Well my first pageant has come and gone and it was so much more than I imagined it would be, so much that words can’t quite describe it. For this post I will give you the rundown of events, my experience/feelings, and share some of the pictures with you all. Now please don’t fret, even though the pageant is over this blog will still continue to feature amazing and inspirational women from around the world. Also, don’t forget about my 2016 resolution! I am going to challenge myself each month for the year 2016 to do something out of my comfort zone. So towards the end of my blog I will discuss my ideas and what I have so far! Alright now back to the pageant!
Friday- January 15th, 2016
So Friday started off with a lot of nerves, 2 large cups of coffee, lots of prayers, and the Kelly and Michael show. I was a bundle of nerves and self-doubt started to kick in regarding my decision in dresses, preparation, not hiring a coach, the interview portion, etc….. Then all of a sudden after my prayers calmness came over me and I felt at peace. No matter the outcome, I made a
promise to myself to enjoy every moment of the competition and to enjoy being pampered and beautified. I was doing this pageant for me and no matter the outcome my friends and family would always be there for me. This left me feeling at peace and ready to continue my day.
We all gathered at one of the hotels in Fargo, ND and got acquainted with each other and went over orientation from 12-3pm. At 3:30pm I headed over to see Steph Granlund at Freya Salon to get my hair and eyelashes ready for the interview portion of the competition, which started at 6:30p for my category. Below are some pictures of the awesome hair-do that Steph did!
After I got my hair and eyelashes applied I headed back to the hotel where our interviews would take place and would finish getting ready. How interview works is you and the other contestants in your category walk into a room where the judges are sitting at tables. You introduce yourself and then are assigned to a judge. You have 5 minutes with each judge, there were 5 judges who were not disclosed to you prior. Each of them has your platform sheet and your official application sheet. Some of them may have looked at your social media sites and others may have taken notes. The five judges this year were: Farabe’ Algor- Mrs. International, Elise Banks- Miss International, Jonathan Casper-North Dakota Senator, Deb Jenkins- RN, breast cancer survivor, small catering business owner, and founds of the Annual Celebration of Women and Their Music, and Carolyn Mosher- Mrs. ND 1996 and Mrs. International 1996. I looked at the interview portion as having a 5 minute conversation with someone that I did not already know and share with them about my platform and my passion. I honestly am not sure how I did on this portion as I won’t get my judges scores for another week but all that matters is how much fun I had with interview. I absolutely LOVED getting to know the judges and being able to converse with them all. Every single one of them is admirable and inspiring and who I could have chatted with all evening long. However, I didn’t and at 7:15p the interview portion for me was over and I was dismissed to head home and prepare for the next/long day.
Saturday-January 16th, 2016
My day started at 5:45am with the annoying alarm clock and a burst of energy to start my day and get to my hair/make-up appointment at 6:30am. For this I went to Blushed Salon in Moorhead, MN and went to the very talented lady, Dani. It was soooo much fun getting dolled up and having the airbrush make-up put in. Lucky for me my lovely boyfriend, Ryan, was generous and offered to drive me to my appointment and to the Island Park Theater in Fargo, ND at 8am so I could avoid walking in the -18 degree weather. So my suitcase, self, coffee, and several outfits were at the theater and ready for practice and run-throughs at 8am. The morning consisted of rehearsing and learning where to stand and where and when to walk. After a lunch break we did a few run throughs and smoothed out the rough patches. At 6pm we started getting ready and dressed for the opening number.
The schedules of events for the evening were as follows: Opening number, fun fashion wear, on-stage interview, fitness wear, and evening gown competition. I was judged on all of the above categories except for the opening number. My nerves for the most part were under control except when it came to the on-stage interview and fitness wear. My on-stage interview was intimidating because well I am speaking in front of 400 people and you only get 30 seconds! The first question they asked was for me to describe my platform: my answer was: “I created a blog called, embracingwomenoftoday@wordpress.com, where I feature incredible female role models and share their journeys through life. Everyone has a story and the advice they share may be life changing for someone. My goal is to continue to reach people from all over the world with these inspirational stories and to hopefully provide young women with great role models.” The second question we did not know and differed for each contestant. Mine was: what is a challenge that women face today.” Although I can’t remember my exact answer due to adrenaline (haha) my answer was about our biggest challenge is ourselves and overcoming our feels and gathering the self-esteem that we need to overcome these. I am told that my interview went great and afterwards a huge weight was lifted off of my shoulders.
