Miss Brainerd Lakes 2010

I attended the Miss Brainerd Lakes Pageant on Saturday, June 26th.  I was so excited to see some of the contestants from Miss MN week again!  Lauren Johnson was so beautiful on stage and gave up her title with poise and grace.  I also got to see Lexi, Kaylah, Samantha, Paige and Kathryn again!  It's crazy how much you can miss people after one week. 

I got to see Kathryn as Miss Minnesota up on stage!  She did such an amazing job and is already representing Minnesota well.  I'm so jealous of Kathryn's wardrobe, she always has some new dress to show us and I loved the gown she wore when she presented her talent.  It was off one shoulder and had black and white patterns on it.

The Miss Brainerd Lakes Pageant had 8 outstanding contestants this year.  I had a blast watching the pageant.  Anytime I get to watch one I get so excited and want to compete myself :-) I just love performing!

Congratulations to the new Miss Brainerd Lakes 2010, Mary Peterson! I look forward to seeing the incredible things she will accomplish this year.

After the pageant a bunch of people went out to eat and I got to catch up with some close friends!  It was a great evening.

Always,
Bethany Beniek 

Miss MN Week! SATURDAY

Saturday had finally arrived.  I got a good night of rest and woke up to get ready for brunch with my family and friends.  It was so great getting caught up with my committee and family and telling them all about the week.  The brunch was delicious as well :-)

All the contestants got up individually and told a funny memory about the week.  Everyone had great stories to share and it was a wonderful way to showcase how much fun we had throughout the week together.  Writing this blog is so emotional right now because I'm at home trying to get back into reality and I miss everyone so much!  I really hope to keep in touch with all the wonderful contestants this year.  I have made some incredible frienships that will never fade.

After brunch we had some spare time before we left for the theater, so I tried to enjoy the last day at the hotel by visiting with everyone.  Once we arrived at the hotel we rehearsed the final night production and the directors surprised us with new swim wear and evening gown music!  The biggest surprise yet was that the top 10 had to wear sheer scarfs around their waist and have fun with them on stage while competing in swim wear.  I think we all freaked out at first, but once we saw how cool it looked we felt a bit more confident about it :-)

After rehearsal we had plenty of time to get ready.  I warmed up my voice, did some workouts and started doing my hair.  It all felt so surreal in a way.  I couldn't believe I was already getting ready for the Final night of Miss Minnesota week.  I thought to myself, "a new Miss Minnesota will be crowned in less than 3 hours!"  I recieved many cards and flowers from family and friends and I was already getting emotional before the show even started.  I appreciate all the love and support everyone has shown me.  I couldn't ask for better people to suround my everyday life.

Showtime was here! My dressing room always said a prayer before going on stage and we could feel the energy surge through our hands as we held them tightly together.  Thank you Siri and Emily for leading us in prayer our three nights of competition, you helped us feel at peace and excited at the same time.

After the incredible opening number, all 20 contestants stood on stage anxiously awaiting to see who the top 10 were.  This was the hard part!  I could never have chosen just ten people out of this group of ladies.  I really admire what Ann Swanson said at the brunch that morning, "the judges are not chosing a winner from a group of representatives, but a representative from a group of winners!"  I honestly believe that every single woman standing on that stage is indeed a winner.

I am very pround to say that I was a top 10 semifinalist and got to perform on the Miss Minnesota stage again that Saturday evening!  I feel very confident about my swim wear, evening gown and talent performances.  I would not have changed one thing.  Congratulations to the 4th runner up, Allison Lordbach, 3rd runner up, Lauren Johnson, 2nd runner up, Samantha Phillippe, 1st runner up, Siri Freeh and the New Miss Minnesota 2010, Kathryn Knuttila!  Kathryn is my best friend and I honestly felt like I had won Miss Minnesota that evening because I was so happy for her!  She will be a great Miss Minnesota and will represent us well during her year of service.  I cannot wait to see all of the wonderful things she will achieve this year. Kathryn, I'm so proud of you.

After the pageant I headed down to the reception area where I took plenty of photos with everyone who came to support me.  I said goodbye to as many of the contestants as possible and left for the hotel where my mom rubbed my feet (much needed)!  Now I'm back at home and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.  I was treated like royalty all week, never kept a phone on me, never knew what time it was, just enjoyed every moment.  Now I have to keep my phone on me, go to work, study for school, and apply to dental school!  Life is flying by and if there is anything that the Miss America Organization has taught me, it's to enjoy every moment and take in the experience.

