PUSH WEEK!

Hello World!

Another fabulously productive week in the books! Workouts got harder and so did the cardio, but hopefully it will all pay off in just 2 SHORT WEEKS! This was my last week to add members to my sponsor team who wanted to make monetary contributions and be listed in the beautifully designed Pageant Program Book.  I would personally like to thank my last business contributor, Ancel and Associates for their generous contribution and congratulate them on becoming one of the last members of the official sponsor team of Miss Oklahoma USA 2011.  I have a couple more leads to follow up on today and then will finally be sending my sponsor list on to Vanbros and Associates, Inc. to be listed! Thank you again to all of you for your outrageously unselfish support!

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I have successfully rendered the services of one of OKC’s premier stylists to prep and teach me how to do my hair for the pageant, Sarah Lashley! Sarah’s immense talent was recently featured in So6ix Magazine’s photography and styling contest with an incredibly cool photo featuring model, Stevie Simpson, and photographer, Clifton Roberts.  What is more, after speaking with Sarah, (in a line for the restroom of all places!) it is evident that this woman is nearly as competitive as I.  She describes herself as a perfectionist and immediately started pointing out what we could improve on with my hair.  Best conversation of the week goes as follows:

Sarah: “What shampoo and conditioner are you using right now?”

Me: “Um, whatever is cheapest at the store?”

Sarah: (Insert appalled look here)

Me: “I think I’m using the Suave version of Aveda right now.”

Sarah: “Don’t you ever use Suave on your hair again!”

LOL! Immediately following this conversation, Sarah filled my arms with a high end salon shampoo, conditioner, and, repairing oil which she instructed me to start using IMMEDIATELY.  (Used them this morning Sarah, and they smelled oh, so good!) She also promised me a cocktail treatment upon my next visit to Bodytrends.  I am SO looking forward to working with Sarah over the next couple of weeks as we work together to come up with the perfect, individualized hairstyle for the competition!

Interested in getting with this fabulous stylist? Sarah works out of the Bodytrends North spa, studio, and, salon located at Britton and Penn, catty-corner from Casady High School.  Don’t forget to vote for her fabulous entry (as seen below!) in the So6ix November Fashion Contest at www.so6ix.com

After that wonderful exchange and always fun VIP treatment with Tati at Bodytrends, I was southbound I-35 to attend the Tony Bowls Fashion Show at Southern Charm featuring current Miss Oklahoma USA, Morgan Woolard! It was so good to see Mo again, it really has been years! As always, Anita and Warren were amazing too.  The fashion show also featured some Miss Oklahoma Teen USA competing this year, including one of my personal favorites, Miss Oklahoma City Teen USA 2011, Ariel Henderson.  I met Ariel and her family in passing at Southern Charm a couple of weeks ago, and am so excited to see how this beautiful and promising young girl does this year.  She is just as passionate about her platform as I am, and had proven it by helping to create a program to fight bullying in schools.  You go girl! I am confident you will do amazing when we see each other again in Guthrie!

Tony Bowls had some truly stunning prom looks.  (Seriously, where were these when I was in high school?!) Some of the bigger trends this year include animal prints, bright colors, peacock feathers, and butterflies! The show was beautifully done, I felt so privileged to attend.  Kudos to Anita and Warren and I can’t wait to continue working with you over the next few weeks as everything comes together! I am also excited to continue working with Miss Morgan, who has been so helpful (and patient!) answering every silly little pageant question I can think of.

Today is the start of what I like to call, PUSH WEEK! (Grrrr…) Two weeks out of a fitness show, you hit the weights HARD every day of the week and truly pushing yourself to your personal physical limit.  I have no doubt whatsoever that my sponsor trainer, Jason Neville, will do just that! We set up push week so that we are hitting legs (and bootay!) three separate times! Oh. My. Lanta.  With Nev’s workouts, you don’t get sore right away, you get a couple days to dread the upcoming pain and then about 36-48 hr’s later, woooweeee the sore hits like a big red truck! I am so determined now being two weeks out…BRING…IT…ON! God give me the strength to finish the hard workouts strong and be as prepared physically as I possibly can be going into pageant weekend, the 26^th-28^th.  (I will be enjoying 99% fat free ground turkey for Thanksgiving by the way ;) Got to do whatever it takes!

