Wow, how time flies! I can hardly believe that it has been a month since I was in Vegas at the Miss Rodeo America Pageant! As much as I would like to make excuses as to why I haven’t updated everyone about the details of the pageant…..the truth is I have simply been enjoying this wonderful Utah weather. I’ve had some close calls while learning how to drive a snowmobile, learned what a “scorpion” fall in snowboarding is (consider yourself lucky if you have never landed in this position!). I am also the victor of “the snowball fight, to end all snowball fights.” Oh ya…. I went back to work as well; I have to say, that was tough!
But I’m sure you would rather hear about the pageant….

There are no dull moments in my life, and the eventful week in Vegas began a little early in nearby Salt Lake. The games began as soon as I met up with Suzie in the airport. We went to get my boarding pass together only to find out that my driver’s license wasn’t valid in their system. I was slightly panicked because by this time by parents were in southern Utah and I had nothing else with me, I shrugged my shoulders and exclaimed jokingly, “Well…. Guess I’m not going!” That idea only lasted about a half a second in Suzie’s mind as she authoritatively requested the problem be solved. Our next stop was the security line. Suzie and I both teased that the other would be the one to go through the “upgraded” system. Her theory was that I draw so much attention to myself that they would have to pick me, and I teased that I was the decoy and they would go for the chaperone. Well it’s a good thing there wasn’t any money on the line because I am now a proud survivor of the TSA’s full body scan. Although, I think the TSA might be more impressed that they survived my four totes of crown, belt, jacket, boots, jewelry, etc.

My week in Vegas was long, memorable, and honestly kind of blurred. There was so much going on in such a short amount of time that I really don’t think I took it all in! However, my favorite moments and people will stick with me forever. For instance, my roommate Celesta and I had a great time together. I have to admit that we got off to a rough start. We both had some misconceptions about each other that made the first three days of the pageant rocky to say the least. I laugh at what I would consider the defining moment between us. I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed when I heard this outrageous crash and then I heard Celesta scream. She started pounding on the door and all she said was, “Martina, I didn’t do it!” Both curious and concerned, I opened the door to find my clothing rack had toppled over onto my bed scattering clothes everywhere! We laughed and tugged on it trying to stand it up; from that point on Celesta was a great friend and mentor. I loved hearing about her life and her advice to me.
I think the best part of the pageant for me was reuniting with some of the girls that I had met and getting to know the rest. We spent most of our time practicing the dances for Fashion Show and Coronation. (Yep, you heard me they gave me hours upon hours to learn those dances and I still couldn’t do it! We all have our weak points!) Dance practice is definitely where everyone’s personalities shown the best! Plus, when everyone is running a little low on sleep, everything is extra funny! I adore those amazing ladies and the uniqueness they each showed. I am so grateful for the love that was shared with me from friends both old and new!

As I look back at my experience competing in the Miss Rodeo America Pageant, I can’t help but have mixed emotions. I’m grateful to have competed, to have met so many beautiful girls, and that I was able to learn so much about myself while I was there. My final conclusion about my week of competition is that God has a plan for each of us. I know that week will always be a defining moment in my life; however, I also know it won’t be the only defining moment. I am looking forward to my upcoming “Big Events,” both related to rodeo and personal and I can’t wait to continue sharing these moments with you as Miss Rodeo Utah!

Next stop Denver, Colorado!

With much love and God bless,

Marti

What a whirlwind of a week!  I hate to be chronological and just list off my weekly activities, but today that seems like the best way to get all of the great events and stories told.  My activities started early in the week with a Wednesday trip to Richfield for the Sevier County Fair and Rodeo.  I met up with the Sampson family as well as Katie Rassmusen, the newly crowned National Little Britches Rodeo Queen.  I have to say Katie was very excited to have won, and who wouldn’t be, but she didn’t let her personal achievement slow down her duties to her title.  She did a wonderful job informing all the parents and children about what a great association Little Britches is, and how they can become a part of it.  So, congratulations Katie for reaching your goal and for your strong work ethic.

