Spring Meeting!

What an amazing weekend! (busy, too!) This will be a big post. ;-) LOTS of photos!!! Probably should have made it a day by day post, but here goes! First photo: All the contestants in our venue sponsor shirt at the Golf Tournament with Miss Arkansas, Alyse Eady.

So starting with last Saturday, Natalie Marcus and I rode together (along with my mum) to Little Rock. I've known Natalie for a while now (we worked together), but I really enjoy spending time getting to know her better. She is an incredible young woman, and I am blessed to know her! We left my hotel in the downtown River Market area together and walked to the Tony Bowls photo shoot. Did I mention that I love downtown Little Rock? We all had such a phenomenal time at the shoot. Meeting Tony Bowls for the first time was exciting! And I can say from experience, he is SO involved in his photo shoots. You can tell that his designs mean a lot to him, because he doesn't just let someone take photos of them. He is right there with you, encouraging how you model in the shot, and sometimes he is even the one holding up your train for that perfect image! Here is an iPhone shot of my shoot, courtesy Toni Bahn. I can't wait to see the final photos. And don't forget to check out www.missarkansas.org for the final photos. There will be a link to view and vote on your favorites, and the winning contestant will receive a scholarship!!!

Taken by Toni Bahn at the incredible Tony Bowls shoot!

Sunday was the Spring Meeting a.k.a. Contestant's Meeting. We enjoyed delicious food at the Pleasant Valley Country Club. I must say that the Coconut Pie was AhhhMazing! All 46 contestants got to model for different vendors across the state. I modeled a beautiful gown from Rebekah Lane in Harrison. Here is a picture of Kelsey Dow and I getting ready for the runway show.

Now, the meeting was great. Meeting all of the contestants always makes competition feel more real, and you realize it isn't as far off as you've been thinking! I was really excited to win a Tony Bowls evening gown from Venue as a door prize! But, the most exciting thing for me (possibly from the whole weekend) was the announcement that Miss America 2009, Katie Stam, will be co-emceeing the first two nights of competition at Miss Arkansas this year! This may not seem like much to some, but while I am a fan of all our Miss America's, Katie Stam is my favorite! I credit my desire to get involved in this program to watching her win in 2009 and then keeping up with her year of service. I have the utmost respect for her and I can't wait to meet her! I'll do my best not to be "that" giddy school girl that you have to kick out of rehearsal. ;-)

After the meeting, we headed off to Solemates for a drop-in event. Shelly Arnold is such a wonderful sponsor of the Miss Arkansas pageant and she takes great care of all of us girls! She is responsible for my amazing interview shoes, and I came home this week with a new pair of Chinese Laundry heels that I adore!



My sister queen, Ashley Walthall, and I posing with Shelly and Margie at Solemates!



 The final stop for all of us contestants was the 2nd Annual Golf Tournament benefitting the scholarship program. We experienced some interesting weather. I started the day with the girls from NEA and we huddled together in our little golf cart to hide from the sudden downpour! After that, we had sun in the sky! It was a great day. I got to know Rosalyn Taylor later in the day as she drove me around the course. I enjoyed getting to know a fellow baton twirler. I used to be a majorette, and I can't wait to see her routine at Miss Arkansas.

The NEA gang! They let me drive...

Rosalyn and I rode around the golf course together!

Finally, I ended my day with total relaxation, and a little therapy session, courtesty Kay Talley. She is another one of the amazing Miss Arkansas sponsors, and she is helping me to have flawless skin! I so enjoyed my afternoon with you, Mrs. Kay! 

Me with Kay Talley after an amazing facial!

Until next time....

All my love,

Somer

A Night With Princesses

The Miss Greater Jonesboro pageant hosted a reception for the young ladies who were a part of the MGJ Princess Program this year. The young girls enjoyed a very special treat as Alyse was there to sign autographs and perform her amazing talent! I got to see her perform with Crazy Bird for the first time live. Definitely a treat!

Despite the nasty weather, the girls were all smiling faces, and I learned an important lesson: always carry an umbrella. Luckily no one snapped a photo of me as I ran through the downpour with a trash bag on my head! Very princess like, of course. ;-)

I loved seeing so many of our local titleholders there, including:
Miss Greater Jonesboro, Natalie Marcus
Miss Greater Jonesboro Outstanding Teen, Ranae Clines
Miss Crowley's Ridge, Bethany Bell
Miss Crowley's Ridge Outstanding Teen, Emma Jumper
Miss Northeast Arkansas Outstanding Teen, Courtney Welsh
Miss Cotton Belle Outstanding Teen, Sierra Gorton
Miss Arkansas State University, Kelsey Dow
Miss Lights of the Delta Outstanding Teen, Bailey Moses

Here are a couple of photos from the event.

Kelsey Dow, Miss ASU, Kristen Heuck, Miss ASU's Executive Director, and me!

Lilly and me!

Here's one with Miss Arkansas, Alyse Eady, and my Diamond State Princess, Madeline Adams!

Pizza Party? Sign me up!

Recently, I held pizza parties for the two classes at Fox Meadow Intermediate Center that raised the most money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals earlier this year. The two classes of 4th and 5th graders at FMIC were so welcoming and seem pretty excited about their pizza! (And to be so little, they can sure put back 12 large pizzas!)

I really enjoyed getting to spend time with the students in Mrs. Gipson's and Mrs. Martin's classes. The best thing was telling them that they have helped save the lives of children all over Arkansas! We spent a lot of time talking about their plans for the summer and even got to ask a few of them what they wanted to be when they got older. Of course their answers ranged from rockstar to lawyer, but it was neat getting to tell the kids who wanted to be future doctors that maybe they could work at Arkansas Children's Hospital one day! All in all, we had a blast! Here are a few photos.

Mrs. Gipson's 5th grade class

Mrs. Martin's lively 4th graders

Having some fun!

Looking to the Future (The missing post!)

So this post won't be exactly what I had written for my last published post that was deleted in the Blogger update process, but I'll do my best! Sorry it has taken me so long to replace it, but I was sincerely hoping the original post would be recovered.

Saturday, May 7th marked an incredible day for me as I became an official alumni of Arkansas State University! I had experienced a pretty rough (and extremely busy) time leading up to my college graduation, but in the end all of that struggle was completely worth it! I'm so excited to be stepping into the next phase in my life. Not only that, but with school behind me I can finally put 150% effort into my Miss Arkansas preparations. I began in the Miss America preliminary pageants to accomplish two things: the first was to attempt my childhood dream of becoming Miss America (of course), and the second was to help me afford my college education. The first goal, I am still working towards ;). I am so grateful for the ability to say that the second goal was realized following my 4th Runner-Up placement at Miss Arkansas last summer. With the scholarship money I was awarded last July, I was able to finish my Senior year entirely debt free! That isn't something very many people can say these days, but thanks to the Miss Arkansas organization, I will be moving on into a bright future unrestricted by debt. For that I am so thankful!

Here is a photo of my mother and me at my graduation! And below that are a few photos of the last fundraiser hosted by all of the NEA titleholders at Tropical Smoothie for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

Very supportive mommy and me on graduation day!

The NEA gang at Tropical Smoothie

My former princess, Olivia Adams (right), and her sister, my current Diamond State Princess, Maddie Adams (left)!

Missing Post

For a quick update. I published a new blog post on Thursday, May 12. That is the same day that Blogger started having problems and somehow or another they deleted my latest post. Everything I've read says it should be back up soon. I hope that is the case. Sorry for the confusion. I'll update you again soon! I'm just trying to stay positive. I have definitely learned my lesson. From now on I'll be backing up all of my posts.