Later today, after Nev destroys me, I am getting the wonderful opportunity to work with one of the most beautiful, inside and out, friends I’ve got, Miss Carolyn O’Connor! I can’t wait to meet with her because she has a wonderful sense of style and a KILLER walk.  Her mother, the beautiful Lucia O’Connor is a former Miss Oklahoma (on the America system) so Caro really knows her stuff! I cannot wait to sit down with Caro, WALK IT OUT, and get as ready as I possibly can to compete.  She has also volunteered to help me get as ready as possible during the final countdown, duh duh nuh nuh! PAGEANT WEEK along with the ever-wonderful leading ladies at Bodytrends, Stacy and Tashonda, and my wonderful sponsor coach, Laci Scott! (Lace is headed to NYC to shoot a new line for Sherri Hill this week! How cool is that?) Thank you all for your help, I do not know where I would be without you!

Me, Amy, and Carolyn dressed up retro style!

Sunday is a BIG day because I am mini-roadtripping to Springfield, MO to see the Miss Missouri USA 2011 Pageant! When I first committed to the fitness competition, going to see the NPC Oklahoma in Tulsa was one of the most motivating factors for me in my training for Total Package.  The tangible experience is going to be so valuable for me, I can’t wait to hit the road, possibly with my pageant BIG SIS, Mrs. Payne County 2011, Lyndsee Gray Hargett.  (Fingers crossed!) Even if I don’t find somebody to accompany me, I am totally still going ;) Thank you again to current Miss Kansas USA, Bethany Gerber, for the idea to attend a pageant ahead of time.  Can’t wait to see the Vanbros Team in action at long last!

Well I am off to the always wonderful, Body Wrap Spalon to continue prepping.  Tiffany, Dana, and the rest of the wonderful girls there are helping my get my skin as great as it possibly can be to compete.  They were my first sponsor on this long journey, and therefore, some of the first people to believe that I can bring home this crown! Thank you ladies, see you all very soon :)

Watch for some incredible deals coming up on Black Friday (aka the first day of the pageant for me!) and Cyber Monday for the latest and greatest treatments offered at the Body Wrap Spalon! Check them out online at www.bodywrapspalon.com

“That would be harsher punishment for parole violation, Stan…and…World Peace!” Haha sorry, “Miss Congeniality” has been on repeat in my DVD player since I made the life-changing decision to compete this year.  It is the single most motivating film I have seen concerning the pageant.  Although character Grace Hart’s “Dirty Harriett” turned Beauty Queen transition is slightly different from my own, she too discovers the formerly alien joys of pretty clothes, hair, and makeup, but more importantly, feels complete after a lifetime lacking in self-esteem and respect.  At the conclusion and upon being dubbed “Miss Congeniality” for the Miss United States Pageant, Hart reflects on the experience as being one of the most “liberating experiences of her life.” (Not to mention, who doesn’t love a comical Shatner movie?) I feel ya sista, and I am not even to the pageant yet! Can’t WAIT though, for this experience of a lifetime!

I am focused and determined and you will find no one more determined to represent this state than I am.  Over the next two weeks, I will be adding a couple more product/service sponsors to my team, positioning myself for my best possible chance at the ultimate goal, the immense honor of wearing the Incorruptible Crown (Thanks Lisa!) Pray for me on my last to weeks of preparation and that I get the opportunity to make a difference in the beautiful state of Oklahoma!

xoxo

Britt

PS! Although I wrote this entry this morning before the sun was up, (and after cardio!) I have some exciting additions.  YES, my sweet pageant “Big” Sister, Lyndsee will be accompanying me to Springfield for the Missouri USA Pageant. YAY! Roadtrip!

