Wow!! Time really flies when you are having fun!! 
What an amazing year it has been for me! I can not express how blessed and lucky I feel to have had this opportunity and I thank God everyday for placing me in this position!
I wish Jessica Pray, Miss Iowa 2011 the best of luck and I pray that she has the same amazing experience that I did. She is a very talented and beautiful young lady that has a lot to bring to the title of Miss Iowa! I will do everything I can to help her make this year a successful and remarkable one! I am also so excited for Francesca, Mati and Ally as they embark on an exciting year as the Miss Iowa’s Outstanding Teen, Jr. and Little. Have fun and remember to always smile!! You guys will be fantastic!
I wanted to quickly thank all the amazing people that I am so blessed to have in my life. There was been so many people that have stepped up to help me, support me, praise me, humble me, guide me and most of all love me! I am so thankful for the people that I have gained in my life and the people that never left my side! I would start to name names but there is no way I could possibly remember to name all the people that have had a hand in making my year successful! My mom, dad, sisters and brothers, my aunts, uncles, cousins and “cousins”, my friends, mentors, mentees and pageant supporters…THANK YOU!!!! I love you all sooooooo muuuuuccchhh!
The Miss Iowa program has been apart of my life for the last five years. I have gained and have grown so much from my involvement and would not be the person I am today with out this program! As I embark on my next journey, please know that I will take everything I have learned from these past five years. I promise to continue to make everyone proud!
Love you all!!
One Last Post!
Send-off Party was a Success!
Good evening! I have to blog and attempt to thank everyone that helped make my Send-off Party a success! It was quite the day! With a winter weather/blizzard advisory and most of I-80 completely covered or closed, I was worried about the turn out that we would have. Shame on me for ever doubting the QC community! Many friends and family came out – despite the weather – to show their continued support of my journey to become the next Miss America! I could not be more humbled by the showing!
Unfortunately, neither my competition evening gown or talent gown arrived in time for the big reveal but the show went on with out a hitch! I modeled back up gowns, my competition interview dress, arrival outfit, onstage question dress and swimsuit. What a great time it was to rock the runway in all of my new outfits! I hope to show the rest of my competition wardrobe on the final night as a top 15 finalist on Jan. 15th live on ABC!
Now, it is that time again for me to thank everyone that made this event possible! Stacy, Heather and Stella – it was your dedication to this event and insuring that it was superb that made it an event I will never forget! The “blast from my pageant past” was such a great idea, slightly embarrassing for me but still such a cool addition! Cara & Kadijah- I would have probably been half dressed on stage most of the time if it wasn’t for you two! Thanks for your help with all of my quick changes and flying clothes! Mom – I can’t even start to name all of the things you did for this event that I am thankful for. I don’t think this blog post can hold that many characters! So I will just say THANK YOU! Dad – you are a ticket selling machine! Thank you for going everywhere you could and bragging about me! Thanks to Tara, Aunt Nickey, Janet and Brenda for selling tickets as well! Kelly – if being a Dietitian doesn’t work out, you could look towards a career in photography! Ha! Thanks for capturing the great moments! Max, Eli, Molly and Rayshawn – your support and love is so overwhelming! Thank you for all that you do and the time you sacrifice for my dream. Molly W. and Judy – Things like this couldn’t happen with out all of the work that you two do behind the scenes! Thank you! Mike Mickle – What a great addition it was for you to emcee! You added such a great touch to the event and it was great to meet your daughter, I hope to see her on the stage soon! Aly and Lydia (and Morgan in spirit) – Thank you so much for performing songs from my “Pageant Past.” If “I Gotta Crow” wasn’t enough, you really got me with “Orange Colored Sky!” I was speechless when you came out in the same jacket I performed in at Jr. Miss Scott County about 14 years ago! I laugh everytime I think about it! Gretchen and Elizabeth – It is always great to see you two and thank you for selling t-shirts and cupcakes! Special thanks to Gretchen for singing such a beautiful song at the last minute! I appreciate both of your continued support! Anne and Gabby – You two made those silent auction tables look so good! Thank you for being there and helping out! Nancy – your hands are a gift from God! My on-stage question dress was a hit and to think that you made it from just looking at a picture! I couldn’t have been blessed with a better seamstress and friend. Bill and the rest of the Miss Iowa board – thank you for coming and your efforts to promote the event! You support is so genuine and appreciated.