Now for those of you that read my prior blog post you know how I struggled with the fitness wear…well I am happy to report that I wore that outfit and rocked it! Unfortunately though I did not grab a picture of me rocking it out on stage so I apologize. 😦 Now only the Teen, Miss, and Mrs Categories competed in the fitness. I chose to wear the tank-top version with the shorts and although I still don’t like the outfit or find it comfortable I did walk out on stage with confidence, grace, and felt amazing! It felt great to conquer that darn outfit! 🙂
After the fitness competition there was an intermission and then came the evening gown portion. The dress I wore I bought from a friend who wore it to her prom a few years prior. We added some jewelry and a corset back and I was good to go! I felt like a million bucks and enjoyed every minute of it. The experience was so surreal and magical. After the evening competition the scores were tallied and we filed back on stage for the results. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to win, everyone wants a beautiful crown and to be a queen, but I was just happy to have competed in the pageant. I already accomplished the goals that I set out for myself when I entered the competition: have fun, not fall, make lots of new friends, and go out of my comfort zone. I didn’t come home with any hardware last night but I did come home with lots of flowers, tons of memories, new friends, lots of aches and sores, and the sense of accomplishment. I am incredibly proud of myself for overcoming those obstacles and for putting myself out there. Being on stage in front of 400 people to judge, criticize, cheer, and encourage you is absolutely terrifying! But I did it! I not only loved the experience and the people I met but I don’t think this will be my only and last pageant. We shall see what life has in store for me but for now I do see another pageant somewhere in my future. 🙂
Pictures with all of the wonderful people that were able to venture the cold to come and support me! Thank you everyone! I am truly blessed.
Now I know this post is getting long so I will wrap it up shortly I promise! Next topic of discussion is my 2016 resolution! I am in need of some more ideas to challenge myself and push me out of my comfort zone. This is what I have so far.
January-pageant / new and out of my comfort zone haircut!!!
February-___________ March- ________ April- __________
May- 5k/10k challenger race at the Fargo Marathon June-__________
July-___________ August- My first half-marathon!!
September-_________ October-__________
November-____________ December-_____________
As you can see I need your ideas. For this month I finished the pageant but next I plan on doing something fun and terrifying with my hair and color so stay tuned for that! If you have any other suggestions and ideas for the rest of the year please let me know. I am up for anything fun that is not illegal, dangerous, and just plain stupid.
Now I hope you all continue to read my blog and posts as I have SEVERAL women that are working on how they want to share their stories with you. Please keep in mind that everyone is able to share their story so if you want to share yours and want to be featured please let me know! Thank you all for taking the time to read this post and I hope you have enjoyed reading about these inspirational women and my own stories and experiences. Please be kind as Negative Nancy’s are not welcomed here, only kind words are welcomed. I also want to thank everyone who supported me through my journey of pageantry. I had 20 friends and family members that came and watched me compete and I felt like I had already won by having you all there so thank you! I also want to thank everyone that donated money, offered words of encouragement, and cheered me on from afar. You have no idea how much all of it meant to me and I can’t thank you enough. So THANK YOU!!!!! That is all I have for now so stay tuned for more inspirational stories and for my last time signing off as Miss Fargo International 2015.
Love to you all,
Kayla-Miss Fargo International 2015
embracingwomenoftoday 
I absolutely love reading your blog and get super giddy every time a new one comes out to read about the amazing women you write about and the passion in your writing. I have a challenge for you. It is somewhat physical but mostly mental. Google spartan race I will be running my first spartan race in June and would love to have others join us venture with me.
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Thank you! I will google it and let you know. Thank you for te suggestion.
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