The final two days... Day 7 and 8 of MAOTeen week!

Day 7 of MAOTeen week:

"Today was extremely fun because it was such a low key day. We didn't have a prelim competition and there was no rehearsal. Plus I was feeling good from getting seven hours of sleep.

The day started with breakfast and a workshop on mental management. Today the Teens in Action finalists had their interviews to determine the one winner. There were ten finalists and I wish I could say I was one of them, but that's okay. This award does not heighten nor degrade the work that I have done with my platform.

So while they had their interviews, the rest of us had lunch at the hotel then we were able to go back up to our  rooms for a couple hours for more free time. I used this time to hang out with the three girls that I became closest with this week; Morgan (Delaware), Stevie (Kansas), and Grace (Illinois). These girls have truly become great friends and have made the week what it has been. I feel that my time here has been worth while because I have made three life-long friends.

We then got some time to check out the new official MAOTeen jewelry line at the Trade Show. The jewelry is beautiful! They have crown rings, necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.

After the Trade Show, all of us were pumped to have a pool party! This was the first time all week that we were able to be outside and enjoy the lovely Florida weather. The day was looking like it was going to be a sunny one but the minute all of us stepped outside a huge storm came and just about blew us all over! The thing about Florida is that the weather is so unpredictable.

After our little pool party attempt, we had more free time to get ready for the Princess Party. This was a fun event for both us and the little princesses. Stevie and I didn't have a princess from our state, so we stuck together and ended up getting a princess from Texas who knew exactly what she wanted. First, we did her make-up, then we headed over to the hair station and I asked her what she wanted. She said she wanted it curly and half up. I did just that and she demanded to see it before we move on and insisted that I smooth it out because it was too frizzy. After I did so, I quickly rushed her off before she could tell me that something else was wrong with it. The next station was the dress making. Her dress was made out of a pink plastic table cloth and you can imagine how hard it was to make a dress out of plastic. Our princess said she wanted a one shoulder dress with a train. I was so proud of us because we gave her the dress of her dreams! Complete with a yellow foam crown adorned with a chin strap so it would stay on. All of the princesses then got to strut their stuff on a runway in front of their parents and MAOTeen staff. It was hilarious to see them working the runway. I couldn't help but think that there were future Outstanding Teens in that room.

After the Princess Party we had time to get ready for the Evening of the Stars fundraiser. This event helped the MAOTeen scholarship fund. We had performers such as Teresa Scanlan and Joey Paige as well as speakers like Robin Fleming and Mac Dougall. The event was hosted by the very first MAOTeen, Meghan Miller and the three course meal they served was amazingly good! It was really great to see my support team there as well as a new addition, Bruce Vassar, co-executive director of Miss Minnesota.

When we got back to our hostess suite, we had Donna Bozarth speak to us a little but about how proud she is of us and how sad she was that only one girl could be crowned tomorrow night. We then had three former MAOTeens talk to us about how the year went for them when they were crowned. Meghan Miller, Maria DeSantis, and Taylor Fitch were all there and although the night got long, it was interesting to hear the things they had to say.

Finally we got the talk about packing up our rooms so our parents didn't have to do it for us tomorrow. This made me extremely sad to hear that tonight is our final night we will be staying here with our roommates and as part of MAOTeen Class of 2012.

Packing up all my stuff didn't take as long as I expected and I got to thinking about how excited I am for tomorrow. Even if I don't win, place, or made Top Twelve, I'm still so proud of myself for getting to this point. Over 10,000 girls competed in the MAOTeen program this year and I'm one of 53 girls to be competing on the national stage. I can't really put my emotions into words right now other than I'm just excited for tomorrow and I am so honored to be here."

Day 8 of MAOTeen week:

"Well today was the big day. I didn't walk away as the new Miss America's Outstanding Teen, nor did I make Top Twelve, but I'm at peace and I regret nothing.