OK…I think that is everyone! I am sure I am forgetting someone because it is impossible to thank everyone that had a hand in making this event so special! I feel like all I ever do is blog ‘thank you’s’ and continually express my gratitude for all of my supporters, yet I still feel as though I haven’t said it enough! I am working so hard and am so dedicated to doing everything I can to best represent all of you because it is the best way I know how to show my gratitude for all of the love and support I have felt from everyone throughout my journey! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Check out the pictures!
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=434650331845&set=a.336114671845.159991.593866845#!/album.php?aid=257210&id=173736189821
I love you all!
Pauli
P.S. Friends of the Miss Iowa Program – Beth Campbell, member of the Miss Eastern Iowa board, fell on the ice in the RiverCenter parking lot on her way in to the Send-off and broke her collarbone! Please keep Beth in your prayers as this is the type of injury that takes a long time to heal and recover from! Beth is one of the most supportive and encouraging people in this organization and I wish her the best!
Vote For Pauli!
Each Miss America 2011 contestant has made a video of themselves. Watch Pauli below and be sure to vote for her using one of the voting methods at the end of the video!
Hello Everyone!
Hello! Let me start by saying that I am so blessed! I have some amazing people in my life and am very grateful! And someone pointed out to me this weekend that I have this awesome brother that took the time to put together this awesome website and that the least I could do is actually blog on it! So for Max and for all the other amazing people that never miss a blog post, here you go! I love you all!
I can’t even start to list all the things I have been up to so I will try to give you some of the highlights!
Congratulations to the new Miss Louisa County and Miss Wapello title holders! Dorothy Malcom, local executive director, did it again and pulled off a great pageant and crowned some amazing representatives. During the day, I was able to get a couple mock interviews in which is always helpful. At one point of time, there were 10 people in the room firing questions at me! Great chance for me to practice and every mock interview gets me even closer to my goal of being the next Miss America! Thank you to everyone that participated in that!
Last week, I spent 3 days in northwest Iowa. This was an awesome experience for me because, as many of you know, I was born in Spirit Lake, Iowa and in a foster home in Sioux City and have not been back since I was adopted in 1986! I visited Aurelia Elementary and Jr. High, Harris-Lake Park 6th – 12th graders, and Sibley-Ocheyedan Jr. High and Elementary School! As you can see, they put me to work! While in Sibley, I stayed with the most amazing host family ever!! The Klassen family welcomed me into their home with open arms, excitement, wonderful food and lots of chocolate!! Laurel, the mother and also the counselor at the elementary school was an amazing cook! Her husband, 3 daugthers and foreign exchange student from Germany keep me very entertained with their stories and outgoing personalities. I had such a great time at their house! It is people like the Klassen family that make this journey unforgettable!
I also had the awesome privilege to present my Queen 4 a Day program at a mother-daughter retreat. Fourteen girls and eleven mothers and I made beautiful crowns and discussed the true beauty of being a queen, carrying yourself with poise and being a person of good character. I passed out my W.I.S.D.O.M. wrist bands and we discuss how they can use them as a constant reminder to make good choices and to pass on their wisdom to others. They loved them!
After the crown making, we kicked the moms out and had a girls’ only discussion! I invited the girls to discuss any issues they thought were important and the conversation quickly turned to the issue of bullying that they face at their school. One girl named “Jane” who has recently had been bullying many of the girls that were also there opened up to the girls and admitted that she is a bully because she is still upset about losing her mother. I was taken back and didn’t really know what to say. I was not sure that I knew how to handle such a delicate situation. I turned to the girls and one slowly raised her hand, she had an idea of how “Jane” could better handle her situation suggesting that she put of picture of her mom next to her bed at night to say goodnight to her as if she was always there. Another girl raised her hand and reminded “Jane” that her mother is still watching her from above and would want her to make good choices so to think about her mother before she acts. “Jane” responded very well and thanked all the girls for their suggestions. She also apologized for the way she had treated the others. I was so inspired by the way that these young ladies handled the situation. They treated “Jane” with the respect they would want to be treated with even though she had been bullying them at school. I hope that the conversation that we had at that Queen 4 a Day will last with those girls forever and their attitude to treat others the way the want to be treated will contagiously spread through out their school!
Thanks for reading! Do what you can today to “Pass on your wisdom!”
Pauli