Sunday, our first real day in Vegas, we had breakfast at the hotel then hit the strip with the girls for some site seeing. We started at the MGM where the girls were able to get an up-close view of the lions and check out the massive fish tanks at Rainforest Café. From there we headed over to New York New York. Sycely was looking forward to seeing the miniature Statue of Liberty more than anything else on this trip so we made sure she got to check it out on day one. We saw the Luxor (with its pyramid and sphinx-another highlight for Sycely) and went through Ex Calibur and over to Mandalay Bay where Ella ended up falling asleep while I was carrying her. We headed back to the hotel so I could get ready for registration and my first evening of pageant activities. After registration I had a couple hours before our delegate dinner so we took a family trip to Target to get stocked up on some things. We made a quick stop at Sonic (hooray!) on the way back. Our delegate dinner was my first chance to get to meet most of the other girls and start getting to know them. It was a little awkward at first being surrounded by so many girls that seemed so professional with the whole pageant thing, but I met my dear friend, Tiffany Jenkins from Arizona that night. She was truly an answer to prayer that night and we hit it off right away and our bond only grew stronger throughout the week. Lem and I checked out the Bellagio fountain and their amazing gardens.
Monday morning I had breakfast with the fam then headed down for our first rehearsal. Our choreographer, Natalie Carson was the cutest, sweetest little thing. She did an awesome job putting together a number that was fun, but didn’t require a lot of coordination or dancing from those who don’t excel in that area. She has a great sense of humor was so fun and easy to work with-just a delightful lady who we likened to a hummingbird, flitting from here to there giving instruction and being animated in every moment. During our rehearsals the first three days we learned the choreography and staging for the opening number, introductions, swimsuit and evening gown modeling and parade of gowns. We broke for lunch then had another afternoon rehearsal before getting ready for our big bus tour that evening. While I was rehearsing Lem, my Mom, Aunti Eris and the girls were keeping cool in the pool and enjoying some sun.
The pageant arranged for all the delegates to take a bus over to the Luxor to see the show Menopause the Musical. We got all gussied up and headed out for the evening. Turns out that the performers in this production were outstanding-the music, singing and dancing were entertaining and the characters were phenomenal, despite the subject matter being a little beyond my years, I definitely know enough women who’ve been there to be able to sort of relate :) At the close of the show some of us even got to go up on stage and do a kick line with the cast during the final number! Afterwards the cast met us in the lobby for photos and a meet and greet. Carrottop also showed up for a photo op with us. Most of us were anxious to get back to the hotel as it was already fairly late and us A-State Girls had a 6am, yes, you read that right, 6am swimsuit photoshoot in the morning! Needless to say I hit the shower and hit the sack as soon as we got back to the hotel and had some food that night! 
Tuesday kicked off bright and early with our swimsuit photos. I was done by 6:30 so we headed out with Eris and Matt for some breakfast over at Hard Rock. We got back to the hotel in time for me to spend a little time with the girls then get down to the group poolside photo shoot. I even got to hang at the pool for a bit with the fam before needing to get to rehearsal. Tuesday followed suit with Monday’s schedule for the most part-morning rehearsal, lunch with the fam, afternoon rehearsal. Then we had a couple hours to prepare for the first stage of pageant competition-our individual interviews. Now, being from an A-state was a disadvantage for the early morning swimsuit photos, but meant that I enjoyed the advantage of being done with my interview by about 6:30 that evening. My interview went really well, it’s always one of my favorite parts of the pageant, and definitely the easiest portion for me. I wasn’t nervous and just enjoyed talking with the judges about my self and my experiences. They asked me about my work on Sarah Palin’s campaign, how I maintain a balance between all my roles, etc, about Lem and I not ever spending a night apart in our nine years of marriage and about taking my girls on “Mommy Dates.” All in all, I came out feeling great, genuine, and confident to hit the stage the next night. Lem and I had dinner that evening at the Eiffel Tower restaurant and enjoyed great food and spectacular views of the Strip. Our window table looked out directly over the Bellagio fountain which did its thing 4 or 5 times during dinner. They even brought me a petite mousse dessert, on the house, the plate decorated in chocolate with the words, “Bon Fete” (good luck.) We took the elevated up to the top of the tower and enjoyed a fantastic view of Vegas in all its glittering glory!
Wednesday I had breakfast with the fam again, morning rehearsal, lunch with the fam then a tech run through in the afternoon. Then we had a nice long break to get ready for the preliminaries. I’d like to offer up a special shout out to Eris Mae for doing my make-up and Mrs. Arkansas (sassafrass in the flesh) Tina Wilson, for doing my hair. Unlike a lot of the girls, I didn’t have a professional hair and make-up team, and relied on the kindness of (new) friends and family to help get me prepped for the pageant. I was so blessed by Tina and our friendship is one I’m sure will live on long into the future. She’s a fun-loving gal, who like me, doesn’t take herself too seriously, and also, like me, was trying to leave Nationals with a great experience, new friends, and wonderful memories, more than anything else. Hooray for us low-key A-State gals-Alaska, Arkansas and Arizona! (Don’t worry Bama, we’ve got a very special place in our hearts for you too!) Lem and my Mom took the girls to check out the birds at the Tropicana while I was rehearsing that day. The flamingoes, were of course, a huge hit.
