Dairy Queen's Miracle Treat Day

WOW!! What an experience this Miracle Treat Day was! It started off slow, but ended better than I could have ever imagined.
After I got off work, I headed home to quick change and make it over the the Eagan Dairy Queen by 5pm. As I entered the Dairy Queen there only a few people and one family caught my eye. I noticed a young woman wearing a red Miracle Treat Day shirt (meaning she was a Gillette patient) so I went over to their table. To my surprise the woman worked in Corporate Sales for Dairy Queen and her daughter was a patient at Gillette. I spent a lot of time talking with their family about Children's Miracle Network and the Miss America Organization. While talking to this family a familiar face from Gillette popped in to have a Blizzard. Nancy was making her rounds to Dairy Queens around the Metro and Eagan was her last stop.

Shannon and I 

Madison and Tyson came with their neighbor for Blizzards

Miracle Treat Day in Eagan, MN

After catching up with Nancy she invited me to join her for some sort of Blizzard party in Highland Park. I had nothing else to do so I tagged along. Walking up to this house I had no idea what to expect, but as I got around to the back yard it was filled. Kids were playing and adults were talking, there was hardly room to walk. It didn't take long for the me to realize what this party was; it was a support system. Barb, whose house I was at, had a son, Julius, who was born with a cleft foot. At the age of seven Julius underwent surgery and now being nine, he is a happy boy who can run and play. Nancy filled me in that Barb and her family have been throwing this party for the last 7 years. They started by just having the community gather in their back yard with a silent auction, food and Blizzard Treats. But it has grown to SO much more, with over 100 people stopping by this evening. The party had expanded this year to their neighbors back yard, there was a silent auction in the house and they even surprised everyone with a flash mob before the Blizzards were brought out. This was the second year they held a kids triathlon, Miracle Treats for Miracle Feet. Both the triathlon and party raise money for Gillette. This year alone, the triathlon raised $4,000 and the proceeds of the party have yet to be tallied. To date they have raised over $17,000! I was so honored to be a guest in their home and told them that I would definitely be back next year!

I have to say I was in the right place at the right time tonight! The connections I made and the stories I heard will stay with on my journey as your Miss North Metro 2011 and after.

Flash Mob!

Flash Mob!

Barb told Julius's story and read her poem 'Mama Bear'

Julius and his family at their party

National Ride Your Bike or Walk to School Day



Check out all those bikes! The best participation of the event in three years!

This morning I had the pleasure of partnering with Fire Up Your Feet, Twin Cities and their National Ride Your Bike or Walk to School Day. Every student that biked or walked in received a sticker to show off their success!
It was such a beautiful spring morning that many families came along and logged in their miles for Fire Up Your Feet. There are 60 schools that participate in the Fire Up Your Feet challenge, which is partnered with Safe Routes to School. Kids and families register online and log their miles to and from school. Olson Elementary has won the Fire Up Your Feet challenge twice before! With the money they've won they are adding another bike rack, which is clearly needed with it being over-filled this morning!
I had so much fun learning about Fire Up Your Feet and handing out stickers to the students and they came to school.
To learn more or get involved with Fire Up Your Feet you can visit them at http://mn.fireupyourfeet.org/

Miss Minnesota Workshop/ Outstanding Teen

This past Saturday we had our contestant workshop. This is a day where we get meet all of the local titleholders, find out roommate pairings, contestant order and attend Miss Minnesota Outstanding Teen. To make roommate pairings and contestant order fair, they draw our names from a bowl. I am so happy with the way that everything turned out! I will be spending my week of Miss Minnesota with Niila Witikko, Miss Minneapolis. I am so excited to get to know her better, as we already have many similarities! I chose to be contestant number 3, meaning that I will take part in the lifestyle and fitness and evening gown competitions on Thursday night of prelims and talent and on-stage question on Friday night. Saturday was also a sad day, as we said our goodbyes to our amazing board of directors. They will truly be missed and always in our hearts, but they reassured us that they will all be in the audience watching. With those goodbyes came hellos as we welcomed our new co-executive directors, Bruce Vassar and Dorthy Benham. I am so excited to see what they have in store for us!

