August

August started off right from the get go! I was gone Monday August 1^st and headed to Sidney, Iowa. I was arrived that night at my wonderful host home with Gloria and got settled in for my full day I had coming up. The next morning I was needed right away to start judging their queen competition. We started the morning with interviews. I had two wonderful gentlemen with me to help judge; they even had me sit across the table and helped me with my interview skills.  

Me with the contestants and Miss Sidney Iowa Rodeo

After we had a wonderful potluck lunch we started in with the modeling and speeches. The three constants they had did such a great job! In the afternoon there was a parade around the town square. It was a very short ride around the circle but I was ok with that being it was very VERY hot outside!

When we finished the parade we went back to the rodeo grounds to start the horsemanship portion of the competition. After we had watched all three girls ride and tallied up the scores and the category winners were announced. April Brown had won the title and did a fabulous job competing.  April and I got ready for the rodeo that night. We rode in the grand entry, did a queen run and helped chase out cattle. The arena in Sidney is huge! Our horses got a good work out that night! After the rodeo I headed home right away, I could feel myself starting to get sick. I woke up the next day to help April get ready for her photos as the new Miss Sidney Iowa Rodeo. I was glad that I didn’t have much to do that day because I was right about being sick; I was getting a terrible head cold that knocked me out! I tired resting up the rest of the day and got some medicine that helped a LOT! I was ready for the rodeo that night!

The winner of Mutton Bustin giving the rodeo queen a kiss

It had cooled down a lot so the night was wonderful. I had a great time in Sidney but was leaving the next day to head home to be with my family and a wedding that weekend. The next Wednesday I had a photo shoot for next queen pictures! I was so happy how they had turned out! I can’t wait to see my Vegas ad all put together! My next adventure was off to Iowa State fair! I helped out with the Iowa Horse Council booth during the day Friday. 

They had such wonderful information about horses and horse activities in Iowa. I had a lot of people stop and check out the booth which was wonderful to see. Later that night I was riding in the Cowgirl Queen contest carrying the American flag. I had a great time being introduced and helping with the contest. I was able to watch some friends compete including Charity Howk, Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa. They all did such a great job! The next day is something I was looking forward to for months! I would be showing in the Governor Charity Steer Show! I was showing a steer from Northwest Iowa. It was a great family I was working with and Catherine Punt was the owner of the steer. So was so proud of KaBOOM, her steer. We got him all prepped for the show and we headed in the ring. I had a lot of fun; the crowd was amazing!

So many people were there to support us all. PRCA calf roper from Iowa Billy Huber ending up winning the People’s Choice Award which was well deserved! He had the crowd going with his great rope tricks; including roping the judge!!! After heading back home I had one more event to do. I was speaking at the Anamosa Rotary club. I had a good time having breakfast with the group and being able to tell them about the Miss Rodeo Iowa program and what I do. 

My friend Kelsee and me

They were a great group of people. I had the rest of the week off from queen duties and actually the rest of the month as well! Even though I won’t be traveling I am staying very busy getting ready for the next Miss Rodeo Iowa pageant and for Las Vegas. I’m happy about the time off though, catching up is always a good thing! Next I will be off to Dayton to help with promotion for their rodeo. Stay tuned for updates after that rodeo! Keep Smiling!!!

July!

Oh my! Was July ever a crazy month! It seemed to FLY by, and it did! I was busy from the start of the month by going to Leon on the 2^nd. I was down there to judge the queen pageant.  I drove down Saturday morning and we started the day with the horsemanship portion of the pageant. Two other judges and I judged both the age groups and after the horsemanship we moved on to the interviews, modeling and speeches. For the afternoon events it was just me and Stacie Orman judging. Stacie is a past Miss Rodeo Iowa. I had a great time catching up with her and judging! We were joking about pass queen fashions and talking about the pageant in Vegas coming up in December.  After spending the day in Leon, I rushed home that night to catch the tail end of my neighbor Kali’s graduation party. I have been very close to Kali, her sister Jenna and her parents, so being at the graduation party was very important to me.

