Wardrobes, Parades, and Pageants

Finals are finally over and hopefully I'll have more time to stay in touch. That is, of course, until next semester begins. My final semester in college, complete with 21 hours! I'm so excited to be graduating in May with two degrees: B.A. in Philosophy and B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies. It has been an amazing 3 1/2 years at ASU and I can't wait to see what life holds for me next. I promise to keep you updated. ;)

So it has been a very busy December. In addition to finals, I have had the privilege of attending Miss Arkansas, Alyse Eady's, Wardrobe Preview, riding in 3 Christmas Parades and entertaining at the newly brought back Miss Crowley's Ridge pageant. Whew! Alyse was beautiful and it was such a joy to get to see so many of the 2010 contestants again. I've said it before, but I am always so amazed at the friendships that have developed since the pageant last July. These are truly amazing girls and they are even better friends! I would post a photo with Alyse, but everything is classified at the highest priority until after Miss America! It was nice, though, that all of the Top 5 were in attendance to support our Miss Arkansas. Here is one of me and Miss Arkansas 2009, Sarah Slocum.

Me with Sarah Slocum, Miss Arkansas 2009

On December 14, I rode in the Wilson, AR Christmas Parade, and I had a blast! I had never visited the town of Wilson, and I'm so glad, now, that I have. There is such a beautiful square right in the center of town. And this weekend, on December 18, I enjoyed entertaining at the Miss Crowley's Ridge and Miss Crowley's Ridge Outstanding Teen Pageant. Unfortunately, after all these fun parades, I've come down with a bit of laryngitis so singing was out! Not to worry, that won't keep me from playing my flute. So, I played my state competition piece, "Can Can," and I got to assist in crowning. Bethany Bell was crowned the new Miss, and Emma Jumper crowned in teen. I've watched Bethany from her first competition in Miss NEA to being named a preliminary winner, and she is just marvelous. Each time she learns something new and makes her stage competition the better for it. Not to mention, she is a fantastic piano player! Look out Miss Arkansas, you have TWO instrumentalists this year! I leave you with a photo.

Me with Bethany Bell, Miss Crowley's Ridge 2011

Books and Thank Yous

So the morning after the Blytheville Christmas Parade. The NEA and Lights queens had an opportunity to read Christmas stories to children at "That Bookstore in Blytheville." We had a blast! That was the first time I had been in the bookstore and it was amazing! I have definitely found a new favorite place for my visits to Blytheville. Also, during our morning, we presented a thank you to the Blytheville Courier News for their dedicated coverage of the Northeast Arkansas Pageant Association. We are truly appreciative of their coverage because it helps the community to know, not only about what we queens are up to during our year reign, but it also shows the importance of supporting such a quality organization that is the Miss Arkansas Pageant. So thank you for your support!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Whew! Finals are almost over! I can't believe that after this week, I will only have one more semester before I graduate. Time really does go by so quickly. Forgive me for not staying in touch a little better, but this past week's finals have really taken it out of me. So I'm going to backtrack a couple of posts and update you on what I've been up to recently. ;)

Well for starters, the Miss Greater Jonesboro family and I kicked off the holiday season right by riding in the Jonesboro Christmas Parade on December 3rd. The weather was a little cold, but not unbearable. I left with one favorite (I guess you could call it) quote of the evening.  A sweet little girl in the audience got really excited when we rode by and called out to me "That's the Queen of Jonesboro!" Yes, I definitely loved that one! It is great to feel like a queen every now and again, and the people of Jonesboro who attended and of course the Jonesboro Jaycees who put on the event, certainly made me feel wonderful for the night. Here are a few pictures.

The family. Sean and Ellen Pollock with me and MGJ's Outstanding Teen Sarah Hamilton.

Ellen Pollock and the man who loaned and drove the car, Keith Pace. Thanks Keith!

But the fun didn't end there! The very next night I was in Blytheville appearing as Miss Northeast Arkansas, along with my 2011 pageant family in the Blytheville Christmas Parade. Though there were many highlights of this evening, I had yet another favorite "quote" during the parade when a cute little boy (maybe 8 years old) proceeded to make the phone symbol with his right hand and asked for my number! Adorable!

Following the parade, we headed out to the Festival of Lights and performed a couple of Christmas songs for the crowds that gathered after the parade. We enjoyed some delicious hot chocolate and even got our pictures with Santa! All in all, it was a wonderful start to the season. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of the night in Blytheville. The fun didn't end there, so watch for my next post about this very busy weekend.

My 2011 sister queens!

Parades and Glitter

While I mentioned this blog would be to update you on my year as Miss Northeast Arkansas 2011, I will continue my reign as Miss Greater Jonesboro 2010 until March 5, 2011. This week is a busy one for me as I will be riding in both the Jonesboro and the Blytheville Christmas parades this Thursday and Friday respectively! Below is the sign that I finished today for the Jonesboro parade. Lots of glitter and glue, and two hours later I had two signs ready and drying! I was so proud of my work that I thought I would show it off...what do you think??