had their support. It's such a great feeling knowing that I have supporters outside of my immediate family, who know the ropes, and are always there to root for me and encourage me when I need it. It was wonderful getting to catch up on my National Sweetheart experiences and my year as Miss Omaha with them. (By the way...Scott was one of the first people to wish me good luck finals night at National Sweetheart! It completely made my evening!) I am so very thankful for each of you and I love you all. You've been some of my biggest fans, and that means the world! I cant wait to hear the increase of cheers at Miss Nebraska this year :)
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| My date for the evening. We made quite the stud-ly couple! |
And for Chris, thank you for inviting me to perform and for being my date. I had talked to Chris just moments before I arrived at the
Cornhusker Marriot Hotel, and he told me to walk in the doors and look for him. I suggested that he be the one looking for me since you don't exactly blend into a crowd with a shimmery crown on your head. I walked into a room full of navy blues and thought I was going to have problems finding the man of the hour, luckily the whole crown search worked and he found me. As I mentioned before, Chris planned this entire event, and because of that he looked a little bit like a chicken with his head cut off, running around making sure everything was done. And I must say that it helped because the evening went wonderfully! He did a fabulous job with the entire thing, proud moment! At some point during a mini photo shoot we were having Chris told me that some of his friends were mistaking me for his sister, Brittany. I guess the crowns do look the same...although if I remember correctly, there is quite a height difference between Britt and I :). And not to worry, he explained that, no, I was not his sister but Miss Omaha, and his date. I was thrilled to participate in this event and I had a blast the entire night. Plans for the community service book page have already been thought of, thanks to Mama Lisa :)
Despite the Friday night full of doing laundry, the Huskers loss, this was a perfect weekend. Quite frankly, I've been running into those more and more these days and I've got to admit, I LOVE it! I am eagerly anticipating the holiday season and can't wait for Christmas. The YouTubing experiences begin! :)
Of course I can't completely focus on Christmas just yet. So I will share a couple songs I couldn't get out of my head yesterday. A great weekend to make a great Sunday!
The short week is nearing an end already, and I've got an extra kick in my step as it is...this week is going to fly! I'm anxious to see my family and to spend my only Husker game of the year with some of my closest friends. I am also doing something crazy this weekend but I can't explain until after I've done it!
Oh ya, yesterday was my half birthday! The count down to my golden Birthday, the big 21, has begun!!!
Full of love,
Kayla
Miss Omaha
ps. I purchased tires for my car Bernice this weekend (I feel great about it because I paid for them on my own...and it's not exactly a small purchase) and while at
Graham Tire here in Lincoln I met an incredible woman named Judy. We had great conversation about Toyota's, football, school, pageants (her niece is a former Miss Ohio) ballroom dancing, and life. It was just a humble experience to hear her stories coming from Germany, being a medic in the Army, teaching ballroom dancing, to raising her family. Her encouragement for my own experiences, is what caught me off guard. I could tell that she was genuine. She laughed while saying that when I become famous, I wont remember ever meeting her. I told her that I have come to the realization that it is often the little things and little people and experiences that make the biggest impacts in our lives. Judy, has definitely impacted my life and I am thankful for our meeting and for our conversation. She is someone that I will not forget.
lovin' life and everything in it <3
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