It's Picture Time!!

What a long day, but what a fun day! Starting out at 8 a.m. we got hair and makeup done at Classic Cuts in Waseca. It was so nice to be pampered and have the stress of doing my hair put in someone else's hands for once!

Of course, I got to pick on my little sister queen Alyssa which is always a great time!

Here is our group picture with all of the lovely ladies that did our hair and make-up!

Here is one of the pictures our directors took. I can't wait to see the pictures that Tara took! Thank you Tara for being so patient will all of us running around your studio!

I can't wait to see my talent pictures! I love my talent and just putting on pieces of my costume gets me excited to perform it at Miss Minnesota. Thank you again to Classic Cuts, Tara, and all of the directors for this day. It was so much fun and a day I will never forget!

Bingo!

This was a fun night at bingo! The crowd was super fun and because our teens couldn't make it, I got to be the caller! I only got yelled at a few times but only because people were upset that they didn't have the number I called. I can't wait until we get to do it again!

Dance Society Variety Show- Selling Cookies

First off, I would like to say thank you to my fellow Dance Society members for letting me sell my cookies at the show! I made about $35 for the Children's Miracle Network and I even got to perform my talent piece during the show! Thank you to everyone who came to the show and a special thank you to everyone who purchased a cookie! It means so much to have so much support from the community of Winona and the students on campus :)

Until We Meet Again,
      Lauren

Making Cookies

 

As some of you might know, we are required to raise $250 for the Children's Miracle Network before running for Miss Minnesota. On vacation this summer, my mom and I found this crown cookie cutter and decided to make crown cookies to raise money for CMN. We had a little bit of difficulty deciding how many batches we needed to make but a few hours later and covered in flour, I had made plenty of delicious sugar cookies. Good news, we only broke four cookies from baking to frosting...and no it wasn't on purpose but I am sure glad that I got to taste test! I would like to thank my mom and my cousin Dawn for all of their help!

 

Love Always,

    Lauren



Rebecca's Welcome Home from the Miss America Pageant

It was so great to hear Rebecca talk about her Miss America experience. You can tell that she had an amazing time and made a lot of new friends. We are all so proud of her and her performance at the Miss America pageant, she did a wonderful job and certainly raised the bar for the ladies following her. I hope to be in her shoes someday as she is a great role model and a great representative of Minnesota.

Until Next Time,
Lauren

Miss Mankato Pageant

What happens when you put a bunch of royal girls into one picture...chaos! This night was so much fun. We did a little shopping before the pageant and went out to eat at Old Country Buffet where I showed the girls how to eat lemons! We finally got to the pageant and were able to see a lot of familiar faces. I decided that I love going to other pageants because all I have to do is just sit, watch and get nervous for the girls during the crowning. I would like to welcome the new Miss Mankato, Katie, to the Queen Club, I am sure she will do a wonderful job!

Dress Shopping Day

I finally said yes to the dress! I finally have my Miss Minnesota evening gown. It was a fun day with Jen, my mom, and my cousin Dawn, even though we got a little lost getting there and getting home. It was a dress I never would have picked out for myself (I thought I couldn't pull it off) but I am glad that Sarah picked it out for me to try on. I knew the moment I tried it on and Sarah dressed me up with heels, earrings, and a bracelet, that it was the one. I can't wait until Miss Minnesota when I get to wear it on stage!

Dream Catcher Bingo

This picture sums up how the night went! It was a lot of fun being able to help with Dream Catcher bingo in order to raise funds to help families in the Waseca Area. Alyssa, Katie, and I had so much fun dressing up in our Halloween costumes and meeting some of the people from Waseca. My mom won $39 that night, I sold the meat raffle tickets, and Alyssa just failed at number calling (haha just kidding).  I can't wait to do this again on November 15th :)

Love Always,
Lauren

Winona High School - Platform Presentation

After practicing to the wall in my room, I can finally say that I have one platform presentation under my belt! Today I presented my platform, "Growing the Distance"- The Importance of Hair Donation, to students of the Winona High School. It was such an amazing experience getting to share something that I am so passionate about and passing on the message about the Pantene Beautiful Lengths organization. They were such a good audience, they participated when I asked for it and they were very attentive. After the presentation, I had 4 girls come talk to me about wanting to donate their hair! I was hoping I could get one person to donate, but I managed to get 4 people interested!! I presented to about 50-75 students and was able to get 4 people intersted, I can't wait to see how many I can get to donate after I present back home to the high school, middle school, and elementary school!! I was very nervous to present today but now I am just excited to present to the next group!

Until Next Time,
    Lauren

Autism Speaks Walk

First, I need to apologize for being so behind on my blog updates...now we can continue. I was so blessed to be a part of Miss Minnesota's team for the Autism Speaks walk at the Mall of America. It was amazing how many people came together to support this organization. We were able to be on tv with Rebecca, walk around the mall a little bit, get a picture with Spongebob, and see Rebecca perform her talent. This is a great organizaiton providing many services for those families affected by Autism. After the walk Katie and I went shopping with Christy for dresses. I walked away empty handed but Katie got 2 beautiful dresses. We finished the day at Famous Dave's...who said pageant girls can't eat :P

Love Always,
    Lauren

Miss Southern Valley Pageant

The Miss Southern Valley pageant was great! I was able to see some familiar faces both in the crowd, and on stage. I was able to meet some of the other visiting royalty as well as catch up with some I already knew. I was so happy to see Lauren win the teen title. We got to know her through our pageant and I know she will do an amazing job. Congrats to Savannah and Lauren on their new titles!!

