Paperwork, Taxes & School...Oh My!

Warning: Deep Thoughts Ahead

Paperwork, Taxes, & School - Three nouns I use as adjectives to describe my everyday life, especially over the past few weeks!! The constant stress of all three have caused me to stop and think a lot about why I voluntarily put myself under such pressure. Why do I work a full time job and pay taxes when I could work a half time job and not pay them? Why do I study and write papers for hours on end that should only take five minutes? Why do I compete in Miss Louisiana when there is a 36/37 shot that I will not win come June 29th? Or more basic questions like why do I invest so much time (and money) in tanning, applying nail polish, and getting highlights when they will all just fade away? I have spent the last eight months thinking through all of these different situations plus many more for more time than anyone could imagine. People are constantly asking me why I bite off such a heavy load, and I wanted to have an answer. How was  I supposed to tell them why if I didn't even know myself? The question that I found myself asking is, "Why are these things so important to me when in ten years they will be an afterthought?" By the time I am 31 the three thousand dollars I sent to the IRS today will be long gone, the two sentences I spent hours rewriting will be forgotten, and the abs I have been working out ferociously for will most likely be gone thanks to my future children (which will be worth it I know!) The common answer found within all contemplative hypotheticals is quite simple. Beyond all the stress that comes along with everything in my life, they all make me well rounded and, above all else, happy. Being a beneficial member to society, an intellectual, and a community service volunteer are all things that make me proud of the person I see in the mirror. Those things plus being a good daughter, sister, aunt, girlfriend, Christian, and friend are all more important to me than all of the free time the world could offer!

Deep thoughts are over! Now, onto pictures that show you what I spend so much time on! ;)

I have been very busy since my last update. So, here we go!

In my last blog entry I mentioned that I had the opportunity to meet one of Louisiana's most famous governors. It was an honor to be a part of an event where Edwin Edwards was the keynote speaker. Though our political opinions aren't right in line, there is no denying that this man is as sharp as ever.

Last year I was the Miracle Maker for the state of Louisiana. So, volunteering at IHOP for National Pancake Day was a no brainer! 

I was able to participate the in Cerebral Palsy telethon of North Louisiana both this year and last year. Some other contestants and myself had a blast raising money for these very special children!

I have attended many local preliminaries this year! Congrats to Tori Thompson on being crowned Miss Sportsman's Paradise!

Miss Lafayette Pageant!

State Meeting is the first event where all of the titleholders get to come together to meet and mingle! It is also a time for all of the returning queens to catch up on lost time! State meeting consists of meetings and information on the state pageant. However, there is one part that none of us can wait for - the lottery! This year, I chose contestant number 28! My interview will be right before the judges eat lunch at noon on Tuesday! I will be competing in Swimwear and Evening Gown on Wednesday and Talent and OSQ on Thursday! This time of year it all begins to feel so real. Up to this moment you know you will be competing, but it really sinks in once you see everyone and all the paperwork is turned in! Only ten short weeks to go! 

Spirit of the Ouachita girls

Painting during our Duke of Edinburgh Journey

On top of these appearances, I had a day where I spoke to over 150 Students at Kiroli Elementary! These kids were a hoot to say the least! I decided to speak on healthy habits that day and took a picnic basket full of good and bad food choices. The kids got a chance to pull something out of the basket and tell me if it was good or bad! Then we all did exercises to complement the healthy eating!

 I also spoke at a Rotary Club Luncheon about the Miss American Organization and my efforts to raise money for Children's Miracle Network! I met many involved people of the community and was happy to speak about what the MAO has done for me and what it does for the community!

A couple of months ago, I had pictures taken with Steven Palowsky for the program book! Out of about two hundred photos, these are a couple of the final chosen ones! Can't thank Steven enough!

Outside of pageants I also stay very busy. Since I work at a church, Christian Life Church to be exact, Easter weekend was VERY busy. Easter for a church is like Christmas for a mall! I spent hours, along with some other very important people, on creating a giant crown of thorns out of swimming pool noodles, spray paint, and poster board. Here is the final outcome! 

Until Next Time....

Love,

Jaden Leach

Miss Spirit of the Ouachita

The Ironies of Being a "Pageant Girl"

Every "Pageant Girl" has her unique share of "Pageant Troubles." My inspiration for this blog is that lately I have been faced with many of mine. What I have realized after much thought is that my troubles are a bit ironic. I have debated on what to say, where to say it, and how to word it without being offensive or over the top dramatic. Hopefully, what I am about to say will get the point across just right.

My "Ironic Pageant Troubles" are as follows:

Irony #1 : Physical Fitness - For those of you who have EVER met me or seen pictures of me, you will probably realize one thing - I am very tiny. Granted, I am 5' 5" which isn't exactly short, I have never had any extra body fat. Being thin is something I have faced all of my life.  When I started high school I was 5'0" and 80 pounds. Talk about a shrimp. Over high school I gained five inches and about twenty five pounds. However, that is the extent of it. Since then I have worked my tail off to gain weight. This is where the irony comes in to play. How many girls can you think of that are trying to GAIN weight? When people tell me that I need to gain five pounds I simply tell them that I am trying. They look at me like I am absolutely stupid! It's like they can't fathom how someone can literally find it hard to gain weight. What they don't realize is that gaining weight for me is just as hard as a severely obese person losing weight. You have to eat past full (which is sickening), work out with limited cardio (which makes it harder to get into shape), and constantly drink protein. Therefore, working my tail off to gain weight is my Irony #1.

