Well, Nationals
have come & gone! It was definitely an interesting experience and I truly enjoyed meeting all the fabulous women from around this great nation of ours! Due to financial reasons, Mrs. America will not be televised this year. They also had to scale back the production and shorten out time at Nationals. We did not have many opportunities for sightseeing, but it did make for a less stressful 9 days! I was able to sneak in a few hours of lounging by the pool, soaking up the Arizona sun! That's just not something I have the opportunity for in Iowa! The staff at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort were some of the most helpful & gracious people I have ever met! I found it interesting that a lo
t of them had originally lived in Iowa, Minnesota or Illinois! Maybe that is why I felt so at home! I had a lot of local people rooting for me all week which helped to keep me positive. Because of the shorten time that we were in Tucson, I was not able to really meet all the ladies I was competing with, but I know every one of them deserved to be there!
For the first time since I started competing in pageants I slept well the night before interviews!! I know that my preparations leading up to Nationals played a part in that, but I think the biggest reason is all the prayers that people were sending my way (as well as my own prayers each night)!! And I have to tell you about my make-up artist and hair stylist! Kelly & Leslie!! They are so fabulous!! The magic they worked on me helped me to relax even more! I can never thank them enough for their expertise and abilities. I know I looked amazing and it definitely helped me shine in interview and on stage! After I walked out of interviews I was on clo
ud nine! I felt it had gone sooo well! I think it was the best interview I have EVER done! There is absolutely nothing I would change! Then I had the rest of the day OFF! So, of course, I headed out to the pool! I also took some time to walk around the resort and video taped a lot of the area so my daughter, Caisha, could see where I was. She was so jealous that I got to go to Arizona!
Preliminary night was finally upon us! Mrs. Kentucky led a small group of us in prayer before we headed out and she was amazing!! It was very inspirational & uplifting. She truly has a gift in her praise of our Lord Jesus!! Thank you 'T' (short for RaTonya) for the encouraging message! I was definitely on autopilot and knew that God was guiding me the entire time! After the show, I had numerous people come up and tell me that I looked absolutely stunning on stage! They were positive I would be in Top 12! I was feeling pretty good, myself, but was still trying not to get my hopes up, as I had been told that it is truly a
crap shoot and we would all be surprised by some who made Top 12 and some who didn't.
Well, finals night finally arrives! And it was a train wreck! The minute we stepped out on stage, things did not go well! The lighting was so haphazard that half of us were in the dark and through-out the evening the microphones either didn't work or there was so much feedback from them that you had to cover your ears! We had an opening dance/singing number that we did. The problem was, we could not hear the music cue to start our dance above the yelling and clapping of the audience. We stood up there for a few minutes straining
to hear the music! I finally, faintly heard the music and found the beat and yelled out "5, 6, 7, 8!" Apparently most of the ladies heard me, because we all started at the same time. Unfortunately, because we started so late on our dance, the second group was not able to do their dance! By the time we came together as one large group to dance, we had it down pretty well, though. We did end on a strong note! Then our MC was introduced, Bill Harris. He has been the writer for Mrs. America for many years and this year he also became the host. He started off with the Publication Awards, but after calling out 4-5 names he was told to stop. Apparently he was reading off the wrong list! He did get the correct list and things went pretty smoothly from there, including my name being called as the winner in Swimsuit!! I was so shocked, but, of course, pleased to be recognized for all the hours & hours I spent at the gym when I would rather of been hanging out with my family! It was nice to be "rewarded" for my dedication. Then it came time to name the Top 12! We stood up there for over 10 minutes waiting for them to find the list!! I was ready to ask if we could redo our opening number to show everybody how it was really suppose to look, while we waited! Finally the list was read, and I was not included on th
at list. I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed, because I am REALLY disappointed! However, there is nothing I would change! Apparently the judges just did not see what so many other people saw, but then, I was not the only one that I thought should have been in the Top 12. But, after all, there can only be 12. All the ladies did a great job and I know the judges had some hard decisions to make! I would not have wanted to be in their shoes!! In the end, Mrs. North Carolina...my roommate!!.....Maureen MacDonald won the title of Mrs. America 2009! She is a beautiful person, inside & out, and I wish her all the best and I know she will do well at Mrs. World in November 2009, which will be in Vietnam!! Lucky her! Although......, there is still the chance that I could go to Mrs. World! Mr. Marmel, president of Mrs. America, gave all of us contestants a challenge during the MENC seminar. I can't remember the details of the contest, but I know it had something to do with the penny drive MENC has every year to raise funds for music education in our schools! Mrs. America headquarters will be sen
ding me more information about the contest soon, and maybe with all your help, I can still get to Mrs. World!! It would be great to be roommates with Maureen again!
