April 11-14:
My final week at the Mrs. America pageant in White Sulphur Springs West Virginia at the Greenbrier America's Resort. Monday was interviews and they went very well. I had four minutes with five different judges. After interviews I had some free time and Mrs. Kansas and I went for a two mile walk around the property. It was one of the nicest days we had so far. Tuesday was preliminary competition. I competed in swimsuit, evening gown and state costume. My mom and sister in-law as well as my director and hair/make up artist had dinner with me that night. It was great to spend some time with familiar faces. Wednesday was rehearsal day and we did so all day except to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. We did a complete run through of the pageant for the production crew to make sure that everything would run smoothly on thursday night.
Thursday we had more rehearsal and then it was time to get ready for the final night of competition. It was a little bitter sweet. I was ready to get back home, but I was sad to leave all my new friends. I am very thankful for the opportunity that I had to get to know 50 amazing women from all over the country and to share stories and this journey that is definately once in a lifetime. I am very proud of myself for the personal growth that I had during these last two weeks.
Mrs. Florida is the new Mrs. America and I am so happy for her. She is so deserving and I hope she can raise awareness for her platform about retinal degenerative diseases. I am excited to report that I was awarded the Mrs. America Fitness Award!! Thank you to everyone that has followed my blog and for the continued support and Love that you all have showed me. I am so BLESSED!!!! Thank you all.

April 10: The day started off with a bus ride to the gun club. After we got on our vests, glasses and ear protection it was time to shoot some guns :). I think skeet shooting is my new calling. LOL. Just joking but I did hit three out of four. Maybe it was beginners luck, but I will take it!! Then it was time for lunch and off to rehearsals which lasted for a couple of hours and then we were done for the day. It was nice to have dinner and not feel rushed. I was so excited today because "Queen Mom" and Deata came today. It is really nice to see a familiar face. After dinner we got a game plan for Monday which is interview day. I really feel at peace with this whole process because I truely feel that the outcome has already been determined and this will play out the way God has intended it too. I am just so happy to have this opportunity to represent the married women of Kentucky.
I would like to take this time to say thank you to my family and friends for all their support and love. I am such a lucky lady :)

April 9: Today was a great day because we finally got to do our gift exchange. I got 50 amazing gifts from all the contestants. To be honest there were so many I don't even know exactly what all I got. I figure I could continue my gift a day and open one everyday for 50 days when I get home from the pageant. That way I can ease myself back into reality!! This has been such an increadable journey. All the Mrs. America staff and the resort staff are just wonderful.
We worked on our opening number and our flagography, yes I said flagography. At the beginning of the finals we are all walking in through the audience with our state flag. It should look really good. We were all so excited to get our flags. 51 women with full size flag on poles, you knew someone would get hurt and yes one lady got smacked in the face with a flag. She is okay though, no permanent damage. Tomorrow I get to go to the gun club and I am excited about that. We are also having a photo shoot in our swimsuits down at the pool, then more rehearsals. I can't wait for everyone to see the final production and to know all of our hard work has paid off! Hope everyone in Kentucky is having a great day :)

April 8: Only 6 more days until the big show. We have been working very hard on the openning number and It's going to look phenominal. I am so happy to be one of the ladies in this group this year. There has been so much more attention to detail because we are going to be nationally televised. I as well as all the ladies were so excited to get our swimsuit. The color this year for prelim's is turquoise and if I make the finals the swimsuit color will be a hot pink.
Tonight we went into Lewisburg to eat dinner at a restaurant called Bella Casa. It was very good. I had filet and for dessert we had cannolies. Everyone has said we would loose weight while we were here, but I think I need to worry about fitting in my gown. LOL!!! It's so hard to say no to such good food.
Tomorrow we will finally be able to rehearse on the stage. It will be good for us to see exactly how things will look for the openning number. Today was another wonderful day at the Greenbrier and I feel so blessed to be here.

April 7: Now it is getting down to business and emotions are running high. It has been one week and I am missing my family and from the vibe at rehearsal so was everyone else. We are having a lot of rehearsals to learn the opening number and our routines for swimsuit, evening gown and state costume. Today was breakfast then rehearsal, lunch then rehearsal and dinner. The next few days will be like this as well. I am still having a great time though!! I have met so many people from Kentucky that I feel like a local celebrity. Everyday the other girls are telling me that someone is looking for Mrs. Kentucky. It is so nice to have a lot of support being this far from home. I can't wait until Sunday when I get to go the the gun club for a photo shoot, so stay tuned in for that. The pictures should be great :)

April 6: Today was a fun day. I got to go golfing. I considered it a sucess because I hit more golf balls than grass. LOL. After golf I had some free time so Mrs. North Dakota and I went on a 2 1/2 mile walk around the property. This place is so gorgeous. I wanted to stay outside all day. After the walk I rested in my room until my roommate got back from her falconry excursion. We got ready for dinner but first wanted to try our luck at the casino. I just contributed to the house :(. After dinner we had rehearsals until 10pm, and as they say here at the Greenbrier "It's sleepy time down south y'all"

April 5: Today started with rehearsal until lunch. We broke up into groups and my group will be in thefront during the opening number for the final night of the pageant. :) After rehearsal we had lunch and then all went bowing. There is a 8 lane bowling alley in the resort. I think we should have told them to put up the bumper bars. It is safe to say their aren't any future professional bowlers in the group. After bowling I went back to the room to get ready for out chairsmans dinner. This was where we gave one of our dignitary gifts. We gave our gifts to the owner of the Greenbrier, James Justice. He was very intertaining telling us numerous stories about he and his wife. He also gave each contestant a gift bag which included a large book about the history of the Greenbrier, an ornament of a rhododendrom (which is the state flower of WV), a bag of cornbread mix and of course James' favorite a bag of M & M's. I am getting so spoiled here with all the gifts. I am not complaining at all though!! It was a late night but another amazing day here at the Greenbrier.

April 4: Today was the Habitat for Humanity build. I helped unload drywall and put up siding on the exterior walls. I am proud to say that my girls and I finished a whole wall of siding. It was hard work, but a lot of fun knowing it was for a deserving family. After lunch I got to go on a horse back ride and a carriage ride. The weather was phenomenal here in White Sulphur Springs. It was the perfect day for outside activites. It was then time for rehearsal for several hours, then dinner and rehearsal again. I got back to my room about 10pm. What a long and exhausting day it was today. I am ready for sleep now...........

April 3: This morning I woke up a little sad because Kentucky lost their game last night, but what do I have to be sad about? I'm at the Mrs. America Pageant at the Greenbrier!!! So, I got over that real fast. I had a great breakfast and we took a goup shot outside in front of the resort since the sun was out. We had been waiting for that to happen since thursday. After that, it was on to rehearsal which was another good workout. After lunch we took the bunker tour and I am sorry to report that although it has been declassified, you still can't take electronics down in it. So, no pictures :( Our tour guide was really enthusiastic about its history and I was very interested about it as well. It is a part of our national history and it was fun to see and learn about all of it. After the bunker tour we went into the kitchen area and took some fun pictures of us in chef's hats. Then it was time to go back to the room and get ready for the Marmel's cocktail party. The party was in another elaborate room with huge chandaliers hanging from the ceiling. Everything about this resort is just stunning. The Marmel's are wonderful people and they gave us all a huge Vera Bradley bag. I got "of course" Kentucky Blue!! :) It was a great ending to another funfilled day at the Mrs. America Pageant.