Hello all!

For those of you keeping up with me through this blog, I just wanted to remind you that for the next 3 months I will be blogging here.  Follow that link to visit my idwellinhope blog where I will be sharing stories from my four month mission trip to Uganda.

Miss Lights of the Delta 2012

It has nearly been one full month since I was crowned Miss Lights of the Delta 2012, and in that one month it has been busy! I have a lot to catch you up on, so get ready!!!

I'll start with the most recent...

Sunday, I performed at the Miss Arkansas Wardrobe Preview for Miss America. Unfortunately, I can't give you the top secret intricate details of her fabulous wardrobe, but I can tell you that I'm pretty sure none of the other state contestants will be able to compare! I, and I know Kristen feels the same, am so blessed to be a participant in the Miss Arkansas system. I would dare say that no other state could rival the amazing support from sponsors and volunteers that we enjoy.

I decided rather late to sing instead of play the flute for yesterday's entertainment. I chose to sing "The Impossible Dream" because Kristen has already surpassed one seemingly impossible dream, the dream I know she has dreamed for years, by becoming Miss Arkansas. I know that she may very well do the "impossible" again, and become our next Miss America. I wish her the best of luck! I am so disappointed that I can't be in Las Vegas cheering her on, but my thoughts and prayers will be with her from training camp in Atlanta. Be sure and keep up with her blog, newly redesigned and a wonderful way to get to know our lovely Miss Arkansas, secondchanceskg.blogspot.com. Here is a photo of this year's top five at the preview showing our support!

Top 5 2011: Sloane Roberts, Lauren English, Kristen Glover, Simone Mullinax, and moi!

Last weekend I, along with five other 2012 titleholders volunteered at the Arkansas Children's Hospital Miracle Ball. There is so much that I could say about the event from the decor to the wonderful people I had the privilege of meeting. But the most important thing I could mention from the night is that I can't think of a more worthy cause. The proceeds from the evening will go to funding isolettes for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU. One thing I learned from my time working with the March of Dimes Chain Reaction Youth Council is that in Arkansas 1 in 8 babies is born premature. That's the same as the national average, and in my opinion, much to large a statistic. The isolette machine enables babies born premature to have a fighting chance at life. It was an honor to be involved in this year's Miracle Ball.

Volunteers with Miss Arkansas, Kristen Glover, former 1st-Runner-up to Miss Arkansas, Mrs. Isom, and former Miss Arkansas, Sharon Bale!

And the week before my trip to Little Rock for AR Children's, my fellow sister queens and I enjoyed a little Christmas cheer by riding in the Blytheville Christmas parade and then volunteering out at the Lights of the Delta display! It was a great time for my new sisters and I to get to know each other. It is such a joy to get to be the "big" to Miss Lights of the Delta Outstanding Teen (or LOTDOT for short), Kelli Collins, and Miss NEA Outstanding Teen, Haven Cagle!

At the Lights of the Delta entrance! Haven Cagle, Myself, and Kelli Collins

Earlier that week, I got to be on my first radio show bright and early in the morning! Thank you so much Charles Moody for asking me to sing with you and promote the Light's display. I had a fantastic time, and I am looking forward to returning. (hint hint)

The Chuck and Steve Show

 

The night before the radio show, I was asked to attend the Blytheville Tree Lighting Ceremony. I had the privilege of meeting the Mayor for the first time, and the joy of singing Christmas carols with a group of kids.

With Mayor Sanders of Blytheville

And right after Thanksgiving came the night that made this post possible...and that of course is the night I became Miss Lights of the Delta 2012! It was a busy weekend. I passed on the title of Miss NEA on Friday evening, traveled through the light's display on a hay ride with all of the NEA and Lights' contestants, and then woke up early Saturday to get ready for interview! I was so excited in the afternoon to be awarded the swimsuit award and that evening I also received the talent award. I've mentioned it when blogging before that this pageant was my last opportunity to return to Miss Arkansas next summer because of my mission trip this spring. (Which you can read more about by viewing my other blog idwellinhope.blogspot.com.) And to say that I was nervous would be a bit of an understatement. I am so honored to represent the Northeast Arkansas area again this year to Miss Arkansas.

