Miss America Day 5

Day 5= Interview and theatre rehearsals!  Wake up call seemed to come too early this morning but with some breakfast and some prayers I felt confidant only moment after waking up.  I went down to get my hair and makeup done and after a little tweaking I was ready to face the panel of judges.  Alana, Miss Nev and I were able to walk down to the interview room together and for the first time I got to see my directors.  Okay, so they knew where I'd be and I very quickly and sneakily grabbed a hug from them before heading to the holding room.  We had the most wonderful hostess taking care of us and reassuring us how great the judges were.  Normally before my interviews, I've spent my time breathing, saying a few prayers and focusing on remaining focused.  This pre-interview time I spent with Alana watching this video.  Needless to say it put me in a very happy, relaxed place.  Alana and I were both totally excited to do our interviews and after wishing me luck I walked around the corner and into the judges room. 

I'm sure most of you are wondering, "What did Kris Jenner ask you?" I know you're wondering this because I think 50 people have asked me that since I've returned from Miss America.  And to be perfectly honest, I don't remember what she asked me.  One of the things I've been telling people is that it didn't feel like they were celebrities.  Yes, I've watched them on TV and in movies, but today was about me, about each contestant.  It felt like I was the celebrity.  They were firing questions and fighting for my answers and that was such great feeling.  I was asked about a variety of things both political and fun and very personal.  I explained to Mark Ballis that I would have taken him as my dance partner in Dancing with Omaha's Stars last year, and explained what it was like living without my father in my life to Teri Polo.  The ten minutes of interview time flew by and I wasn't disappointed in anything that was asked or how I answered, I only wished I could stay in that room and speak to each of these judges for hours.  The moment the door to the interview room was opened, my Alana was standing there and I literally jumped into her arms.  I was thrilled with my interview and was so anxious for hers!

Needless to say, rehearsals become way more fun when you're done with interview as you will see in the next few pictures! 

Got ya' Brucy!

Cousin IT?

Getting my dance on!

It was indeed a very successful day of rehearsal and our first time on the stage to practice was great!  While we were rehearsing swimsuit and evening gown walk I was looking at the backstage hands and there was something terribly familiar with this guy Chris.  When I got up to him I asked how long he'd been helping with the pageant, he said somewhere around seven years and then he looked at me very carefully.  He noted that I looked very familiar and then I told him I was on that same stage four years before as Miss Nebraska's Outstanding Teen when I had the opportunity to sing the National Anthem.  He immediately remembered me and told me it was all in my eyes :)  See the crazy connections I've made over the years?  Who would have known we'd meet again.  And I must also note in here how absolutely wonderful the dressing room staff and hostess were.  This day was really the first time we were able to work with the seamstresses and the ladies in the dressing room and I felt so taken care of!  

Our evening plans were dinner at PF Changs and then shopping at the Miss America trade show!  We celebrated Maria, Miss Delaware's birthday and I'll admit it, I had a piece of cake and it was fabulous.  You'll notice that I tried to enjoy every aspect of my time in Las Vegas, lettuce hats were a perfect fit in this situation.

Lettuce hats?

Shopping with Miss Louisiana and Miss Alabama

With Miss America 2009, Katie Stam!

I learned about the wonderful designer Twenty Cluny from Miss New York, Kaitlin.  What wonderful pieces they have, makes me wish I were in New York shopping right now!  To quote from my journal entry this night:

"This show is over in three days.  I am anxious for His outcome and will wait patiently.  Today I found out Brian (one of our choreographers) is Adam Sandler's stunt double."  

I had to laugh when Brian told me this because since when does Adam Sandler do anything crazy enough to need a double.  Asking about this led me to information I didn't want to know!  And, I forgot to mention earlier, but both Brian and Stacie danced with Michael Jackson! So jealous!  And I was feeling in a dancing mood and talked Brian into dancing with me.

And I don't know why I wrote this down but I noted in my journal that Miss Utah, Danica loves cats!  Maybe because we share that :)

My ending to this night and thought for the next day was from Colossians 3:23-24
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.  It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

We're almost halfway there I think,
Kayla
Miss Nebraska

Miss America Day 4

 Day 4 started at 4:45am getting up, waking up, and preparing myself to be hair and make-up ready by 6:00am which would give me enough time to grab some breakfast and snacks from the hospitality suite and get to the elevators by 6:15am call time.  I'll break down the process a bit for those of you who didn't see the live show.  There were 6 different groups of girls filming their introductions at 6 different locations.  But as each new location, the girls from the previous shot were participating in the dancing.  We were all in alphabetical order with the exception of the girls who were under 21.  Because some of the intros were being filmed in bars we didn't want to have anyone underage.  The first few girls in the alphabet did their shot the day before and the next groups shot needed to be done after noon so we began that Sunday morning at the Bellagio with my group.

