Pageanting--Evening Gown and Conclusion

 

We end with everyone’s favorite portion--Evening Gown. Who doesn’t love to feel like a million bucks in a beautiful gown? I had bought my gown for $10.00 at a thrift store (and found out my second time wearing it that my neighbor had been the one who consigned it--lol!) I had it altered a bit and cleaned. In my opinion, it was a truly flattering piece on me! My coach, Christina Sacha, helped me find an affordable bib necklace to give it some sparkle. I had bought my stage shoes weeks earlier and found them to be incredibly comfortable, I mean, for a pair of 4” heels with a ¾” platform!  My hair was beautifully sculpted by the amazing DJ of Timothy D's A Salon. My makeup was artfully applied by the talented Heathyrre Kautz. I looked mahvelous if I do say so myself :)

I would have changed a few things about my evening gown performance, but I can assure you that I did the best I have ever done before in this area of competition. We don't need to dwell on what I'd change. I walked more gracefully. I held myself better with improved posture. And I enjoyed every second on stage.

So why do I pageant? I do it because every time I have competed, I improve a little bit and these improvements give me confidence in all areas of my life from being a wife, a mom of grown men, and as a teacher. Additionally, I would never have met some of the most incredible, fascinating, driven, kind, and beautiful women that I have if I decided that pageanting was just not for me. I don’t have time to tell you all about the ladies I got to know well (and I would hate to accidentally leave anyone out), but my life is richer for having spent the weekend getting to know them and I pray that our relationships continue to grow. And those are only the women that I truly spent time with; Every contestant was amazing in her own way and impacted those around her tremendously! 

If you have ever considered competing in a pageant, but any of these statements have flitted through your head

“I’m not pretty enough,” every woman is pretty enough, including YOU! Our contestants ranged in age from 21 to over 65, with every body type, hairstyle and color, and size. 

“My story is not that compelling,” but it’s your story and you are the only one who can tell it!

“I could never win,” it’s not about winning--it’s about the journey!

“I’m too scared,” one of our contestants was TERRIFIED the night of orientation and by the time we got to the stage portion, she was having the time of her life. She was like a different woman. 

And that is what this is all about--being the best version of yourself that exists, learning to capitalize on your strengths, and drawing from the strength of all the other women competing with you.

Signing off for the last time, I am YOUR Mrs. Fort Carson 2021!

Chris Arnold 

Photo by Megan Anderson of Graphique Fine Art Photography.

http://mrscolorado.com

Pageanting Part II--Interview & Swimsuit

    

I honestly think that my friends and family want me to win the crown more than I want it. Let’s face it, Mrs. Colorado is a JOB! It is not a year of flitting around being pretty and admired all day long. There are expectations of a queen and it takes an extremely committed woman to win and hold the title. My goal this time was to do well in the interview and improve my stage game. While I won’t find out how my interview was received for a couple of weeks, I will tell you that when I opened my mouth to introduce myself, my voice betrayed me with this shriek-slash-crack noise that I have never heard come out of my mouth before. I said, “That is not my actual voice! Let’s start over . . “ Then I sat down and we all went along as if nothing had happened. 

I would be shocked if I had been chosen as one of the top 12 for my interview, but I won’t be too hard on myself if I wasn’t. Sometimes learning how to recover is just as important as learning how to present. My main goal at the interview was to let the judges know that there are two ways to combat Hashimoto’s disease; one is to accept your medication and see your doctor every six months while still suffering from hypothyroid symptoms. The other is to take a more holistic approach and dig deeper into the causes of Hashimoto’s as well as consider the vitamin and nutrition deficiencies that lead to the debilitating symptoms. Since I have been able to thrive 90% of the time for the past 3 years with minimal symptoms, I wanted other sufferers to know that they can also live a relatively normal life compared to their non-Hashi counterparts. 

Since August of 2020, I have lost 20 pounds thanks to my friend Maggie for introducing me to Kickboxing and the mitigation of many Hashimoto's symptoms! My muscle tone has skyrocketed since starting this journey at 9Round Colorado Springs and my fatigue, brain fog, and sluggishness has diminished considerably. This brings me to the swimsuit portion of the competition, arguably the most controversial aspect of pageanting. So let’s stop for a moment and get on the same page with swimsuit competition. 

Swimsuit competition is about nothing more than how a woman carries herself. One can hide a lot of insecurity behind a long gown or other fashion, but wearing a swimsuit forces the participant to take only her confidence across the stage. Our director, Emily made sure that our swimsuits were flattering and had good coverage. Regardless of what my standing was with the other contestants in this portion of the competition, I can assure you that I significantly improved my overall performance in this area of competition compared to my previous attempts. I walked with more confidence, my suit fit much better than in years past, and my overall physical health was far and away better than my previous attempts. If I had it to do over again, I would have practiced more with my sarong in order to remove it more smoothly. I ended up looking down at it and fumbling a bit to remove it once I got on stage.