The best part about competing for Miss Minnesota is that even though I did not win, I am still Miss Moorhead for three more months.  I am staying very busy with this HUGE event that I am planning on September 24th entitled, "Reach for your Dreams" at the College of Saint Benedicts featuring Tonic Solfa where all proceeds will be donated to the Children's Miracle Network!  Please get your tickets TODAY at

http://www.csbsju.edu/fine-arts/purchase-tickets.htm

My goal is to sell out the 1,047 seat theater! Help make my goal a reality and raise a substantial amount for the Children's Miracle Network!

I will be attending the Miss Brainerd Lakes Pageant this Saturday :-) I hope to see you all there.

Always,
Bethany Beniek 

Miss MN Week! FRIDAY

I cannot believe I am sitting in my hotel room for the last night of Miss Minnesota week!  This week went by so fast.  Today we all got up to eat breakfast at IHOP at 8:00am and then attended the Miss Minnesota Golfing Tournament :-)

The golfing tournament was great, but I have to admit - Lauren Johnson's family team was so funny!  They let me T-off for one of their female team members and I ended up getting it on the green for them! I was so proud of myself. I don't go golfing very often, but the one time it counted it all payed off!

After the golf tournament we headed back to the hotel to get ready for prelim night #2.  I competed in "On-Stage Question" and "Talent" this evening!  I was asked great questions and I feel very confident with how I performed.

Tomorrow I get to have brunch with my family and committee and can't wait to get caught up with everyone.  After brunch tomorrow it's the BIG NIGHT! The new Miss Minnesota 2010 will be crowned!

Congratulations to Kathryn Knuttila- Quality of Life Award recipient, Lexi Okeson-Swim wear winner, and Siri Freeh- overall talent winner!

Always,
Bethany Beniek

Miss MN Week! THURSDAY

Competition day finally arrived! I had talent rehearsal today at 11:15am and my interview with the judges at 2:15pm.  We spent the entire day at the theater.  It went by so fast! I was so excited for the prelim pageant to begin :-)

I competed in Swim wear and Evening wear tonight.  I feel very confident about all areas that I have competed in thus far.  I can't wait to perform my talent tomorrow night!

My feet are absolutely killing me tonight!  Myself and about four other girls went down and sat in the hot tub to relax.  It felt great!  

Tomorrow we have breakfast at IHOP at 7:45am, attend the Golfing Tournament, and of course have the second prelim night competition :-) I hope to see you there!  

Always,

Bethany Beniek

Miss MN Week! WEDNESDAY

Wednesday, I got up at 5:00am to get ready to eat breakfast at the Original Pancake House.  It was so delicious! I had hot cocoa, banana pancakes and eggs over easy, just the way I like them :-)

After breakfast we went over to the theater to rehearse all day.  Honestly, I've never been so exited to perform an opening number.  It's so much fun! After rehearsal we got ready for the Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen Pageant and went to Santorini's for lunch.

We ended up being really early for the teen pageant so we made a stop at Target to kill some time.  It was so funny going into Target with all of our cocktail dresses on.  Everyone was asking us why we were so dressed up.

Finally we were at the teen pageant and it was so great to see my committee and family again.  They all came to support Paige Meyer, my sister queen (Miss Red River Valley Outstanding Teen).  Everyone was so talented!  Paige made me cry with her ballet performance and many other contestants made my jaw drop with how talented they were at such young ages!  Watching the pageant was very emotional for me knowing that that will be me on stage this week!  Congratulations to 2nd runner up, Bailey Wachholz, 1st runner up Paige Meyer, and the new Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen Katarina Akridge!

I have not been getting any sleep this week and was very excited to get 8 hours of sleep last night, BUT I woke up at 5:45am this morning and cannot go back to sleep.  I have my Interview today at 2:15pm and I compete in swim wear and evening gown tonight at Prelims.  I know my body is tired, but my mind is so occupied with thoughts I can't go back to sleep, so I decided to blog :-)

I hope to see you all tonight!