Wednesday night’s stage portion included all 53 delegates performing the opening number, delegate intros, swimsuit and evening gown modeling and then wrapped up with the parade of gowns. My only pageant flub happened right after the opening number. As we left the stage after our state intros we lined up back stage ready to file back on into our final positions on the set. But instead of lining up, I booked it to the dressing rooms and was hightailing it into my swimsuit (knowing I was one a those girls who had a quick change.) All of a sudden I started realizing there was no one back there to help me get dressed and I couldn’t figure out why. Then all of a sudden I was like, “..Because they’re all lined up to go back on stage!!!” So, swimsuit bottoms still on under my dress, shoes not buckled, I ran back across to the other side of the stage, zipping up my dress as I went to find the girls seconds away from taking the stage…and of course, I’m the lineleader, and they’re all freaking out wondering where I am. I think poor Arkansas about had a heart attack! So, needless to say, I made it literally just in time, seconds to spare (as I strapped on my shoes) and no one was the wiser in the audience. Thank God my big mix-up happened back stage! Poor Ohio busted her zipper putting on her evening gown and we literally had to sew her into her dress before she hit the stage-poor thing! The rest of the pageant went well…I didn’t get tangled up in my swimsuit wrap and I didn’t fall down the stairs in my evening gown-what more can a girl really ask for? Honestly, it always goes by so fast that all of a sudden you’re in parade of gowns going, whoa-what happened. I really tried to savor my time onstage (and backstage with new friends) knowing this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and chances were I wasn’t going to be re-competing in finals the following night.
After the pageant, Lem and I went to Ceasar’s and he took me on my first trip to Tiffany’s. I had wanted to take a picture there and after we did he said, “Let’s go in.” I felt awkward going in just for fun in such a nice, fancy place, but he said he wanted me to pick something out! So we spent some time perusing the choices and we decided on a sweet little sterling silver crown charm pendant on a silver beaded chain. It was totally perfect and so “me.” Isn’t my hubby the best ever?! We did a little looking around at Ceasar’s then headed back to the Orleans to grab a bite. Turns out TGIFriday’s really was the after-pageant hotspot-we saw several other groups of delegates there.
Thursday we got to enjoy a late start for rehearsal. That morning we practiced our opening number and learned the staging for the announcement of top 12, on-stage question, announcement of awards, top 5 and of course the crowning. We broke for lunch then did a final tech run through during our afternoon rehearsal. Then it was time to get ready for the finals! A couple hours later we were running through the opening number with the filming crew and doing last minute prepping backstage. We took the stage for our opening number knowing that in a few minutes they’d announce the top 12 and in just 2 hours we’d be crowning the new Mrs. United States. Top 12 included: Minnesota, Tennessee, North Dakota, Mississippi, Nevada, Georgia, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, South Carolina, Indiana, and Texas. These ladies went on to answer an on-stage question, and re-compete in swimsuit and evening gown. Indiana, Mississippi and Georgia were all in my dressing room so it was a hub of activity as they came in for quick changes between stages of competition. All the girls were super helpful and the camaraderie we’d built throughout the week stood as a strong foundation as the top 12 got help from the rest of us backstage. I liked how Natalie put it to us in her pep talk before finals, “You can be disappointed,” she said, “It’s okay to be disappointed; that’s normal. Just don’t be DEVESTATED.” After the top 12 competed we wrapped up with parade of gowns and were in our places for all the announcements. Congratulations to Mrs. Mississippi, Rachel Juillerat, our new Mrs. United States 2010! After LOTS of photos we were finally able to pack up and get out to family and friends. Lem and I dropped off my extra stuff in our room and headed up to meet the photographers for our photos. Then we changed and headed out for some tasty food at Hard Rock-yeah for fajitas!
Friday, officially started my vacation with the family. We grabbed some breakfast at Dunkin’ Doughnuts and headed to Circus Circus. Ella wasn’t big enough to ride any rides (aside from the 50 cent merry go round ponies) but Sycely and I had fun riding all the kiddy rides. We had lunch with Aunti Eris and said our good-byes to her as she headed back to Arizona then brought Ella back for a nap while Lem, Sycely and I got in some pool time. After Ella’s nap we got everyone cleaned up and had dinner at Olive Garden then took the girls to see the Pirate Show at Treasure Island and the volcano at the Mirage. After the girls were in bed Lem and I grabbed some ice cream from the food court and settled in for a restful night’s sleep.
After breakfast Saturday morning the fam dropped me off at the Outlet Mall for some shopping time while they took in an acrobatic show at Circus Circus and checked out the dolphins, tigers, lions and other big cats at the Mirage. I scored some awesome deals and got the girls outfitted at the Carter’s outlet and got myself a cute little Anne Taylor $60 skirt for $12…and I got myself my first ever coach purse-it’s totally cute with pink horse and carriages The girls went back to the hotel with my mom and Lem and I grabbed some Sonic treats then hit the pool with Sycely and my mom. Lem brought Ella down after her nap and we all enjoyed our last afternoon of Vegas sun, heat and pool. That evening we grabbed the girls some grub then headed out to the mall to ride the carousel (Ella’s first real time-not being a baby and actually knowing she was on it) and Build A Bear. My mom wanted to do something special with them for their birthdays and making a stuffed animal on vacation has become a tradition so we thought that was a good plan. (It was cute enough that it earned it’s own blog entry) We got mostly packed up, got the girls to bed, Lem and I grabbed some more yummy Mexican on our last trip to the Strip, visited the famous Vegas sign and we bid Vegas farewell Sunday morning.
Our journey home was pretty smooth. The girls did well on our flight to Portland where we spent our 4 hour layover lunching and visiting with our friend Alaina at a mall near the airport. Our flight home from Portland went well and we got home with all our bags, carseats, stroller and tired and hungry! So hungry, in fact we got the girls settled and ordered some pizza while watching Friends Vegas episodes!
