First Runner- Up at Miss Thief River Falls!

I use a Canon DSLR for most of my photos! Click on the Camera for more information!

Last Saturday night I had the opportunity to complete in the Miss Thief River Falls Pageant-  my first competition in the "Miss" pageants!  I was delighted to win first runner-up and would like to congratulate all the contestants on a job well done, especially Bailey Sorvig, Miss Thief River Falls 2012, and Taylor Blaine, 2nd runner-up.  I would like to thank the Miss Thief River Falls pageant committee for offering such an efficient and well-run pageant!  I know it is a lot of hard work to put on a pageant, so you are very much appreciated!  Thank you also to Michelle Stahlecker, Miss Thief River Falls 2011!  You are indeed an inspiration and friend.  Thank you for your support and advice.  Thank you for a wonderful year of service and dedication to Thief River Falls!

The Miss Thief River Falls pageant was a lot of fun and filled with amazing young ladies!  The photo at the top shows all the contestants-  Kassi Sparby, Krystina Rasmussen, Bailey Sorvig, Victoria Yoder, Brianna Drevlow, Taylor Blaine, Alexandria Alten, Hannah Waswick, Kelsey Kaml (Miss Crookston), and Jasmyne Cardinal.  All 10 of us worked together to put on a great show and we all learned many new lessons-  Hard work always pays off, practice makes perfect, we all can make our world a better place, and many more.  Each of these girls is not only talented and beautiful, but also an inspiration.  I hope to see each of you again along the pageant trail or in our busy town!  I am glad to call each of you a friend!



Check out this dress (click on the dress)-  Great for casual wear!

Family Weekend at Pathways Bible Camp

Last weekend my family and I attended the Family Resort Weekened at Pathways Bible Camp in Menhaga, MN.  Pathways has been doing outdoors ministry since 1934.  As for their programming and hospitality, they seem to get better at it every year!  I've been going there since I was in elementary school. 

This was the first time, however, that my family decided to go for the family weekend.  With 13 of us in tow, we kind of make our own crowd!  We checked in at camp on Friday evening and met the other families staying at Pathways this weekend, plus the camp staff.  We had some mingling activities and then a campfire worship. 

On Saturday we spent the entire day doing things together as a family-  canoeing, swimming, rock-wall climbing, high ropes, more canoeing, hiking, and another campfire worship. 

 Sunday seemed to come and go too quickly.  We got up early in the morning to pack and clean our cabin, had breakfast, attended worship in the chapel and were all on our way.  What a fantastic weekend!

6/21/12 Riding with "The Mayor and The Mailman!"

One of the really fun things about running for Miss Thief River Falls is all the fun events our community has to offer.  This even is called "The Mayor and the Mailman."  It is focused around two well known individuals in our community and all they do for to help others.  The Mayor is Steve Nordhagen and The Mailman is Kjell Melvie.  These two have teamed up for years for various charitable causes.  They even have a radio program on Pioneer 90.1 FM!  Tonight they were teaming up to raise money for the Thief River Falls Heritage Community Center.  Lots of fun was had by all.  We all had dinner-  brats-  and even sang with Trinity Trio.  After the event, they did what they always do-  ride off on their motorcycles-  except tonight, the Miss Thief River Falls contestants were able to ride with them!  My escort was my neighbor, Jeff Hendrickson! Thanks for the ride, Jeff!  Enjoy the pictures!   More pictures can be found on Facebook here. 

6/17/2012 Singing with LHS Choir in Times Square, New York City!

On June 11, 2012 the Lincoln High School Choir boarded buses bound for Jazz at Lincoln Center.  Along the way we performed at St. Joan of Arc in Minneapolis, several restaraunts, and even at Times Square.  The performance at Times Square was on our last night in New York City, Sunday, June 17, 2012.  We had just taken a yacht cruise on the Hudson River and enjoyed the New York City skyline.  We saw the Freedom Towers illuminated in red, white, and blue.  We saw the Statue of Liberty, and more.  After the cruise, we loaded the entire choir into six stretch limos for a two hour tour of Manhattan.  During the tour we stopped at Times Square for a group photo and impromptu performance.  What we did not know is that my parents were watching the whole thing live on a Times Square webcam!  This video is the screenshots that they recorded on my Mom's cell phone.  I apologize for the poor audio quality, so turn up your volume and you will hear the LHS chor sing "Bless the Lord" live at Times Sqaure!

The scene is so picturesque it reminds me of a puzzle I had many years ago.  It was a 1500 Piece Times Square Puzzle and it is so vibrant and colorful.  It seems to show the Times Square scene exactly as I saw it the night of our performance.  Check it out!  "1500 Piece Times Square Puzzle"

Running for Miss Thief River Falls!

