Hello again!
Now it's time to fill you all in about my time during the Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant. It was a whirlwind of fun, work, and cheering!
Before I left for the Rosen Center Plaza, where I was to be staying during the Teen Pageant, I had an interview with the Osceola News Gazette. They came to my home to interview me and take a few photos for their upcoming paper.
Fortunately, my family only lives thirty minutes away from the Rosen Center Plaza, so I was not too stressed about the amount I had to pack...needless to say...I over packed. Haha. Upon my arrival at the hotel, I met my roommate for the week, Diana Dreman, who is the reigning Miss Colorado. She was absolutely delightful to get to know! After settling into my room, I walked around the hotel to see if I would run into other titleholders and of course I did. As soon as I walked down to the lobby I ran into a whole bunch of them! I found our personal introductions completely entertaining..."Hi, I'm Kristina...Florida."
I also ran into a few other titleholders, state directors, and board members. Time went by rather quickly and I was off to watch the first night of the Miss America's Outstanding Teen Pageant preliminaries. Elizabeth performed her talent that night and beautifully I must add. I was pleased to run into my Miss Florida Pageant sisters that came to watch Elizabeth. I am so thankful that they came out to support our teen queen!
The next day was a very relaxed day. I spent most of the day with Diana. We went to visit the Miss America's Outstanding Teen Trade Show and there we spoke with friends. That night, Elizabeth had her second night of preliminaries. I am so proud to share that she won preliminary evening wear that night. She wore a beautiful white gown and she answered her onstage question with a lot of personality! What an exciting night it was for us Floridians!
Thursday was a very busy day! I was up at 5:30 to get camera ready! All of the Miss America titleholders had to record a 60 second video stating why they should be the next Miss America. I would tell you about my video, but it will ruin the surprise...so you will just have to wait till the videos are released on YouTube! Hehe. After all the state titleholders finished their videos, we got dressed up for a dinner hosted by Regalia and Mary at Maggiano's. I was so excited because Maggiano's is one of my favorite restaurants and who doesn't enjoy getting all dressed up?! All of the girls looked fabulous and the food was out of this world delicious! Sincere thanks to Mary, David, and Carry. I had a blast getting to know the girls sitting at my table. After dinner we attended the final night of preliminaries where the entire Miss America Class of 2012 had the opportunity to introduce themselves onstage. It is such an honor to be representing our state!
Friday was the busiest day of the week! All the state titleholders had to be ready to go to Disney by 6:15 AM. Yes, we were all pretty tired but once we saw the the welcome sign to Disney all of our eyes were wide open! I may have been to Disney every year for the past 10 years, but I still get just as excited as if it were my first time. Our time at Disney was filled with a lot of fun but it was also filled with lot of work. I was busy all morning with interviews and pictures. During the day I bonded with Miss South Carolina, Bree Boyce. I feel as if we were separated at birth! She is probably one of the funniest and coolest people I have ever met.
That night we attended a party hosted by the Porters. LaVoyce Porter is a very special sponsor of the Miss Florida Pageant. The party was one of the most glamourous ones I had ever been to! The party was held at the BEAUTIFUL home of Mr. and Mrs. Leman Porter. The night was filled with great food, fun entertainment, and dancing! It was such a fun night for the Miss America Class of 2012!
The next day was the big day for the Miss America's Outstanding Teen Pageant...we would be finding out who was going to be taking the coveted title home. That morning the state titleholders, and I had our first official Miss America Orientation. All the members of the Miss America Board spoke about production and what to expect in the upcoming months. Teresa Scanlan, Miss America 2011, spoke about the job of Miss America and how to best prepare for competition and the job itself. The excitement I already had for Miss America grew tenfold during the orientation!
Before the Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant began, all the Miss America titleholders had an autograph signing. What a neat experience it was to have people ask for my autograph!
It was finally time for the competition to begin! My heart was racing in anticipation for the unknown! The top 15 was announced soon after the show began. My heart was beginning to sink as 14 semifinalists had been called and Elizabeth was not one of them but my heart soon leapt for joy as she was the last name called! She re-competed in Evening Wear and looked like an absolute angel in her gown. Afterwards, she was called into the top 10 and had the opportunity to re-perform her talent. She was beaming! After talent, she re-competed in lifestyle and fitness and was then called into the top 8 where they called the runners up and winner from. The host called the 4 runners up leaving 4 girls on stage, Elizabeth included.
Your new Miss America's Outstanding Teen is...
Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen, Elizabeth Fechtel!!!
I honestly cannot remember what happened after that. All I know is there was a lot of screaming and jumping around! I am so, so, so very proud of our OUTSTANDING Teen Elizabeth who is beautiful not only on the outside, but even more so on the inside.
GO FLORIDA!!!!
Proudly Floridian (lol),
Kristina
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