City of Lights Festival.

In my hometown of Nisswa, Minnesota, we have an after-Thanksgiving celebration on Black Friday called the City of Lights Festival. This is the OFFICIAL kick-off to Christmas... my favorite holiday!! There are horse drawn wagon rides, storytelling, bonfires, fireworks, and a live nativity. Santa even comes!

I was really excited because this year I got to be apart of it! Of course as Miss North Metro Outstanding Teen :) I was asked to sell blinking light necklaces and light up antlers, which was fun because I got to sell them with Miss Nisswa, Renee Kardell! Even in 15 degree weather, we still managed to have fun and get a few laughs in...

At 5:30, the whole town joins in for a countdown of when all the Christmas lights in Nisswa are turned on. Each store decorates their storefronts with lots of colorful lights. When you turn on the lights, the whole town lights up and it looks like a movie set! It is gorgeous! But of course, it only looks cool if ALL the lights go on at the SAME time. Renee and I were asked to turn a strip of lights on after the countdown. Of course we wern't going to say no... How many times do you get to light up the city of Nisswa for Christmas? Not many! Thinking that it would be easy to just plug in the cords to the outlet on a telephone pole, we didn't stress too much about it. (I think you might know where this story is heading) About 5:20 we headed over to the telephone pole. Then realizing we had 10 minutes before the countdown began, Renee and I wen't in to a nearby resturant to warm up for 5 minutes or so. I promise you we were keeping a close eye on the clock, and at exactly 5:27, we decided we better go outside and wait for the countdown. Opening the door of the resturant, I hear the man over the loud speaker saying, "Alright, lets begin our countdown! 10...9...". Renee and I both had a temporary freak out moment and ran (literally!), with our crowns and sashes I might add, to the telephone pole. We arrived just as the man was saying "1". Do you know the feeling when you're in a major hurry and nothing seems to go right? This was one of those feelings! We were scrambling to open up the outlet box, it wouldn't open! By now, 2/3's of the city is lit up and the other third is not... Oops! We pulled and we pushed at the box and it still wouldn't open. We couldn't figure it out! Somewhere inbetween our laughing and screaming, a man had gotten out of his van and was running towards us to come help. He popped the box open with ONE try and we quickly plugged the lights in... The town of Nisswa was officially lit up (5 minutes after the countdown had ended). Thanking the man many times for helping us we walked away. We were both very embarrassed! I still don't know how he got that outlet box open with one try, but it's a good thing Renee and I could laugh about it!

So I apologize to anyone reading this from Nisswa who was waiting for some of the lights to turn on. Renee and I take full responsibility! :)

All in all, it was a pretty interesting night. Very fun and I can't wait until next year!

Bailey

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope your day was filled with lots of eating and spending time with family :)

As I sit here writing this, I realize how VERY thankful I am for everything that life as thrown at me. I have been faced with so much these past 2 years, some good... some not so good. To reflect back and see how God has worked his "magic" in little ways is truely incredible.

I watch a little bit of my father die each and every day from a disease that has no cure. There are somedays that I don't even know if I can get through the day, but God always gives me the strength to keep pushing through and I owe everything to Him! I am thankful to have Him in my life.

I am thankful for my Mom, who never stops supporting me. She is the epitome of everything I want to be! Not only is she my mom, but she is my best friend, support group, and mentor. I am blessed to have such an amazing Mom!

I am thankful for my Dad, whose strength makes me stronger everyday. I don't know how he manages to survive everyday knowing that he is losing his memory. He is the strongest person I know and I am also blessed to have him as a dad!

I am thankful for organizations like the Alzheimer's Association and Children's Miracle Network, who help people and children around our nation. They provide support and hope to people who otherwise would not have that support of hope! Just knowing that I get the opportunity to work with both of these organizations is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

I am thankful for my family and friends. I cannot even put into words how thankful I am. They are my rock, and if I could name all of you I would, but this blog would be wayyy long :)

I am thankful for my new "family". My director, Christina (she is a huge help in everything that I do!), and my sister queen Bethany and her mom Kelli (who I just so happen to get to see on Sunday!). I am thankful that they have been added to my life and I don't think they realize how grateful I really am to have them in my life!

So, take time today to sit down and really think about everything you are thankful for... then go out and tell them! Express to them how thankful you to have them in your life. Don't wait!

Bailey

P.s. Here is the link to my speech that I gave as Alzheimer's Champion of the Year 2010! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU2NBylU1ok

Alzheimer's Champion of the Year for 2010!

Well, winter is officially here. 6 inches of snow is unbelievable and being snowed in is not the most fun thing in the world! But it's a perfect day to blog :)

My weekend started early. I left school after lunch to race down to the cities for the Alzheimer's Champion of the Year award ceremony. They call it the Annual Meeting. The meeting started at 6pm, and it was great to see people that I don't get to see alot! It felt great to get all dressed up, wear my crown and sash, and accept an award that is such a HUGE honor to recieve.

At this meeting the Alzheimer's Associaton talked about their annual finances. It is truly amazing to see how much money they raised in one year. To think that I helped raise some of that money is incredible! Then they awarded the Angel Award. Next up was me :) I was so excited (and nervous!) to stand up on that stage and recieve this award. I gave a speech as well! You would not believe how hard my heart was pounding. I tried my very hardest to hold it together and not cry, but I eneded up crying by the end of my speech. I was told there was not a dry eye in the audience. After my speech, Zaven Khachaturian, PhD, talked. It was great to hear him talk! He is an incredible speaker, and it was such an honor to listen to him.