The day started out a little earlier than yesterday with breakfast at 7:30AM. We had rehearsals today starting at 9AM because this how was completely different than the preliminary shows. We didn't say our state intros live tonight, they were pre-recorded so we didn't have to say anything, plus we had to rehearse how the Top Twelve was going to be called.

Lunch was at noon as normal and was really good. Instead of the bagged lunches we've been having, it was pasta catered by a local Italian restaurant.

Once lunch was over we had more rehearsal until 5PM. It was a full dress rehearsal and I was actually called as 4th runner-up (If only it wasn't rehearsal :)).

Before I knew it we were eating dinner and getting another inspirational talk from Rodney, our security extraordinaire. They always seem to make me cry. I also had a little Bible study and prayer sesh with Stevie and Grace along with North Dakota, Kaylee. This really relaxed me and I think that's why I'm so at ease with what has happened tonight.

I made sure that tonight I would just have fun and soak it all in regardless if I made Top Twelve or not.

I did just that. That was the most fun I've had with the opening number all week!

Of course I was a little sad that I didn't make Top Twelve, but when I truly think about it I realize that there was absolutely nothing I would change about the week. I did the very best I could and left nothing behind. I could not have done anything better. I'm okay with not making Top Twelve because I know in my heart that I'm leaving tonight with no regrets. God's plan is perfect and this was not in His plan for me because there is something greater waiting in my future. I don't know exactly what that is, but I know it's there.

I'm also at peace because I'm one of only seven girls to have walked across that stage who have represented Minnesota. That in itself is incredible and something I'm very proud of.

Plus, I get to come back home and enjoy the next ten months of my reign as Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen. I'm so excited to finish out my year strong and still be part of the Miss Minnesota Scholarship Program.

I can't wait to get home to see everyone! Thank you for all of the support and good luck wishes.

I want to congratulate the new Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2013, Rachel Yuki Wyatt from South Carolina! I'm so happy she won because of her strong faith and genuine nature. We all should be honored to have her representing us."

My sash got stuck on Grace's dress... we didn't want to say goodbye!!

With gratitude,
Bailey Wachholz
Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen 2012 for ten more months :)

Day 4, 5, and 6 of MAOTeen week!

Day 4 of MAOTeen week:

"Well today was the start of prelims... not sure how I'm feeling at this moment. I'm excited to get on with the preliminary competition but sad at the realization that the week is half over and my dream is almost complete. My life has been so blessed so far.

This morning was a little later of a morning, but still early. Breakfast was at 6:30AM and my day started at 5AM.

This day was ten times less crazy than yesterday. We just had rehearsals from 8-12, then at noon we headed over to the Orange County Convention Center and the Linda Chapin Theater. It's right across the street from our hotel, so it's an easy walk but a long walk.

We had lunch right away at the Convention Center then headed back to the auditorium to start rehearsals.

Rehearsals were very intense. I think everyone was a little stressed because it was the first night of prelims, but before I knew it we were eating dinner and getting ready for the show.

The show went smoothly and was very relaxed. I only did evening gown and onstage question so it was a very easy night for me.

I felt that my performance tonight was the best that it could have been. Although I didn't walk away with the preliminary evening gown award, I'm still very proud of my performance and I wouldn't change a thing.

So as I end the day, I'm grateful for the good things the Lord has provided for me this week and I'm so ready for the day ahead of me tomorrow. I'm excited to do fitness wear tomorrow :)"

Day 5 of MAOTeen week:

"I woke up this morning feeling very refreshed and ready to have fun competing in fitness wear.

Breakfast was at 7:30AM and rehearsals were at 8. Rehearsals were very low key (seems like that's how things have been lately...). The Princesses checked-in today, so for probably half of the rehearsal, the Princesses practiced their routine. That was really nice because I was able to sleep and gather my thoughts. Yesterday was a very difficult day because I was physically and emotionally drained, but today I'm feeling so much better about everything. I have a new found energy and excitement and I'm not feeling so drained anymore.

