Jumping Right In!

January 7th was a day that could change my life forever, and it sure did! The Miss Muscatine/Miss Pearl City scholarship pageant was my first Miss Pageant in the Miss America Organization. I'm still reeling from not only the win of the Miss Pearl City Title, but especially the Community Service Award for my platform "Visiting Grandma". Celebrating that night was only the beginning of this amazing journey!

This is my favorite photo of my mother and I from just after I was crowned. My platform was originally based on my grandmother, and my mom is so proud! This woman who has supported me throughout all my efforts finally saw all my hard work pay off and we couldn't be happier as a family of strong independent women!

I am so blessed to have so many friends who supported me from the start, encouraging me to achieve my dreams!

The next day after crowning, it was GO TIME!! I started my volunteering off with Meals From the Heartland, a charity organization I have been volunteering with for 6 years. I was lucky enough to run into U.S. Congressman David Young and while volunteering with him we had amazing conversations about protecting healthcare and social security for the elderly (along with some football talk!)

I started my fitness program with my amazing sponsor 8one8 fitness and can't wait to show you my progress after 6 weeks! Living a healthy lifestyle has always been so important to me 

The next week I volunteered for the Women's March on Des Moines. Waking up at 7 a.m. to volunteer (mostly setting up signs and cans) was great! Women's empowerment movements like the March are synonymous with the Miss America Organization. The 4 points of the crown- Style, Success, Service, and Scholarship are reflected in Women's Empowerment movements across the world.

Look to my post next week for more about my platform while I visit a nursing home and stories about my Grandmother who inspired my platform!