Miss Iowa: Day Two!

What a great day full of wonderful people and places!

In the morning, we packed meals for Kids Against Hunger to feed 3,000 people. I honestly don't know how we could have started the day in a better way! Service is a large, and in my opinion one of the most important values the Miss America Organization embodies. Not only did we feed many hungry children across the world, we had a BLAST doing it!!!

We went to the Senior Star retirement home for lunch and visiting with the residents. This was probably my favorite appearance so far. It was so fun to get to know my new friends Jean, Alice and Viola. They have some very impressive children and stories! Next we went to Ridgecrest which is an independent living home. I got to know a few more friends; one lady even has family in my neighborhood... Small world!

After an afternoon rehearsal, we went to Greatest Grains in downtown Davenport for a very yummy supper. Thanks Julie! Then we went to the River Bandits baseball game to throw out the first pitches (yes, we each got our own pitch!) and meet and sign autographs for fans. That always makes me feel pretty cool! I had so much fun; I love baseball games!

We had another late rehearsal which wrapped up the day! This morning we are off to Iowa City to visit children at the U of I Children's Hospital.

Best,

-Leah

Miss Iowa Week: Day One

And so it begins! I finally got connected to the Wi-Fi. Whew.

Yesterday was day one of a busy, amazing week. After moving into our hotel rooms, we went to the “Show us Your Shoes” opening event! That was a great way to greet each other and spend some time with our family and supporters before the craziness begins.

We had supper and a meeting with our personal assistants after the welcoming event. Those ladies can cook!!! I had a little bit of lasagna… No regrets. They are also the sweetest and kindest ladies you’ll ever meet.

After we ate we went down for rehearsal with Ken, the producer. He is hilarious! Thank goodness he is so entertaining or else those three hour, late night rehearsals wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable. We learned our walking patterns for competition and the opening number. I would say it was a pretty productive evening!

I got late night workout in and CRASHED!

This morning we are packing meals for Kids Against Hunger. For lunch, we will go to Senior Star retirement home to visit with and perform for the residents. After that, we have another service project at Ridgecrest. We have an afternoon rehearsal, dinner, and then a BASEBALL GAME! I’m super excited about that, if you can’t tell. Sounds like a great day to me!

Here are some photos from yesterday!

Until tomorrow,

-Leah

 

All of the lovely contestants

 

With Nina, Miss Muscatine's Outstanding Teen and Serica, Miss Muscatine

Well, five more days! Some last thoughts and thank yous

Hi!

Five more days! Miss Iowa week kicks off on Sunday with the “Show Us Your Shoes” welcoming event. The contestants move into their respective hotel rooms that day and get right to work that evening with a rehearsal! For those who aren’t really sure about what festivities the contestants are involved in during the week, I will be giving daily updates on here! In a nutshell, rehearsals, appearances and community service in addition to the actual competition. We will compete in preliminary competitions on Thursday and Friday nights to determine the top 10 ladies who will move on to finals on Saturday night. Exciting stuff!

These last couple of weeks have been filled with final preparations, shopping trips, wardrobe sessions, alterations, workouts and planning. I have been so blessed to spend time with my favorite family from Newton! They probably don’t know it, but Gia and Zayne (the kiddos) have been huge stress-reducers. Hanging out with them puts what really matters into perspective, things that are easy to forget about when you get caught up in something like becoming Miss Iowa or what have you. At the end of the day, this is just a pageant. Only one person can have the title on the 14^th, but in my opinion, that doesn’t mean that any one person is better than anyone else. The Miss Iowa Class of 2014 is so unique, and each girl has something different to offer!

I’ve been so busy lately trying to get everything organized and ready for the week that I almost forgot that it’s time to relax! So that’s what I’m doing this week to rest up for the next. I’ve worked hard and prepared myself to the best of my ability. From here on out, I can relish in the peace that you get when you let God have complete control.

If you’ve ever been in a pageant before, you know that it’s a team effort. I have had the support of so many people throughout this journey, and I’m so thankful for that. My family; my best friends Kati and Abby; Deana; Alisha, Shae and Phyllis; my Executive Director, Ashley; Michelle and Jessica with Legacy Group Pageant Consulting; my boyfriend Seth who is too amazing for words… Seriously, pageant boyfriends are super under recognized. They are the ones that have to hear about the ups and downs and deal with girls who are trying to get “swimsuit ready” but just want a piece of chocolate cake. That must be horrible. Sorry on behalf of all pageant contestants!

Well I’m excited for all of the new experiences I’m going to endure next week. The hard part is over, and now it’s time to take it all in and be in the moment! Whatever happens, every single girl is awesome, and there will certainly be no "losers".

Check back Sunday night for an update on “day one” and some pictures from the first event!

-Leah

SWIMSUIT COMPETITION - Timeless or Outdated?

The best part about speaking to groups is answering questions at the end. Today I had some fun questions from the Pella Rotary group about the Affordable Care Act and the preparation that goes into a pageant. Additionally, I got a couple of not-so-fun questions about the swimsuit phase of the competition.

I wanted to blog about this because I think these are questions that will be raised throughout my travels as I educate groups on the Miss America Organization. The Rotarians wanted to know how the organization promotes positive body image when contestants have such high physical expectations.

The MAO purposefully encourages participants to live healthy lifestyles. Wellness is imperative for titleholders as they have demanding schedules. Ultimately, the question posed is this: Is a swimsuit necessary and appropriate to demonstrate contestants’ fitness levels? When I answered “no, probably not,” the whole room couldn’t agree with me more.

