Sunday, March 30, 2008

Junior Miss!

Yesterday night I participated in Junior Miss! It was so much fun. I had a GREAT time.

The first time we were all on stage was for opening number. All sixteen of us wore sparkling, black top hats and our specially made exercise clothes. It was pretty much a mess of teenage girls but it wasn't judged and we had fun anyway.

Immediately after opening number we performed our fitness routine. I ended up losing my number in the middle of the group routine and mistakenly tried to pick it up; I decided that I would leave it though. I was really tired and I don't feel as though I did my absolute best on this portion. Even my solo I messed up because when I was supposed to do my push ups, my hair was in my face. Rats! This was the only portion that I wish that I could have done better.

Next was talent! I played "Don't Let the Deal Go Down" on my fiddle and I dressed up as a cowgirl. As I was backstage waiting to go on, I was extremely nervous. But as soon as I got on stage, I completely forgot how nervous I was. I ripped out my song like never before and the audience even started cheering toward the end of the song. It was by far the best part of the night.

After talent was the Self Expression portion of the program. This is where we got to walk around flaunting gorgeous dresses and fancy hairstyles. Toward the end of this program, we drew a question out of a crystal basket and we were to answer it in the microphone in front of hundreds of onlookers and five judges. My question was, "What is a hero to you and why?" I answered, "The Bible says, 'No greater love has no man than this: that he lay down his life for a friend.' That is the ultimate hero." I may have said more than that but that was the gist of my answer. My backstage mom, Sara, said that one of the committee members who was watching said that I had a very powerful answer. I felt good about it too.

It was over! The rest of the program was pretty much just entertainment. My dad got to escort me across the stage in his suit. I felt so pretty!

Then it was time for the awards. There were two $250 scholarships for each category that was judged. I received the first prize for the talent category which was wonderful. I had pretty much done Junior Miss because of the talent. Anyway, even though I didn't get any of the top three prizes (second alternate, first alternate, and Junior Miss), I still had a wonderful time.

Afterward, my family and friends came to congratulate me. Even some people that I didn't know complemented me on my talent. I later found out from one of the committee members that the judges gave me a perfect score on my talent; tens all the way across the board. That in itself was satisfactory.

Anyway, I felt so pretty and so loved, I didn't want the night to end. Unfortunately, the night did end. And the long wait and anticipation was all over. Junior Miss is done! Now I have to look forward to next year when I get to help the new group of girls. I had a wonderful journey.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Whoa!

Time flies when you're having fun, I guess. Junior Miss is only one week away. Can you believe it?! I can't. Today was the last early morning practice (yippee!); I can sleep in on Saturdays again! 6:45-10:00AM is just too early to function.

All this week we will have practices in the evenings from 7-9PM. This means that I have to use gas! I'm sick of the raising prices. Living out of town doesn't help at all either. This is going to be a very stressful week.

I am asking for your prayer; especially for the talent section of the program. When I played the fiddle on the stage for the first time, I couldn't hear my backup CD at all and I was completely off rhythm. Fortunately, one of the other girls' dads said that he has a monitor that he will let us borrow. This is GREAT because I'm not the only girl who needs to hear her music in order to perform.

Wish me luck! I'm sooo excited!!!