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.

"Famous in a Small Town"

I have to say that moving back to Northwest Arkansas was one of the best decisions I made. Not only because I get to be closer to my family and friends but because it allows me to give back to the community that molded me into who I am.

I moved to Pea Ridge when I was two years old. I started pre-K and graduated from Pea Ridge School Districts. I did FFA, played sports and participated in other organizations in Pea Ridge. I am proud to call it my hometown.

Last Thursday evening I did a spontaneous visit to the Pea Ridge Primary to promote the book fair and visit with families during parent teacher conferences. It's so much fun to see how much the school has changed and to see some of the familiar faces I grew up around. After running out of autograph sheets I ended up finding a few reading partners who sat down beside me on a couch in a library so that we could read while they waited on parents! They wanted to keep on reading but their parents had arrived and it was time for me to watch my sister run track.

Yesterday morning I had the day off to run a few errands and hang out with my sister. I started with a visit to the Pea Ridge Community Library to read to children. While the turn out wasn't the biggest, the excitement was not lacking. I once again had the opportunity to meet Penelope. I visited her school in the fall for a book fair and she remembered every word I had told her some four months ago! I didn't forget her cowboy hat, boots and beaming smile. We read several books and she asked lots of questions. I love when kids start asking questions because it gives me the chance to tell my story! I've signed a number of things... pamphlets, boots, hats but this was my first time to sign an iPod case!

I meant to post this last week but got wrapped up in the hustle of Spring Break to-dos!

First Rodeo of the Spring!

We should have warned Springfield, MO we were on the way! Rikki and I left my house Saturday morning  for our first Horsefest and Ozark Empire Rodeo experience. A Starbucks stop and we hit the road, right on our target time. 

At the fairground, we checked out the booths and bought a few accessories that we really didn't need.. of course ultimately spent more on our horses than ourselves. The first seminar started at 1; so we thought we'd be ahead of the game and found our seats thirty minutes early for what we thought was the Horse Nutrition seminar but then we noticed the presenters bringing a saddled horse and tarps into the presentation arena... now why on earth would you need that to teach nutrition? You don't. We found out from the people next to us that the seminar we were hoping for was clear on the other side of the next hall. We learned quite a bit from Dr. Marty Adams about Animal Nutrition for Insulin Resistant and Older horses then broadened our horizons by listening to Nancie Boland about aroma therapy for horses to heal pains and ailments. 

After the seminars we plugged in the address to the much talked about PFI Western Store and our phone GPS tried to take us... who knows where. After some much debated map reading we ended up at our destination expecting to be taken aback by the 18,000 square feet of everything country... but much to our disappointment; most of the prices were unjustifiable for two frugal gals. When you're getting paid by the hour, you look at a $80 shirt and think... I'd have to work a full day plus some just for this shirt. A little let down, we plugged in JR's Western Store in our phone hoping to kill time by shopping but ended up at Springfield's finest.. "R dw od Mo el"  Maybe Redwood Motel? Half the letters were missing and the place very dilapidated and on a rather scary part of town so gave up our quest to find bargains and headed back to the fairgrounds to get ready for the rodeo.

The house was packed at the rodeo! I quickly ran out of autograph sheets so I soon had go to the car to restock. Rikki was up in the stands so I motioned for her to toss me the keys. She tossed and they went right through my hands to land 2 inches in front of a 2000 pound bull inside the bucking shoot! I saw our ride home flash before my eyes.. thinking "this bull is going to step on the keys, bend them and we're stranded in Springfield." Oh and to make it better, it's my mom's car we are driving. THANKFULLY one of the bull riders noticed and got a hook to strategically grab the keys out from under the bull.

The rodeo wrapped up around 11 and we got to hang out with Lecile Harriss afterwards! Our combined indecisiveness is bad. After our GPS tried to encourage us to I-44 East instead of West we pull off at Walmart to find food. Even though we really wanted something warm, we thought it would be quicker just to grab something. It took at least 30 minutes to find our food, in that we could have had a sit down dinner at IHop. With Walmart dinner and a McDonald's coffee stop, we headed out. Nearing Joplin, we pulled off for gas. The GPS must have got confused because within 30 minutes we had to do 3 U-turns, back track 4 times and re-track twice only to end up back at the gas station. That's when we decided to follow road signs. Genius Idea! If I were to go into every small predicament we faced that day this article would be twice as long. We have the ability to laugh about our mess-ups... we laughed a lot that day. We came to the decision that on our next excursion we're printing out directions to every stop we plan to make, the weekend before and start memorizing them! 

I'll update soon on my other recent activities. Until next time... Happy Trails!

In the mean time and between time...

I just glanced down at my planner to make a Spring Break schedule and in big letters on Monday, the first thing you'll see is "SLEEP IN!!" While my Spring Break is about to be filled with photo shoots, work, riding and volunteering, I don't mind a bit because I am absolutely in love with what I do!

