I have a new blog and new updates that this site doesn’t have, so be sure to check it out.
http://misshenryco2010.posterous.com/
May 6, 2011
Check for New Updates on My New Blog :)
March 26, 2011
The Miss America Who Inspired Me
Please watch video below before continuing on with this post.
This was the moment I realized as a little girl that I wanted to be Miss America. When Nicole Johnson was crowned Miss America 1999, I knew I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to be someone who had the strength to overcome all obstacles in life and be someone who had all the confidence in the world. I would say Nicole was the first role model I had (outside of my family) that helped me overcome certain self-esteem issues. At that time I never met her, all I knew was that someday I wanted to follow in her footsteps.
11 years later, a dream came true. Today I had the opportunity to see Nicole at the Hy-Vee World Health Experience at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines. She spoke to a large audience about her experience of being Miss America and how being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at an early age changed her life. Nicole competed twice for the title of Miss Virginia. The first time she competed she made it into the Top 10. After being called into the Top 10, an individual came up to her and told her that she should never compete again because she would never win. Well to that person’s surprise Nicole was crowned Miss Virginia the following year, then went on to capture the title of Miss America.
It is young women like Nicole who make the Miss America Organization a wonderful program to be a part of. Nicole is not only a role model to me, but also a role model to thousands of people nationwide. Since 1999, she has raised over $26 million for diabetes. A remarkable accomplishment!!
After her speech I got to talk to her for a moment about being Miss America and how she was my inspiration to be on the Miss Iowa stage. Nicole gave me some great words of encouragement and I can NOT wait for June. The best piece of advice, “Just Be You.”
We all just need to believe in ourselves, because if we don’t then we are truly missing out in the many wonderful blessings we have in life.
Until Next time
http://misshenryco2010.posterous.com/
February 20, 2011
Weekend of Family and Friends
On Saturday I went to Iowa Falls for the day, to attend the first annual Miss Greenbelt pageant and was able to spend an afternoon/evening with my grandparents. When I first heard that the Miss America Organization was going to the Iowa Falls/Alden area, I could not have been more excited. I have been to Iowa Falls numerous times visiting my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It is a small community, but a community with a huge heart. When I visited my grandparents when I was younger, I remember jet skiing on the Iowa River, walking across the swinging bridge, enjoying an ice cream cone at the local McDonald’s, swimming in my grandparents’ pool, going to the popcorn stand and enjoying freshly popped popcorn, and participating in the amazing Fourth of July celebrations.
Congratulations to Leah Bunkers who is the new Miss Greenbelt!! I can’t wait to get to know you and spend an entire week with you in June. Another congrats is in order for Kollan Kolthoff who put on a great pageant. You could tell the hard work and dedication that went on into this production.
Another week of school, working out, and work is ahead of me.
Talk to you soon
Ciera
February 18, 2011
Kickboxing for a Cause
Greetings all!! I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather we are having. It was nice to get a run in outside and not go on the treadmill for a bit. Speaking of working out I wanted to share a wonderful morning I had with all of you. As usual I got up early to go get my first workout in for the day, however today’s kickboxing workout was unlike all others. Today we all saw a finish line to a goal we started on Tuesday. On Tuesday, our manager gave us a goal to raise $2000 for Child Serve’s annual event “RUN WALK and FUN FOR the KIDS” that will be held March 8th. If we reached our goal, our manager promised he would teach every class on Friday. In one day we raised our goal!!
So today as promised, our manager taught every class. That’s 7 kickboxing classes, 45 minutes per class. (Bringing the intensity in every single one) The energy in the room was wonderful, inspiring, and we all never felt so good about working out. For that we are now trying to raise $4,000!! I wouldn’t be surprised if we reach our new goal. It felt amazing to accomplish a goal in a few short days.
Ciera
February 12, 2011
New BLOG!!!
Hey Everyone,
I wanted to tell you about this great webpage my friend from Drake made for me. I will still post on this site but a majority of my posting will be on this one. This new site is much more organized, has a photo album section, and even a platform section as well. Be sure to look at the new improvements.
Help Me Reach My Goal
From reading different blog posts, you see that I’m very involved with the Miss America Organization, but you probably didn’t know that I’m also working closely with Children’s Miracle Network to raise funds for local children’s hospitals. The Miss America Organization has teamed up with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals to help raise money for children’s hospitals in communities throughout the United States. My personal goal is to raise $350.00. The money I raise will benefit both Children’s Miracle Network and the Miss America Scholarship Fund. Did you know the State of Iowa is fortunate to have a CMN Hospital in Iowa City (University of Iowa Children’s Hospital).
I invite you to help me touch the lives of sick and injured children by making a secure donation today by clicking on the “Donate to CMNHospitals” tab to the left of my screen, or by clicking https://www.missamerica4kids.org/m.aspx?i=1058150ABFF+05CF9
Thanks so much for your support and for helping me make miracles happen!