Once rehearsals ended we followed protocol and walked over to the Convention Center to have lunch before rehearsals started at 2PM.

Rehearsals went by surprisingly fast and everyone scarfed down dinner so we could have a little extra time to get ready.

My fitness wear went really well. My thoughts going into it were to simply have fun and show my personality. I feel that I completely reached those two goals and again, I don't regret anything about my performance. I danced how Bailey would dance, not how Miss America's Outstanding Teen would dance. My personality showed through and I felt so confident on that stage.

When we got back to the hotel after prelims there were SO many gifts waiting for us! Including cupcakes! It is Miss New Hampshire's and Miss Arkansas' birthday today, to Arkansas brought us all cupcakes and tomorrow we will celebrate New Hampshire's birthday with cupcakes as well.

Our security team, Rodney and Lewis, gave us a little surprise and brought a former Miss America, Erica Dunlap to give us a little pep talk before we head into our last preliminary night tomorrow.

And one last surprise for the day... breakfast isn't until 9AM tomorrow and rehearsal is cancelled!! I'm so excited to get more than 5 hours of sleep tonight."

Day 6 of MAOTeen week:

"It's crazy to me that this is the last day of the preliminary competition. This week is flying by!

I figured I'd separate this into two pieces because I have some free time right now before the competition and I will write after the competition as well.

I just got done with my talent run through and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it went. The last time I was on a piano was last Sunday, and that piano was not very good so I was a little worried about how it would go. My first run through I only had maybe five mistakes and my second run through I only had one so if tonight's performance goes as well as my second run through I will be pleased as punch :)

As I'm waiting for the rest of talent run throughs to wrap up, I'm feeling so good about tonight and I'm ready to get on that stage and perform. I've worked hard on this piece and all of that hard work is coming to a fruition.

When I woke up this morning, I was feeling so refreshed from getting almost eight hours of sleep. It felt amazing to wake-up at 8:30AM instead of 5AM!
-----
As I'm laying in bed think about how the night went, I have many emotions running through me. My hope is to try and gather them together to write them down.

I was feeling so ready to perform my talent tonight. My rehearsal went great, I was feeling great, and I was feeling unstoppable.

My piano playing felt incredible! I get so lost in the music and I got through the piece with minor mistakes. I literally played my first cord and realized that this may be the last time I perform this piece for the judges sitting before me. I am not guaranteed a spot on Saturday night, but I hope that my performance was enough. It was a hard realization, but I opened myself up and let myself be vulnerable. I tried to let every emotion I was feeling at that moment be portrayed through my eyes. I prayed that I could accomplish that goal, and I feel that the Lord did His work because I felt amazing. I would change nothing about my competition the past three days. I did the best I could and I hope that Minnesota is as proud of me as I am honored to be here.

I didn't walk away with a preliminary talent award, and to be honest I was a little disappointed. I wish I could have come back to Minnesota to show off my prelim award but I know that preliminary awards don't always win a pageant. I'm going to enjoy tomorrow and soak in one of the last days I have with 52 amazing, awesome, inspirational, talented, beautiful, poised, and gracious girls from across the country,

So it's all in the judges hands now. There is nothing I can do but wait until Saturday when Top Twelve is announced.

Even if I don't away as Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2013, I know in my heart that God's plan is so incredibly perfect and there's nothing I can do but go with it because it's not changing. His plan is already set in stone. I'm trusting Him to help build me up these final two days. I'm really looking forward to a whole day of relaxation and rest."

Love always,
Bailey

Day 2 and Day 3 of MAOTeen week!

Since I totally forgot to post a journal from my week at MAOTeen yesterday, I will post two today and hopefully some tonight.

Day 2 of MAOTeen:

"It was another bright and early day... this one starting at 5AM to get ready for breakfast at 6:20AM!

