My mom and I were on our way to Douglas last week for a speaking engagement at the Douglas prison, and our awesome (not!) minivan died! Well, it didn’t exactly die, but it did overheat and we did end up stranded on the I-10 waiting for a tow truck. Even better, neither one of us could get any service on our cell phones. I finally got a single bar of service and was able to call for roadside assistance, and we eventually found our way to Douglas. Nothing like a little excitement to spice up a long drive!

The appearance went great, and things have been moving along ever since. I finished up my paperwork for the Quality of Life Award, which is a scholarship that Miss America gives out for work on your platform. The application was a lot of work, and now I can focus solely on Miss America preparations. Phew!

Today I spoke to a group of Project Ideal teachers in the Peoria School District. Project Ideal is a program for gifted students, and I was in the program from 2nd through 8th grade. It’s an amazing opportunity for students, and it was fun to share how my experience with it has helped me throughout my life and as Miss Arizona.

I’m SO excited for next week… I have a lot of fun events coming up. I get to go to Las Vegas for the premier of the new movie “Rocky Balboa!” There will be 20 of the Miss America contestants there, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them again. I’m sure it will be a blast. Then, after I get back, I get to sing the National Anthem at the Phoenix Coyotes game. And it’s a good thing I know the Canadian anthem as well… we’re playing a team from Canada.

So this week was great, and I’m positive next week will be amazing as well. I hope everyone is doing well!