My Super Gorg "Big" Sis :)

Addition #2…I am stoked to announce the addition of the fabulously talented Raylene Cravens to my product/service sponsor team! Raylene has been kind enough to offer her Nova Lash Extension services, a true gift from GOD to girls like me who were blessed with unusually short lashes ;) Nova Lash can be seen on celebrities such as Kim Kardashian among others! I am so excited about this newly formed partnership, and cannot wait to get started.  Check out Raylene’s website and further testimonials about Nova Lash and all of her other products and services at www.yourextensionspecialist.com

Pretty Raylene!

Okay, for real this time! xoxo!

Britt

Seeking The Incorruptible Crown

Hello World!

Thank you very much for your patience on this newest post! It is so very appreciated considering how increasingly busy I am becoming preparing for this pageant.  Today was one of my most relaxing in quite a while thanks to the wonderful ladies at Bodytrends Electrospa, North and South locations.  I would like to extend a special thanks to the beautiful and kind, Stacey White Newhauser, who has become something of a pageant mama to me each time I see her.  Seriously, I get excited for every new meeting.  Every single person at both spas are working so hard writing up and following individual game plans for each of their 13 USA state contestants and I know I speak for all of the girls when I say I cannot begin to express the gratitude necessary to convey how thankful and lucky we all are to have Bodytrends behind us as we prepare.  “Pageantry is essentially about personal development, only it is the Olympics of personal development because you are being JUDGED on it!” (Valeries Hayes, Miss Oklahoma USA and Miss Oklahoma Teen USA Teleseminar 11/3)  and Bodytrends has been absolutely instrumental in helping each of us individually develop into the best personal self we can be.  Thank you all!

I had the immense pleasure in participating in a truly unique and super fun shoot last weekend down in Denton, TX.  Randy Miller and Tony Young, or more commonly “M” and “Y” of M&Y Photography, are a pair of talented North Texas photographers, who invited me to be the subject of a concept shoot.  The look we were going for was Audrey Hepburn a la Funnyface.  More specifically the modern dance scene at the jazz club in Paris.  I was terribly honored to be chosen for this project and as the shots start being released, I am more and more blown away by the talent of these fabulous photographers.  I have not seen what the photogs are calling “THE Shot” which is to be submitted to a national photo competition depicting classic movie characters but I am quite literally on the edge of my seat.  I posted some of my favorites so far on Facebook (follow me! ;)) and here are a couple of them.  SUCH a fun shoot, I cannot wait to see the action shots in particular.  Thanks M and Y, I look forward to working with you both again :)

They even let me shoot a little of my own concept on the job :)

Thanks M&Y!!!

If you’ve read earlier posts you must know that I have been having a case of dress woes.  I am happy to announce that we finally, FINALLY found the DRESS! As competitive as I am, I cannot discuss details but I can tell you it is already gorgeoussss, and thanks to the practiced and talented hands of Anita and Warren Gately at the ever-wonderful Southern Charm, will be exactly what I need to be the best me I can be as I compete for that crown! I will be frequenting Norman now, as I continue to work with Anita and Warren on all aspects of my competition wardrobe along with my always lovely pageant coach and friend, Laci Scott.  I think we have put a winning team together and am so honored to pull from the expertise of each one of these individuals.  Thanks to one of my jobs, I see Laci quite a bit so I can ask her any questions I don’t think to text her.  (There are SO many, I am so very lucky she kindly answers every single one to the best of her ability!) I know I have said it about 30+ times, but I really don’t know where I would be without her.  Here is a picture from when I was working for Halloween.

Best, prettiest coach ever!!!