Thanks for reading! More to come soon!

Blessings,

Somer

'Tis the Season...Almost!

So it has been awhile since my last post! I've been very busy with Uganda planning and, recently, with pageant preparations! For those of you who don't know I'll be competing in the Miss Lights of the Delta pageant this weekend, and I couldn't be more excited about it! But I'll get to that...

First, I want to say what a priviledge it has been to serve the entire Northeast Arkansas area as Miss NEA this past year. I can't believe that my reign is so suddenly (it feels like) coming to an end. This Friday night in Blytheville I will crown the new Miss NEA 2012, and it is a very bittersweet thing for me. Not only am I so thankful for the amazing year that I have had, and with that my top 5 placement at Miss Arkansas. But the people who make up the Miss NEA Pageant Association have become family to me, and I'm so grateful to them for all of the time and energy they have poured into me to not only make me a strong competitor, but also to help make me the best kind of representative that I can be!

As you now know, I will be competing for the title of Miss Lights of the Delta this Saturday! (Busy weekend!) This will be a wonderful pageant weekend and I hope some of you will be able to make it out to Blytheville for the pageants. This is also a pretty difficult weekend for me. You may have already done the math and noticed that this Saturday is the last preliminary that I am eligible to compete in this year, as I will be in Uganda throughout the Spring pageant season. My decision to go to Uganda was not made lightly. It is my last year to be able to travel with this group as it is a program for 18-22 year olds and this summer I will turn 23. One of my biggest considerations when deciding whether or not to go, was the Miss Arkansas Organization. This program is a huge part of my life and I knew at the end of the Miss Arkansas pageant this year that I wanted to go back and try again in 2012. It is difficult finally coming down to this weekend knowing that this is it for me this year, but I have complete faith that the right girl will be chosen for the job of Miss LOD. If that is not me, then I will support the winner, and I'll be back at Miss Arkansas this summer cheering on my friends. If the title comes to me this weekend, then (I will be ecstatic!!) I will consider it an honor to get back to the state competition! I have worked very hard in preparing for Saturday night, and I can't wait to be back on stage!

So the title of this blog is 'Tis the Season...Almost and the reason for that is, this past Monday night was the opening of the Lights of the Delta festival in Blytheville, and I, along with my sister queen Courtney Welsh, had the joy of volunteering to collect toys for the group Ignite, who collect toys for needy children during the holidays who otherwise wouldn't get a visit from Santa in December. This is my second year to work the opening of the Festival, and yet again, the Lights of the Delta board has prepared another wonderful lights display to help ring in the season! Here are a couple of photos from Monday night! Wish me luck this weekend, and I promise to update you on how the weekend turns out! Thanks for following my blog, and I hope you and your family have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Courtney and I handing over our donations to Santa and Mrs. Clause!

Us with the "golden voice" of Northeast Arkansas! Thanks for all of your support and the time you donate, George!

Me and Courtney together one last time before we give up our titles!!!

New Ventures...to Uganda

Well it's official... I'm going to Uganda in January! I'm so excited. I couldn't wait to share it with you all. I've been thinking about this for a long time now (two years in fact) and I'm thrilled to finally be taking that step. I will be leaving January 13th and returning May 9th. It is a semester long missions program where I will be doing missions work all over the country.

Because I originally designed this blog for updates on my involvement with the Miss America system, I have set up another blog site idwellinhope.blogspot.com (to visit click here) to be about my international travel. The idea for the blog title "I Dwell in Hope" came from Acts 2:25-26:

     For David says concerning him, "'I saw the Lord always before me, for he is
     at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, 
     and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh will also DWELL IN HOPE.'"