Roof Top Rodeo

My next adventure took me out west again. I was heading to Colorado!  I left on Monday the 11^th for Estes Park, Colorado for the Roof Top Rodeo. I meet up with Kellsie Purdy, Miss Rodeo Colorado; Sam Stanke, Miss Rodeo North Dakota; and McKenzie Haley, Miss Rodeo America at an event that was going on in town. Once the event was over we all went to get some amazing ice cream and tour Estes Park a little bit. Kellsie took us to the Stanley Hotel. Places of the hotel were used in the filming of the movie “Dumb and Dumber” and was the inspiration for the book “The Shinning.” It was a gorgeous hotel and had very beautiful surroundings. The next morning all of us girls were in a parade throughout the town. We had a long ride to the beginning of the parade route, but it was a beautiful one! The town of Estes Park is set right in the mountains and no matter where you look, it’s beautiful! After the parade there was a queen’s lunch that we all attended.  I was so impressed by the queen programs in Colorado. They have SO many queens around there!!!  They put on such a great lunch; I knew it would be the same for the rodeo that night.

It was a great rodeo performance that night. The arena is an outdoor and has the mountains as a back drop. It was so breathtaking! I got to ride in the grand entry that evening, carry flags and chase cattle out during the performance. It was a wonderful time! Thankfully the storm that was brewing up stayed away from us until after the rodeo was over. But as it was coming in, boy there was a lot of lightening! The next morning we woke up to a beautiful mountain morning. There was a golf outing that day that we would be helping. The golf tournament was a fundraiser to support the search of a cure for breast cancer.

Sam and I had a blast helping out at hole 15, selling mulligans and trying to think of way to make the golfers donate (such as taking their cart keys and making them buy the keys back!) After working the golf coast for a little bit I was packed up and ready to head out. I wasn’t heading to the next rodeo right away though; I was going to do something I had been looking forward to for months. I was going to ride in Rocky Mountain National Park with Hannah Hilsabeck (Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa 2010.) 

Jessi Kokjohn was wonderful enough to let me go for a ride on one of her great horses. Hannah and Maddy (Jessi’s step daughter) gave me a great 3 hour tour through the park. The day was gorgeous and the scenery was unbelievable! I took so many pictures and was SO happy to see Hannah. I think she was pretty excited to see me also; I was the first person from home Hannah had seen since she went out to Colorado for the summer. After my great ride I was finally ready to head south to my next stop, Colorado Springs. 

Rocky Mountain National Park

 I arrived down in Colorado Springs Wednesday evening. I knew the girls I was staying with wouldn’t be back from the rodeo yet so I took advantage of my free time to visit an old friend. My friend Lauren had moved out to Colorado a couple years earlier. Her fiancé and she had a new home that I was excited to see and to see Lauren! We had a great time chatting, catching up and eating a great meal Lauren made. After visiting for a little bit it was off to the hotel for me! I was greeted at hotel room by Jamie (Miss Rodeo Oklahoma.) She had arrived that evening as well. Later when the rodeo was over Kaycee (Miss Rodeo New Mexico) came back to the room and we had a great time talking and just being ourselves.  The next day we had a tour of Pikes Peak planned.

All of us girls got ready and on the bus to head to the train station. We were talking the train up the mountain, something I have never done before. I went to Pike’s Peak when I was younger with my family but we drove up the mountain. I think I liked going up on the train better than driving; I actually didn’t get sick this time like I had when we drove. We got to the top of the mountain and got a lot of pictures while up there. It was so beautiful up there! The view was amazing!!! That night at the rodeo we all helped with whatever we could. There were some of us that helped hand out programs, some of us helped with the kids barrel racing and some of us helped work the PRCA booth. Once the rodeo started we all went back into a room where we met with the kids that were doing the mutton bustin’ that night.

