National Pancake Day!

I bet you didn't know there was such a thing, did you?! But there is! Each year, IHOP sponsors National Pancake Day which is a day dedicated solely to raising funds for the Children's Miracle Network, which just so happens to be the Miss America Organization's national platform. For an entire day, IHOPs all around the country give away free pancakes with the hopes that those eating at their restaurant will donate money to CMN.

I got the wonderful opportunity to volunteer at the IHOP in Lincoln at 27th and Superior. For the evening, I greeted guests at the door, talked to them about the meaning behind National Pancake Day, and ended up making some great friends, too. You would not believe the generosity that poured out from the Lincoln community. Almost every single person that came into the restaurant donated money to the Children's Miracle Network.

One lady in particular will forever remain in my memory of that night. She shared with me that her husband passed away about two months ago and it was always his dream to donate his organs/tissues to a child through the Children's Miracle Network. He got his wish as his family just received a letter from the Nebraska Organ Recovery System saying that his organs and tissues were donated to 60 recipients of many ages. As this amazing woman shared his story with me, she didn't even realize that organ and tissue donation is my personal platform. When I shared this with her, we were both stunned at how ironic it was! She told me she was so proud that I was raising awareness about CMN as well as organ donation, and thanked me from the bottom of her heart. It's amazing how many people you can connect with and how many inspiring stories you can hear by doing something as simple standing at the IHOP entrance. That, to me, is truly what being a titleholder is all about.

Update!

Wow! So much has happened since I last updated. I think I need to make this updating a more frequent occurrence, otherwise my posts are going to be novels. So let's begin... :)

In January, I was asked to model jewelry at the Lux Art Center in Lincoln. All of the jewelry was handcrafted and absolutely beautiful! A few of my Gamma Phi sorority sisters helped me out with the event. We had a great time while we raised money for the arts!


Later on that weekend, Brittany Jeffers, Miss Douglas County, Michelle Alvarado, Miss South East, and I went up to North Platte to Ashley Bauer's (Miss Nebraska!) send off party before she was whisked away to Miss America! We also got a sneak preview of her attire and talent, which were both wonderful. Seeing her got all of us even more excited to make the trek to Las Vegas to watch her compete...which brings me to my next exciting event....


VEGAS! I, as well as many of the local titleholders for Nebraska, got the amazing opportunity to go to the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas. It was an absolutely phenomenal experience. Not only was it a great week of learning, but it also made me get even more excited to compete in June! We girls really got to know each other, shopped more than we should have, and had a blast.
While in Las Vegas, I took a short day trip over to Los Angeles to meet with Michael Dar, a fabulous photographer. After a semi-nerve wracking taxi ride (the cab driver was just about as stumped as I was as to how to get to the studio!), I finally arrived and we had so much fun taking some new, fresh head shots, as well as some other fashionable photos. I felt like a celebrity for the day! I was extremely happy with the results and would recommend him to anyone.



I think that concludes my busy January! I know I forgot a few things, but that happens when you have a lot to catch up on! I hope you all are having a fabulous winter and that you're staying WARM! :) God Bless and I will hopefully post again soon!