Katie Rassmusen, the newly crowned National Little Britches Rodeo Queen

On Thursday, after a radio interview, presenting livestock ribbons, and riding in the IMPRA rodeo it was time to head home for a couple of hours of sleep, but not before running into my cousin, Mckay Mann.  Although we only live twenty minutes apart Mckay and I don’t see each other nearly often enough.  So I went over to say hi and get a picture with him.  As we stood behind the bucking shoots I think we both had flashbacks of our early rodeo years…   To understand our history together you need to know that we are only about six months different in age, my mother and his father are brother and sister (which caused us to have different last names),  and we both rodeoed for UJRA and UHSRA.  Now I don’t know if this is a real tradition or just one that the local boys made up, but they would tease that whoever won the rough stock events got to kiss the queen.  This quickly became an awkward situation because we were both often winners of our respected events.  So when the boys would yell to Mckay to kiss the queen, he would yell back that we are cousins and that wasn’t going to happen…  So as we waited for L.B. Miller to take the photo in Richfield some of the roughies that were watching suggested to Mckay that he steal a kiss.  Now this time I was the one to quickly explain that we are cousins.  I was flabbergasted when their joking reply was, “kissing cousins?”   Even faster this time I replied, “No, first cousins.” All the while Mckay stood next to me laughing.  Luckily, the photo turned out well or I would think that all that teasing wouldn’t have been worth the stress!

I was able to drive home that night and crawl in bed for two hours of sleep before my drive to Logan began.  Early that morning I went to a radio interview on KIX 96.7, a local country station.  We had a blast and shared a lot of information about the PRCA’s Tough Enough to Wear Pink program.  I was awestruck at the rodeo that night to see so many of the rodeo fans in pink, as well as every Queen, and the entire rodeo committee.  They even went so far as to decorate the grandstands with pink balloons.  After the evening’s events, the rodeo committee, along with Trish Gibbs, were able to present 4,000 dollars to the Cash Valley Cancer Treatment Center.  A special thank you to all the people that wore pink, bought a pink item, or gave a monetary contribution to make that donation possible. 

Tough enough to wear pink

Oh… and back to not being able to see my cousin Mckay often enough, as it turns out we were both in Logan the following night.  Although, I wasn’t quite as happy to see him this time around.  The Gibbs family was gracious enough to lend me a horse for the evening.  As I made my way around the arena during the grand entry, Mckay leaned off one of the bucking shoots as far as he could and threw his hands in the air and yelled, “Don’t fall off!”  My horse darted sideways, but made a quick recovery and finished the lap without a hitch.  Later that night when Mckay and I headed for home he innocently exclaimed, “I was just trying to see if you were a good rider.”   

The following day, Saturday, was a busy one.  On my way home from Logan I made a stop in Ogden for a “Dash For Donations” event.   I was very impressed with the trials that some of the people had gone through and how strong they had become because of it.  Some had lost family members, but blessed another person’s life by donating an organ.  One group had a brother/sister pair that had donated a kidney to save the other’s life.  It was a great cause that was clearly very close to everyone’s hearts.  The Ogden Regional Medical Center team, who participated in the race, offered to help me set up a blood drive in conjunction with this event.  I will be sure to send out more information once the event is planned, and I hope to see many of you there to donate blood along with me! 

Dash For Donations

Later in the day I stopped by the Salt Lake County Fair to participate in a book reading hosted by Barnes and Noble.  I spent the afternoon reading to the kids that stopped by and made sure everyone left with their very own cowboy hat.  Thank you to John Bergman the founder of Small Smiles, Reading Incentive Program for Kids.  It is great to see that there are so many people in our state that are willing to go out of their way to help our youth, thank you!

That night at the rodeo in Coalville I ran into more familiar faces.  It was great to see the Wade and Stark families along with Jamie Udell, Miss Rodeo Oakley, and her attendant Ashley Mortenson.  Coalville hosted a great rodeo in conjunction with the Diamond G rodeo company, who provided incredible stock for the event.   I ran into one more familiar face in Coalville. Yep, you guessed it, Mckay.  The tables turned from the evening before when one of Diamond G’s saddle bronc horses dropped Mckay off a little earlier than he would have liked.  I was tempted to tell him, “The horse just wanted to see if you were a good rider.”  But I didn’t want karma to come back to get me so I stuck with, “Better luck next time.”

As my week came to an end the thought kept coming to my mind, “What would I do without my rodeo family?”  Of course it’s great to run into blood relatives that help me along the way, but I am always impressed with the generosity of all the people I have met throughout my rodeo career.  So thank you to people like the Sampsons and Shaffers for lending a bed, the Rassmussens and Gibbs for lending horses.  More importantly thank you to all of my “rodeo family” for giving me your love and genuine concern for my wellbeing.  You all amaze me!

For the third year in a row, the Wade Family won the Family Feud competition at the Parent Appreciation Luncheon. This year we played Jeopardy and we added to our cowboy hat trophy collection.

Thank you to Doug Woolsey and their family and all of their support they offer to the pageant.