 This day proved difficult because there was a lot of what we call "hurry up and wait" happening.  The film crew and production people had a lot of setting up and testing of this and that but we had to be ready at the snap of a finger.  And although temperatures in Las Vegas were warm and toasty by midday it was rather chilly that morning.  Needless to say we spent a lot of time cuddling for warmth. 

After what seemed like 100 shots we got it down perfectly and we were off to the next location!  Le Reve at the Wynn was one of the coolest places I've seen.  There is a circular stage that is surrounded by water.  The stage changes levels and spins too!  Luckily I was in the back row for this shoot because aside from my yelling out dance moves to help our Miss Nevada keep it together, I was fighting my tendinitis in my knee.  Something about the rubber style floor and high heels was making for a horrible combination.  But with some subtle dance moves and some massaging in between shoots I made it through!

"Thanks for the shout out Lady Gaga, Nebraska, Nebraska I love ya!"

A group of us having lunch at the Palms!

After lunch at the Palms we headed to the secret coded Ghost Bar for the second group of girls.  This was the one we had to postpone so the sun was in the correct position, and also the one that I wasn't in!  Nap time was an understatement.  I think it took only a matter of minutes before each couch, car and rug were covered by a sleeping body.

Getting ready for nap time with Miss Nev at  the Ghost Bar.  This was our only break in the day.

After the Ghost Bar, we drove to downtown Las Vegas, which besides the somewhat vulgar women advertising for the $2 hotdogs and $5 mixed drinks, was a really neat place.  (This was the location that we had the non-alphabetical and underage girls in)  The sun had gone down at this point and all those coastal girls were getting very cold.  We had run through this dance many times and it happened to be my favorite dance so I was very much into it.  To the point of breaking a sweat.  So I ditched my scarf, and gave my coat to someone more cold than I was and kept groovin' to keep myself warm.  Something about that dance gave me a huge kick of much needed energy to finish the shoot.

Our second to last shoot of the day in downtown Las Vegas!

Having a great time teasing Brucy the photographer!

And last but certainly not least was poolside at the Cosmopolitan!  It was 9pm by this time and besides being sleepy we were all freezing, but despite all of that we were all in good spirits which was so uplifting and gave everyone the last kick we needed to get through the last shoot!

Last shoot at the Cosmopolitan!

We got back to the hotel shortly after 10pm and I was showered and in bed faster than you could think, but I still didn't know what time my interview was the next morning.  After a few calls I had the schedule in hand and my alarm set for 6am.

It was a crazy exhausting day, but so much fun!

Psalm 29:11
"The Lord give strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace."

Kayla,

Miss Nebraska

Miss America Day 3

Saturday brought more rehearsal, which by the way, was always fabulous!  We had such a great team of choreographers who've been working with the Miss America Organization for more that eight years, Brian, Stacie and Barry were all so phenomenal to work with and always kept rehearsal entertaining.  During rehearsal, a few girls were pulled out to do up close and personal interviews with Tall Pony (our production team) and Artistry by Amway.  We had our hair and makeup crafted by some wonderful hair and makeup artists, mine happened to have such a darling accent which made for quite an enjoyable time.  They were fixing us with a more natural look with runway appeal.  Our hair was sleek and our makeup subtle to evoke this powerful look.

After rehearsals we changed into our killer Express outfits and went to the Fashion Show Mall where we would be participating in a runway type event.  This was probably the coolest thing I have ever done in my whole life!  We walked into the mall on the main level, walked out the doors into the parking garage, and got into an elevator that took us down a level.  As confusing as this was I decided to go with the flow.  Once downstairs our friends from Express and our stylists from the days interviews were there to make us all look fabulous.  We were guided into this giant box where our positions were marked with a piece of tape.  We rehearsed once the runway walk and then got to our positions and waited.  It was only moments later that we were rising from the ground level to the main level of the mall.  You started to see the feet and then the knees of onlookers, then cameras.  We were rising out of the ground in a glass box!  After we were in position, the runway began to rise out of the ground.  At the end of the runway were cameras galore!  It was the most extravagant and exhilarating rush of adrenaline I had experienced.  It will definitely go down in my history as one of the greatest things I've done!

When the fashion show was done, it was off to Buca de Beppo's for some fabulous pasta and dessert!  I even met a couple fans there outside the doors.  That's always a great feeling when you have people cheering for you :)  AND we did a little singing for Miss Alabama as it was her birthday and instead of spending it at home with her family she had to spend it will her new sisters! 

Happy 25th Birthday to Miss Alabama, Cortney Porter!

Yummy dessert!

The have a famous tomato sauce and its routine every year for the girls to dip their hands in it and make a giant hand print panting out of the sauce for them to hang on the wall for the year!  It was fun and delicious!

Playin' in the famous pizza sauce from Buca de Beppo!

Miss America Class of 2012's hand print sign!