I will continue to update this blog throughout my journey (hopefully!) to Miss Arkansas 2012 as I know I am not finished with that part of my life. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I have been blessed to be a part of the Miss Arkansas Pageant and I plan to always give back to that organization. If anything, it is my involvement with this system that has spurned my desire to not only work in community service here in the United States, but to also take my knowledge and desire to make a difference all over the world.

I hope you'll also choose to follow my journey in Uganda by following my new blog. Now, I've said that I'm officially going, as I have been accepted by the program, but to be honest it is a very expensive undertaking. I will be fundraising from now until the end of December. Only if I'm able to raise the funds will I get to see this dream accomplished. That being said, you can help make this a reality for me by e-mailing me at somer.allen@hotmail.com to find out how you can make a donation. Please feel no obligation, but your contribution is greatly appreciated (even if it is just in prayers!!).

Blessings,

Somer

MGJ 2012

Congratulations to the new Miss Greater Jonesboro 2012, Bethany Bell!!! Also to the new MGJOT, Sierra Gorton! I know that these two girls will make a great addition to the MGJ family! I was privileged last year to crow Natalie Marcus MGJ 2011 and to crown Bethany Bell as Miss Crowley's Ridge 2011. It was wonderful watch Natalie place that crown on Bethany's beautiful head Saturday night. Both of these young women are excellent representatives in this system and I'm proud to call them friends.

Sarah Hamilton was announced as Bethany's 1st Runner-up! Sarah was my MGJ teen queen in 2010. We aren't joking when we say this is a family! Congratulations to you Sarah! I can't wait to see what's in store for you.

Also in attendance Saturday night was our wonderful Miss Arkansas, Kristen Glover! She performed an exciting new acapella tap routine that had the audience wanting to join in her rhythm. We have a fantastic representative here in Arkansas and I can't wait for the rest of America to see that on the Miss America stage!

Here are a couple of photos from the night:

The contestants for MGJ 2012!

My Diamond State Princess, Maddie, and me! She and her family are so supportive. Plus her big sis was a teen contestant!

Probably my favorite photo! My current teen and my first teen, Courtney Welsh and Sarah Hamilton. (note that they are taller than me...) 

I was fortunate to grab a photo with our Miss Arkansas, Kristen Glover! Doesn't she look fabulous?!

The Greatest of These is Love

I want to share with you guys one of my new favorite songs! I don’t know if you are a fan of MercyMe, but they really have some great songs (lyrically, musically, emotionally, etc.). The past few weeks I feel like God has been dealing with me about my purpose, my calling in this lifetime. The beautiful thing about this is how many confirmations I feel like I have seen recently regarding my next steps. This song is one of those. For some it is something beautiful to listen to, for others (like me) it is a call to be the body of Christ to our world.

This song is called "Won't You Be My Love" and as I have recently begun to understand more about God’s love, it really represents exactly what is meant by the many scriptures God gave to us about love.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 (NIV)
 
Here are the lyrics:
 

When you fall asleep tonight
In your warm and cozy room
Know that I'm awake
And I've got no shelter and no food
This verse is so moving because it really speaks to a big problem I think exists in the U.S. today, and that problem is one of comfort and through that comfort, a lack of awareness of the issues plaguing our world. (And not just our international world! These issues are right here, under our noses, on American soil. Hunger, poverty, disease, etc.)

I am not alone
My friends are broken and lost
Looking for someone to lead them to my cross
I need your help, I need your help

Won't you be My voice calling
Won't you be My hands healing
Won't you be My feet walking into a broken world
Won't you be My chain-breaker
Won't you be My peacemaker
Won't you be My hope and joy
Won't you be My Love
I just love this chorus. I truly believe this is what God meant when he said that we are the body of Christ and He has called His body to LOVE the world!

The other side of the world
She is just a few days old
A helpless little girl
With no family of her own
Personally, this verse is what first caught my attention listening to this song for probably the 20^th time in my car on the way to work the other day. It continues…

She is not to blame for the journey she is on
Her life is no mistake
Won't you lead her to My cross?
…and it just breaks my heart. None of us have chosen the lives we were born into. Whether we were born into wealth or poverty, this country or that, to a family or as an orphan, none of us made those decisions. But God sees us where we are and He loves us. He has a plan for our lives.