Earlier tonight I participated in a teleseminar hosted by Vanbros, Inc.’s very own Valerie Hayes.  Well, semi-participated…since my silly self spent the entire day away from home in Moore, Norman, and OKC, and did not charge my phone the night before, it DIED right after the conference introductions! I hurried home, (no, I did not speed, just willed my mini van to get there faster!) and charged it in time to call in and hear Valerie discussing the 2011 Vanbros, Inc. team for Miss USA 2011 and luckily in time for Q&A.  I am not sure if you can tell, (SARCASM,) but I am somewhat long-winded and asked Valerie for some tips so help shorten my interview answers! Valerie provided specific, tips and practices to help with my problem.  Along with her confident and correct diagnosis and treatment suggestions, the little of the teleseminar I was able to hear was extremely constructive and informative, and I am grateful for those few short minutes! Thank you Valerie, albeit short, I know it was time well spent for all of us!

The truly radiant, Valerie Hayes

Another beautiful and knowledgeable woman I have been lucky enough to start networking with this week is Lisa Proctor.  I cannot even begin to list the innumerable accolades of this accomplished airbrush makeup artist, but let’s just say few rival her work.  I cannot wait to continue penning back and forth with Lisa, and meet her in person sometime before the pageant.  If I am lucky enough to win, Lisa is the official makeup artist for Vanbros, Inc., so I think it would be wise to get acquainted and used to such a talented, poised, empowering woman now. 

Breathtaking Lisa and Vanbros, Inc.'s 2010 contestants

I am not exgerating when I say Lisa is an empowering individual, I literally cried after I read a particularly encouraging email from her.  I have noticed, that I cry an awful lot now and mostly when I am happy! Curious, but I have a theory concerning this phenomena:  Growing up, I always considering crying and showing emotion in general, a weakness.  Because of my failure to express emotion very much outside of my immediate family, I was often labeled as unreadable and therefore foreign or different.  Now by no means am I saying that being different is a bad thing, but I think my virtual inability or more likely, refusal to show emotion ended up affording me less opportunity than I should have had to make and keep friends.  I found my solace in sports, channeling my pent up frustration from not being socially accepted into competition and using the athletic excuse to avoid most practiced social activities of teenagers today such as the homecoming game or prom. 

In some ways this was positive, because it helped me avoid getting into trouble and I am so thankful I never forfeited my individuality to fit in with the “cool crowd.”  In others, it was gravely negative, calculating me a recipe for disaster for later in my life.  Because I somehow was under the impression that expressing emotion was weak, I hid the positive along with the negative.  Although I loosened up a little more in college enough to forge and maintain some very strong friendships, my insecurities and inability to express emotion or feeling prevented me from developing any kind of healthy romantic relationship.  The one time I did let my guard down enough to begin a serious relationship, due to my insecurities, I did not recognize it when it turned into an extremely emotionally damaging one.  It took me to get down that low on myself, to blame myself for everything that went wrong to recognize and decide I needed a change.

My journey to self-confidence was a long, hard road but I made it.  I made the commitment to a healthy lifestyle and along with that came a bout of self-confidence I did not know myself capable of.  It does not have to be that way for everyone! My platform is Healthy Lifestyle but it is such a broad social issue, there are so many different ways you can approach it! One of my focuses is helping people find the way back to a healthy lifestyle path, so as to prevent health problems in the future.  The other is prevention, prevention, PREVENTION! I want to reach out to kids from a young age to value and LOVE themselves! With this confidence, it is natural to want to maintain the machine, through healthy eating and regular physical exercise.  It is no longer a “have to” but a “want to” and essentially a habit.  With proper self-confidence and respect, kids will not feel the need to follow the proverbial norm, and will innately strive for something better.  I hope and pray God will help me win the title of Miss Oklahoma USA 2011, so I can spread this positive message all across this great state, and eventually, as the hopeful Miss USA 2011, across the country!

So, back to my little theory:  I cry like ALL of the time now (very randomly and 99.9% when I am overwhelmed with happiness,) because it is all those years of pent up emotion and would be happiness spilling out! (I don’t just cry, I find myself laughing randomly all of the time too! LOL! See?) I am emotional now and proud of it! I am balanced and focused and will continue, with every ounce of my being to strive in the direction of my dreams.  I feel like if you have a smile, inside or out, it is your duty to SHARE it.  I have taken this approach with my fitness knowledge as I truly believe now that I have been blessed with happiness and success because of it, it is my responsibility to share that knowledge in hopes to also improve the lives of others. 