Our day of rehearsal started at 7:30AM with Pam, John, and Pam's team of dancers. In the four and half hours before lunch, we rehearsed the opening number and the fitness wear group production. We also learned all of the formations, so it was good to actually do it all the way through and be able to envision what we look like onstage.

Lunch was just a few doors down. The hour break we had flew by and before I knew it all 53 of us were back in rehearsal.

After lunch we practiced the individual evening gown and fitness wear competitions as well as the final evening gown parade. We were just practicing on the carpeted hotel ballroom floor at the Rosen Centre, but soon we will move into the Linda Chapin Theater at the Orange County Convention Center to really practice how we will look and feel on the actual stage.

Practice ended at 5pm that night and I was happy that I got to sit down and practice my piano before five, so I feel ready for Thursday night when I perform my talent and hopefully Saturday night as well :)

After out eight and a half hour rehearsal, we were escorted to our hotel rooms to get ready for dinner at Planet Hollywood.

We all transported in a big bus over to Downtown Disney and had our pictures taken in front of Planet Hollywood. I felt like a celebrity because not only did we have the official photographer and video crew following us, but also parents and random people. It's so nice to feel like a celebrity once in a while, but I'm glad that only lasted for a little while :)

Dinner was delicious and Planet Hollywood treated us with ice cream sandwiches for desert.

Although the night got long, I was excited to crawl into bed at a decent hour (is midnight decent?). Tomorrow I have my interview at 8AM, the very first of 53. Tomorrow will be another fun day of more rehearsal and Medieval Times.

Also tomorrow we have to bring all of our competition wardrobe to rehearsal so it can be transported to the theater for show time Tuesday night."

Day 3 of MAOTeen week:

"I am so excited that my interview went so well this morning. The judges were so nice and easy to talk to. I felt that that eight minute interview was the best it could have possibly been. My hard work and all those mock interviews led up to that moment and I walked away peaceful and excited as to how well my interview went. God answered my prayers this morning so I must give this glory to Him for watching over me in that interview room... I'm ready to ROCK that stage tomorrow night!

After my interview, I had more video shooting to do. I certainly wasn't expecting this much video taping!

The the shoot I was able to go up to my room, change into rehearsal clothes, and gather my competition wardrobe. Our stuff will be transported over to the theater later today.

After a couple hours of rehearsal, it was then lunch time. Today we had really spicy Mexican food... my favorite!! For desert we had some of the best chocolate cake I've ever had. Needless to say, I had one happy belly after that lunch!

And again, we had more rehearsals after lunch until 5pm in which we just cleaned up bits and pieces of the production numbers and drilled them until they were perfect. I'm glad we had this time to really focus on the choreography and the formations so I could feel perfectly prepared for the start of prelims tomorrow night. Even though my feet are sore and I'm very tired, I'm having an awesome time!

The girls are very nice and so far I haven't run into any girls that are nasty or mean. They truly are a genuine group of girls and I'm so proud to be one of the 53 girls here competing for the title of Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2013.

After out second day of long rehearsal, us girls were able to pick out some tings at the Trade Show to put on our wish list. This list will be given to our parents tomorrow, who then can choose to purchase those items for us :)

We literally had 15 minutes to change and freshen up before Medieval Times and after our time at the Trade Show. That was probably the quickest I have ever gotten ready in my entire life!

Medieval Times was very unique. Of course we boarded that big ol' bus of ours and drove over there only to have more videotaping done and pictures taken. All those cameras have seemed to become the norm :)

Once in Medieval Times, we had to find our state flags and rehearse a short walking pattern because we were going to be introduced at the start of the show.

The show was just really crazy. I didn't really know what to expect, but it ended up to be a pretty crazy and fun show. Basically, there were six knights and they competed against each other in games until one knight was standing as the champion. My group had the yellow knights and he was not very good... but that's okay!

We got our dinner right before the show started and it was a good meal however there were no utensils... you have to use your hands! This was a fun change and a different feel.