We paired up with the kids and waited for our time to head out to the arena. The arena was amazing! It was large with an amazing back drop! The mountains were gorgeous! Once we got in the arena we moved really fast with all the kids and they had a great time! After the mutton bustin’ we headed up to the VIP room, had supper and watched the rest of the rodeo.  When the bull riding was started we headed down to the entrance to sign autographs. Just like up in Estes Park, there are so many queens in the area! We had a great crowd and signed A LOT of autographs. On Friday we were able to tour the Air Force Academy. I had also been there before but we were very fortunate enough to get more of a behind the scenes tour. They have a beautiful campus and amazing building structures. I was so proud to see where our great service men and woman study and work their way up in the Air Force. That evening we had the rodeo again which was a great time! On Saturday we had a very special morning planned.

We were able to be at the PRCA Hall of Fame inductions. It was amazing to be a part of that and see some great rodeo personal be inducted. It was a moment of history that we were all able to witness. After the inductions were done we had our fittings for the clothes we will be wearing in Las Vegas. 

Us with Keith Martin

Once we finished trying our clothes on we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the rodeo again. The last night of the rodeo was just as good as the other two. It was hard saying good-bye to Becky (the woman in charge of the queens) though. She had such a great time with all of us that she even got teary eyed when we left. Even though I was only there a few days I had such an amazing time and felt so close to everyone. I knew I had made lifelong friends!

Once I had gotten back from Colorado I enjoyed a week at home with my family and catching up on some business. Once my week off was over I was back on the road; this time heading west again. I was off to Cheyenne, Wyoming for the world famous Frontier Days!

I arrived late Tuesday night the 26^th and would be starting events right away the next morning. I was staying with a great couple, the Westedts and Audrey Miss Rodeo Arizona. The next morning, Wednesday I started the day by meeting up with all the other girls at the rodeo grounds and we loaded up. We headed to the pancake breakfast in town to help serve pancakes and greet the crowd.
We actually got to eat first and they were some delious pancakes!!! We then helped make some of these pancakes, which by the way they mix the batter in a cement mixer truck! Once we had flipped some pancakes (and had a few land on the floor!) we introduced ourselves to the crowd.  After the breakfast we were taking out to Laramie County Community College to watch an airshow. It was so crazy the things the pilots were doing! It was a beautiful day!

We then loaded up and headed to go get our horses ready for the rodeo. We had great horses available for us to use from Vold company.  The horse I rode was named was Simon and he was AMAZING! We warmed the horses up and were told that these fly-bys would be FAST! I made sure my hat was on very tight and got ready for my run. The track that goes around is where we ran and we started running at one corner and finished at the other! We were in a full dead run by the time we passed the crowd. Simon was a very rough horse to ride until he ran. He was smooth as glass! It was such an incredible feeling to be flying by the stands at Cheyenne Frontier Days and it felt like floating in air! Once the fly-bys were done we headed over and started signing autographs. We had a great time signing autographs, even in the rain after the rodeo!  Once the rodeo was over we went back to Alrene Kensinger’s house for supper and tour of her home. She has so many wonderful items in her home! She is such an amazing woman.  She had a lot of photos and so many old queen clothes. It was great to see all of her old cowboy hats! After a great time at Alrene’s home we headed back to the rodeo grounds to be introduced at the concert.

Arlene and me

 Unfortunately we weren’t introduced but we still made the best of the night. We girls went shopping!!! They had a great tradeshow that we were able to walk around in and shop. Once we were all shopped out we headed back to our homes to get some sleep before the parade the next day. On Thursday morning we headed down town once again for the start of the parade. It was a long parade but a great one! I once again ran into a lot of people from Iowa. It is so great seeing Iowa people when I am out of state. After the parade we went the rodeo grounds and got ready for the fly-bys again.  Once my fly-by was over I had to jump in my car and drive to Ames. I was checking out of my apartment from college and had to be there to help clean. Once home I was able to enjoy my last few days of July at my county fair. It was a crazy busy month but a great way to end such a wonderful 31 days!!!