Always,
Bethany Beniek

Miss MN Week! TUESDAY

Today we were up bright and early (like every day) and went to the Minnesota Zoo! It was so much fun having some free time to look at whatever we wanted.  A group of us went in the indoor exhibit where we sat and watched some awesome monkeys.  They had big bushy white tails and were hopping around from tree to tree and they even fought with each other.  I was very entertained!

After the Zoo we had lunch and had rehearsal for four hours.  Rehearsal was very fun!  We are using some incredible music this year and it is so much fun to rehearse to :-)

Once rehearsal was finished we had some time to freshen up to eat diner at BUCA! Buca was of course delicious, but I had to work out a little extra hard this evening because I ate so much!  I think almost all the girls were in the gym tonight because all we have been doing is stuffing our faces with outstanding food!

I'm SO excited for tomorrow (well except for getting up at 5am).  We eat breakfast at the Original Pancake House, head over to the theater for more rehearsal, and then get ready for the MISS MINNESOTA OUTSTANDING TEEN Pageant! Words cannot describe how excited I am to watch this pageant, it's going to be a blast!

Always,
Bethany Beniek

Miss MN Week! MONDAY

As each day passes during Miss Minnesota Week it progressively gets packed with more things to do.  Today I got up bright and early to get ready to visit Gillette's Children's Hospital and the State Capital.  We had lunch from Panera and dinner at Fuddruckers.   We somehow managed to travel around the cities and take many photos with our sponsors.  After diner we came back to the hotel to rehearse the opening number.  If you don't come see the show you are missing out because this opening number will be so entertaining :-) I can't wait to show you all!!

My feet are starting to get a little sore, but what should I expect when I'm wearing heels for about 10 hours a day!

Tomorrow we go to the Minnesota Zoo and have rehearsal for 4 hours.  Let's not forget my favorite part, we eat dinner at BUCA tomorrow night! YUM!

Always,
Bethany Beniek

Miss MN Week! SUNDAY

The five Quality of Life Finalists and Miss Minnesota

I bet you'll never see that at the Mall of America every day :-)

Today was packed with fun stuff.  I woke up at 7:30am, got ready and went to our directors room to design name tags for our hotel rooms.  Mine is pink and purple with sparkly flowers on it!  Everyone was so creative.

After making name tags I went back to my room and prepared for my Quality of Life Interview at 10:15am.  There were three judges for this award and it had a very relaxed feeling.  I think it went really well!

After the interview all of us contestants put on our red Introduction outfits and went to the Mall of America to eat at Panda Express.  The egg rolls were my favorite! Then we were off to the fashion show at Glitz.  I had SO much fun wearing two dresses.  One was a purple cocktail dress and the other was a beautiful deep blue evening gown.

After mingling with my family and friends who came to watch, we went to eat at Crave (also located in the Mall of America).

We had our first rehearsal tonight and walked through how the show will be.  You don't want to miss this pageant! It's going to be so entertaining and FUN!!

Tomorrow we are going to Gillette's Children's Hospital and the Capital and having more rehearsal.  I'm getting very excited for prelims!

Always,
Bethany Beniek

Miss Minnesota Week! SATURDAY

Well it's official, I'm sitting in my hotel room enjoying my first night of Miss Minnesota Week.  I arrived around 4 o'clock today.  After getting checked in I brought my ridiculous amount of luggage up to my room and unpacked to get myself organized.  Sarah (my roommate) was already in the room.  Before we knew it we had to be downstairs to leave to go bowling!

The moment all the girls got in the vans all the cameras came out and we all started taking photos :-) I'll post all my photos right after June 19th.  The photo above is my bowling team, Aja, Tiffany, Lacey, and I.  We called ourselves the "Winners" so we tried to create a "W" with our bodies.  I think it was quite successful! Although my bowling team came in last place I am proud to say I bowled a 129!

After we arrived back from bowling, we met up in a common room to talk about the plans for tomorrow.  I have my Quality of Life Award Interview at 10:15am and then we are leaving for the Mall of America to have lunch at the Panda Express.  I'm looking forward to the Glitz Fashion show tomorrow, I love wearing dresses! I hope to see you all there at 2:00pm at Glitz!

I better get some beauty sleep because I didn't get any sleep last night (I was too excited).  I love sleeping in hotel rooms.  And let me tell you, this bed is very comfortable!

