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| My Miss Nebraska little sister from last year Haley Piper. |
After five hours of work, three hours of driving, and two hours of getting ready I was finally on my way to Miss America's homecoming celebration at the Quality Inn and Suites in North Platte. Thanks to my dear friend and fellow competitor, Kayla Decker (Miss Nebraska State Fair) I had a place to change and do some hair prep before the big show. Upon our arrival to the hotel I was engulfed with fellow competitors and friends. I loved being in the North Platte "home" again. It is always such a joy to be welcomed by so many wonderful people. I immediately ran into my "little sister" from last years pageant, Haley Piper. She was such a spunky girl during the pageant last year and was truly, my biggest fan. I remember her whispering into my ear before performances things like, "We all want you to win!" and "You look so pretty tonight!" It was so encouraging during the week to see the impact I was having on her life and the inspiration I was creating.
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| Miss VT (my Outstanding Teen sister/roomie) and I |
And of course, I had to see my other "sister," my Miss VT OT 2007, Caroline Bright! I had the pleasure of cheering Caroline on at Miss America and then I got to see her in my home state! How wonderful! I have such a large amount of pride in this woman. I spent two weeks with her in Orlando; sleeping through alarm clocks, being late for breakfast, practicing our production numbers, and being each others...other for the entire stay. I saw that young woman then, and now look what I get to see. She is such an inspiration and I will always have a special place in my heart for her. I love seeing the transformation she has had from that young woman, the the beautiful, intelligent, most dedicated Vermonter I know! (Love you Caroline!)
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| Local title holders with Brittany Jeffers, Miss NE '09 |
While waiting for our food to be served and the program to start I took advantage of the down time and snapped some photos! It was so great talking to the other titleholders that I will have the joy of spending at week with at Miss Nebraska in June. It was also great to catch up with some of the hostesses and Miss Nebraska board as well.
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| Sister titleholders <3 |
After dinner and the program of the top 5, Miss America contestants, and many, many awards I was finally allowed to attack my favorite former Minnesotan (Nebraskan now!) Nicky Haverland! I met Nicky in the Miss Omaha/Douglas County 2010 pageant, where she was crowned Miss Douglas County. She was so much fun and I was so grateful to become close with her during the week of Miss Nebraska. I love teasing her accent :). I am so proud of Nicky for stepping into the shoes of Miss Nebraska and taking over the job for the rest of the year. She will do a fabulous job and I can't wait to spend another week with her this June!
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| Miss Nebraska 2010, Nicky Haverland. Such a wonderful woman! |
And finally...FINALLY...I got to have my picture taken with Miss America 2011, Teresa Scanlan! It was lovely to see her again and looking fabulous as always. I had actually jumped into a picture earlier than this one with all of the other titleholders, but I was feeling a bit jealous of all the people who were getting their pictures with her alone...so I took advantage of my selfishness and stood in line like a child at an ice cream truck to see her...again. I was one of the only local girls who got to travel to Vegas to watch Teresa compete in each area of competition, and I was so happy to connect with her again. She is truly a great woman.
I have to add this here too, because I told Teresa a little story. When people hear me mention that I compete in the Miss Nebraska Pageant they always ask, "So you know the Miss Nebraska who's Miss America now?!" I always reply, "Yes I do! I actually competed with her...and she beat me." Everyone always thinks its so cool that I competed with the current Miss America (as do I!) but I always have to slip in the teeny bit on information they may not know. That once upon a time, I beat Miss America in a pageant! I won my first pageant as Miss Alliance's Outstanding Teen and Teresa was runner up to the other title! Teresa got a kick out of this little story and I just had to tease her about it!
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| Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011 |
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| Brittany Jeffers and I |
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| My favorite Darrell and I. |
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| Former Miss Nebraska judge and Miss America 2004, Erica Dunlap and I. |
The rest of the evening was filled with photos and catching up. I am so looking forward to the competition this June I can hardly keep it to myself!
Leaving you with some music:
New favorite love song :)
Love this jam!
More to come...like tomorrow!
Kayla
Miss Omaha :)