Irony #2 : Wardrobe - Goodness gracious where to begin. If I have been critiqued for this once, I have heard it a thousand times. "That dress was too teen." "That outfit was too grandma." "That dress was too blingy." "That talent gown didn't match your song." "The gown wore you." "That gown looks too expensive for a state pageant."  The irony in this situation? Most people would assume that the pageant world want the shiniest, brightest, most expensive dress on the market. Apparently not. Let me emphasize that I do not shop for the dress that "fits the mold." I shop for a dress that makes me stand on my tiptoes when I put it on. I fall for the dress that I don't want to take off for hours. That is how I pick my dress.

Irony #3 : Be Yourself - This is one issue that makes my hair stand up on the back of my neck. People often want to change you. By people I don't mean directors, family, and friends specifically. I mean the general public. They see you from the crowd, and they want you to change your hair, make-up, attire, walk, physical fitness, interview skills, and much more. However, once these things are complete they say "Where did Jaden go? She has lost her spark!" Basically, they want you to change everything about yourself while staying true to yourself. The word should be improve, not change. Irony #3 is that you can "change" to be what everyone else things you should be, but they still will not accept it. I have learned that the thing to do is to make myself happy with who I am. There are things that all of us need to do differently, but it is important that the CHANGES are things that aren't going to completely change who we are, but instead they will improve who we are.

Now, all of this said, I am going to type to two groups of people.

Group #1 : Non-contestants - Contestants have more on our minds than the dress we will wear, the song we will perform to, or the amount of time we will work out. Given all of these things are important, there are so many more things we think about. We think about not coming across as too eager, smiling just the right amount, making friends, catching onto the the opening number, and not falling in high heels on stage. However, the biggest thing that weighs on our mind is what all of you will think if we do not meet your expectations. We are afraid to walk up to you after the pageant is over if we don't win or place. So please keep in mind that if we do not do exactly what you think at all times that we have more on our minds than you realize.

Group #2 : Contestants - As stated above, we face a lot. So it is our job to be there for each other. No one else understands better how stressful this is than each other. We can not let jealousy or fear stand in the way of friendships that can be made. This is a competition, but we can form friendships.

TIME FOR THE UPDATES!!

Being Miss Spirit of the Ouachita has been an absolute blast! Between working with Big Brothers Big Sisters during their annual marathon, singing the National Anthem at Race for the Cure, meeting former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, attending many local pageants, representing the City of West Monroe at Christmas on the River, and going to Miss America, I couldn't ask for anything any better.

Shannon Byrd and me at Miss Tech

Lauren's Trunk Show

My sweet Alyson!! :)

Sister queens at Holiday in Dixie

West Monroe Christmas Parade

Christmas on the River Pageant with one of my new princesses!

Abbi, me, and Monica at Miss Monroe

Miss America night two!



Miss America night three!

I have speaking engagements lined up for Kiroli Elementary, Kiwanis Club of West Monroe, Rotary Club of West Monroe, and soon to have a date for Claiborne Elementary. If you know anyone who would like for me to make an appearance, let me know!

Love,
Jaden

Miss Louisiana 2012

Well hello there, readers! Before I begin showing off all of my jibber jabber, I am excited to say that my blog has had 500 views! I gasped when I saw the number of views I have obtained! So exciting! Now, onto a more interesting topic. Where to begin? Hmm... How about.. Miss Louisiana 2012!?

The week started off with moving in at the Bayou Suites, going to the press conference, and of course the DANCE REHEARSALS. For those of you who are unaware, singing is my talent for a reason. God wanted me to be a singer, not a dancer. BUT considering that I am aware of my stumbling feet and lack of "dance move memory", I can laugh it off, and SOMEHOW pull off the dance by Thursday night.

On Monday, we also went to Brookshires to raise money for Children's Miracle Network. Now before you go imagining a bunch of queens smiling at the front doors of a supermarket and batting our long eye lashes to get money, let me tell you what actually happened. All of the contestants were split up amongst numerous Brookshires in West Monroe and Monroe. We bagged groceries for, took pictures with, and chatted with many customers. Now, not to toot our own horn, but my local Brookshires DID win the award for raising the most money!

Now, for Tuesday. There are three very exciting events that happen this day. One - the ULM luncheon. As you ALL know, I have great pride in the University that has given me so many opportunities. Especially considering that ULM is the reason I compete in the Miss America Organization. ULM always feeds us the best possible meal, thanks to Chef Joe :)



Secondly - the Dillard's Style Show.