Megan Bakken and I at contestant workshop

Bethany Beniek and I at contestant workshop

In the evening all of the local titleholders attended the Teen pageant. It was such an amazing group of girls, and all of them did so well! I am honored to announce that our new Teen is Bailey Wacholz. Bailey was Miss Brainerd Lakes Outstanding Teen and has been working so hard for this title since she was 13! All of her hard work finally paid off, as she did an amazing job in all areas of the competition. It was also a pleasure to watch my own teen, Maren, compete. She is so full of energy when she is on that stage!

All of the local titleholders with the new Miss Minnesota Outstanding Teen, Bailey Wacholz

Bailey and I after the pageant

Maren, Miss North Metro Outstanding Teen, and I

Polar Plunge

I want to start by apologizing for how late this blog update is, March was a very busy month!
On March 3, myself and five other lovely title holders took the plunge into the freezing water of Lake Calhoun to raise money for Minnesota Special Olympics. This is an event that I had done last year in Brainerd, and although we were blessed with a mild winter, that day was not mild. The wind was blowing so hard as we waited in line in our bathing suits. After the initial shock of the water, we ran to the hot tubs and soaked up the warmth until we needed to leave to prep ourselves for the sweeps pageant.

The Fit4Queens Plunge group (L-R): Michelle Stahlecker, Elizabeth Scipioni, Mary Petersen, Samantha Phillippi, Caitlyn Thompson, Kiah Bennett

Bethany Beniek, the new Miss West Metro

The sweeps pageant was wonderful and the final two girls of the Miss Minnesota class of 2012 were crowned. Brittany Tischmak is now our current Miss Capital City and Bethany Beniek is our new Miss West Metro! I have the pleasure of knowing both of these beautiful young ladies, as I had competed with them in previous pageants. I am so excited to spend Miss Minn week with them, along with the other nineteen girls!

IHOP National Pancake Day

Sammi and I with a Children's Hospital patient and cancer survivor

February 28, 2012 was IHOP's National Pancake Day. On this day IHOP produces many short stacks of pancakes to give to customers free of charge, with the intention that those customers will donate the money they would have spent on dinner to the Children's Miracle Network. Since 2006, IHOP has raised nearly $8 million with their National Pancake Day. IHOP's goal for this year's National Pancake Day was $2.7 million! Although I had to work during the day, my boss and I visited the Bloomington IHOP for lunch and after work I met up with Miss Coon Rapids, Samantha Phillippi to talk with customers at the Coon Rapids IHOP. We had so much fun talking to guests about CMN and also hearing some families personal stories. There were many individuals who had received care at either Gillette or Children's Hospitals. There was one family that we spent a particularly long time talking to, for there son was near death just a couple years ago. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma at a young age. His mother told us that for the longest time doctor's didn't know what was wrong. After having a fever for too long they took him to Children's were he was later diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He has now been cancer free for two years! He was such an inspiring individual to talk to and remind us why we love having CMN as our national platform!

Sammi and I with part of the IHOP crew

A Night at the Oscars

Hamline Homecoming game 2011
with HU quarterback, Adam Meyer and Homecoming Chair, Katie Hoemberg

Being a Hamline University Alum, I have been asked to emcee many events that my former roommate, and member of the HU Programming Board, Katie has helped put on. Katie is the Homecoming Chair of the HU Programming board, and also a very close friend of mine. Early on in my year, Katie asked me to emcee the Homecoming Piper Pride Rally along with the half-time antics of the Homecoming game, but just recently I was asked to emcee an event that was rare to Hamline; they were putting on 'A Night at the Oscars.' This was a black tie event, with a catered dinner and a photo wall for the paparazzi. The night consisted of the viewing of the Oscars on a big screen and my job as emcee was to keep the audience entertained on the commercial breaks. I was to do this by asking trivia questions, which would be answered at the conclusion of the night. Each table was its own group and the winner from each table received a mock Oscar along with a gift bag.
Now for those of you that know me, I'm not into watching the award shows such as the Oscars or Grammy's, but this night wasn't just about the show, it was about the friends that were there. Being a recent alum, I still have many friends that attend Hamline and I don't always get a chance to see them. I always enjoy helping Katie out and having a reason to spend time back on campus. It was great that I got to spend my evening catching up with old friends, and I even enjoyed watching the Oscars!

