In the beginning...

This is the beginning of my blogging experience. I plan to use this as a way to keep track of my pursuit for the Miss Cache Valley crown, but mostly as a way to document my pursuit in changing the world - starting with myself.
Well, okay, pretty much this is going on here so people can know what goes on in my everyday life and how I feel about situations that I probably won't talk to anyone about in person. I'm outgoing, but I don't tell very many people about how I really feel about the things that affect my life.

So, for the pageant portion, let's begin...
Let me give you my experience as a pageant girl.

Sometime in the 1990s, my sister (then Danika Dupre Winn, now Danika Monson) did Miss Duchesne County and Miss UBIC. She did amazing, and I wanted to be just like her.

In 2003, I became Jr. Miss UBIC 2003.

In 2005, I became Miss Utah Teen 2005, and went on to compete at Nationals in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 2006, I was given one of four Miss Salt Lake County Junior Miss titles

In 2007, I competed for the Utah's Junior Miss title.

In 2008, I competed for Miss Cache Valley, my first-ever adult (Miss) pageant.

Now here I am. I started doing pageants for the glamour... crown, popularity, that's what it's all about, right?
Now it's something more. I become a better person when I compete. I'm committed to world peace (cliche`, I know) and I become an active part of my own life. I've always been in love with performing and entertaining people, and I love serving people with my talents. I find enjoyment in it. There have been so many times that I have been the recipient of a kind act, and I truly want to give back. So here goes.

What will/would I do with the title of Miss Cache Valley?
I would totally work my heart out. I want to make a difference, even if it's in one person's life.
Last year, my platform was Making a Healthy Transition Into Womanhood.
This year, my view has changed. I still need a catchy title, but essentially I want to focus on helping young women and young men feel like they can say "NO!" in a relationship. From personal experience and speaking to peers, I know that too many people have said that the reason they became sexually active wasn't necessarily because they felt true love for the person, but because they felt pressured to participate. It made them a "better boy/girlfriend". Even in our conservative state, where so much pressure is put on the youth and young adults to save sexual intimacy until marriage, it's becoming more difficult because the world seems to make a norm out of recreational intimiacy. In many relationships, people are often too dependent upon each other to stand up for what they feel and want. I'm not saying that abstinence before marriage is the way for all people. That would be self-righteous and preachy of me to say. But being able to stand on your own two feet without your significant other there to hold you up is one of the most important things for young adults to learn. People throw themselves into a relationship, soon after another fails, because they don't know how to cope with being alone. My goal is to empower youth and young adults to be their own person, and in that way better their relationships with people.

I'm not in great shape right now, so this blog is not only my way of tracking my progress with my platform, but to track my progress physically, mentally, and spiritually. Let's start with physically...

Right now, I am the heaviest I've been in my life. I weigh 163 pounds. I am 5'2" tall. I wear a size large shirt (because of my swimmer's shoulders and chest size, which we'll talk about later), and a 9/10 pant.
I'm not concerned with weight... I can weigh as much as my body would like, but I want to be toned and look good in a swimsuit. So here are my goals...
Exercise three times a week. Stop eating crap. See a dietician to make sure that I'm eating right. (did I mention I'm vegetarian?). Fit into a size 7 pant, and a medium top (which may not happen, because my shoulders certainly aren't going to shrink). FEEL GOOD ABOUT MYSELF NAKED! WoOo!

I don't know if people will even start reading this. I'll try to make it entertaining just in case someone haps upon it. But here we go. A little over three months until pageant date - February 21, 2009.

Oh, by the way, the reason I'm so intent on getting the title this year more than any other year also has to do with the queen getting two years full tuition to USU - my school. I'm on an academic scholarship right now, but it only lasts two years. If I can have the two years after that paid for, I'll be all set. Oh, and the winner gets full tuition to New Horizons beauty school. So after I graduate with my music education degree, I can go to hair design school and satisfy my two career desires. It's perfect! I'm such a nerd...