Busy Busy June!

My month of June was a CRAZY busy one! I started the month of by going to Cherokee the first weekend. I was there Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa, Charity Howk, Miss Rodeo Minnesota, Paige Oveson and I had a great time! 

Along with the new and last year’s Cherokee rodeo queen, we did different activities. We went to a lunch appearance at the Dodge dealership in town, visited a nursing home, had a radio interview and were also in the town parade. It was amazing to see how many participants they had for the parade. For a small town they have a lot of heart and love their PRCA rodeo!   

While I was in Cherokee I also had the opportunity to judge their queen pageant. They only had one contestant this year but I still had a lot of fun being able to be on the other side of the table and ask the questions. 

Even though we couldn’t ride in the grand entry or chase out cattle (due to the EHV outbreak they didn’t want extra horses coming in) I had a great time in Cherokee! It was the first PRCA rodeo in Iowa and I knew it was the start to a great summer!!!

 My next stop after Cherokee was just a few days after I got back. I headed out Wednesday the 8^th for Ft. Madison, Iowa. I was going down there to judge the Iowa High School Rodeo Finals. I was so glad I had some practice being a judge up in Cherokee so I was ready in Ft. Madison. There were 6 judges total and we started right away Thursday morning with interviews. 

Iowa High School Rodeo Queen Pageant

Later that day we had speeches and modeling. Friday morning was the horsemanship portion of the pageant. They had 3 great contestants running and it was a lot of fun to see them all shine! I left soon after the horsemanship contest was over I headed home right away to get ready for an appearance that night.

 I was appearing at MoJo’s in the Dubuque Diamond Casino. They were holding a promotional event for the Bellevue rodeo. Since this rodeo is so close to me I consider it my ‘hometown’ rodeo. I wanted to help promote as much as I could! I spent a few hours greeting people and visiting with the Three Hills Rodeo family. I love being able to do rodeo promotions close to home, knowing so many people.

Mom, Dad and me at MoJo's

That next Sunday I was all packed up again and hitting the rodeo. This time I was heading towards Nebraska, North Platte to be exact. I had a little pit stop to make first. I was stopping in Omaha to pick up Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Jamie. It was much cheaper for her to fly into Omaha and since I would be driving right through we worked it out that I could just pick her up! It was a great drive having Jamie along. There hasn’t been much time for me and her to talk one on one, so we had a wonderful talk the rest of the 5 hours we had to drive. Once we got the North Platte we headed straight to the rodeo grounds. They were having a kick off BBQ and live auction. The rest of the state queens and me got to help sell some items and we had a chance to meet the contestants running for Miss Rodeo Nebraska title. After the BBQ was over the committee held a ranch stick horse show. We all had a lot of fun with that! We split into groups and would do things such as rescue race and we had to chase these balloons and “fence” them back in like cattle! We all had a blast! When we were done at the rodeo grounds we headed out to our host families. Miss Rodeo Illinois, Brooke Owen and I were staying with the Dan and Betty Twarling. 

They were SUCH nice people!!! They couldn’t have been more welcoming and fun to stay with. We got to do some great things while out in Nebraska. They had a wonderful relaxed BBQ for all of us girls and Miss Rodeo Nebraska committee. We signed autographs at Target. We were in a kids walking parade in town, which had a LOT of kids in it! They all had costumes on and it was a great time! We also got to visit and tour the Golden Spike museum where there are so many train tracks that come through! It was a very historical place for the railroad and was interested to learn about.We got to go up in the tower that over looked all the tracks. 90 feet up was a bit much for me though! Some of the other girls helped me look over there edge for a picture or two!

scared beyond belief!

