You Never Know When You'll Be Inspired

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A week ago, I was in Vegas for the Miss America contest. No, I wasn't in it, but many people thought I should have been. Unfortunately, my talent is inspiring, mentoring, or leading people, along with my adventurous love for life. I guess I could request to hold the talent portion outside and skydive for my talent. :)

Want to see my Vegas pics? Click HERE.

How about random Vegas pics of us? Click HERE.

The whole week up until the main event, I walked all over Vegas, took the stairs at every chance I could instead of escalators, visited every casino/resort possible in the small amount we were there, and spent as little time sitting around as we could. A ridiculous amount of photos were taken along the way to capture the city's ambience and life. I can honestly say I never gambled. I was so impressed with how much there was to do in Vegas that I didn't think twice about not throwing money away. Well, on gambling anyway.

I was with my boss, his wife and 18-year-old granddaughter so we also didn't hit up the party scene. The only drinking I did was with my cousin who surprisingly showed up for his birthday alone during the same time I was there. He thought it was extremely weird that his "goodie goodie, grade A+, straight laced, angel child" cousin celebrated his birthday with a few drinks while in Vegas. I wasn't going to let him be alone since his friend couldn't make it out. He's family! I did think it was funny that he kept saying the quoted response over and over again the night of his birthday.

Click HERE for my pics of the Miss America Shoe Parade sponsored by DSW!

Needless to say, Nicole (my boss' granddaughter) and I had a blast throughout the town. We were physically exhausted by the end of the week along with Nicole's feet giving her intense pain every time she stepped.

The actual night of the Live ABC show, we got all decked out, but I was nervous my already form fitting stilettos wouldn't fit. My feet were swollen from the constant walking, but band-aids to the rescue, everything worked out. I was in a grey, one shoulder, ruched dress with heavy pink earrings and sexy, pink 5in stilettos. Cameras in the bag! It was going to be a night of good photo ops. I knew I wasn't going to be able to walk far so THANK GOODNESS our hotel room was in Planet Hollywood, where the Miss America event took place.

Once we got down to the casino level, we noticed the line snaking in and out of the slots. It was already a ridiculous long line. The theatre was right across from the casino inside Planet Hollywood. It was annoying, but doable. We'd live. Well, once our line took us out to the theatre opening, we saw that the line didn't start or stop there. The line weaved in and out in front of the theater and then continued on around the Miracle Mile Mall (still within PH). Yeah, I gave you the name for a reason.

I decided to walk fast throughout the multiplying frustrated people so I could get to the end of the line and hold spots for the rest of our crew who don't have long legs. Well, the line kept going. And going. AND going. I was about 3/4 of the way around the mall when I found the end. I was a bit perturbed and couldn't find the rest of our group through any of those still searching for the end. I got a call from them saying they found someone from the Nebraska crew and got in line with them. I didn't want to walk all the way back for nothing, so I just stayed to regroup and destroy my inner frustrations. I finally got to the point where my shoes were worthless and I didn't care who I was trying to look good for, so the stilettos came off.

A few young women behind me said they loved my shoes and had been so impressed with me to have walked so easily in them. I thanked them of course. They saw the Miss Nebraska button I had on my purse for Teresa and asked how I was affiliated. After they heard I was only a part of the donating committee, one of the ladies told me I should get involved in the pageant. Granted, I love to get dressed up but never thought anything about the Miss contests. Never knew anyone in it to have connections of knowing what to do.

Well with the two, was a 10-year-old young lady, who was full of spunk and sass. She was at Miss America because she was a young miss winner in Utah where she was from. She loved dressing up and acting, and her talent was dancing. But I think her real talent was the art of communication and ability to carry on a conversation without reservations. She and I started talking about school and sports and her future running for Miss America. I asked her something along the lines of the following...if a news station gave you one thing to say on camera, what would it be?

Her response was spot on and without hesitation. I cannot remember it word for word at the moment which is bothering me to no end. But in summary was that she was a rock star and wanted to enjoy the spotlight.

Of course, she turned it around on me. I knew it was coming but didn't have anything in mind, except that if I could do one thing, it would be to inspire people. Well, that answer wasn't good enough. She wanted more. So I continued that I would want to inspire young women like herself to do whatever they want to do in their lives and to never hold back. To continue to smile and enjoy any challenges life brings and find the positive in anything hard. But to go out and be the rock star you know that's in you.

Honestly, I knew the woman who'd asked me why I hadn't competed was going to be listening to how I responded and critique what I said as she was the local Director in Utah. But I pulled it off. The important part was that my new, young friend was impressed too. So after the hour of waiting in line, I had a new friend. She was such a little ball of fire and such a joy to talk to. Time went by faster than I'd realized and I was SO glad I didn't end up leaving the line.

We got all the way to the front of the line FINALLY. HOWEVER, and I emphasize HOWEVER for a reason too. We figured out why the line took an eternity. The ABC network decided not to let any cameras into the theatre. None. Zilch. Zip. Are you kidding me? They didn't have it posted. They had allowed cameras every other night during the prelim week. NO ONE knew they'd do that. The security people told us we'd have to take our cameras back to our rooms, check it at the bell desk down stairs and outside of the casino or take it back to our cars parked on the opposite side of the casino (way passed the halfway point of the mall where we had stood in line). I asked if they'd let us back in at the front of the line and then booked it. I had no idea what time it was and I knew the live show was going to be starting soon.

When I got back to theatre still barefoot, I was finally let in and ran to my seat. NO WAY! I saw my little friend and her mom sitting only two rows down from me in the possible 7,000 seats they could have been in! Craziness! They came over to chat with me during a commercial break. After Miss America was crowned (who happened to be our girl, Miss Nebraska Teresa Scanlan), they came over and I gave them my contact info to keep in touch. We parted ways after big hugs :)

You never know who's watching or who you could be inspiring. I had to do a quite attitude check when I realized a beautiful, young, outgoing, outspoken, and very impressionable 10-year-old was standing in line behind me after I'd been frustrated by walking so far in my stilettos. Never give up the chance to make a difference. Never give up the chance to make an impression on young kids, and hopefully that impression will stay with them forever.

But most importantly, my new little friend taught me more than I think I was trying to teach her. Don't hold back. Speak without judgment and hesitation. She didn't care that I towered over her in my formal attire while she wore jeans and a cute long sleeve (They had arrived later than expected and hadn't changed for the event, but honestly who cares? Those who would wouldn't matter in the short or long run anyway.), but as a kid, I know I would have been shy towards a tall, pretty blonde. She exemplified an openness that children possess that we adults tend to loose as we get older. I was so impressed by her! I hope they keep in contact so I can see her grow up and become a very successful woman. At the moment, she wants to be a nail artist because her mom's nails always look so pretty, but I'm sure she'll aspire to something big. She has the world at her fingertips.

She lives Boldly Challenging Status Quo. Do you?

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