I wish I could give a glowing review of my experience at Mrs. America, but I would be lying, and I have a hard time doing that(lying). I would never trade the opportunity I had and the fortuity to meet 50 beautiful, intelligent, dedicated women!! I hope we are able to have a couple reunions over the years to catch up and stay in touch! All the ladies were wonderful and I truly call each of them "friend"! Even though finals night was not what I was hoping for, I can walk away from this with my head held high, knowing that I represented Iowa with integrity and class! Someday, Mrs. Iowa will win the title of Mrs. America and I hope that I can inspire other women to pursue their dream! Go Iowa!!!!
have come & gone! It was definitely an interesting experience and I truly enjoyed meeting all the fabulous women from around this great nation of ours! Due to financial reasons, Mrs. America will not be televised this year. They also had to scale back the production and shorten out time at Nationals. We did not have many opportunities for sightseeing, but it did make for a less stressful 9 days! I was able to sneak in a few hours of lounging by the pool, soaking up the Arizona sun! That's just not something I have the opportunity for in Iowa! The staff at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort were some of the most helpful & gracious people I have ever met! I found it interesting that a lo
t of them had originally lived in Iowa, Minnesota or Illinois! Maybe that is why I felt so at home! I had a lot of local people rooting for me all week which helped to keep me positive. Because of the shorten time that we were in Tucson, I was not able to really meet all the ladies I was competing with, but I know every one of them deserved to be there!For the first time since I started competing in pageants I slept well the night before interviews!! I know that my preparations leading up to Nationals played a part in that, but I think the biggest reason is all the prayers that people were sending my way (as well as my own prayers each night)!! And I have to tell you about my make-up artist and hair stylist! Kelly & Leslie!! They are so fabulous!! The magic they worked on me helped me to relax even more! I can never thank them enough for their expertise and abilities. I know I looked amazing and it definitely helped me shine in interview and on stage! After I walked out of interviews I was on clo
ud nine! I felt it had gone sooo well! I think it was the best interview I have EVER done! There is absolutely nothing I would change! Then I had the rest of the day OFF! So, of course, I headed out to the pool! I also took some time to walk around the resort and video taped a lot of the area so my daughter, Caisha, could see where I was. She was so jealous that I got to go to Arizona!Preliminary night was finally upon us! Mrs. Kentucky led a small group of us in prayer before we headed out and she was amazing!! It was very inspirational & uplifting. She truly has a gift in her praise of our Lord Jesus!! Thank you 'T' (short for RaTonya) for the encouraging message! I was definitely on autopilot and knew that God was guiding me the entire time! After the show, I had numerous people come up and tell me that I looked absolutely stunning on stage! They were positive I would be in Top 12! I was feeling pretty good, myself, but was still trying not to get my hopes up, as I had been told that it is truly a
crap shoot and we would all be surprised by some who made Top 12 and some who didn't.Well, finals night finally arrives! And it was a train wreck! The minute we stepped out on stage, things did not go well! The lighting was so haphazard that half of us were in the dark and through-out the evening the microphones either didn't work or there was so much feedback from them that you had to cover your ears! We had an opening dance/singing number that we did. The problem was, we could not hear the music cue to start our dance above the yelling and clapping of the audience. We stood up there for a few minutes straining
to hear the music! I finally, faintly heard the music and found the beat and yelled out "5, 6, 7, 8!" Apparently most of the ladies heard me, because we all started at the same time. Unfortunately, because we started so late on our dance, the second group was not able to do their dance! By the time we came together as one large group to dance, we had it down pretty well, though. We did end on a strong note! Then our MC was introduced, Bill Harris. He has been the writer for Mrs. America for many years and this year he also became the host. He started off with the Publication Awards, but after calling out 4-5 names he was told to stop. Apparently he was reading off the wrong list! He did get the correct list and things went pretty smoothly from there, including my name being called as the winner in Swimsuit!! I was so shocked, but, of course, pleased to be recognized for all the hours & hours I spent at the gym when I would rather of been hanging out with my family! It was nice to be "rewarded" for my dedication. Then it came time to name the Top 12! We stood up there for over 10 minutes waiting for them to find the list!! I was ready to ask if we could redo our opening number to show everybody how it was really suppose to look, while we waited! Finally the list was read, and I was not included on th
at list. I would be lying if I said I was not disappointed, because I am REALLY disappointed! However, there is nothing I would change! Apparently the judges just did not see what so many other people saw, but then, I was not the only one that I thought should have been in the Top 12. But, after all, there can only be 12. All the ladies did a great job and I know the judges had some hard decisions to make! I would not have wanted to be in their shoes!! In the end, Mrs. North Carolina...my roommate!!.....Maureen MacDonald won the title of Mrs. America 2009! She is a beautiful person, inside & out, and I wish her all the best and I know she will do well at Mrs. World in November 2009, which will be in Vietnam!! Lucky her! Although......, there is still the chance that I could go to Mrs. World! Mr. Marmel, president of Mrs. America, gave all of us contestants a challenge during the MENC seminar. I can't remember the details of the contest, but I know it had something to do with the penny drive MENC has every year to raise funds for music education in our schools! Mrs. America headquarters will be sen
ding me more information about the contest soon, and maybe with all your help, I can still get to Mrs. World!! It would be great to be roommates with Maureen again!I wish I could give a glowing review of my experience at Mrs. America, but I would be lying, and I have a hard time doing that(lying). I would never trade the opportunity I had and the fortuity to meet 50 beautiful, intelligent, dedicated women!! I hope we are able to have a couple reunions over the years to catch up and stay in touch! All the ladies were wonderful and I truly call each of them "friend"! Even though finals night was not what I was hoping for, I can walk away from this with my head held high, knowing that I represented Iowa with integrity and class! Someday, Mrs. Iowa will win the title of Mrs. America and I hope that I can inspire other women to pursue their dream! Go Iowa!!!!
