Days four and five

Yesterday the show finally started to feel like it was coming to dinner. We had an early rehearsal followed by lunch at Chinatown, dress rehearsal,and then celebrity waitressing at Applebees. We raised over $400 from our restaurant alone, and half of the contestants were at the other one across town. We were also introduced to the judges for the first time and finally started to set in that the competition is really starting.
Today was my private interview with those judges. Even though this was my second year at states I felt much more nervous this time around for some reason. Fortunately once I got in there I was able to relax, be myself, and answer all of the questions. I always have a hard time determining if an interview was good or bad, but I made it through and I have no control over whether they like me or not...
By the way, I just wanted to thank everyone for all the encouraging comments I've gotten on facebook. I'm definitely feeling the love, especially from my Miss Delaware family.
Highlight of the day was definitely getting to see my parents for the first time since March! We went out for Mexican with my host family, and it was so nice to see and talk with them for a little while.
After that was the teen pageant. Congratulations to Kelsey Barrett the newly crowned Miss Ohio's Outstanding Teen. She has a beautiful voice, and I know she will do well in Orlando. I was also very proud of Matti Crisman who was her first runner up. I got to meet her at Miss Muskingum Valley, and she is so sweet. Of course I was so proud of Miss Greater Butler County's Outstanding Teen, Brooklyn Thompson. I got to sit with her cheering section tonight. I must say, I'm a little jealous of her evening gown walk. It was truly elegant. I'm proud of my little sister, and I can't wait to finish out our reign together.
Tomorrow starts the onstage competition, and I can barely believe it. I'm starting with evening gown and onstage question. I'm praying for a good question and that I don't trip lol. Thursday night I perform my talent, and Friday is swimsuit. Of course you can watch the video stream when you get a chance at:
http://www.ohiomediagroupinc.com/watchlive2011.html
Love you all!
Janemarie

Days two and three

Yesterday was the Miss Ohio fashion show, and all of the contestants had such a fun time modeling the wardrobe we picked out! It was fun being fierce on the runway and signing the state. After that we had another autograph signing with some of the crowd. The rest of the day consisted of learning the rest of our production numbers and trying not to kill each other with the umbrellas. Unfortunately Meggie lost a contact by getting attacked by her own umbrella lol, and there were many broken ones by the end of the night. Thankfully mine has survived so far, but hopefully it'll make it until the end of the show. Since we were doing so well we were allowed to go home early which was FANTASTIC. We got back around 8 and had an amazing dinner with our host family and chaperon. Then we did our Jillian workout again, rehearsed our talents, and talked current events with our host dad for over an hour. It was such a fun evening, and to top it off we got to sleep in today!!
This morning started off with brunch at Applebees. Alyssa and I were the last girls there and they had run out of room at the big booth with all of the other girls. We started our own table and ended up spending the meal chatting with Miss Ohio, Miss Ohio's Outstanding Teen, and the photographer. It was an awesome time, and the food was delicious. :) After some more photos and an autograph session with the girlscouts we started lining up for the Miss Ohio parade. My driver is a member of the capital city corvette club and drove up from Columbus to drive me. He was so sweet, and I was so blessed by it. It was a gorgeous little red corvette. I absolutely LOVE parades, and I had a blast getting to see the people of Mansfield from such a great view. My host mom Sue actually drove her cute little convertible for Miss Vacationland and took a ton of great pictures. After the parade we went to the Elks for lunch and had a good time with each other, our host moms, and chaperons. The rest of the night was polishing routines and figuring out where we move on different nights. Once again we got out early and were back by 7:30. This is a nice change from Miss Delaware last night were we were there from 7 to 11 almost every day. This evening I've just been going through pictures with my host family and relaxing. We've got an early day tomorrow and a lot of rehearsing to do. Hopefully my feet will last me until the end of next week!
Until tomorrow <3
Janemarie

Day Two: Insanity Insues

As I expected, Thursday was the calm before the storm, literally (all of the contestants ended up in the basement during a tornado warning during rehearsal). Yesterday was the busiest day I could imagine. After a relaxing morning with my roomie, we had an hour rehearsal in the morning where we learned our opening number (we are who we are) which is a ton of fun, and we starting on the Glee Singing in the Rain/Umbrella swimsuit production number as well. Then we were whisked off to Waterford for lunch. It was a great time to relax and spend some time with some of the other girls and catch up on what's been going on in our lives. Back to the theater, then off to the mall for our fitting (we are doing a fashion show today). Then we made a special appearance at Graham Auto mall who is graciously donating a car to the Miss Ohio Scholarship Program for the next three years. Miss Ohio will be set. Plus they are sponsoring additional scholarship money for the pageant this year! What an amazing blessing. I was truly blown away. The contestants spent a good deal of the evening at the Miss Ohio Festival in town. It was nice to be able to spend some more time with the girls and also to meet people in the community. We had an autograph session and then were introduced and interviewed on stage. We had to leave pretty quickly though because the sky was becoming pretty ominous...this is where we ended up in the basement lol. We went around the room and each said how we dealt with storms, talked, and waited for it to pass before another quick rehearsal. We ended up leaving around 9, but it felt much much later. Our host mom proceeded to spoil us again and made us a nice dinner before we crashed. I know today will be another long day, but I'm excited about it. This week is an incredible blessing that few people have gotten the chance to experience. I don't want to take any opportunity for granted. Like our backstage theme says, it's all about "making memories and having fun." On to day 3 :)
Love,
Janemarie

