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

Back in Delaware

Well...being home isn't exactly what I thought it would be. I'm continually amazed as the days tick by until Miss Delaware week (15 as of tomorrow). The first weekend I was home I sold raffle tickets Friday, was in a parade Saturday, and went to a Gala on Sunday. Needless to say, it was a while before I got completely unpacked. I knew it would be crazy, but I didn't know it would be this hard. It's like a continual emotional roller coaster, and I find myself feeling overwhelmed more often than I'd like to admit. This week was insane with what feels like endless shopping, practicing my dance, mock interviews, and even a speaking engagement. That's what makes it all worth while in the end though. Like Jacci says, wearing the crown is such a small part of the job. The cool part is the level of influence I can have on this younger generation because I wear the crown. If that's the reason a child pays attention to what I have to say about education, then that is more than fine with me. At the end of the day I just hope they make the most of the time they have when they're young, because right now, they can do anything they can dream about. If you think about it, pray for my sanity. I want to do everything I can so that at the end of this I can say I don't have any regrets. Whether or not I become Miss Delaware this year or ever has no effect on everything I've learned and become. I'll try to keep you updated a little more frequently. ;)
Love,
Jane

Oh and a big thank you to Willis Middletown Chevrolet for letting me use your amazing Corvette! They are the best!

I also had the pleasure of meeting Glen Urquhart while in Dover. He is wonderful. Sir you have my vote in the elections this fall!

Raising money for the Riverfront theatre in Milford

Dover Days Parade

Heather's Gala

Jennie Smith Elementary