The past two weeks have been so much fun! I flew out to Ada, Oklahoma for the first week to the Ken Lance Memorial Rodeo. I arrived to the airport and was met with a poster that read “Welcome Miss Rodeo USA!” That was such a nice touch that warmed my heart! Thank you to Dayna and Kobi Brown for the sweet hospitality! We took a short road trip to Ada and then had a slumber party with the local queens and contestants for the pageant.  There was pizza, pool time, and lots of great conversation with everybody.
                The next few days brought many sponsor visits, radio interviews, and new friends. Jocee Neal, Miss UPRA, joined me for the remaining of the week and we had a blast together! We hopped on a few Razr’s at an outdoor adventure sponsor for photos and high hopes to obtain the keys for a few minutes. That didn’t happen, but we sure had fun checking out all the cool toys that were offered. We also judged the Ken Lance Rodeo Royalty Pageant during our time in Ada.
                Rodeo nights were both successful with a good crowd despite the high temperatures. Friday night I helped with the coronation of the new queens. I enjoy crowning the new girls and seeing the excitement on their face! During the Friday night performance, the clown asked Jocee and I to help with his act. Of course, we said yes and volunteered Donnie, the Miss Rodeo USA Pageant director to participate too. The clown had asked me which act we thought he should do; our choices were cowboy Olympics or dancing. I said cowboy Olympics because I can’t dance at all! All three “contestants” entered the arena and Turtle (the clown) went over what we are supposed to do. It started by one person sitting in the chair, running to the jumprope and jumping that 10 times, moving on to the hula hoop to spin 10 times, and then off to the dizzy bat and kick a ball. I was thankful it wasn’t much more than that! Jocee went first and had difficult with the jumprope, but  made it through the course. I was up next and had trouble with the jumprope too.  Turns out jump roping in deep dirt is more difficult than it looks! Not to mention that all I could think was how much dirt I was slinging on my white hat! Donnie went last and the clown made him rush through the pattern to beat us!
                Saturday Jocee and I headed to the Seth Wadley Chevy dealership of Ada for four hours of handing out free tickets. This dealership loved having us there and we had fun driving the golfcart, signing autographs, and taking photos. I think the most fun that we had was making boomerang videos! Both of us had never figured out how to do that until Saturday, and then we just couldn’t stop! We figured out how to both pop out of the truck sunroof with our big hats on in 4 seconds flat! I don’t think all the fun that we had at this sponsor visit will ever be topped!  
                Donnie’s birthday was coming up soon on Sunday so I decided that we should celebrate early. I got a cupcake cake and 47 candles and surprised him at the rodeo with it! We all shared a cupcake and then gave many away before they melted!
                It was time for me to head back to Kentucky after a wonderful time in Ada. I had two hours of sleep Saturday night before heading back to Oklahoma City airport. I made it back to my hometown around 2pm and then Mom, Dad, and I jumped in our plane and flew to Cloverdale, Indiana to see my Sunbelt director, Cindy Wynn and friends! They were at the Ranch Horse show and it was awesome to see my “peach tribe” and watch Cindy compete! We had a smooth flight back to the house and I logged some serious flying time that day!
                During the week I attended the annual Kiwanis meeting in my hometown. I was asked by a dear family friend of mine to be their speaker for the Friday meeting. It was wonderful to attend a community organization meeting that was in my hometown! I really enjoyed seeing a few familiar faces and sharing my platform and rodeo queen story. What I really liked to share to my community is how wonderful Kiwanis (and other organizations alike) benefits the community. One thing that I can say that all my rodeos have in common, is most are put on by community organizations such as Kiwanis, Rotary Clubs, Exchange Clubs, etc.  The rodeos are put on by the volunteers of the organizations who may or may not know anything at all about rodeo. The point is, the community as a whole benefits others either through sending proceeds to children’s hospitals, burn units, buying children bicycles or Christmas gifts, and so much more. I love seeing the impact a rodeo can have on all the communities that I get the privilege of visiting!
                  My second rodeo that I attended was at the Wranglers campground in Golden Pond this past weekend. It was nice to be able to load up my horses and head to the rodeo to trail ride and camp at the rodeo grounds. At that rodeo I saw many of my college rodeo friends, including my rodeo coach, JD. It was great to catch up with everybody and catch some saddle time too.  The weather was super warm and I actually sweated off my eyelashes, believe it or not! I didn’t know that was possible, but now I do! The next few weeks are going to be busy, but who would expect anything else!

                Sponsors are such an amazing and supportive part of what makes the Miss Rodeo USA Association successful. Without them, this organization wouldn’t be near what it is today! So THANK YOU to the wonderful people that support this association! This blog is dedicated to all of the sponsors!
                I love coming home after being gone to a rodeo and finding a box waiting on my doorstep! It’s like your birthday all year long! Throughout the year thus far, Miss Macie Boots has been a generous sponsor and sends me a new pair of boots every so often! In this past two weeks, I had another package waiting for me at the door. I hurriedly grabbed it and ran inside to see what the latest fashion boots were! It was a solid, classy black pair of dress boots! Black goes with everything right?! I think so! I love the colorful boots they send that seriously dress up any outfit. Thank you to Miss Macie for allowing me to “walk into my purpose” in their fashion boots! Oh, and did I tell you that every pair of Miss Macie boots comes with pearls and has a different bible verse on the bottom of every boot?! Yes, they sure do! That is what makes Miss Macie such a unique company and I am thankful for their support!
                 Not too long ago I acquired a white American hat. It appeared as it had been through the ringer – more than once! It for sure wasn’t white anymore, but that didn’t bother me. You know why I bought the hat? Because American Hat Company has a really cool program where if you have at least a 40X hat, you can send it back to them to get refurbished! So I contacted the awesome Mr. Mundee and he told me to just send it back and they will refurbish it for me. I placed the hat back in its original box, which was about as flat as a pancake, and sent it back to Bowie, Texas. In a matter of a few weeks, I came home to a perfectly wrapped hat box. It was no secret what was in the box. I opened it to find my old white hat, looking brand new! Literally! The hat was white as can be and looked amazing! Not only did they do an awesome job on refurbishing the hat, they replaced the broken down hat box and sent me with a new one! American Hat Company has wonderful customer service and I highly recommend that you make your next hat American!
                 This time my package came in the mailbox in a little envelope. Bubble wrapped in all, the return address said Gypsy Tails! I opened the package to find several red, white, blue, and pink MRUSA feathers! They were stoned and ready to go! This was an exciting find that are always fun to put in a horse’s mane and tails! Amber with Gypsy Tails is the sweetest and knows how to make your horse look great for all events!
                  Can you believe it, I received another mailbox surprise! This time in the form of Lipsense from Mary Beth! She is a wonderful sponsor that keeps me supplied in Lipsense products. From eyeshadows to lip color and gloss, she has it all! My favorite product that I use daily is the caramel apple lip color with the glitter gloss. Yes, I said glitter and it’s the bomb! It’s great for rodeo nights and matches perfect with sparkly shirts! Check out Mary Beth’s Facebook page called Live, Laugh, Lips for more amazing colors and tutorial videos!
                  This is just a few highlights of the past few weeks with wonderful sponsors! I love wearing their products and telling you guys about them! I can’t thank all the supporters enough for helping this organization grow and go on to benefit others each year. That’s what it’s all about, helping others along the way! The next few weeks are going to bring even more exciting adventures and I will be sure to tell you guys all about them!