Pageant Pasture

Well I have been out of town for the last week (updates will follow on that later in the week) but the day before I left I was at the 75th Anniversary of the Miss Texas Pageant. I know I have blogged about Miss Texas before and my involvement this year with the Miss Texas Dance Troupe; which went off without a hitch by the way! But being back at Miss Texas this year was both weird and nostalgic.

First off it was so weird being on "the other side" of pageant land. I was a contestant for the better half of my teen years and young 20s and all of the 'officials' were always so untouchable. I was always on my best behavior around them and always seemed to be trying to impress them or get on their good side. Well this week as I walked in with a name badge that read MTO I felt... just a little bit cooler. I was a MTO official, WEIRD…COOL… WEIRDCOOL! After all, Miss Texas approached me to run this program. It was like going back to a class reunion after you have made it big... Now that I read this it sounds totally lame, but for that one moment in time I felt totally cool.

Another thing that was so weird is that I hardly knew ANYONE competing. Seriously the babies that were just starting teen when I was in my last year are now MISS contestants, I understand this now makes me officially old. They refer to the has-been girls in pageant world as “out to pageant pasture,” or 'formers' if they are being PC, but in my case I felt WAYYY out to pasture!

Being around all those little beauties made me reminisce about the fond memories I had in the MTO. Not only did I earn a ton of money for school (I only paid $300/semester at SMU... normally 15-20k/semester), get to fine tune my interview skills (which would later help me beat out 800 applicants to land my first real job after college), learn how to be a poised and rhinestoned obsessed young woman, but most importantly make some lifelong friends. Us pageant girls are a unique breed; it seems like no matter what our background or where our out of pageant interests lie; that we all hold that common bond of protein shakes, butt glue, gift rooms, Larkin Page, 5 inch heels, experiences, and evening gowns; and what a truly special bond that is!

I made so many great friends over my years of competing in pageants. One of my bridesmaids, Rebecca and I met when we won our first pageant together when we were only 14 years old. Our families bonded instantly, as did we, and now 12 years later I am looking so forward to having her by my side on my wedding day. Danielle another pageant girlfriend and lifelong friend of mine will be singing in our wedding and others like Lynne is always up for a night on the town or to help celebrate a birthday. I am so thankful for my years in pageants and what they taught me, but I am more thankful for the relationships I built along the way and how they have continued to grow and develop even now that we are all out to pageant pasture!