(Almost) Arkansas Bound!

Please excuse me if this blog post seems scattered. I’m lacking focus at the moment. . . I blame it on the fact that I’m overwhelmingly excited about my trip to Arkansas on Wednesday!! The Arkansas High and Collegiate Pageants will be held on Friday and Saturday, and I am heading down to help out and spend a bit of time with my pageant family. I look forward to meeting all of the contestants and catching up with Amanda Patterson, Inez Freeman, Laine Berry, Summer Priester, Carina Romero and Kyndal Hayes!! It’s going to be so much fun!

After a very busy seven days last week, things have slowed down a bit. I’ve spent the past few days preparing for Maine’s Academic Pageants (which will be held on August 6^th), adding new songs to my repertoire (never know when I may be asked to perform!), planning my sister’s send-off party (she leaves for MAOT on August 12^th), catching up on the progress of several film projects (I’ll be playing a role in an educational short about tobacco prevention next month, and the Project AWARE mental health movie that I blogged about in May is moving right along), and getting a liiiiittle relaxation in. I’ve been reading, “Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert M. Pirsig and, although I’m only about 1/3 of the way through, I can already tell it’s a great read--very engaging. It’s been recommended to me several times and served as the official Honors College read the year before I started up at UMaine.I have a feeling it'll be finished before my plane lands in Little Rock.

I’ve also done a bit of leisurely raspberry picking this week. The raspberries in my backyard are growing like crazy this month, and my taste buds couldn’t be happier about it ;) I’m uploading a picture of the berries that I picked on Saturday—I just can’t resist! 

 Yum!

And while we’re on the topic of food (it’s one of my favorites)—I’ve been working diligently on putting together a personal cookbook for the fall. It’s a combination of family recipes, Cooking Light recipes, rotary recipes, personal recipes, and recipes that I’ve borrowed from the food blogs that I’ve discovered via two of my favorite websites, www.tastespotting.com and www.foodgawker.com ---Just a warning, don’t set either one of these as your homepage. . .You’ll get very distracted---Anyway, this will be my first year of off-campus living and I am beyond excited to have a kitchen again. I have set a challenge for myself: This school year, I plan to prove to others that eating healthy doesn’t have to be expensive. I hope to make use of sales and coupons, plan weekly menus, create yummy & healthy food, and blog about my budgeting and cooking successes (and failures).

Now, it’s time for me to get back to packing! I’ll update everyone on my trip to Arkansas upon my return and I’ll leave you with a picture. This is the Maine High School and Collegiate opening number dress, which I’m SO impressed with. It’s a Christine Blake Design. The Collegiate dresses are blue, the High School dresses are Red and the current titleholders’ dresses are white :) Can’t wait to see them on stage! 

Busy, Busy!

Well, after a two week absence, I have plenty to report. . So, why not begin with some congratulations?! State High School and Collegiate pageants are in full swing and several new titleholders have been welcomed into the MHSA and MCA family over the past few weeks:

-North Carolina High: Victoria Baskett

-North Carolina Collegiate: Natalie Tolbert

-North Dakota High: Josie Hettich

-Texas High: Jessi Amerie

-Texas Collegiate: Hoang-Kim Cung 

Congrats, ladies! I can’t wait to meet you all in March!

I’d also like to congratulate my friend and MAOT sorority sister, Taylor Kinzler, on her 2^nd runner-up placement at the Miss Massachusetts America Pageant last weekend. Below is a picture of Taylor, Angie (Miss RIOT ’08) and me. It was so great to see my beautiful sisters :)

Now, some updates on the things that I’ve been up to:

Last Wednesday, I emceed the Central Maine Egg Festival Pageant, a Maine Academic Pageant Prelim, along with Mrs. Maine United States (Dr. Christine Blake), Miss Maine High School (Sammi Clark), Miss Maine Collegiate (Kristy Huff), and Miss Eastern Maine Collegiate (BreAnna Beal). It was a fabulous evening and I look forward to seeing the new titleholders, Marissa McGraw, Callie MacQueston,  Samantha Turcotte, Olivia Patterson and Hannah Bradley, at the Maine Academic Pageants in August!

