I've got to say that the month of March has been one of the busiest, but most exciting! On the 1st, I had the amazing opportunity to fly down south for the Ft. Pierce rodeo in Florida. It was a special invitation for only Teen titleholders. I was joined by Miss Teen Rodeo Illinois, Mikhayla DeMott, Miss Teen Rodeo Missouri, Lorna Dreyer, Miss Teen Rodeo Idaho, Hunter Rackham, as well as Miss Teen Rodeo Kansas, Erin Harvey and Miss Teen Rodeo Texas, Grace Crews. We all flew in Thursday night and met up with Miss Teen Rodeo Florida Dariann Smith. A HUGE thank you goes out to Tom and Sandy Steinruck, our gracious "parents" for the weekend, as well as their daughter Kelly, Miss Teen Rodeo Florida 2011, who organized this whole event for all of us. Once we were all picked up from the Orlando airport we headed to Rainforest Cafe to enjoy dinner and get to know each other. That night we stayed in a very nice hotel in Orlando so we could get up and head to Disney World in the morning. Oh and by the way, the beginning of March is the time to go! Perfect weather, small crowds and short lines for rides. Around 1 o'clock that afternoon we loaded up and left for Ft. Pierce to get ready for the Friday night performance. By the time we made it home, we had about 40 minutes to get curlers in, and out of our hair, get changed, get our "queen makeup" on and get to the rodeo grounds, let me tell you, that was the quickest I think I've ever gotten ready in my life! We made it just in time though and we met up with Tom who brought the horses to the fairgrounds. It's a good thing rodeo queens know how to saddle and bridle horses because at this point we had about 15 minutes until grand entry. Get on, go, and hope your horse knows a least a little bit! It was hectic to say the least but it turned out to be a great night of carrying sponsor flags, doing queens runs, and signing autographs at the end of the rodeo. Lucky for us, the Ft. Pierce county fair was going on at this time too so we all had the opportunity to ride a camel named Tanner! It was so much fun and we joked that we should carry flags on him during the Saturday night performance. Once we got the "kid-again" out of our system we headed to our host familys' home. Mike and Mimi Brown provided their house which had rooms to hold all 7 of us, it was so nice to all be together and they were next door neighbors to Tom and Sandy. When Saturday morning rolled around, we enjoyed a fruit and pastry breakfast (with real Florida orange juice!) on the patio of the Steinruck's home. Following, we had the chance to catch a few waves on horseback, we rode in the Atlantic Ocean! It was a blast to relax and have a good time with the girls, and then race to see who had the fastest horse. :) The beach was the only thing on our agenda for the day so we all laid out and soaked up the sun. Following that we headed back to the house to be reunited with our hot curlers and colored jeans, it was time to get queened up again. Once we were all set we left to go to Cowboy's Steakhouse to meet and greet with the public and promote the rodeo that night. They also treated us to a free steak dinner which was delicious! Things were a little more relaxed as the Saturday night performance was under way. When our job was done for the night and the last autograph had been signed, our younger side came out again as we enjoyed the fairs food and rides. Grace and I decided to tackle the big blow-up slide together. We didn't want this night to end because the next day meant we had to leave, but we still had a couple tricks to try out before we decided to climb in bed. :) Sunday morning I left with Erin's family as they took me in as their own for the day. We had the same flight back to Kansas City so I spent all day with them in the airport where they taught me how to play pitch. I can definitely say beginners luck gave me a leg up in this card game ha ha!
I returned home at around 1 o'clock Monday morning, then headed to school for only a few hours because I had to come home and queen up again. I had the opportunity to meet the top people in the National High School and Junior High Rodeo Associations. A banquet was held at the Jacobson Building on the Iowa State Fairgrounds to discuss holding the National Junior High School Rodeo Finals in Des Moines during the 2014 and 2015 years. It gave me the perfect chance to promote our state and our appreciation for rodeo.
Just a few days later on March 9th, Miss Rodeo Iowa, Rachel Burton and I packed up and headed East to Burlington, Iowa for the annual Snowbull event. We were introduced and also sold raffle tickets as a fundraiser for the Extreme Bull Riding Tour and the Double S Bull Company. As the night came to a close, we went to rest up for our adventure that lay ahead the next day. Thank you to the MetcalfSnowbull performance because Rachel and I were both due for a nap! Once we were rested up, we took a short trip back to Burlington where I met up with my family, it was great seeing them there! I also had the chance to "model" as part of the entertainers act. Shawn "Boom Boom" Thompson was there and during his act he decided to try out photography.. On rodeo queens, I had a lot of fun helping him out!
The 15th of March, I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to travel across the country. I joined 22 students from my French class, as we flew to Paris, France. This experience was a difficult one and it made me appreciate home. Each student had their own French family that we stayed with for 10 days. My family had done some research on me and found out that I rode horses and was also Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa, however, the sport of rodeo doesn't exist in France. Describing rodeo by using the few French words that I knew came out to be an extremely difficult task, but I got the job done! Once our 10 days were over I was very happy to see my family, friends and my horse Cooper again! We flew back on my birthday, the 24th, and coming home was the best present I could've ever asked for.
For the last few days of March I was a part of the annual Iowa Horse Fair. I left school early Friday afternoon to head down to the Iowa State Fairgrounds and hang out with Rachel, as well as our third sidekick Emma Bair, Miss Jr. Rodeo Iowa. We spent our time at the Miss Rodeo Iowa booth signing autographs and informing the pubic about our organization. Saturday morning Rachel and I had more on our schedule as we helped with a Scavenger Hunt in the morning, then a Stick Horse Race following that. For the afternoon, Miss Rodeo Lenox, Alexandra Eischeid, joined Rachel, Emma and I as we spoke about ourselves, the Miss Rodeo Iowa organization, pageant, and also shared what being a rodeo queen is all about. Hopefully we inspired some girls to run for the title of Miss Jr., Miss Teen, or Miss Rodeo Iowa 2013! We spent Sunday morning at the booth again, and then Rachel and I had the opportunity to judge the appearance portion of the Iowa Horse Fair Cowgirl Queen Contest. There were some great contestants in both the Junior and Senior divisions this year! Great job to everyone who competed!
As I said, March was an eventful month but I can't express how grateful I am for it. This year has already been so much fun and I'm loving every minute of it!
Until next time,
Jenna :)
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