In 1921 the MAO was started by Atlantic City businessmen looking to lengthen the tourist season. It pretty much was a bathing suit/beauty contest. The pageant has evolved greatly over the past 90 years, giving participants an avenue to promote a platform, gain professional skills and serve their communities.

The swimsuit phase, some would say, is timeless and keeps the “tradition” of the program. Over the past week, I’ve noted people’s reactions when I tell them about the areas of competition. One person told me that the first thing that comes to mind when they think about Miss America is the ladies strutting around on stage in bikinis. Another apologized to me. A nice lady from Rotary told me that you can tell a person’s fitness level in an exercise-type outfit. In my opinion, the first thing that should be coming to mind when the Miss America Organization is mentioned is scholarship and service.

While I agree that an exercise outfit would demonstrate fitness levels just fine, I understand that that swimsuits come with the territory. Personally, the pros of the MAO significantly outweigh this con. I compete to earn scholarship money and gain a stature to promote my platform and serve the community, definitely not to model a swimsuit. My goal is to be recognized for having a healthy, strong and realistic body. Miss Iowa needs to be real and relatable.

Back in the Hawkeye State!

Greetings!

I feel like it’s time to do a little update on what’s going on now that school’s out and I’m free.

Last week my cool boyfriend and I road-tripped back to Iowa. I had WAY too much stuff to fit in a less than 50 pound suitcase, so a 16 hour drive was the only option! We drove through lots of rain but fortunately no tornadoes.

It was Seth’s first trip to Iowa, so we did it up big… Ate a yummy steak dinner, saw an I-Cubs game and went shopping. What else could you need? After I took him to the airport on Friday, my parents and I went to the grand opening of Warrior Run golf course in Norwalk. It was really neat! We had barbecue and listened to an awesome band. Mark Burke, the owner, has this really cool program called the G.I.V.E Foundation, an opportunity for veterans to learn and play golf.

On Saturday, we spent several hours at Temple in Des Moines preparing food for the Jewish Food Fair. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and cooking! We served the food on Sunday afternoon then went out to a late birthday dinner for my mom.

Today I did a little shopping for Miss Iowa week things. I’m exhausted. . . Shopping will wear you out, I tell ya!

Tomorrow I’m going to Pella, Iowa, to speak about my platform to Rotary. I’m really excited for this; I’m especially fortunate that I had such a wonderful Communicating in Business professor this past semester to help with my business writing and presentation skills. Many surely assume that the empowerment of women is a “women’s issue”. But it’s really not. That’s why it’s so wonderful to be speaking to male as well as female community leaders. Gender equality requires the responsibility of all individuals and society as a whole. At the end of my presentation, I will challenge the Rotary members to encourage and support women in their pursuit of leadership and in their career aspirations.

When I’m done, I get to go visit my favorite seamstress to begin alterations of my evening gown! It should be a fantastic day!

I’m looking forward to a shopping trip with my executive director, Ashley, and Miss Muscatine’s Outstanding Teen, Nina, this weekend!

This is such a wonderful season in my life, and I’m beyond blessed to be pursuing my goals in the Miss America Organization.

Have a great week,

Leah

 

Here's a photo of my dad and I chopping apples!

 

On to the Next!

Well, I’m a senior in college now! That’s weird. It feels like just yesterday I was a wee little freshman with no clue what was going on… It’s nice being an upperclassman! That feeling, you know, like you can just do anything in the world? I like it.

Now that my finals are over, I can refocus my energy to Miss Iowa preparation and graduate school investigating. And cleaning out my apartment, packing and moving. Yay!

This season has been a blessing in disguise. Running from one thing to the next, keeping up with nutrition and workouts all the while learning about marketing and communicating effectively (and maintaining sanity). I’m beyond prepared to take on the job of Miss Iowa. It’s fascinating how my studies directly correlate with the role of a titleholder.
 
Another thing that I really enjoy about the end of a school year is the get-togethers which usually take place over yummy food! On Saturday, the newspaper advisor, Ms. Kendig, had the staff over for supper, gifts and a little improv to celebrate the end of a successful semester. I can’t even think of the last time I laughed so hard! On Sunday evening, the Sader Belles had an end-of-the-year dinner. Being a part of the team with those girls was a huge blessing. Yesterday, the ladies from my work took me out to a yummy lunch at one of my favorite restaurants! Okay, I'm spoiled.

I’m excited for the 16 hour drive back home! That was a lie. Actually it won’t be too bad because my boyfriend/road trip partner is making it with me! I'm going to make an awesome road trip CD.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

 

-Leah

 

Here's a photo of the lovely 2014 Sader Belles after eating Mexican food!!

 

 

Miss Iowa Orientation day!

Happy Monday,

This past Saturday was orientation for Miss Iowa! It was the first time that all of the contestants were together in the same place at the same time. We learned about what our week is going to look like and went to break-out sessions to finalize paperwork, time talent, approve swimsuit and have a mock interview. I had a really great time meeting some of the girls that I didn’t know already! It’s going to be a busy, fun, crazy week!

Miss Iowa is just around the corner. The next several weeks will be super hectic, but I wouldn’t want it any other way! I’m going to attach some photos from orientation!

Have a great week,

Leah

 

Miss Iowa class of 2014

 

With Serica, Miss Muscatine and Nina, Miss Muscatine's Outstanding Teen at orientation!