But once all was said and done, I was still myself, and let's face it, untying a sarong with flair is not the easiest thing to accomplish. I will have to post swimsuit pics later after I get them back from the photographer, Megan Anderson of Graphique Fine Art Photography. But you may enjoy this group shot of all of us in swimsuit :)

Pageanting Part I

  “And your new, 2021 Mrs. Colorado America is . . . “ 

As much as I’d love to write that my name was called, the woman whose name was called is so amazing, I can’t even be mad. I have not heard her entire story, so I cannot rightly share it here, but I hope you will get a chance to hear Dannette Haag’s amazing story of ultimate thriving. Hint: she was burned severely in a house fire as a young girl. She still carries the scars with her that tell the story of how she fought for her life. Talk about a victory!!

But what about me? Why do I “pageant?” I threw my tiara in the ring for the first time in Minnesota at the tender age of 35 in 2006. I purchased my entire wardrobe at local thrift stores. I did not hire any outside help for honing my interview skills, stage walking, wardrobe, or any other aspect of pageantry that could have given me a leg up. The winner that year was an amazing lady, Holly Ernst, who I had the privilege of standing right next to during the whole competition (or maybe it was a little intimidating--lol!). I pretty much showed up for that first one and was pretty proud of myself for just doing that. It was the confidence that I gained from the experience that stuck with me and compelled me to enter another pageant when we moved to Idaho the next year. 

The Idaho International Pageant was launching its inaugural competition in 2007 under the direction of Autumn Short. The areas of competition for the International system are Interview, Fitness wear (as opposed to swimsuit), and Evening Gown. I competed with six other ladies for the title of Mrs. Idaho International and did not even make the top 5! You’d think I’d have been done by then right? Well, I wasn’t.

I competed again for Mrs. Idaho International two years later in 2009 and this time, I left the interview portion of the competition tied with three others for second place. I cannot tell you how exciting that was. My platform was “Supported by US: Americans behind our Troops!” My husband was attending Basic Officer Leadership Course for Chaplains at Fort Jackson, SC, and was not able to escort me on stage, so my dad flew in from Oregon to stand in. I was thrilled to learn later that I had entered the stage portion of the competition in the top 5, but my stage presence needed some work. Then 12 years went by just like that. 

This brings me to Mrs. Colorado America 2021. Because I had kept improving in all the areas of competition each time I competed, I wanted to see just how far I could get on the pageant stage and I began looking for opportunities to compete again. Enter Emily Stark and my most recent endeavor. I paid my application fee to the Mrs. Colorado America Organization a mere 10 days before the deadline for all paperwork such as printed headshots, a biography form, and any feature pages to be included in the program book. When I say I barely made this deadline, I am not even kidding, but I got help from a good friend, Ralph Clark to layout 2 feature pages, I quickly got my 15-year-old headshots dusted off and printed, and I filled out my biography. I spent the next 4 weeks meeting with a pageant coach, making purchases as needed, and scheduling things like fake tanning, alterations, and dry cleaning. 

When I arrived at my host hotel on June 3, 2021, The Hyatt Cherry Creek/Denver, I met with my roommate who was competing in the Miss division. Charnie is a sweet young lady who also has quite the story to tell for her platform. I thought dealing with Hashimoto’s was rough. Wait until you hear Charnie’s story. 

The next stop was our orientation at the Denver Botanic Gardens. We met our director, current queens Nicole Covney, Sylvia Waller, and Juliet Abdel, and all the other contestants. The night was about orienting ourselves to the areas of competition and getting to know the staff and other contestants. The other contestants, by the way, are one of the main reasons I do this. Pageants offer a perfect opportunity to meet like-minded women who want to do more with their lives and are willing to step out in faith to make that happen. 

We began with a full day of practice in order to ensure we all knew what to do and where to go from our opening number to the final announcement of the winners. For our opening number, we strutted in like rock stars to Alicia Keys’ “Girl on Fire” and if that doesn’t get your heart pumping, I don’t think anything will. We were on FIRE in our red hot dresses. This part of the show is not judged, but it gives us contestants a chance to introduce ourselves on stage. When it was my turn, I proudly announced, “Chris Arnold Fort CARSON” to wild applause (or maybe I imagined that part)!

Stay tuned for Part II where I take you through some of the areas of competition.

Orientation at Denver Botanic Gardens; photo by Bill Murf 

Photo by Megan Anderson of Graphique Fine Art Photography