Gavin and I at A Night at the Oscars

Miss Coon Rapids 2012

It is with great pleasure that I announce our newest crowned member of the 2012 Miss Minnesota class, Samantha Phillippi. Sammi and I met last year through the Miss Minnesota program and since then our friendship has only grown. While at Miss Minnesota last year we formed a special bond in our common love for food. While eating lunch at one of our sponsors, Crave in Mall of America, we had coined a new term that would be used by us the rest of the week, 'second seconds'. Second seconds came about when the waiter asked us if we had had enough to eat (at which point Sammi and I had both gone up for thirds), we didn't want to tell him we had thirds so we told him we had second seconds. Living within only a couple miles of each other during the summer Sammi and I became very close, getting together at least once a week. It was so nice to see her compete, as she is a very talented young woman, and even better to see her crowned as a title holder! I cannot wait for another adventurous Miss Minnesota week filled with laughter and second seconds with her by my side.

Natalie Davis for Miss America 2012

Miss Minnesota, Natalie Davis had her send off for Miss America on Saturday, December 17. It was a wonderful send off filled with friends and family to show their support. We got a sneak peak at her wardrobe and talent, along with hearing more about her platform. It was great to see Natalie and some local title holders. We can help Natalie become the next Miss America by voting for her at http://missamerica.org/videocontest/ Vote for her today and everyday, and tune in to ABC on January 14. I must say Natalie is more than prepared to capture the crown of Miss America!

The Season of Giving

"If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another." ~ Tenzin Gyatso

Last Saturday, December 17, Maren and I got to experience peace. As we rang bell for the Salvation Army we got to encounter many individuals that were avid donors of the Salvation Army and also those that have received support from the organization. It was enlightening to see those that would empty their pockets to donate all that they had, and those that could only give a thank you made the experience all the more meaningful. The best part of giving our time was to hear the stories that were shared. A man came up to the kettle and as he emptied the change from his pockets, he looked us in the eyes and gave a serious 'thank you', he continued to tell us how thankful he is for all the Salvation Army does, as his son goes there everyday after school. It always helps you realize what your time really means to others when you get to meet those that are directly affected by what you are doing. The peace that the Salvation Army gives families in need is amazing. I am so glad Maren and I got the opportunity to experience peace this Holiday season.

Got to Have Faith

Wow! What an experience! I am so lucky to have the support that I do, and I cannot thank my friends and family enough.

Saturday night started out with my car breaking down. Luckily I was close to a friend’s house and wasn’t stranded on the side of the road! I spent the night franticly calling people to figure out a ride to the Hopkins Little Theater in the morning. By about 1am I was in tears, contemplating pulling out of the pageant. My brother in-law was gracious enough to awake early, pick me up and drive me there. He even got me there early! And for those of you who know me, that’s quite the accomplishment!

Sunday started out slow, when we arrived the theater was still locked and we had a little bit of down time to get settled in. After a quick contestant meeting, we got things started. We had to learn walking patterns, rehearse talent and prepare for interviews. Before we knew it, it was 1:30pm and interviews were starting for the Teen contestants. After interviews it is all a blur, the rest of the day came so quick!  I can honestly say this was the fastest pageant I have ever been a part of! Before I even had time to think, we were all on stage waiting for the winner to be announced. Waiting on stage is always a little frightening, but I just remind myself that it is in God’s hands, and He has a plan for us no matter what happens. I was more than honored to be announced your new Miss North Metro 2011. It was an amazing group of five other girls, and I would not have wanted the job of a judge that night!

Being crowned your new Miss North Metro reassured me that God does have a plan for us, and we can’t let obstacles stand in our way. We need only to trust in Him and He will lead the way.