Although it was a late night, I was glad it was a fun night. I'm really starting to feel tired and worn out though and I think I have a cold coming on. It's unfortunate that this happened but I know that God is watching over me. This is just the Devil trying to tear me down and I refuse to let him control me and let this cold get the best of me and interfere with the way I perform tomorrow."

Always,
Bailey

Day One of MAOTeen week!

I'm so happy to say that I have finally arrived back in Nisswa and am comfortably snuggled up in my bed.

My time in Orlando was so absolutely incredible. I can't put it into words because it was such an amazing and life-changing experience.

While I was down there, I did not have access to a computer to update all of you on how my week went, so I made sure to keep a journal and write down everything that was happening that day. As a result, I will be sharing these blogs with you and will be posting one or two of them a day. I want to give each and everyone of you a glimpse into what my week was like, and I hope this helps.

Please remember that these will be in past tense, because I'm literally just copying them out of my journal onto here. If it is in quotation marks, then you know that it is a blog.

So here is the very first one! I hope you enjoy! :)

Day One of MAOT - August 11th, 2012

"The day started early for me because I had a 7:10 AM check-in time. I was so excited that I hardly slept last night.

The first thing I did was meet Elizabeth Fechtel, Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2012. You always dream of meeting Miss America or Miss America's Outstanding Teen and when you finally do you realize that they are normal everyday people. Elizabeth was very kind and I want to congratulate her on an awesome year.

After meeting Elizabeth, I was then rushed over to a Tony Bowls photoshoot with Jenn Cady Photography. This shoot was a lot of fun and has been a tradition of MAOT for many years. I was honored to finally be apart of it.

I ended up wearing our opening number dresses (Sponsored by Tony Bowls himself) for my shoot. My hair was very large and my make-up was very dramatic, but it was a fun experience that I hope the next Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen will get to have.

After the shoot, I had some more videotaping to wrap up from yesterday outside. This was just my state introduction and a fun little music video of us girls rockin' it out to Party Rock Anthem that the videographers are going to compile together... I can't wait to see how that one turns out!

Then, I had my fitting for my opening number dress and shoes, as well as my fitness wear outfit, sponsored by Tony Bowls and Zebella Boutique. I'm glad that everything fit the way it was supposed to and nothing needed altering or changing.

Mom and I then had lunch right in the hotel to savor what few moments we had together before heading back up for a mandatory rehearsal. This rehearsal was very intense... all I can say is that I'm glad I learned the production dances before I got here! The choreographer, Pam Bohling and the producer, John Best are awesome people to work with and this organization is truly blessed to have them on board. I worked up an awesome sweat at this rehearsal before I met my Mom and my two directors, MK and Renee, for dinner and to get ready for the orientation. I'm really glad that I had some sit down time with them before the craziness of pageant week began.

The orientation went smoothly, but the hardest part of the night was saying goodbye to my incredible support team. I wish I didn't have to but I'm ecstatic to start my week here at MAOTeen.

After orientation, state gifts were passed out and the contestants were escorted to the hotess suit for a meet-and-greet party in which we all got to know each other and Elizabeth a little bit better before we start our week together. The Miss Florida Organization sponsored this event because Elizabeth was formerly Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen. The director even found a woman in Florida who is a porfessional cupcake baker and has won Cupcake Wars on TLC. All I can say is that that was quite possibly the best cupcake I've ever had. Not kidding! It was insanely good.

After a crazy busy day, I was so excited to crawl into bed and rest up for the day tomorrow. We have an eight hour rehearsal tomorrow, so I think we will need all the sleep we can get.

I even got lucky with a roomate, Jameson from Georgia, that likes to sleep as much as I do! :)"

Always,
Bailey
Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen 2012

Elizabeth Fechtel, MAOTeen 2012

Getting my hair done for the Tony Bowls shoot

More video shooting

Moving into my room

Maine's OT, Kate

Mom and I at Orientation

My wonderful directors

My roommate from Georgia!