Follow Your Heart

I guess I should have clarified what I meant by "retired" in my last post. I am not permanently retiring from pageants. I love the Miss America Organization too much to leave. Even after I age out I plan to become a director. What I meant by retiring was that I was going to take a fairly large break from pageants. I will be back. My dream to become Miss Arizona one day is still something I plan to achieve. I currently feel like I need to take a break from pageants to fully enjoy other aspects of my life that have and continue to arise. I do plan to come back into pageants and in the Miss America Organization. I just feel like I am wanting to do things in life but say, "oh...but I have a pageant to do." or "I'd love to do this or that, or be here/there! But...I have a pageant." I feel like its dragging me down right now. I will return when my heart tells me to. I am finally starting to see what life has to offer me and I am going to take full advantage of it!
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Miss Tucson Pageant Results AND the Future

This past weekend I competed for 3 titles: Miss Tucson Desert Rose, Miss Tucson Old Pueblo, and Miss Tucson Del Sol. I did not win any of these. I did however win another Quality of Life Award. I have been pondering on this thought for a while and I have made my decision. I am going into retirement from pageants for a while. Pageants have been a part of my life for the past 4 years and I have loved every experience I have been fortunate enough to have. I no longer love pageantry like I used to. I am slightly discouraged but more so yearning for a different kind of life. I have been offered an amazing job and am really focusing on school. I want to be able to fully enjoy this summer working at a bar and restaurant on the river. I want to experience new things in life and right now I feel like pageants keep me from doing that only by the dedication I put into pageants. I never do things half-ass, always to the fullest. So in doing pageants I always put in 100% all the time. I am a little sad leaving an organization I love so much, but I know I have years to get back into it. I wish all of my friends the best of luck at state this year and always. Some day I may get back into pageantry. I'll always be around but my heart is leading me into a different direction. I am so grateful to all those who have supported me in this. I will never forget my experiences. I am so excited to watch my pageant sisters grow! New adventures are coming for me and I can't wait to see what comes next in my life!
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Beating The Odds

Today is my 21st birthday! Today I continue to beat the odds like I have my entire life. When I was diagnosed at 6 months old with Cystic Fibrosis my family was told that people with disease don't usually live past 5 years old. I happily enjoyed my Barbie themed fifth birthday. Later on we were told the average age of people living with CF was up to 12. I had my 12th birthday party at an aquatic center with dozens of friends. Years later we were told 18 years old. I celebrated my 18th birthday in my home with my most cherished family and friends. The average age is now early 40s. I beat the odds every year on January 14. I have beat Cystic Fibrosis for 21 years. Only one moment did I think CF beat me. I was scared and unsure of my future. This moment came to me the day before I received my double lung transplant. My doctor reassured me I was going to have a colorful productive future. I pushed through the last day with my old lungs and onto my new life with my new lungs. I beat the odds of a double lung transplant. I am also beating the odds of making almost half a year with out any sign of rejection in my new lungs! I celebrate my 21st birthday for those who couldn't beat the odds, those who never had the chance to be 21, and for those who didn't beat the odds of a double lung transplant. I am a rare case to have beat both with very minimal complications and recover with flying colors. My heart mind and soul are set on my future. I promise my future to those still fight the CF battle and those we have lost. I beat the odds not only on my birthdays but everyday. A great celebration is in store for my birthday! Lets make it unforgettable!!
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Miss Phoenix 2014 & Miss Cave Creek 2014

I had the greatest pleasure competing with 7 other young ladies competing for the title of Miss Phoenix and Miss Cave Creek. I had such an amazing time meeting my new friends. Congratulations to my friends Miss Phoenix Alexa Rogers and Miss Cave Creek 2014 Lauren McBurnett!! I was awarded Miss Congeniality (chosen by the contestants), Miracle Maker (I raised $630 towards Children's Miracle Network), and the Quality of Life Award. I am so honored to have won all 3 of these awards. One of the contestants zipper on her dress broke in dress rehearsal so thank goodness I brought a back up gown for her to borrow. I also had such a great time getting to know the contestants who competed for outstanding teen!!! Although I did not win the crown I had such an amazing time. I am also so excited and proud for my pageant sisters Whitney and Tiffany for putting on an incredible pageant! Continuing my journey, next weekend I am competing for one of three titles for Miss Tucson Desert Rose, Miss Tucson Old Pueblo and Miss Tucson Del Sol. Wish me luck!