I get to come to work and watch the sun go down behind a stadium that tells a story of 70 years of tradition. I wish those bleachers could talk because the stories they could tell would be quite amazing. My job as the Parsons Stadium social media marketer, helping the secretary with upcoming events and behind the scenes work has given me the opportunity to work closely with the rodeo board and stay current with events.

This past month has been filled with a little bit of Nashville, TN, local events and lots of school work. Let me first disclose that I am not complaining because I love attending the University of Arkansas and I know it will pay off but this semester has been a true challenge to keep up with all of my classes. I can usually get away with a few easy classes and few harder ones. This semester, they are all hard and time consuming!

While Nashville was not rodeo related; I was requested by the National Rural Electric Cooperative to be a chaperon for some 47 high school students from across the United States. In 2010-2011 I was honored by being the Arkansas representative and enjoy returning to play a part in making it a memorable trip for the current representatives! I was able to catch up with some great friends of mine and play a part in the NRECA National Convention by carrying the American flag in front of some 14,000 (I was corrected) cooperative members.

Several weeks ago I attended the Springdale Chamber of Commerce After Hours, hosted at the Parson's Stadium Community Building. It was a great evening of networking and visiting with influential members of the community as they enjoyed refreshments, food and prize drawings.

On March 8th, I was excited to take part in the 4th Annual Denim & Diamonds Gala held at Cherokee Casino it included a night of entertainment, live and silent auction and a steak dinner! There was some 270 plus in attendance and over $28,000 was raised to benefit the scholarship and youth funds presented by the Rodeo of the Ozarks and Springdale Benevolent Foundation. It was encouraging to see so many people willing to support the youth of their communities and help build the future of agriculture. During the event, Miss Rodeo Old Fort Days, Jessica, and myself sold iPad raffle tickets and visited with attendees as they arrived. Very few things can match a good time catching up with great friends!

With Sponsor, David Edwards, owner of
Lone Creek Performance Horses!

Last Friday, I took a day to thank a few of my sponsors and stopped in at the Pea Ridge Vet Clinic, Pea Ridge Arvest and ended the day with a trail ride at Rush Springs Ranch. At the ranch, we tested out a few new trails created by owner, Russ Van Elk. If you are looking for something to do with your kids on their spring break, be sure to check out Rush Springs as they have trail rides, buggy tours, camp grounds, extreme off roading tracks and anything in between!

In the mean time and in between time, I will be headed to Springfield on Saturday for Horsefest plus April has so much in store! Happy Spring Y'all!

Credit where Credit is Due

I am constantly posting about all of the events, rodeos, schools and local volunteer opportunities that I participate in but all to often I forget to mention those that make it possible. Without my sponsors, I literally could not do my job. The duties of a rodeo queen can be overwhelmingly expensive; from chaps and belts to diesel and repairs. My sponsors are so generous and simply inspiring. Their willingness to help me reach my dreams has encouraged me to give back in the same way when I am financially stable and able.

One of my largest supporters is my Farm Credit of Western Arkansas family. After two years of employment and making some of my closest friends there, I cannot be more thankful for their monetary help and overall supportiveness. FCS opened up opportunities and helped me gain experiences that I undoubtedly could not have done otherwise.

I am grateful to Pea Ridge Veterinary Clinic and Arvest Bank of Pea Ridge for their financial support. It is such an honor to recieve support from the community where I grew up; they shaped me into who I am and I am so glad to call Pea Ridge my home town.

Lone Creek Performance Horses has played a HUGE and irreplaceable part by donating my beautiful autograph sheets. I met Davids Edwards at Rodeo of the Ozarks last year and he quickly became my friend. His enthusiastic willingness to help me is such a blessing.

Rush Springs Ranch is another family that I am proud to be a part of; after riding there several summers, I have grown close to the owner and workers. Rush Springs Ranch paid my entry fee for the contest in addition to gave me a horse to use throughout the year. Maximus, my sponsored horse, was not being used and needed some polishing. Owner, Russ Van Elk, quickly offered to sponsor him to me during my rein. Max and I have become quite a team; as I work with him and he has taught me so much.

I have my great friend, Nicole Shelton,  to thank for my awesome photograhpy on my autograph sheets. Nicole Shelton Photography does a great job at making you feel special during your photoshoot and is so such a sweet young lady to work with.

The Rodeo of the Ozarks Board of Directors has quickly become another extension of my family. I have turned to them with any needs and they are quick to meet them. I am overwhelmed by their continued support and willingness to help. 

Various others have supported through monetary contributions for gas to rodeos, trucks to pull my gooseneck and even new tires on my truck. I never dreamed that becoming Miss Rodeo of the Ozarks was a dream I would fulfill and the experience has been a hundred times more rewarding than I imagined.

When looking back over this list. I realized that I repeatedly use the word "family" to describe my networking throughout the year but that is truly what my supporters have become. My family.