I started a new book today that I can already tell is going to be a fantastic read.  How can you say anything else of a piece of literature that has ALREADY inspired you just 8 pages in.  “The Confident Woman,” by Joyce Meyer is a #1 New York Times Bestselling publication, which explores and instructs in the ways of self-confidence specifically geared towards women.  According to Meyer, confidence is God-ordained and “is all about being positive concerning what you can do—and not worrying over what you can’t do.” (p. 1, first sentence!) She goes on express confidence in an airplane metaphor saying that, “a person without confidence is like an airplane sitting on the runway with empty fuel tanks.  The plane has the ability to fly, but without some fuel, it’s not going to get off the ground.  Confidence is our fuel.  Our confidence, our belief that we can succeed, gets us started and helps us finish every challenge we tackle in life.” (p. 4-5) Well my plane is sufficiently fueled and now that I am ready to “take off,” I want to fill some others’ tanks! No matter the size or age of the tank, there is ALWAYS a way to fill your tank sufficiently for a successful takeoff and trip! Stay tuned for more Meyer references, and run out to your local bookstore to pick up “The Confident Woman” if you have a chance. I.  Am.  Hooked.

Alright, on the schedule for the rest of the week:

• ·      Bodytrends EVERY day. No Skipping :)
• ·      Cardio EVERY day too.  This of course, is nothing new.
• ·      Session with my client and wayword roommate, Amy Brooks! Love these because she works SO hard!
• ·      My own Legs Day with my fellow trainer Jason Neville.  If I can’t walk 2-3 days later, you know who to blame! 
• 
  
•       Continue to stick to the pageant diet for only 3 more weeks! REVEL in the deliciousness that is grapefruit every night! Mmmm...

Is that not the most ruby-red, yummy grapefruit you have ever seen???

• ·      Working on find sponsor hairstylist, nail technician, and lash extensionist to join my team…know someone? Send them my way! Pageant prep looks great on a resume!

• ·      Shooting again with my friend and talented photog, Josh Hamon of Josh Hamon Photography on Sunday! We got some fantastic shots last time and I can’t wait to see what we come up with on the second rendezvous!

How could you not want to shoot with this guy again?!

·      SPONSOR HUNT: FINAL PHASE!!! I need 2-3 more at the minimum amount, $300…if you or someone you know is interested in joining the winning sponsor team for Miss Greater Oklahoma City USA 2011, business or individual, please contact me asap! Although I have set a minimum to meet all of my pageant and wardrobe expenses for the program book, I accept any type of contribution you are kind enough to give, monetary or product/service based.  Thank you SO MUCH, to those who have already contributed and those planning on doing so.  It is with your help alone that I am able to chase my dreams!!!

Thank you again for following and for all of your support! I never imagined I would have so many genuine people and powerful prayers behind me on my journey to the crown.  So soon upon the summit…i.e. 3 WEEKS!!!!!!!

Leaving you all today with the source of many of my happy tears from Lisa’s email the other day:

“Bottom line, run whatever race or call that God has set out for you.  Run that race with certainty, purpose, and intensity.  Run that race to win.  Run that race to be the best you can be for God at the position he has called you to be on His team.  Be willing to make whatever sacrifices it may take to successfully complete the mission and call God has set out for you....” (In response/interpretation of 1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

Thank you, God for the opportunity to become a better person as I prepare, and I pray that the state title and the responsibilities and duties that come with it is the mission you have set for me. 

Oh, and 16 days ‘til the Harry Potter premiere…t-shirt designs were finalized today, 

N! B! D!

Would you look at that...HP is also seeking a "crown"...among other things ;)

XoooXooo!

Britt