What beauty queen do you know that would deny wanting to be in a style show? Most likely none. When I go to the mall, I NEVER make it past Dillard's. All of the money I have to spend on shopping immediately goes into Mr. Dillard's pocket. So, I loooooove the style show. My princesses and I definitely made a splash, though. As soon as we got in line, one of us knocked over a perfume sampler table. After we all made an effort to clean it up before we got caught, one of us knocked it over again! We all laughed so hard, that it was worth knocking over the table not once, but twice.



Lastly, everyone knows that on Tuesday night the contestants go to Dr. Jarrell's home for the current Miss Louisiana's farewell party. We know ahead of time that Miss Louisiana will have many guests there, and we all knew who five of them would be. Who you ask? The Miss Louisiana judges, of course! So, we all dressed our best, and headed off to Dr. Jarrell's where we hoped to make an impression on the five people holding the next year of one of our lives in their hands.

Now, for the dreaded Wednesday. Wednesday = Interviews. Interviews are bittersweet. On the bright side, you finally get competition kicked off and let the judges get to know you. The bitter side? You have to hope and pray that they will fully get to know you and your goals. There are two interview groups on Wednesday. Also, very bittersweet. If you are the morning group, you can get your interview over with by noon, but you must get up before the break of dawn to be ready and truly awake in time. So, take the afternoon interview you say? Sounds simple except for the fact that your stomach is in total knots all morning, and everyone in your group is silent the entire morning at rehearsals. After weighing out the pros and cons, I chose morning nausea and had my interview LAST. Sorry, but no pictures of interview. The judges got a little ahead of schedule, and well, girls were running around like crazy people.

After all of the stress of interviews is over, the contestants had a red carpet event at Orange Leaf frozen yogurt! We were are all exhausted by Wednesday night, but we were more than willing to lap up some yogurt!

Now, on to Thursday - Princess party and preliminaries began.

The princess party is one of my favorite events all week! Those girls mean the world to me, and I learn more from them that I ever thought I could! Each of them is so special in her own way.  I would do anything for them, and can't wait to spend time with them again next year.

Thursday at Miss Louisiana was nothing but excitement for me. The pressure was there, but I couldn't wait to get on that stage! I competed in swimsuit and evening gown that night, and loved every minute of it!

Friday...Preliminary night 2. On Friday, I competed in talent and on stage question. This year for my talent I sang "I Will Never Pass This Way Again" by Glenn Campbell. I was very lucky because I got to work with some amazing people who helped me make this song....ME! Singing is the reason I competed in my very first pageant where I was crowned Miss ULM.

On Friday night, I was also presented with two awards. One was the Duke of Edinburgh award that many of the contestants received. We were required to go on an "adventurous journey" in order to obtain the award. Now, imagine about twenty pageant girls camping, and that was us. It was a blast getting to spend the weekend with the girls, and worth every second when each of us received a medal.

I also received an award that means more to me that any award I have ever obtained. I was Louisiana's 2012 Miracle Maker Award winner. I was able to raise $6400.00 for CMN. Many people do not believe that the Miss America Organization contestants should be required to raise money for CMN, and by that, I am amazed. Those people have obviously never seen a child suffering with cancer in person. Maybe I just have too much experience with child sickness and cancer. Let me tell you. For starters, one of my childhood friends was diagnosed with cancer when she was in the fourth grade. You can imagine how traumatizing it is for a fourth grader to find out that one of her best friends has kidney cancer. Luckily, today she is 19 and cancer free. About two months ago my uncle passed away from cancer. While I was at M. D. Anderson I saw a young child walk out of the hospital room. I immediately began to cry and told my boyfriend that the reason I want to be not only Miss Louisiana, but Miss America, is because of children like him. Imagine being ten and helpless. We should all strive to be like those children who are fighting for their lives - strong and courageous. I can't understand why contestants who are wanting to be a role model and a leader do not want to help children who can not help themselves. We should ALL remember that being Miss America is not only about the clothes, the crown, and meeting people, but it is about using all of these resources as an outlet to reach out and help others. That being said, I was privileged to have had the opportunity to have been the CMN Miracle Maker award winner.

Saturday can be described with only one word - stressful. The contestants spend all day hoping and praying to have their named called as a finalist. At about 8:15, I was called out as a semi-finalist! I strutted my stuff in a swimsuit, performed my talent, and walked as elegantly as possible in an evening gown. Then, at approximately 9:15, I was called out as a top 5 Finalist. I was privileged to be called 2nd Runner-up to the incredible woman, Lauren Vizza.

Not to sound cliche, but the girls I competed with this year are some of the most intelligent, sweetest, genuine, and confident women I know. I have learned so much from each of them, and would stand by any one of them on any given day. Thank you so much, to all of you contestants who have been such loyal friends.

Since Miss Louisiana ended, many more things have happened. I was crowned Miss Spirit of the Ouachita, and I will represent my hometown of West Monroe at the 2013 Miss Louisiana pageant. The next blog post will have all of the details up the Miss Spirit of the Ouachita pageant and my future appearances. The last few months have been busy, busy, and.......BUSY, and the next few will only be busier. Can't wait!

LOVE,

Jaden Leach

Miss Spirit of the Ouachita 2013