Its official!  I have decided to run for Miss Thief River Falls and again work with my friends at the Miss America Organization and Children's Miracle Network!  I had so much fun my year as the 2010 Miss Red River Valley Outstanding Teen that I could not pass up this wonderful opportunity!  Over the next few weeks I will be picking my new pageant attire and working on my competition pieces.  Its a lot of work, but its all fun!  Plus there is a lot of time spent with our pageant co-ordinators and the other contestants.  I wish all of my fellow contestants the best of luck as we work to win the Crown!  My good friend, Kathryn Knuttila, Miss Minnesota 2010 once said of winning pageants, "its not about picking a winner from among a group of representives, its about picking a representative from a group of winners!" 

One of the fun things I get to do running for Miss Thief River Falls is to work with Children's Miracle Network.  Check their link to see the good work that they do.  2 years ago when I worked with them I met countless amazing young people battling life- threatening illnesses.  Their courage to fight was so inspiring and I am happy to have the opportunity to work with them again!  Please take a moment to consider a small donation to Children's Miracle Network here.

HUMOROUS VIDEO "The Magic School Bus: In the Land of Dinosaurs"

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4-12-2012 Section 8AA Speech Meet in Detroit Lakes, MN

 On April 12, 2012, our speech team returned to Section 8AA after many years in 8A.  We all knew it would take our best performance to make it to State, although that is no different than in 8A.  The truth is, at this point in the season, to move on to State a speaker must be at their best.  This is where all speakers either practiced... or wish they had. 

Congratulations to the top three teams of Moorhead, St. Cloud Tech, and Bemidji.  They sent 36 of the 39 8AA entries.  Congratulations to some amazing and prepared speakers!

I was fortunate to place 2nd in Story Telling so I will be Thief River Falls' lone entry in the State Meet.  We did have a few TRF Speakers cut to finals-  Sam Buckley took 6th in Drama while the Duo team of Elle Jorgenson and Claire Naslund tood 4th!  My brother Brock was on the bubble and missed finals by one spot!  Next year, Brock, next year!  Brayden also was right there and almost made finals.  Brett also had a super experience.  I can't wait to see them next year.   

 On to State!  I look forward to meeting my competitors.  I am working hard and will be ready.  See you there!

3-24-2012 St. Cloud SpecTECHular Speech Meet

 
 
On March 24, 2012, half of our team got on a bus at 3:15 AM and went to the St. Cloud Tech SpecTECHular meet.  The other half of the team went to the Oklee Speech Invite.  The Tech meet is large to say the least.  Head Coach Karmin Schraw puts on a truly spectacular meet with some of the top teams and competitors in the State in attendance.  Competition was fierce.  I cut to finals in both Humor and Story Telling, placing 6th in Humor and 1st in Story Telling. 

Looking forward to the Section 8AA Meet in Detroit Lakes on April 12, 2012!

3-17-2012 Detroit Lakes Speech Meet!

 On March 17, 2012 our team travelled to Detroit Lakes for the Laker Speech Invitational.  This is always a fun meet to attend and Detroit Lakes Head Coach Jennifer Burnside always puts on a super meet.  I am thankful to her for all her hard work to maintain such a quality meet! 

I competed in Humorous and Story Telling and earned 2nd place in each.  My brother, Brayden, took two medals and so did my friend,  Ashley Borchardt.  Together, we posed for our "Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil" photo!  Our team had a tremendous day!

3-10-2012 Thief River Falls Prowler Speech Invitational

On March 10, 2012 we were able to sleep in (sort of) instead of meeting an early bus!  Well, we did have a speech meet at our school at 7 AM, but thats still a full hour and a half later than most of our early morning bus rides! 

Our meet was also set opposite to the National Forensic League National Qualifier in Grand Rapids, so it was a relatively small meet.  Most of the teams in Northern MN were there and the meet was a great success.  Hope more teams choose to attend next year!

Brett, Brayden, and I could not attend the NFL IE national qualifier this year as we will be going on a choir trip to New York City the same week as the NFL National Meet. 

We had a great day.  I have been waiting for several weeks to do my "Agnes of God" cutting in Drama, where I placed 1st.  I also entered my "Magic Schoolbus" piece in Humor and took first, plus competed in Story Telling and took 3rd.  The TRF team took lots of medals as you can see by the photos above. 

Our meet had an extra bonus-  we had a professional photographer at the meet who took photos.  You can see them at Prowler Photography.

Another fun event was my little sister Bralynne, was called on stage to receive an award for her Extemp Reading piece, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear."  She was given an honorary award as Novice Champion, Kindergarden Division!