Glowin' & Showin'

Sophia invited me to be a part of the children's advocacy Glow Run in down town Rogers which benefits a group in an effort to prevent child abuse. Sophia brought her two ponies, all dolled up, and we visited with kids, let them take photos and visited with the event attendees. I was talking to one girl and signing an autograph sheet. A little bit later a girl came running back up, her name was Gabby. She said "I will always follow my heart." It took me a minute to realize why she said that. When I hand out autograph sheets, I write a note on each one and I wrote "Always remember to follow your heart" on hers. It meant so much to me to to what I wrote to heart.

There was about 1000 attendees! Shiloh was just as big of a hit as the ponies and he was not lacking any attention! Shiloh and I both wore green in support of my cousin, Tony, who was having an organ donation evaluation that day. Green is the color for organ donation so we had to spread the love and let him know we were thinking of him.

After the event wrapped up I rushed to change clothes, threw Max in the trailer and headed to the Oak Grove play day. Maximus is getting his barrel and pole pattern now so we're getting ready to speed things up! The remainder of my weekend consisted of working on my truck, finishing my trailer living quarter project, a great Easter Sunday church service and a very efficient Rounders practice.

Sunday night, I got a last minute call at 9:30pm asking if I could bring tack the Horse Tales event the following morning. Let me recap, Horse Tales for Literacy is a program where 4th graders read a book then get the opportunity to learn first hand about different aspects of horses by spending half a day rotating to different educational stations. Since I was a bit worn out and still had work to do I decided to get up early to get everything together.

After feeding for the morning, I loaded a ton of tack. It started to rain just as I finished loading. I hopped my truck, got ready to take off and remembered I had no windshield wiper fuse. Thank goodness I still have my trusty ole Buck Truck. As the skies opened up and it began to pour I transferred 7 loads of tack and other materials I was using to present, from one truck to the other. Soggy and grumpy, I got into my truck and headed for Lowell Elementary. My mood quickly dissolved because when I arrived the sweetest boy was there to help me trudge everything to the classroom, where I was to present for the day.

I spent the day talking to some 400 4th and 5th graders from area schools about tack and about my job as a rodeo queen. One of my favorite parts of presenting, is giving the kids a chance to ask questions because it is so interesting to hear about what they don't understand. Questions such as: "Does the mouth  hurt them?" "What is that made out of?" "What happens when the horse starts bucking?" were all pretty common and then I was asked "Are you married?" I told them "no" and the boy says "oh well you should meet my friend Jordan Peterson." Thankfully there was another question before I could respond because I was at a loss for words!

The school librarian and teacher assistants were all very hospitable and supplied snacks, water and lunch for the volunteers. I also had the chance to meet Robert and his trick horse, Frosty. He was so impressive! At the conclusion of the day, I cannot help but to look back and think about all of the little girls who tell you they want a horse. While most of the kids seemed to be interested, there are some that I can pick out that have the biggest stars in their eyes. Horse Tales is such an enlightening program and I am so priveleged to be a part of!

AIM n Easter

Thankfully this weekend I don't have a big story about getting lost... maybe that's because the events I attended where in two location in NWA. And I would sure hope that I don't get lost in the area I grew up but if anyone could... it'd be me!

It was another 5:45am Saturday morning but well worth it! I started out by meeting my fellow Rounders girls and several board members at the CrossPoint church in Rogers where some thousand people gathered for an AIM event. The autism awareness event was a success! The support found in their close knit relationships are none to matched! There were bouncy houses, hoola-hooping, chalk painting, and Rodeo of the Ozarks hosted a petting zoo and a few other activities. One huge hit was board members, Sach Oliver and Brian Adams, dressed as rodeo clowns! And the kids loved seeing all of the rounders in their sparkly shirts and cowboy hats.  A dozen vendors advertised and gave samples. Music was playing, food was cooking, a silent auction was taking place and everyone was having a great time! We mingled and I signed autographs and played with kids. There was not a child that didn't touch my heart but one little boy especially captured me. Connor was so enthusiastic, outgoing, and energetic that I couldn't help but to hang out with him.

At 10am the autism awareness 5K walk began. After the crowd dissipated to head to the walk, I snuck away to head to Parsons Stadium for the Easter Egg Hunt. The Easter Egg Roundup was just as big as the AIM event! As soon as I got there I was swarmed by kids with big smiles and Easter baskets full of candy and prizes. I visited with the kids there for a solid two hours until it settled down then headed to get in a two hour ride since weather was a beautiful 75 degrees!

It was a busy but super fun morning! I love my job as a rodeo queen!!!

Rodeo Old Fort Days Clinic

Ft. Smith bound! At 5:15am (on a Saturday might I add), I hit the snooze button twice then rolled out of bed to throw myself together, feed and head to meet Miss Rodeo Old Fort Days, Jessica Stamps, so we could hit the road to Ft. Smith. When I got to her house I practically had to move into her car. Between my queen bag, hat carrier, extra button up, camera bag, tripod, computer case and purse I had at least seven different items to carry. You would be amazed at how many items it takes to stay on top of things; especially when you are photographing for an event.

We chatted the whole way there... and of course managed to miss our exit. I think I'm bad luck when traveling anywhere, especially when it involves queening, because I can literally never get there the first try! Jessica and I both got a bit turned around but we still managed to make it to Kay Rodgers Park for the Old Fort Days Queen Clinic with a little time to spare.

We had the opportunity to meet several young ladies who plan to run for Old Fort Days titles and several others who attended. Dakota Missildine, Miss Rodeo USA 2010, and Jessica Chitwood, Miss Rodeo Arkansas 2012, were the coordinators. The day was filled with a little bit of everything. From modeling to impromptu, interview to horsemanship and speech to general appearance. We covered a number of topics and had some great discussion and practice on the different aspects of rodeo queening. One thing I love about rodeo is everyone's willingness to help one another. While we are in one since competing against each other, everyone is so ready to lend a helping hand or tip. Some of my best friends are current and former rodeo queens! While at the clinic I had the privilege of not only photographing the current queens but also doing a couple of small shoots with some of the attendees.

I cannot wait to see these lovely ladies down the rodeo road! I know they are all going to do so well; not only in queening but in every other aspect of life as well. Saturday was a great refresher for me and I learned some great pointers; especially on modeling and impromptu.

We wrapped up around 3pm and headed for home. We got back onto I-540 and Jessica says "wow, it feels like we're going the wrong way." Me: "yea it does, I get so turned around sometimes." Jessica: "Me too, but I guess this is right. We're on 540 South." At the same time: "South?? Wait, aren't we supposed to be going North?" Yes. We were headed BACK in the same direction when we passed the exit on our way to Ft. Smith. The upside: We got to cross the Arkansas River 5 times in one day! How many people can say that?? I think we learned it's best not to talk while driving.