Short and Sweet

Hey Everyone!

Last Tuesday I went to Kansas City to look for my national gown, and I found the perfect one! Want to know what it looks like? Well..That's going to be a surprise!! I go to my first boot camp this weekend where I will get to see my dress again, and get it altered. More importantly, I also get to see all of the Vanbros girls again! The last time we were all together was in Las Vegas.

I am going to keep this post short and sweet. I will let you know how this weekend goes!

xo Sierra

You be the Judge!

Hey!

These past couple of days have been so busy! On Wednesday, my mom and I left for Warsaw, Missouri because I was one of the Judges for the local Jubilee Days. This is an annual event in Warsaw where there are parades, fairs, and pageants for all age groups. I was one of three judges that would be deciding which young lady would become Queen. The contestants had to be in high school. As a judge, I was joined by two other ladies, Marci and Kelly, who were so much fun to be around!

Thursday morning, my mom and I were picked up at 9.30 by Tamena Estes. Tamena was in charge of the pageant. She was so accommodating and wonderful! She always made sure my mom and I were being taken care of. After she picked us up, we headed to the building where I would be interviewing the girls. I must admit, after the interviews, it gave me a new outlook on the judges. I remember feeling so nervous at my state pageant because I was intimidated by the judges. Hopefully this revelation will help me to be more calm at Nationals!

As soon as the interviews were done, I was whisked off to a local radio station where I was scheduled for an interview. It was so much fun, and I wasn't even nervous!

After the interview, we head out to lunch and met with Marci, Kelly, and Shanda. Lunch was absolutely delicious! Once we were rested and got some coffee at Cosmic Coffee, we headed back to judge the talent portion. Because I never had to do a talent and I don't particularly have one, it made the talent portion more exciting! It was amazing to see the wide range of talent from singing, to dancing, to sign language, to reading monologues. The girls did an awesome job! Tamena took us a out to dinner before we had to judge the evening gown portion. Dinner was great! When we returned, we watched the top five scored talents again, and then judged their evening gowns. After the scores were added up, the announced the top five. The top five answered a question from the judges, then they announced their placements! It turned out to be such a great day, long but awesome! It was such a great experience, one that wouldn't have been possible without Tamena!

Warsaw is only an hour and a half from Kansas City which is where I was scheduled to go on Friday for a modelling job. Because the job wasn't until 6.30pm, my mom and I spent the after noon shopping at the Plaza! It was such a beautiful day! After hours of walking around the Plaza, we headed back to the hotel where I had to get ready for the Kansas City DIFFA Gardens by Design. This benefit helped raise money which is put towards the prevention of HIV and AIDS. The theme of the benefit was 1920's and 30's, like the book The Great Gatsby.

This picture was taken before the Benefit started. I am standing next to a 1939 V16 Cadillac, which is one of four that were ever made! The party turned out to be a great success!

Wow! That was my busy couple of days! On Tuesday, I head to Overland Park, Kansas to pick out my National gown!!! I am so excited to see what they have picked out!

You know I'll keep you posted!

xo Sierra

Long time, no see!

Hey Everyone!

I know it has been a while, but I was extremely busy during the last few months of school! My graduation was last Saturday, so hopefully I will have more time to keep everyone updated.

Since my last post, I have done a lot! One of the bigger things was going to Las Vegas to watch the Miss USA Pageant. It was so much fun! I met a lot of the other teens where I got to know them a little better. My family and I were only there for 4 days, but it felt like a week. There was never a moment where I had nothing to do.The Miss USA pageant was a lot of fun as well. I remember feeling really nervous for the contestants as I watched the pageant. My legs were practically shaking. After Miss North Carolina was crowned Miss USA, Donald Trump was taking pictures with some of the teen contestants. This was as close as the Vanbros girls got to him:

From Left to Right: Me, Alexis -Miss Kansas Teen USA (she is squeezed in the middle), Sarah- Miss Nebraska Teen USA, Allison- Miss Arkansas Teen USA (you can see the side of her)

Haha so Donald Trump may have not been paying attention, but he is still in the picture!

In May, I attended Princess Night which was hosted by one of the Miss Missouri Pageant's sponsors, Chick-Fil-A. Stacey, also attended this event, so it was really nice to catch up with her and hear about the Miss USA pageant.

I am so excited for this upcoming month! I am going to pick out my national gown on Tuesday, I go to my first boot camp at the end of the month, and today I am leaving to go Judge a pageant in Warsaw, MO. On that note, I better get packing!

xo Sierra

Stacey's Sending off Party!

This past Wednesday I attended Stacey's Sending off party. I was so excited to see her because the last time we saw each other was at the Arkansas pageant in January. When she arrived, I swear my mouth dropped. Stacey looked absolutely amazing! It was so great talking to her and her family. She told me everything she has been doing which made me feel so excited for her!! I can't wait to watch her at Miss USA- I know she is going to ROCK the stage!!

xo Sierra

Hemline Fashion Show

I have finally recovered from yesterday! The photo shoot and fashion show were so much fun. I got up at 5 am to leave for KC, and my mom and I arrived at the studio just on time. My photo shoot was from 10-3pm, and as soon as we got there we got down to business. Jamie, my stylist, and Cameron, my photographer, went through all of my stuff to try and come up with different looks. Because this wasn't strictly for the pageant, the looks and modeling was completely different. I found it very difficult because you never know what vision the photographer has. I have watched many seasons of America's Next Top Model, and the models would always complain, and I would just sit there thinking ' how hard could it be to just look into a camera?' Well, I finally understand. It is a lot harder than it looks, especially since I switched from the pageant look to the high fashion look so fast. It did take a little while for me to get warmed up, but once I did I felt more comfortable.We ended up with 4 different looks, and I am very pleased with all of them!

The fashion show was conveniently 4 levels below the studio, so I never had to leave the building. When I got there, my friend Erica was there, and I was so excited to see her! The show didn't start until 9pm but the stylists didn't waste any time and started getting us ready. My hair has never been teased so much in one day! I was quite scared I wouldn't be able to brush my hair ever again ha ha. The style was very bohemian, and everyone looked so awesome! Time flew by and then the show started. To my surprise, I was the first girl in line-no pressure at all lol. Once I started walking, it didn't bother me, and I just had a good time. As soon as the show was over, I changed and drove home. I couldn't move when I woke up this morning but yesterday was completely worth it!

xo Sierra

Kansas City

I leave for Kansas City tomorrow! I am doing a photo shoot in the morning, and then I am participating in my first fashion show during the evening. I am so excited! Earlier this week I went to KC for my fitting at Hemline, where I was able to get a preview of what I will be wearing during the fashion show- the dresses are AMAZING! I am so nervous because I was told that 400 people showed up last year- and here I was thinking this was going to be a small event! On a better note, I found out that Erica-my room mate from the Miss Missouri Teen USA pageant, Sarah-Miss Nebraska Teen USA, Meagan-Miss Nebraska USA, and Danielle-another contestant from the Miss Missouri USA pageant will be there! I am really looking forward to seeing Erica and Danielle again, and I am so excited to finally meet Sarah and Meagan! I'll let you know how it turns out!

xo Sierra

St.Patrick's Day Parade

This past Saturday I was in Cottleville's St. Patrick's day parade. This was the second time I was in one of Cottleville's Parades. Because their first parade was on one of the coldest days, there wasn't much of a turn out. Cottleville is very small as it is, so when I found out that there was 80 floats in the St.Patrick's Day parade, I was shocked! There were some pretty cool floats; one float was the front half of an F4 airplane( I got to get in it!), while others were decked out in green decorations. It was a great day!

xo Sierra