February 11, 2011
Platform Talk
Hello again. I hope you are preparing for a wonderful Valentine’s Day. I’m going to keep this post short but I wanted to share an article I found when looking through one of my favorite magazine’s, Glamour. If you get a chance take time to read “Shocking Body-Image News 97% of Women Will be Cruel To Their Bodies Today.” The Glamour team took a survey and found that young women will have at least 13 negative thoughts about their bodies everyday. I’m sorry but that is a trend that needs to STOP! Everyone is beautiful on the inside and out, and when we start to worry about our own insecurities then we have trouble living life to the fullest. As I kept reading the article, I found some great tips people could use to help build confidence and create a positive body image.
1. Rewire your brain. If you constantly have negative thoughts about your body, it teaches your brain to focus on the bad stuff, why not flip the script? Keep a pen handy to note things you do that make you feel good about your body.
2. Ask yourself: Is this really about my body? Or am I trying to distract myself from being upset with someone or something else?
3. Exercise! The survey found that those who worked out regularly tended to report fewer harsh thoughts than those who didn’t. And it’s not just that being physically active improves your shape and health; it actually boosts your mind-set, too. One new study found that women felt better about themselves after exercising even when their bodies didn’t change, suggesting that the feeling of “That was challenging, and I did it!” played a bigger role than weight loss in boosting body image.
4. Say “stop!”—literally, that word—when your mind goes all negative.
5. Finally, play up your strengths. Comparing yourself with others doesn’t help anything. Focus on making the most of what you’ve got. Hold your head a little higher and walk a little taller: That attitude is absolutely magnetic. Don’t forget to give yourself complements. One complement can go a long way
These are some great tips. Talk to you all soon
Ciera
February 7, 2011
Iowa City
So happy the weather did not cause any trouble this past weekend when I went to Miss Johnson County. As usual I got off work at noon, then by 2:30 my mom and I were off to Iowa City for dinner and a fun night of pageantry.
What I love about the Miss Iowa Organization, are all the wonderful people you meet throughout the years. When the Johnson County board decided to have an outstanding teen representative, I was very fortunate to be their first Miss Johnson County Outstanding Teen. So Saturday was a great “family” reunion.
Congratulations to Cassi Claeys for being crowned Miss Johnson County. I am very excited that there is another twirler, which means the audience gets another chance to see the sport of twirling.
Me, Lil' Miss Henry County and Miss Great River's Outstanding Teen
Today, my kickboxing class and extra workouts were long however that’s the way I like it. Once you have a goal, you have to complete it. That is what I am doing for the next few months.
February always seems to be the coldest month of the year, that is not going to stop me from doing appearances, working on my platform, and get preparations ready for Miss Iowa week. (A week I know I will never forget)
Time for class,
Ciera
February 2, 2011
Happy February
I hope you are all surviving this Iowa blizzard with no problem. School was delayed for a little bit, however that did not stop me from getting homework, projects, and local news stories done.
From looking at past blog entries, I noticed I have been blogging a lot about my day, events, or special appearances. Which I think are great, but I also want to start posting some entries that are related to my platform; True Beauty/Promoting Positive Physical Self-Image.”
I love the media. I think it is a great tool for everyone to know what is going on in their community, state, nation, and in other countries. So I think the media is a great resource to gather new information. I found a nice interview Katie Couric had with Maria Shriver’s daughter, Katherine Schwarzenegger. Katherine wrote a book called “Rock What You’ve Got” that explains the obstacles many women have to overcome when developing a healthy body image. (A book I’m putting on my ‘must read list’) When watching this interview, I noticed that the activity Katherine shares with Katie is one of the activities I have students do with me. So I challenge you to watch the video, and then write 5 things you like about yourself. You may come to find it’s not as hard as you think 
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6873626n
Stay warm,
Ciera
January 23, 2011
Off to Davenport
Even though I worked 6-noon yesterday, that did not stop me from attending the Miss Davenport Outstanding Teen and Miss Davenport pageant. What made this trip much more special, was that I got to bring some of my close friends along with me. The day was filled with traveling, excitement, and shedding some light on to my friends on what the Miss America Organization is all about.
The girls competing for their respective titles did a great job. They all looked beautiful, poised,
and showed great amounts of confidence. Congrats to our new titleholders Miss Davenport Outstanding Teen Emily Much and Miss Davenport Amanda Manning. Can’t wait to see you guys in June.
It was also fun catching up with people who were at Miss America the weekend before. Everyone seemed to be getting back to their everyday life with no problems.
Well a big game is on today (Bears vs. Packers) so got to get ready to see who will make it on to the Super Bowl.
Talk to you soon
Ciera