After the meeting there was a reception. It was great to chat with the people who had been there and meet new people. After the reception, I was invited to dinner at Crave in Edina. This was probably the most memorable thing that I have ever done. Sitting at the end of the table was Hilda Pridgeon, the co-founder of the Alzheimer's Associaion!! Amazing! It was 30 years ago that she created this (right in Minnesota!) at her kitchen table. I was speechless meeting her. I cannot stress how honored I was to meet her and talk to her. She said she was impressed with me! For her to say that was remarkable. The Alzheimer's Association is a nation wide organization and I was having dinner with her!

Here is a video played at the Annual Meeting! Make sure to listen for me! Just copy and paste this.
http://www.youtube.com/alzmnnd#p/a/u/0/wEv4HKtDo-s

The next day, I was still on Cloud 9. I am still in shock that that day acually happened! I woke up really early to drive to the Alzheimer's Association Edina Office to meet with Stephanie Dix about a new group that is emerging. CAERUS (ky-rus) is a brand new group for young people wanting to do more about raising awarness and funds for the Alzheimer's cause. It is still in the brainstorming process, so when I know more, I will update :)

After the CAERUS meeting, I headed over to Roseville to present at Brimhall Elementary School about Alzheimer's. I spoke to Ms. Zbacnik's 5th graders (my first time speaking to 5th graders) and it could not have gone more smoothly! They were a great class and had some really great questions. We had some pretty intense conversations! I might be on a news station, so I will update you on that as well :)

I then visited the Mall of America for some shopping. That was fun as well! After spending the rest of the day at the Mall, I raced over to Maple Grove High School to watch my high school football team play. If we won this game, that would mean we would go to State, so this was a huge game. We were playing Eden Prairie, one of the best teams in the state. WE WON! 13-10, which means we are going to the Metrodome! Exciting! :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend watching all the snow fall.

Bailey

 My wonderful and amazing director Christina!

Ms. Zbacnik's 5th graders!

Here and there...

Today marks the 3rd week since my crowning... WOW! This is my first title in the Miss America system and I already feel like a totally different person. I feel accomplished... Everything that I have worked so hard for is finally coming to me. I never would have imagined any of this 2 years ago, when I first starting to work my way into the Miss America system.

I have many things that I am excited to share about...

There is 152 days unil Miss Minnesota Outstanding Teen 2011! I have already been busily preparing. Preparing has always been my favorite part about any pageant. I love the feeling you get right before you are about ready to go out on stage to compete after months of hard-core preparing. It is unlike ANYTHING I have ever felt... You know that you are fully ready for the title you are competing for and have no regrets about anything you have done. You know that you couldn't have possibly worked harder because you gave 200 % of yourself into this. You are somewhat at ease because you know that the judges are here to pick the most ready and well-rounded girl and that could be you! Girls who have competed in ANY pageant before know this feeling like the back of their hands, and while some people who have never competed don't know this feeling... It is the greatest feeling in the world!!

On another note: PLEASE mark this date on your calendar! November 11th, Alzheimer's Champion of the Year award ceremony! I am your 2010 Alzheimer's Champion of the Year and would love to have anyone who is interested in going attend. It is held at the Hilton in Bloomington, MN and starts at 6pm. Please RSVP before November 5th at MN-NDchapter@alzmndak.org. Thank you and I hope to see everyone there!

Also put this date on your calendar as well... December 23rd my sister queen, Bethany, and I are going to be at the Mall of America performing a Christmas duet! Bethany will be singing and I will playing the piano. It will be a great time! SO... Mall of America at 3pm in the Best Buy Rotunda :)

Please check out http://missminnesota.org/Teen/contestants.html. It tells you a few of the contestants for Miss Minnesota Outstanding Teen 2011 and make sure to check out the Miss North Metro Outstanding Teen section :)

I hope everyone has a fun Halloween!

Bailey

Miss Twin Cities and Miss Capital City 2011.

Last night was the 2011 Miss Twin Cities and Miss Capital City pageant! It was a blast, because this was the first local pageant that I wore my crown and sash. It was fun catching up with girls that I hadn't seen in a while! That's always one of my favorite things about going to locals.

The day was filled with many fun things. My Mom and I left Brainerd at 2pm to meet up with my sister queen, Bethany in St. Cloud. Then from there Bethany, my Mom, and I drove to Maple Grove to have dinner at Granite City with our director, Christina. It was great bonding time for us. I am so blessed to have Christina as my director because she is truely incredible! It makes me even more excited for the year ahead. I've never had a "director" but I am loving everything about it!!

After finishing our dinner, we all packed into Christina's car to head over to the auditorium that the pageant was held in. We almost died a few times on our way there, but it's all good :)

The pageant was put on beauitfully and it was a great pageant to watch! I would like to congradulate Miss Twins Citites 2011, Lauren Johnson and Miss Capital City 2011, Aja Majkrzak! They are both GREAT girls, and it was so great to see them get crowned because they both are so deserving. Lauren was a former Miss Brainerd and Aja was a former Miss South Central. I can't wait to watch to watch them compete for Miss Minnesota 2011! I know that they will both do wonderfully.

Up next... Alzheimer's Champion of the Year award ceremony on November 11th and Miss Mankato November 13th.