On Tuesday night was the fashion show and speeches for the MRN pageant. That was amazing to see such a production they put on! All of us girls got to go on stage in our dresses and model a little bit. We each got to introduce ourselves also and say a little bit about our state. I got a pretty good reaction when I mentioned to the Husker fans “Go Cyclones!”  After the fashion show was done I headed out right away. I had a long drive to make that night. I made it as far as Omaha, stayed with a friend and drove the rest of the way home in the morning. I was heading home for the Jackson County Pro Rodeo in Bellevue!

Wednesday night the 15^th was the kick-off party of the Bellevue rodeo. It was at the Off Shore, a new restaurant and reception hall. It was set right along the beautiful Mississippi river and had an amazing view! We were greeting people that night and giving out rodeo information and little prizes. That night I was also helping crown the new little miss rodeo queen, the little junior cowboy and the junior rodeo clown. They had quite a few kids and we all had a great time! Even a little rain shower couldn’t slow us down! 

Me and my nephew Mason

Thursday morning I got to Bellevue (only a short distance from my house) and got my horse settled in and meet with Trish (she was ‘in charge’ of the queen for the weekend!) I actually have known Trish for a really long time beings she use to work at my orthodontist. Trish and I get along great!!! 

She and I and my little royalty went to visit a nursing home and get people excited about the upcoming rodeo.  The rodeo started Thursday night and they had an AMAZING crowd! Both the hillside and the bleachers were packed full! It was so amazing to see so many people that I know and grew up. They all were very excited for the rodeo and were cheering me on. 

Some wonderful fans!

I can’t even describe the feeling being at that rodeo. I had been traveling for 6 months already, but there at Bellevue at my home rodeo, it really hit me what my job was and how important it was to others. I felt truly blessed and fortunate to have such a great opportunity! The next two days were just relaxing during the day and rodeo at night! We lucked out and only had a short sprinkle Friday night. Compared to last year (which had terrible flooding and storms) Bellevue was a great success and so much fun!!!

The very next day after Bellevue rodeo was the start of Dubuque County Trailblazers Horse and Pony Camp. This is a camp put on by a 4-H group where boys and girls bring their horse and stay for a week. I have been going to that camp since I was 9. I was a camper for many years, then a junior instructor and then an instructor for the past 3 or 4 years. This year was my first year not being there all week. I did still want to be involved so I was asked to do a presentation one of the days. I did Learning Center (what they call it at camp) for the 3 age groups in the morning on Wednesday. I informed them of what Miss Rodeo Iowa did, the pageant coming up and ways to get involved with rodeo. Afterwards we had a little fun when I broke them into groups and we played some rodeo trivia! I was very impressed how much some of the kids knew about rodeo!

Me and Baili

On Thursday I was back on the road again! This time to another close rodeo that I had been to many times growing up. I was heading to the Edgewood Rodeo Days. For this rodeo I was staying with the Kerns Family. They own the Edgewood Locker in town and are an amazing family! The oldest daughter Baili was a school friend of mine from ISU. 

Me with Jim and Jody Kerns

 She was on an internship down in Arkansas so this was the first time she was home since school was done.  Having Baili around again made the weekend even better!

I started off the weekend by signing autographs at the kids carnival in town Thursday afternoon. The rodeo was that night and they had a wonderful crowd! The stock contractor was Three Hill Rodeo again, just like in Bellevue so it was pretty simple to remember what all to do. 

On Friday afternoon I went into town to the nursing home to help work Bingo. I got to visit with the residents and even won a candy bar! At the rodeo that night we were lucky enough to have the rain hold off of us again. I got talked into doing the rescue race with Payson Kerns, Baili’s brother. It was a great crowd pleaser to see the rodeo queen come pick up Payson and push him off my horse at the end of the arena!  On Saturday there was the parade through town. I got to be one of the first people through the parade, which I was glad; I didn’t know how the horse I was using was going to act!

