Miss Coon Rapids 2011.

Saturday night, I traveled to Coon Rapids with my Mom and a friend, Paige Meyer. Paige and I met when she was the first Miss Red River Valley Outstanding Teen and we competed with each other at Miss MN Outstanding Teen 2010. She was 1st runner up and I was 2nd runner up. I can actually remember the moment when I knew we were going to be friends for a very long time: it was right of MMOT when we were both announced as runner up's. I can remember looking at her, and something just clicked. It was so wierd I can't even describe it. But ever since that moment we have been incredibly close!

The Miss Coon Rapids pageant was really fun! It had been a while since I had gone to a local pageant, so it was great to get that "pageant fever" again :) And of course catch up with girls I hadn't seen in a few weeks!

I would like to say congrats to the new Miss Coon Rapids Megan Elhert and the new Miss Coon Rapids Outstanding Teen Emily Freeh. Emily and I will compete for Miss Minnesota Outstanding Teen in just 54 DAYS! It is crazy how fast time is flying by.

 Miss Twin Cities OT, Miss North Metro OT, the new Miss Coon Rapids OT, and Miss MN OT!

I got to thinking today and if you know me, thinking makes me want to express what's on my mind.

With the state pageant in 54 days, I find myself wondering what the outcome will be, and what will happen after the pageant. I have worked so hard for this. I want this title bad, and I do hope that you see my dedication and passion. I have grown so much in the past year, and I know full well that I am ready for the title as Miss Minnesota Outstanding Teen. I also know that if I was meant to represent this wonderful organization as the Outstanding Teen of Minnesota,  it will come to me. If not, then it was never mine in the first place . God has great things in store for me, I have never doubted in His timing. He is the one that has made me everything that I am today. I pray that in the next few weeks, He will watch over me and guide me through this journey.

I wish that I could promise to bring the MMOT crown home on April 2nd, but I know full well that I can't. God is great. I know that this is what He put me on this earth to do. I can promise you this though: I will continue to advocate for the Children's Miracle Network and for my personal platform of Alzheimer's even after I am no longer competing in the Miss America Organization. I won't stop fighting until I see a cure for Alzheimer's! I promise that I will give every ounce of myself up on that stage in April. I will be Bailey and no one else.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me along this road, whether it be in big ways or small. The road has had a lot of bumps and curves, some harder than others to overcome. When I think of all of the people who stand behind me and God beside me 150%, it makes everything worth it.

Bailey