Hockey- The Greatest Sport Ever!

The Beautiful Nationwide Arena

Only one more day till my reign officially begins!!! 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here we come! I celebrated New Year's Eve in Columbus, Ohio. I spent all afternoon shopping at Polaris Mall with John and then that night I made an appearance at the Bluejacket's game. (For those that don't know, they are a NHL hockey team) I absolutely LOVE hockey, so for me this was a dream come true! My Dad got me a Jacket's jersey for Christmas with the name Miss Ohio on the back and the #10 for 2010. I guess you could say I was well dressed for the occasion.

I had 3 different interviews to do that night. The 1st one was for the Bluejackets website. Brittany interviewed me for that and she was awesome! She made the interview fun and it felt like there was no pressure. The next interview was with the FSN Ohio channel for the pregame show. That went really well too. Lastly I had an interview with the Jacket's announcer for the big screen inside the arena. I was pretty thrilled to hear there were a bunch of UC fans in the audience. Here's the link to watch my interview with Brittany:

http://bluejackets.nhl.tv/team/console.jsp?catid=-7&id=55906&cmpid=rss-whatshot

After walking around the arena and getting a tour of the "behind the scene's" areas (weight room, locker room, etc.), I was taken up to the suite boxes to meet a few people with the Bluejackets. Soon the game started and I was ready to go down to my seats to watch it! The seats were awesome and we were about 7 rows from the ice. The camera crew even followed me around to my seat to get some footage of me watching the game. (Which felt just a little weird) The game was awesome.....until we lost in overtime. :( Still I had the best New Year's ever! And now it's time for my greatest year ever! 2010!!!!

Merry Christmas!! :)

Christmas Day- creating my Wii character :)

Opening up gifts

Christmas is finally here! I can't believe how fast time is flying by! I spent Christmas Eve at my house with my mom's side of the family in the afternoon. There were so many family members that stopped by that I haven't seen in a very long time. My cousin Mendee came with her twins! They were so cute!

For dinner I went to John's mom's house. She made a huge Honeybaked ham and I tried pecan pie for the very first time. We played a little bit of Wii and then it was time to open presents. I had gotten John's mom a Thomas Kinkade prayer book and his family gave me this super soft chocolate brown blanket.

That night we went back to my house for our family tradition of the kids giving out their presents to the family. I'm always excited to watch my family open their gifts that I got them. It was a great day, but now I was ready to pass out!

At 7 in the morning, I was woken up by my 13 year old brother and 4 year old niece begging me to come downstairs and open presents. I had gotten several great gifts that I absolutely needed; a luggage set, a digital camera (I usually use disposable ones or my mom's), and a Blue Ray DVD player for my TV that I got for my birthday. My family also got a Wii system! But the biggest surprise was that I would get a puppy after Miss USA!!!! (Unless I win of course) I have been begging for a puppy forever and am so excited that my parents finally said yes!

We then spent all morning hooking up new electronics and cleaning up the house. For dinner we went to my grandma's, to visit my dad's side of the family. My grandma had a huge dinner with turkey, ham, and her homemade mashed potatoes! They are amazing I must say! I had a wonderful Christmas and was so glad I got to spend it with all my family.

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree

With my great aunt, Marie

My grandma picked me up tonight for the Cottingham Retirement Home tree lighting ceremony. My great-aunt Marie is a resident there and it was nice to get to visit her. Residents and their families were all sitting around the ballroom while the choir sang several Christmas carols. Several individuals sang solos and during the song "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," a couple literally danced around the Christmas tree! It was so sweet.

After the singing, ornaments were put on the tree to represent the residents and their families. The tree was then lit and boy was it beautiful! There was a reception after where I got to meet and take a few pictures with all the residents. They wished me good luck and promised they would definitely root for me come May 16. They all were so kind and sweet. I had an absolute great time visiting them!