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Children's Miracle Network

In the Miss America Organization the contestants are required to have a platform. This is a topic that the contestant is passionate about, continuously active in, gets communities involved in, and knowledgeable about. A platform can be anything from eating disorders, drug/alcohol/smoking awareness, human trafficking, illness awareness/fundraising, self esteem, education, healthy eating, anything the contestant is truly passionate about. My personal platform is Inspiring The Gift of Life. I am an educational and motivational speaker on the behalf of Cystic Fibrosis, as I live day to day with this disease. I also am a passionate speaker for Donate Life because I am a double lung transplant recipient. The Miss America platform is Children's Miracle Network. This program benefits children's hospitals across the United States and Canada. Children's Miracle Network supports research and training, purchasing equipment, pays for uncompensated care, and helping improve hospital grounds. Every contestant is required to work on both personal and national platforms. I have been advertising donations for Children's Miracle Network for the past few months and have raised over $600. Thank you to everyone who has donated!
Children's Miracle Network has a special place in my heart. Because I have Cystic Fibrosis I was constantly in the hospital for weeks at a time. I received my care at Phoenix Children's Hospital; a Children's Miracle Network hospital. I spent 41 days there over the summer of 2013. Patients at Phoenix Children's with Cystic Fibrosis are not allowed to leave their rooms. We are not allowed to go on walks. We are not allowed to go outside. We are confined to our rooms until we are discharged from the hospital completely. This is to protect us from catching anything that could make our situation worse. However, after being hospitalized for over a month, there are exceptions that can be made. After a month, I was not getting any better and in fact getting worse. I was allowed to go on supervised walks to a secluded outside walkway. I was having a very difficult time walking even the slightest. I was thankful and delighted that this secluded walkway that was shaded between two buildings, was equipped with benches. There was a garden and art all over. I was able to go on this walk for 30 minutes a day. Being able to breathe fresh air and feel the Arizona heat was so uplifting for me. This walkway and benches I have described were all donated and made possible to Children's Miracle Network. In this time of my life I was so afraid and unsure of what was to happen to me. It was so nice to have a small escape and be able to feel the Sun a little, or breathe fresh air.
So know with a donation to Children's Miracle Network you help provide memories like my own that make a huge difference in a life that is in dire need of some kind of normalcy. Although my life has been impacted in many different ways by Children's Miracle Network, the benches were my favorite.
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Crunch Time

Its one week away from Miss Phoenix/Miss Cave Creek, two weeks away from Miss Tucson Desert Rose/Old Pueblo/ Del Sol, three weeks away from Miss Tempe/ Miss Mesa, and 9 weeks away from Miss Grand Canyon. I'd say ITS CRUNCH TIME! There is no time to mess around now. Pageant prepping is no joke for those who don't know. Much more goes into this than the common person realizes. Finding the right wardrobe, practicing every day in that wardrobe in front of a mirror to the music selected for the pageant, finding the right pair of pageant shoe and practicing in them all day long, finding the right pageant jewelry (it makes a difference!), practicing stage hair and make up, getting a spray tan (maybe even 2) and nails, practicing interview skills everyday, watching and reading the news every day, making flash cards on current event and personal questions, practicing poses in a mirror, practicing smiling (yes, it hurts after 5 minutes of none stop), completing all the paperwork for the pageant, perfecting the personal paperwork so the judges will want to know you, double triple and quadruple checking to make sure you have everything in your emergency pack (what you forget is what you'll need), practice talent everyday for hours, practice eye contact when having a conversation. On top of this, stay focused in school (most of us are college students), stay healthy, keep up with a physical workout routine, eat right, stay focused, follow deadlines, stay positive, and do not stress out. How is this possible you might wonder?! We are true pageant girls, to the core. We love what we do. We do it for the gratification, for the scholarship money, for our families, for our future, for   a shiny new crown, for the self satisfaction, for the sisterhood, for the organization. Here's a fun fact not many people outside the Miss America world will know; our crowns have 4 points on them. Each point  stands for a characteristic each titleholder/competitor must have: style, service, scholar, and success. Eat, sleep and live by these 4 points and you could never go wrong.
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