On Friday, I participated in the Yarmouth Clam Festival Parade along with Miss Maine High School (Sammi Clark), Miss Maine’s Outstanding Teen (Alison Folsom—My baby sister) and Miss Maine (Julia Furtado).  The weather that day was perfect and the parade drew a crowd of over 100,000—a huge success and lots of fun! One man asked me whether or not I was a singer, while my car was stopped on Main Street, prompting me to break into an acapella version of “God Bless America”. I wasn’t expecting to sing at the Yarmouth Clam Festival, but I’ll take any opportunity I can to perform :-P 

On Saturday, I emceed another Maine Academic Preliminary Pageant in Warren (We are so excited to have picked up so many locals over the past few months!!) I enjoyed spending time with all of the contestants and modeling another Christine Blake Design dress :) While scores were being tallied, I had the chance to follow Daisy Blake and Julia Badarako in singing two acapella songs for the audience.  After this week, I think I may need to expand my acapella repertoire! I look forward to seeing several of the new titleholders at the Maine pageants in August!!

With Sammi, Christine and Daisy!

Coming up:

This week, Christine Blake, Daisy Blake and I will be filming the choreography for the Maine Academic Pageants so that all of the girls can become familiar with the opening number steps ahead of time! We will be posting the video online soon.

Next week, I’m headed off to Arkansas for the Arkansas High and Collegiate Pageants! I can’t wait to meet all of the contestants and reunite with my pageant family—Amanda Patterson, Inez Freeman, Summer Priester, Carina Romero, and Kyndal Hayes! Yay!

Keep your eye on the grand old flag!

Happy Independence Day, everyone! I hope that you’ll all have the opportunity to join family and friends in celebrating our nation’s birthday! My sincere thanks to the brave men and women serving in our military, who continue to stand by America’s side and fight to protect our freedoms!

Though I have not made any appearances since my last post (how strange!), the past seven days have been both exciting and marked by personal achievements and new experiences. Yesterday, I completed my summer psychology course which means that: A) I am schoolwork-free until September!!!!  B) I can now tell you a thing or two about adolescent thought and behavior patterns. Not far out of the teenage years myself however, I think my own observational studies gave me near-expert status on the topic of adolescence long before starting the course….  

I’ve also gotten back into biking lately and I’ve appreciated the great weather that we’ve had over the past few weeks as it’s allowed me to take daily rides along the ocean and the Saco River. I’m truly blessed to have grown up in such an incredible area. Members of this community are friendly and supportive and the landscape is absolutely beautiful, especially in the summertime! If you’ve never been to Maine, July is definitely the time to visit. Spend the day with First Chance Whale Watch in Kennebunkport, head to Portland’s Old Port for a night out, bring the kids to Old Orchard Beach, take a hike in Acadia National park, and do some shopping in Bar Harbor. I guess I’m just in a Patriotic mood on this Independence Day, proud of my country and proud of my state. 

Now, for the most exciting part of the week: My first fashion photo shoot! On Friday, Meredith Brockington, an RIT student and fellow Thornton Academy graduate, took me into the Saco Island/North Dam Mill area for a SUPER fun shoot. Meredith is a fabulous photographer! The new pictures will be a fabulous addition to my portfolio, which also includes photos by Tess Johnson , the incredible photographer who took all of my official crown and gown shots! 

 Photographer: Meredith Brockington

So, what’s next? There are several pageants taking place over the next few weeks. North Dakota and North Carolina will be holding their High School and Collegiate Pageants on July 9^th, Texas and Florida will be holding their High School and Collegiate Pageants on July 16^th, and Arkansas will be holding its High School and Collegiate Pageants on July 29-30. I will be attending the Arkansas pageants myself, and cannot wait to meet all of the contestants and reunite with my MHSA/MCA family!! 

And speaking of reuniting, I’ll be heading down to Massachusetts on Saturday night to cheer on one of my MAOT sorority sisters, Taylor Kinzler, at the Miss Massachusetts America Pageant! By my side will be another of my MAOT sisters, my former roommate, Angie Angers! Taylor is such a beautiful, talented, intelligent and dedicated woman and would make a fabulous Miss Mass. Of course, I’m a bit biased, but she certainly has my vote! I can’t wait to watch her shine on the Hanover Theatre stage!

Have a fabulous 4^th! 

Shannon