And after a long day of rehearsals, fashion show, late dinner, and tired feet, what else is there to do besides read, enjoy some water and a lovely foot soak!  This is my wonderful roommate Julia, Miss Maine.  I just love this girl!  In her grandma pajamas and with her silly foot soak :)

My wonderful roommate taking advantage of her foot bath!

Needless to say we made a perfect team for each other.  It was so great to talk about life and pageants as we both have such different stories.  Julia won Miss Maine on her first shot so hadn't been exposed to the pageant world as long as I had.  We had many different stories to tell and such a wonderful bond.  This woman will always be a dear friend.

I went to bed after finding my verse to conquer the next day, James 1:2-4

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kids, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

And wrote a little prayer in my journal after that.

Dear God,
Please help me make it through this week in faith, in health and in strength.  I can't do it without you!

Lots more to go,

Kayla 

Miss Nebraska

Miss America Day 2

 Day 2 began with some delicious pancakes from IHOP!  They even had turkey bacon for us, the healthy alternative.  We were able to play and make all kinds of pancakes.  The picture below represents the greatest pancake makers around.  We filled our griddle with batter and had to wait very impatiently until the bubbles were all popped before we flipped it!  It took four spatulas and two full sized plates and a couple burned fingers on my part but we were successful!.

Oh yes, we successfully flipped that bad boy!

After a little morning fun, it was off to rehearsal.  We were planning quite a different opening this year so a lot of work went into it.  But while it was a lot of work it was one of my favorite times because that was the time to take advantage of to really get to know the girls. I started discussing Larry the astrologer with Miss NY and Miss MT and found out they were very interested in that area.  Veronika (Miss Montana) told me she knew another thing, I was a 9 and Joel was an 11...to me this meant nothing.  I'll have to ask her again what her theory is!

Just a little music talk.

After a long day of rehearsal we were treated to "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Venetian.  What a fabulous performance!  The theatre was built specifically for this performance and a ton of crazy features went into it to make it one of the most fabulous shows!  Definitely a must-do while in Vegas!

Before heading to the Phantom at the Venitian.

A group shot with some of the cast of the show.

The end of day 2 in my journal ended with a little note about my day, "definitely got my twang on today!"  Clearly I was feeling a bit southern!  I ended my journal writing and my night with this verse:

"And we know that in all things God works for the god of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans8:28

I'm loving all the memories coming back from writing these!

Kayla
Miss Nebraska

Miss America Day 1

I realize that it has been over two months since I departed for Miss America and that makes me a total slacker for not getting these blogs done before now, but this experience is still unreal.  I can't believe that I was on the Miss America stage and on national television just two months ago.  I'm going to try and backtrack and pinpoint the highlights on my week in Vegas and the fun moments and experiences I had.  I started a journal of the week and with the late evenings and the early mornings started slacking quite a bit but I will share what I have.

On January 5th, on my flight to Las Vegas I was listening to "Where is the Love" by The Blackeyed Peas and starting writing in my journal about the excitement I was feeling and the difference of feelings from the past years I was traveling to Miss America.  I was in the book and would be fighting for the job of Miss America 2012.  It didn't seem like real life.  At this point the nerves hadn't hit and neither did reality.  

On my flight I happen to sit next to a gentleman named Larry who was an astrologer.  I'll tell you right here and now, I've never studied astrology and barely shown any interest in it, and I'm not entirely sure how much of it I believe but it was very interesting to talk with him.  Larry whipped out his computer and entered my name, date of birth and place and time of birth and showed me how my planets, moons, and stars line up.  The whole process was interesting and there are a few "key dates" he told me about, but I'll have to wait until they get here to see if he was right.  This whole process was a great distraction from the fly time and before I knew it we were landing in Las Vegas for the beginning of a wild journey. 

This was my third time into Vegas and it seemed the same as all the rest until I saw two of the most amazing men walking up to me, Lewis and Chris, two of our fabulous security guards.  At that moment, this experience became real.  After heading to the hotel and getting checked in, doing fittings I headed to Express where we were choosing our onstage question outfits and doing some promo videos as well.  I was walking as if on a runway and "Sweet Child of Mine" came on the sound system and I was in the zone on that runway and rockin' it!  I was then told I needed to control my inner rockstar and go for a more sleek appeal.  It was tough, but I made it :)

I was able to sneak a nap in that afternoon before that arrival ceremony, such a relief.  It was so great seeing the girls for the first time since August and you could see the friendships rekindling right away.

After the ceremony, it was off a meeting about what to expect for the rest of our time in Vegas!  The conversation at our table included the importance of ice cream flavors and basically how they determine what kind of person you are.  Therefore, don't date a boy who likes "vanilla"....boring.  For your information I'm a "rocky road" kind of girl.  Must have chocolate covered almonds though, not the cheap way out with peanuts.  Rich in flavor, a little messy and a bit nutty!

Day 1 ended with 1 Peter 3:3-4

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

More to come,

Kayla 

Miss Nebraska