A Room Full Of Amazing Women

I was invited this evening to the St. Bernard Women's Club Christmas Dinner Party. I arrived to a room full of women in the City Municipal Building and was quickly talked to and congratulated by all these women. They sat me at the head of the table with their President and we were served dinner right away. When we were through with eating there was a special surprise from the barbershop quartet, Smooth Transition, who sang the song "I've Got a Crush on You", while holding my hand. You could say I turned a little bit red. I was then asked to give a speech about my win and everything leading up to that moment. As I began I talked about wanting to do the pageant for some time and my journey to become ready for it. I became just a tad emotional at one point where I talked about wanting to make everyone proud: my family, my city, my work, and all the kids I coach. I felt that I just couldn't let anyone of them down. I had gotten so many people involved with this experience and I didn't want to come back home feeling like I had failed them. I felt my eyes start to water as I said these things and that's when all the ladies stood up and started clapping. It was another great moment where I felt that my city of St. Bernard was behind me 100%. After my little speech, Smooth Transitions then sang several more songs. (They were absolutely amazing!) At the end of this wonderful dinner I was given a pink poinsettia and a beautiful fiber optic angel ornament. I had an absolute great time and love all the support that these great women have given me!

The Little Engine That Could

I was requested to come make an appearance at the Barnes and Noble in Fields Ertel for the Mason Community Players today. The Mason Community Players are a group of talented individuals (young and old) who put on plays every year in the Mason area. Today 10% of sales at the Barnes and Noble went to that organization to help pay for costumes, equipment, scenery, etc. They had a booth set up at the entrance where I had mostly stayed and greeted customers and talked about the different raffles and prizes to help support the group. The prizes were tickets to different shows coming up in 2010.

There also was a little set up by the children's section of the store. They had coloring contests, face painting, and snowflake making there! Cinderella and Santa Claus even stopped by to visit all the kids. I had a lot of fun with the children, even though they seemed more excited to see Cinderella than Miss Ohio!

Another event that they had going on at the Barnes and Noble was a book drive for all the kids at the Children's Hospital during Christmas time. People were allowed to buy books and donate them. I bought, "The Little Engine That Could" and signed it for that special girl or boy. I wish I could have given it to them personally and got to meet whoever ended up with the book. I guess it's just one of those things I'll never know. But whoever they are, I hope it may have brightened their day.

The Barrel

Posing with Pam and Scott

"Thanks for calling Cracker Barrel Sharonville. This is Amanda. How may I help you?"

CINCINNATI :)

Cracker Barrel closed early tonight for our yearly Christmas party! Almost all the employees came and brought a dessert with them to be judged by our GM, Scott, in the dessert contest. I was unable to make or bring one because I worked all day. We had this great buffet of Cracker Barrel food (roast beef, chicken tenders, skillet potatoes, you name it, we had it!). Santa was even there for all the children.

Earlier in the week a woman from Home Office came to interview me and take some pictures of me at work. Everything was later posted on the Cracker Barrel website and published in the Cracker Barrel Newsletter. Here's the link: http://www.crackerbarrel.com/mediaroom.cfm?doc_id=1348

It was so awesome to get my work involved with this year. I have been working at Cracker Barrel since I was 17 and it has become a second family for me. I love all my fellow employees, managers, and regular guests. I really feel that I have shown that a small town girl that works at Cracker Barrel can to make her dreams come true! I hope I can be an inspiration for other people (girls, boys, women, and men), that they too should always believe in their dreams and never give up on what they truly want in life.

The Holidays Always Seem To Bring People Together

Inside St. Bernard City Hall

At the tree lighting

Miss Black Ohio 2010 and I

I can't believe it's already December and Christmas is right around the corner! St. Bernard's Xmas Celebration was today and most of my family went. We had an absolute blast! The St. Clement Choir sang a few carols and Mayor Burkhardt lit the tree. The Coca Cola polar bear was there and so were Santa and Mrs. Claus. In the Municipal building, they had this great train display and the Eagles had coco and cookies for everyone young and old. Kids could sit on Santa's lap and have their picture taken. Mrs. Claus would then give them a bag full of goodies afterwards.

Later on in the night they had horse drawn carriages take residents around St. Bernard. I was unable to get a ride because I had to leave early for a Miss Ohio appearance. The appearance was for a Stop Aids Benefit in downtown Cincinnati. I went for a little while and mingled with all the guests. I even got to meet Miss Black Ohio 2010 there. I had an absolute great night. There was a silent auction there and many different people from all over the city dropped by. It always feels so good to see so many people gather for such a great cause!