Me and Payson doing the rescue race

But everything went great and I had a lot of fun. When the parade was over I got to go help with the sheep rodeo. There were two age groups, 4-5 year olds and 6-7 year olds. There were SO many kids that signed up! I got to be the judge and give each of the kids’ rides a score. I loved seeing the kids get involved and have a great time! Saturday night rodeo was just as great as the other and it was a wonderful last performance! I even had a chance to make it out on the river with Baili Sunday morning before her and I had to part and go our separate ways. June was a fabulous month being Miss Rodeo Iowa. I just knew I had even more great adventures coming up with July!!!

May – Kick off to the summer!

After I got my whirlwind weekend of graduating from Iowa State done and over with, I was ready to start hitting the road as Miss Rodeo Iowa again. My next stop was to Mason City, Iowa for a clinic. I was putting on a clinic for girls in the local saddle club. The girls would be heading to the Cowgirl Queen contest at the Iowa State Fair. We started the day in the arena. I worked with the girls and their horses about the pattern they would have to perform. We worked small at first, doing basic maneuvers and breaking down the pattern.

After we had worked on the pieces, we put everything together. The girls were really impressive! They all were great riders and could handle their horses very well. I am very excited to see these girls ride at state fair and see how much they have worked over the summer months. After we had worked in the arena we went in and had some wonderful lunch before starting the speaking portion of the clinic. I spoke about different aspects of being a rodeo or cowgirl queen. We talked about clothes and makeup, hair and tack. I also covered very important things too like character and respect. Respect for others and yourself and the importance of it. The girls and parents were great participants and asked great questions. I had a wonderful time in Mason City!!!

My next adventure was that following week. I was heading to Tennessee!!!  I was going to Franklin for their rodeo and pageant to crown the new Miss Rodeo Tennessee. I left on Tuesday and arrived that evening. The other girls and I were meeting with Greg from Dan Post boots for dinner that night.  

The girls with Greg from Dan Post Boots!

 We had a great evening just relaxing and enjoying each other’s company. The other girls and I were catching up since the last time we saw each other. The next day was spent touring different places. We went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and the site of the Battle of Franklin. The Hall of Fame was incredible! We had a great tour guide and got to see some behind the scenes things. It was crazy to think we were standing where country music greats were being inducted. It was just fascinating! They also had different exhibits, one of them being about the Williams family. Learning about the start of their family and their raise in country music was incredible.  

 The afternoon when we visited the battle site we learned a lot about the town of Franklin. It was crazy to me to think that this battle site was just in the middle of the city. The original house that we visited had such a southern feel. It was very moving! Thursday we were able to watch the contestants give their speeches and be asked some questions. We got to ride in the grand entry of the rodeo that night. I was giving Hot Shot or Hottie to ride. This was the director Kelly’s horse and he was a great horse. He had a lot of energy but after a couple hours of riding down, him and I got along great!  

Site of Battle of Franklin

 On Friday the girls and I got up early for breakfast at the hotel at the Grand Ol Opry. We would have liked to stay longer but we had a fun event to get back for. We were all having an old fashioned high noon tea party! It was at a southern style house with wonderful people that served us lunch. 

We all got to wear big hats and I felt like I had stepped back in time!  We rode in the rodeo the next two nights and had a great time! It was wonderful getting to meet Ty Fitzgerald, the new Miss Rodeo Tennessee. It is by far a trip I will never forget!

The next few events I went to were to promote the Jackson County Pro Rodeo in Bellevue. I went and visited a bunch of school s to tell the kids about the upcoming rodeo. 

We handed out fliers, tickets and rodeo coloring books. That Friday I went back down to Bellevue for a Rotary Club Meeting. It was great to speak with some of the local business men and women about my job as Miss Rodeo Iowa and rodeo. They were all very excited for the rodeo and to see a great turn out! 

After the meeting I had a weekend off before my crazy busy June started… Jump on and Ride!!!