Won't you be My voice calling
Won't you be My hands healing
Won't you be My feet walking into a broken world
Won't you be My chain-breaker
Won't you be My peacemaker
Won't you be My hope and joy
Won't you be My Love
Again, that call to be His hands and feet, His love, is getting stronger.

To those I call My own
To those I've set aside
As spotless without blame
The chosen ones My bride
Hello Christians!!!! (It’s like He is screaming for us to wake up!)

We will be Your voice calling
We will be Your hands healing
We will be Your feet walking into a broken world
We will be Your chain-breaker
We will be Your peacemaker
We will be Your hope and joy
We will be Your love
And this is our response!!! Oh thank God for his beautiful love!

A Busy Weekend

So this post is a little overdue, but here goes! I had a wonderful time competing in the Miss White River Pageant on the first weekend of this month. Participating in Miss White River included attending the Miss Batesville Pageant where a made a new friend with Miss Batesville 2012, Norma Lopez, and spending the weekend with four other contestants. Each of the contestants were uniquely talented, which made for a very appealing pageant, and I enjoyed getting to know each and every one of them better. Here are before the luncheon honoring Miss White River 2011, Simone Mullinax!

The contestants for Miss White River 2012!

Courtney Welsh, Me, Brooke Ault, Helen Wisner, Dorothy Shepherd

I was delighted to be named 1st Runner-up and I'm very excited to congratulate Helen Wisner on being named Miss White River 2012! Also, a huge congratulations to my roommate for the weekend, Dorothy Shepherd on being named 2nd Runner-up! We were a very close-knit group since there were so few contestants so we got to know each other really well. Helen will make a wonderful representative of the White River pageant and I'm excited to see her back at the state level after she competed so well in her first year. Dorothy and I spent a lot of time together since we were roommates and I'm so thankful to know her even better now than I did at state this year. She is a wonderful woman of God and a wonderful competitor! I had the priviledge of getting to know Courtney Welsh over the course of this past year because she was my teen "sister queen" as Miss NEA Outstanding Teen. I'm SO glad that she has decided to compete in Miss Arkansas prelims and I can't wait to see her on the stage next July. Good Luck Court, I'm rooting for you (even though now we're competing together!!!) And finally, I'm so glad to know Brooke Ault. What a voice?!!! Not only is she a wonderfully talented vocalist (notice she won the talent award!) but she is also an amazing person off-stage! She kept me laughing the whold weekend and was a joy to compete with! Definitely another girl I hope to compete with again at state next July!

In addition to spending time with the contestants, we had the joy of being chaperoned by Miss Arkansas 2008, Ashlen Thomason. One of my favorite formers (It's kind of a given, she played the flute!!!) She has been so very helpful to me and I truly appreciate her sincerity! She is always available to help any contestant and is the true representation of what this system is all about! Thanks Ashlen! And thanks to our other chaperones and volunteers who helped make us contestants feel stress free all weekend! Here are a couple more photos from the weekend:

Miss White River 2011, Simone Mullinax and Me at A Formal Affair in Batesville

Riding in the White River Water Carnival Parade!

A Celebration Fit for a Queen

I also had the pleasure of performing at our Miss Arkansas Kristen Glover's homecoming in Stuttgart along with Bethany Bell and Bethany Whitfield. We were each given the opportunity to say a little something about our friend Kristen and then we performed for the gathered crowd. I chose to play Amazing Grace on the flute as it is one of my favorite songs and I thought to myself that there was no better way to honor Kristen than to play something that represents her faith. I am so glad that we have a Miss Arkansas who is a faithful, God-believing young woman. We share that in common and I am proud to call her friend because of it.

Saying a few words!

I snagged a picture with our beautiful Miss Arkansas before leaving!