Day One: Arriving in Mansfield

I arrived in sunny Mansfield around 6pm today and I was met by my chaperon Jean and a tiny, energetic dog named Pepper (who is currently snuggled up next to me in my bed lol). Jean has been doing this for over 20 years and she's so sweet. I can't wait to get to know her better. Sue and Bob are my host parents, and they are the most amazing family I could have imagined. This is their first year, and they are so excited and have been spoiling us like crazy. It's a beautiful home and they bought tons of fruits and veggies and other yummy foods for us. Although if she keeps trying to feed us all week it might be bad for my swimsuit score lol. They made sure that we feel completely comfortable and have really made me feel like royalty.
Oh, and I have the BEST roommate in the world. Sorry ladies, but I couldn't imagine a better roommate than Miss Willard, Alyssa Waldman. I had so much fun getting to know her today, and we really have a lot in common. We even do the same workout video (and yes we got our butts kicked by Jillian tonight lol). I really couldn't have been more blessed. I was nervous about leaving, but now I know that this is truly going to be an amazing week full of wonderful memories I will never forget. I knew that God got me here for a reason. I can't wait to see what it is.
Goodnight!
Love,
Janemarie

Starting Well...Finishing Well...

Here's my confession to you. The past three weeks have been very hard for me. Let's make it sound worse. My entire 21st year has been hard for me. I've been unfocused, unmotivated, undisciplined, and I just didn't care. I let the stress of the end of the semester, Miss Ohio, and my uncertainty of the future overwhelm and paralyze me. But I was reminded yesterday that not to choose, is to choose. So I'm confessing and committing tonight. I have 7 more days of this semester and 43 days until Miss Ohio week. I'm going to finish what I started and finish strong. I've decided that this is my problem: I try too hard. Do you know what I mean? Sometimes it seems like the harder the try the more things fall apart instead of together. I rely too much on my own strength instead of relying on God, then get exhausted and throw in the towel. But a reoccurring theme for me this year has been trust. It seems like all year I haven't known what my next step was going to be until it was right around the corner. I found out about the Miss Greater Butler County Pageant 4 days before it. I still don't know where I'm going to live this summer, and I still don't have that perfect senior-summer-business-student-internship that all of my professors expect. All I can do is give it back to God and believe that He knows what's best.
So in other random news, next year is going to look a little different for me I think :). I've been leading towards not cheering for my last year of college. I've been back and forth a million times, and it's really hard for me to let go. But today I think I'm finally almost okay with it. I tried out for both the women's choir and concert chorale, both of which are traveling groups with the university. To my surprise both directors told me that if I wanted a spot next year it was mine. I had honestly forgotten how much I enjoy standing next to a piano and singing with someone. It was probably the most enjoyable 20 minutes of my day.
Well I've got to get up and dance in the morning, and I need to recover from my Jillian workout, so it's bedtime for me! Goodnight :)
Love,
Janemarie

Information Overload

This weekend just flew by. To be honest I was kind of dreading going to the forum, but now I wish it could have been longer. I'll just have to wait for Miss Ohio week :)
I'm always amazing by the similarities and differences that I see between the two states. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to do so. But now that I've met all of the wonderful ladies and got to hear from Becky about what being Miss Ohio really means, I'm more anxious than ever to hit the ground running. 3 more weeks of school...
It seems like so long ago already, but I'll try to hit the highlights.
I'm going to be contestant number 10 (the 2nd of the 2nd flight), so I'll compete in evening gown/osq Wednesday, talent on Thursday, and SS on Friday.
For the weekend I was on the blue team (go myspade lol)and ended up in second place although we completely deserved to win (who's ever done a heart shaped puzzle? lol). Our challenges included a poster making contest, a camp-wide scavenger hunt, family feud, puzzles, speeches, makeup, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something else. Sunday we split in half and my group did the high ropes course at the camp for a few hours which was both enlightening and a ton of fun. If you ever want to get a group to bond, that's a sure fire way to do it!
Becky completely inspired me as she talked to all of the contestants about what it really means to be Miss Ohio. It's something that she got to do, not that she had to do, and that kept her grateful. And when I'm preparing, I'm not preparing to compete, I'm preparing for the job...it's a completely different perspective, but a really important distinction. I just pray that I'll have what it takes and that no matter what happens Saturday night, I'll be able to look back and know that I did everything that I could.
I also started tutoring a third grade girl today. She told me she wanted to be a doctor so that she wouldn't have to worry about money when she was older...this made me kind of sad, but it just showed me how relevant my platform really is. I hope that I'll be able to help at least a little bit as she goes after her dreams.
After this week school gets a little easier, but I just have to get through 2 tests and a presentation tomorrow first, a speech next week, finals week, and then I'm done!!
Oh, I'm going gown shopping this weekend...let's see if I find anything! I'll let you know :)
Goodnight!
Janemarie

