My beautiful roommate, Summer (Miss Bay Area), came in today! I was so excited to see her and her amazing mother Tami in my room. I could give her a real hug and seeing all of her stuff around the room was a reminder that this really was happening! Summer shares my faith in God and love for all people, which I think is very important to have in a roommate. I really was here and Miss California was starting. All the hard work I had dedicated myself to was about to pay off. Those hours spent in my pseudo gym/ garage training with the most intense personal trainer a girl could have (a real life personal trainer who happens to be my boyfriend), meal plans we sat down weeks in advance to incorporate enough protein, fiber, carbs, and fat to keep me healthy, talent run through’s and me pretending to be liberace, all those online news updates (I don’t have TV so I had to search extra hard to keep myself informed), trips to Santa Clara for wardrobe fittings in Mary McCaman’s AMAZING closet, and mental preparation for my interview through mock interviews in Santa Clara with my committee… well there I was. No time to run back now. It wasn’t the time to cram like I was study for a chemistry final (*not that I would EVER do that…) or start dieting. Bob mentioned today, “if you haven’t done these things yet, I hate to say it, but you missed the train.” In a way I kind of smiled inside because I knew I sat there the most prepared I had ever been. I didn’t miss the train this year. In fact, I was partying up front with the conductor!
My ED Stephanie Schutt gave me this huge cute pink bag that had my name on it, and inside are gifts and cards for each and every day. I am so excited to open a note and gift every day. She is so supportive and amazing. I am simply so blessed and grateful to have her. She has encouraged me to really believe in myself and I think THAT is what makes the biggest difference!
We started out by going to the Fresno City Hall for a Mayor’s Reception and giving the mayor a “gift” from our hometown, or something that represents us. Ironically, the Mayor was not even there, but there were some really interesting people to meet instead. They even gave US each a wonderful goodie bag filled with food, makeup, the coolest cookie I had ever seen, water, a rhinestoned “I Love Fresno” shirt, and tons of other stuff, too! There was not enough space on the bus, so I rode over with Bob Arnhym, Jackie Geist, Summer Loftis, and Kristy Cavinder. We had some good laughs in the backseat. Summer and Kristy can attest to this personally ;) We returned to the Radisson after and Bob had us gather in one of the rooms to give us his annual speech about what to expect during the upcoming week. We received our “pageant bibles” with dates and times. It was kind of comical though because a lot of the information was wrong so at first I was a little confused. This was a great lesson to all of us regarding why we need to stay FLEXIBLE! Our all day rehearsal was rearranged because the theater was not ready for us yet, so we gathered in the hallway and started learning our production number! Oh my, now is the time to say how difficult it was for me as a dancer to learn these darn production numbers. It is kind of embarrassing actually when the dancers pick up on it so fast and I feel left behind! I am not a bad dancer, I just can’t remember the moves! So looks like I have a loooooooong week ahead of me!
After rehearsal we had a little time to go back to our rooms to change to get ready for dinner sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Fresno. Last year, the house we went to was one of the most beautiful houses I had seen, but this house was just as incredible! It had horse stables, a gorgeous gazebo and guest house, tennis courts, a pond, and we sat under a beautiful weeping willow tree. It was one of those nights where everything was just perfect. Our gracious host, Kevin, was so welcoming and the food really was amazing! We were able to snap a HUGE group photo! Over 60 people in it! I’m sure you can imagine how long it takes to get all of us together! It was hilarious!
Anyways, I need to get to bed, but thinking of all of you!
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