A recap of my time at the National Sweetheart Pageant…

Hello Readers!

WOW!!!! Where do I even begin? First of all I would like to apologize for not “blogging” while I was at the National Sweetheart Pageant. My host family did not have wifi so connecting to an internet source was a little tricky AND I was soooo exhausted every night that writing a blog would have been horrible. But man oh man  every moment of exhaustion was well worth it at the pageant. The memories, friendships, and experiences that I had during the week of the Sweetheart pageant are ones that I will NEVER forget.

Opening Number at the pageant

The week started off with my family and I DRIVING to Hoopeston, IL. (It is pronounced Huppston….say it from the gut, I learned this from the locals). But upon arriving in Hoopeston we toured the town a little bit…which took about 10 minuets, and than we went to the McDonalds and waited for one of the pageant officials to come and meet us. I say “us” because McDonalds is where I met my first pageant friend Jefra from Kentucky. We bonded quickly over the fact that we both were broadcast journalism majors (just like half of the pageant contestants ha).

Welcome to Hoopeston!

Hanging with the locals

After a few hours of waiting which didn’t seem to take too long because we were talking to the locals…a bus arrived with all of the other beautiful contestants. All of us got taken to a welcome dinner hosted by Miss Hoopeston herself, Abigail Foster or as I like to call her…sister bear :). At the dinner we received our sashes and got a quick pep talk about what the week was about. I had NOOOO idea what I was in store for!

Receiving my sash

What I did find out later that night was that I had the coolest roommate ever….Stacey Cook from Colorado. Not only is she drop dead gorgeous, but she has a heart of gold. We ended up staying up a little too late that night just talking and getting to know one another. I think we felt the lack of sleep the next day, but it was well worth it!

Stacey Cook, best roommate ever!!!

The next couple of days were full of appearances and tours of local businesses in Hoopeston. I learned everything from canning beans to harvesting corn and everything in between! We were treated like royalty at every place which was so cool!

Driving a tractor!

Modeling with my driver at the parade 🙂 HA

 

Another thing that I learned throughout the week was that I had the coolest host mom and sister!! Abigail Foster, Miss Hoopeston, and her mom Angie Foster are some of the MOST AMAZING women I have ever met. It was because of them that I stayed sain the entire week. Thank you mom for always driving me to get coffee, protein bars, and makeup. It is hard to believe that we got as close as we did in such little time. And thank you sister bear for always being that person to make me laugh. I will never forget all of the times we drove around listening to rap music…”rack city, rack rack rack city b****” 🙂 I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!

Mom, I love you ❤

I love you too sister bear ❤

 

Although I did not make it into the top 10 at the pageant I did win an award that I find to be just as good! I was awarded Miss Congeniality. If you are not familiar with the movie, Miss Congeniality is an award voted on by the contestants. It is a huge honor and I am so thankful to have gotten it. But more than the award, I am thankful for the entire week. I now have an even bigger drive to be Miss North Dakota this year! (If that is even possible). I am ready for the job and all of the responsibilities that come along with it. Lets do this!

Getting Miss Congeniality 🙂

As for now I am just attending classes again because they started back up and working…A LOT! But I like a busy schedule. It may be exhausting but God would never give me anything I couldn’t handle. (He must know that I like a challenge). I look forward to what the next few months have in store for me! Again thank you readers for all of your support and encouragement throughout the past couple of months. It means so much to me that you read my blog and comment!

Thank you for a great week Hoopeston…love, North Dakota’s Sweetheart! XOXO

XOXO

Becca Lebak

No longer Miss Oil Country (someone else just got crowned that) so I am now Miss ?????? 🙂