It's my birthday...I'll blog if I want to :)

Actually, it's been over for 13 minutes, but who's counting ;) Well, I'm officially 21, but don't worry nothing's really going to change. I took a day off from pageantry to just be myself (which I will probably regret in the gym tomorrow) and charge up for the rest of the semester. My boyfriend spray painted the rock for me at 6:30 this morning (a Cedarville tradition), my roommate got me my very first build-a-bear (which happens to be a moose lol), I spent time at the pet store petting puppies, and I watched an old Jane Powell/Debbie Reynolds movie and Brendan even pretended to like it :) Overall it was a very nice day. I won't get another break for a while though it seems...there's the never ending wardrobe shopping, paperwork filling, working out, dance practicing, oh and that school thing lol to keep me more than busy (plus my part time job, but alas...I digress). Ok enough complaining.
Well I'm very excited to get my first professional head shots done this Friday, it will definitely be an experience if anything. Then Saturday morning I leave for the Miss Ohio forum until Sunday...I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited. I've only met a couple of the girls and they all look so beautiful and...together, while most of the time I feel like a little girl playing dress up. I'll let you know how it goes though :) gotta catch some zzz's if I'm gonna work off that alfredo tomorrow!
Love,
Janemarie

New Year, New Talent, New Title, New State (recap)

Well, this has certainly been an interesting pageant season for me thus far. I did a terrible job of updating my blog last season, so hopefully I can do a better job this year. I competed in 5 locals, 3 in Delaware, and 2 in Ohio. In no way do I want to develop a reputation as a "state hopper", although my particular circumstances might make it appear as such. As I proceeded to print off approximately 1,000,000 documents (exaggeration) from the 12 emails (not an exaggeration) I received today, it finally hit me that I am truly going to Miss Ohio this year. After Miss Delaware last June, all I wanted was to go back again this summer. But seeing as my plans are rarely God's plans, local after local I was either unable to compete, or I would fall in my dance (Miss Wilmington pageant...good times, and the reason why I changed my talent), etc, etc. After a frustrating Christmas break with no Delaware locals, I was determined to try in Ohio once more (last year I competed in two Ohio locals with some unpleasant experiences). I found the Miss Muskingum Valley Scholarship website and could hardly believe my eyes when I read about the amount of scholarship monies available for the contestants. Stina McKendry is a wonderful director and I had an absolute blast staying in Zanesville with my fabulous host mom Tami Meagie. It was such a similar situation to Miss Delaware last year (same number of girls, more than 1 day with only finalists competing the second evening) that all I really wanted to do was make it past where I was last June. I was completely honored to make the top 8 at that local with so many amazing women, and I'm excited to spend more time with Kylie Johnson during Miss Ohio week. The following weekend I was in Delaware for spring break and competed in what I knew would be my last Delaware local for the year. I lost to the wonderfully talented Mikaila Ryan, and while I was excited for my friend, it was hard knowing I wouldn't spend the summer with my Miss Delaware girls that have become very good friends over the past few years (shout outs to Stephanie Bailey, Erin Magnin, and Kristina Maynard <3). As I came back to school I was all set to compete at sweeps next weekend when I received word that the Miss Greater Butler County pageant was on Saturday (this is Tuesday morning lol). I competed in the same local last year, did terribly, and almost quit pageantry because of it, but I figured I had nothing to lose, and worse case scenario I would still compete at sweeps.
I love pageant days and the chance I get to make amazing friendships. Because of a long break between interviews and rehearsals, I got to spend a few hours with Abby Daniel whom I had met at the Muskingum Valley local, and then met several other amazing ladies later that day. I don't really know what else to say except that my interview felt amazing that morning, and I didn't run into the speaker again during my talent (I'm still lacking some skin on my knee from that one lol). During awards the girls voted for me as the Spirit recipient (my favorite award), and then the judges shocked me by naming me this years Miss Greater Butler County. All I can say is that if you've heard Nanciann sing, you know what big shoes I have to fill this year. I also have the sweetest outstanding teen ever, and I can't wait to spend more time with Brooklyn Thompson this year.
So that's the story (sorry it's really long), and I'll be doing my best to keep you all updated on life here in Ohio. Oh, and before I forget, I just want to thank everyone in Delaware for the amazing support. You all encouraged me to go after my dreams, and you have all taught me so much. I will miss all of you, but we are still sisters in spirit.

Love and Peace,
Janemarie





photos courtesy of Mark Stiver