This and That

It has been a while since I have posted so I will update everyone on what I have done in the last few months. I had some personal problems and decided to take Spring 2010 Quarter on Campus at Oregon State instead of online, thus forcing me to move to Oregon for 3 months. I loved it beyond all belief, and I got to take Lipton with me, however it forced me to give up my Young Rider dreams for the year. I had been under so much stress to do well that I had forgotten why I loved riding in the first place, so it was nice to just spend some time at school with him and re-develop our relationship. We moved home for the summer and I have been working for Carolynn Bunch taking pictures and doing office work just as I have since she began her business in 2007. I have made the decision to forego Young Riders for 2011 as to me it is not worth the pressure and my education is more important, especially with a Masters Degree now in my sights.

While I was at school I made the inevitable decision to participate in the Miss Seattle beauty pageant this coming November. Yep. You read that right. I'm going to be in beauty pageants. Whomever wins the Miss Seattle pageant goes on to compete for Miss Washington, which feeds into Miss America. For those of you saying "That doesn't sound like her," well, you clearly don't know me very well. This is something I have wanted to do for a very long time and it has never been the right time. MAO offers thousands of dollars in scholarship money to help pay for undergrad and graduate school later on, and I get to do it all while wearing dresses and promoting things I believe in.

In order to compete in the pageant we need to choose a platform - an organization to volunteer for that we would like to bring awareness to and promote as something that people should donate their time and money to. Most girls choose Donate Life or The American Cancer Association, but I decided to think outside the box (as usual) and chose The Youth Suicide Prevention Program. Suicide is always something that people view as taboo to talk about when really is something that can be avoided in much larger proportions than people believe if more friends and family would pay attention to behavior changes in youth and adults.

I will be sure to post more and keep updates on how hair, makeup, dresses and everything else girly is going, as well as how Lipton is holding up.