I'll try and keep you all updated throughout the week.
Always,
Bethany Beniek  

Send-Off Party

On Tuesday, June 8th, I had my Miss Moorhead Send-Off Party!  This was my first experience having a Send-Off Party because I didn't have one last year as Miss City of Lakes.  This was a joint send-off party for me and Paige Meyer, Miss Red River Valley Outstanding Teen. It was great practice for Miss Minnesota.  I modeled all my outfits which included my introduction outfit, interview outfit, evening gown and of course my talent gown and performed my talent as well.  I had a great time!  A great big thank you to the Eventide Assisted Living Home for hosting our send-off party!  Another great big thank you to Granite City DJ's for donating the sound equipment for the night (aka my boyfriend Travis).  Thank you to my wonderful committee for setting all of this up and my parents for making the drive up to Moorhead :-) Love you all! 

Only three days until check in! I better go start packing!

Always,
Bethany Beniek

Quality of Life Finalist!

I am thrilled to say that I am a 2010 Tracie Joy McBride Quality of Life Finalist!  I worked really hard on my essay and tried relentlessly to put who I am onto paper.  What a great way to kick off Miss Minnesota week, a 10 minute interview talking about things that I am passionate about :-)

Also, this past week my little brother, Benjamin, graduated from high school and his graduation party was on Saturday, June 5th.  Since school is all over for Ashley (my little sister within the Big Brother's Big Sister's Program) we are allowed to meet with each other outside of school :-)  I invited her over to the graduation party to meet my family for the first time.  Not only did she meet my immediate family for the first time, she met my entire extended family and friends.  It was a little overwhelming for her at first because of all the names she couldn't remember, but once we ate some food and started playing some games she started to loosen up and become more relaxed.  We played card games, bean bag toss, and polish golf.  We had a great day together.  The very next day, June 6th, was her birthday! She turned 11 years old! She was having a sleep over with a bunch of her friends so I dropped off my gift for her before they all came over.  I got her an adorable beach bag from Hollister and a couple of movies for us to watch together.  We were so sad to part though because I won't see her again until after Miss Minnesota week.  I told her I would text her all of the results from pageant week and see her after Father's Day!  I like to share stories about Ashley and I because my relationship with her has really changed me as a person.  I truly feel like I'm making an impact on someone else's life.  I can see how much Ashley looks up to me.  I really want everyone to go through this same experience.  Please visit www.bbbs.org to see how you can become a Big Brother or Big Sister yourself!  It's something you would never regret.

                                                     Ashley and I playing Polish Golf :-)

The next four days are filled with my send-off party, mock interviews, driving to the cities three more times, getting my hair/nails/toes done and of course PACKING which I haven't even started.  I put all my pageant stuff in a separate room for now.  I'm organized I just haven't put anything into luggage yet. I simply cannot wait.  I can't sleep I'm so excited.  To give you a little perspective I went to work out tonight at midnight and am writing in my blog at 1:15 AM!!  I can't stop thinking about the pageant!

Always,
Bethany Beniek

Miss Minnesota 2010 Ad Pages

Below are my four ad pages for the Miss Minnesota 2010 Program Book!  I wanted to give my sponsors a little bit more advertisement :-) I hope you all like them! 

Thank You to Thoele Dental, Miss Melinda's Dance Studio, TGIFriday's of St. Cloud, St. John's Prep High School, and the Moorhead Community for being incredible sponsors!

Always,
Bethany Beniek

Memorial Day CMN Fundraiser

On Monday, May 31st I had yet another Pizza Ranch Fundraiser located in Waite Park.  I was so nervous that it wasn't going to be busy because it was Memorial Day, but it turned out to be one of my most successful fundraisers yet!  Many families came in to eat together on their day off.  I cannot express how grateful I am for all the support I have been given!

I am proud to say that my CMN account is updated and I have raised a total of $1,222 for the Children's Miracle Network!  If you want to help me reach my goal of $1,500 please visit the website listed below to give a secure donation!

http://www.missamerica4kids.org/m.aspx?i=9703E6+A65A0B7

I hope you are all enjoying the lovely weather! It's hard for me to get outside because I've been so busy with practicing, working out, and preparations! I'm getting so excited for Miss Minnesota week! TWELVE days until I check in! WOW!

Always,
Bethany Beniek