Love,
   Lauren
P.S. the cake pops were amazing too!!

Walk to End Alzheimer's

 The Walk to End Alzheimer's holds a special place in my heart. This February my Grandpa passed away, he had Alzheimer's for many years. It is a terrible disease and it was so touching to see so many people raising money to help find a cure. I was able to put a flower in the garden for him saying "In memory of my Grandpa, Love Lauren ('ole smiley). I know you are watching over me everyday and I still have the deck of cards that we will use when we meet again <3

 I got the honors of handing out programs, directing traffic during registration, and drawing the names of door prize winners.

                          Debbie Eddy was the lady that made my volunteer desires possible :)

                                                  My royal chaperon/ roommate Hannah :)

                               Some of my lovely Dance Society friends supporting the cause!

Waseca Marching Classic

The Waseca Marching Classic was a great time. It started of with a parade through Waseca with all of the girls and our princesses. After that we stuffed all of us in Molly's vehicle to get Sadie to the start of the parade so she could march with the band. Thank you to the cops who looked the other way when they saw how many crowns were piled into one vehicle. Sadie did an amazing job in the parade and there was a lot of screaming when she passed where we were sitting. A huge highlight of my day was seeing Miss Jaz Malepsy (my sister from another mister) after going to college for a month. In between the parade and the field show we watched the Miss Minnesota pageant and bonded over pizza. At the field show we were introduced in front of everyone and then handed out water to the band members when they got off of the field. Our goal was accomplished that band members would hit on us. This day was my first encounter of serious marching band and I was so impressed with the Waseca Marching Band. Even though Alyssa was a terrible "water cupper" it turned out to be a great day that ended with a fantastic firework show.

These two peanuts kept all of us girls very entertained and gave us a lot of laughs throughout the day...got to love them :)

Miss Winona Pageant

The Miss Winona Pageant was so much fun on so many levels. It was the first local pageant that I was able to sit and watch, I got to see my little sister queen Alyssa, and we got to talk to Rebecca about her experience at the Miss America Pageant. It's nice to have another local titleholder that is in the same area as we are both Winona State University Warriors!! Welcome to the Queen Club!

Watching the Miss America Pageant

I'm writing this post as I watch the pageant and how I feel as it moves along!
I think I may be more nervous than Rebecca is! I screamed so loud when Rebecca made top 15, I am pretty sure my whole floor heard it and I think our roommate thought I was dying. Better yet, Rebecca made top 10. They really need to stop calling her last because my heart just can't take it anymore. My Aunt told me I would be on that stage someday...I think we should just focus on Miss Minnesota first!...There she goes again, Rebecca made it in the top 5!! So excited to say that I met Miss Minnesota not because she has made it this far but also because she is an amazing person!! Keep it up!...Well Rebecca got 4th runner up but she should have walked away with a crown but we are all so proud of how far she went! Can't wait till we see her again so we can tell her how proud we are of her!
Stay Classy,
Lauren

Jesse James Days

Jesse James Days is always a celebration that I look forward to. Just going to their events you can feel the love that the citizens of Northfield have for their town and it's history. Last weekend Katie and I went to the Jesse James Days in support of their Tough Enough to Wear Pink rodeo. I used to go to rodeos as a little girl so it was exciting to get to watch a rodeo again while supporting a good cause. On Sunday, we attended the royalty reception and then got to watch the bank raid reenactment from right in front of the bank! Riding in the parade was so fun as we got to listen to the Winona High School Band play songs from Les Mis. I felt so powerful waving to the song, "Do you hear the people sing". It was a great weekend and got to see a lot of familiar faces and made some new friends as well. This is a festival that I will continue to go to for the rest of my life!
Love Always,
    Lauren

State Fair 2013

The great Minnesota get together! I had so much fun representing South Central Minnesota at the State Fair. I got to see Tiffany at work and got introduced to some of the Kare 11 crew. I had a blast seeing all of the little girls and getting a few laughs on the way. I don't think people realize that I can hear what they say but the best thing I heard all day was "Mom, it's Miss America....Miss South America?"

 

I even saw some familiar faces...Just when I get fruit pizza all over my face in my struggle to eat it, some of my old UPAC officers find me. It was so great to see them and hear how their day was going. Hopefully, they didn't get rained on too hard at the concert that night.



One of the many perks of being Miss South Central is getting treated like royalty. I got a few free things during the day but the Kangaroo stuffed animal from the Dish Network guy was the best. They weren't really giving these out so I felt really special. I am so glad I got to spend my day as a role model for young girls and if there is one thing I learned it is that when little girls ask me if I live in a castle...I need to say yes!

Love Always,
Lauren

Steele County Fair

Got to love the fair food! It was such a great day at the fair. I got to spend some quality time with my Little Sister Queen, Alyssa Crum. It's a good thing she is from Owatonna and knew the fair well because I was lost the whole time! We got to watch some pig races, feed Puzzles the Giraffe, and tour a beautiful house! We also got free samples of the amazing Nitro Ice Cream! Of course we couldn't get out of there without stirring up some trouble. We made Stella a little jealous when we asked Steely to take a picture with us!

After touring the fair I spent some time watching the Demo Derby! I loved seeing the cars getting smashed. I probably got a little too into it but it was so much fun! The life of a queen is always exciting and has its perks :)
Love Always,
   Lauren