Autism Society of Nebraska's Autism Puzzle Walk & 5K Run

This morning, I had an experience unlike any other, for many reasons. The event was the Autism Society of Nebraska's Autism Puzzle Walk & 5K Run. I was honored to be asked to appear at this event, and have been looking forward to it all year!

When I arrived at the event I was immediately asked to perform a twirling routine, so even though it was a little chilly (and a little early), I performed for the crowd and had a great time! After I twirled, I had time to walk around and talk to the different teams from the race, the kids...and some people I did not expect to run into, which brings me to my first set of photos! (Since I performed at the event, I did not have hair suitable for wearing a crown, but that led to an opportunity to crown anyone who wanted it!)

Mr. Star Trooper America :)

I am a new member!

My favorite picture ever, this is Bently! 

With the Storm Chasers mascot..

I had a great time with those characters, but the interactions I had with the kids at the event were truly special. As I mentioned earlier, I twirled right when I got to this event, and it ended up being a success because I was asked to give an impromptu twirling class to a few kids who were dying to learn some tricks! I had so much fun teaching and interacting with some of the kids!

 I spent the rest of my time interacting with people, and I had several people approach me about one thing. I was approached by a number of people who asked me if I knew "that boy twirler who used to twirl for the Huskers that passed away." When I mentioned that he was my brother, I was told by many people how much his performances inspired them, some told me they stopped going to the bathroom at halftime because they didn't want to miss a performance of his, and some said that he gave them a reason to go to games when the team wasn't doing so hot. These conversations remind me how many people one person can impact. My brother is, to this day, one of the most amazing people I have ever met. He had a gift for motivating people and connecting with them, not to mention twirling ability beyond most others of his time. I have lived every day since he passed in his memory, and I try every day to continue his legacy and make him proud. Today I was reminded why. I don't usually go so deep with my blogs, but I really wanted to share this because it was a very special experience for me.

I have lots more pictures to share from the rest of the day! 

Crowning the kids!

The announcers..

Thanks for inviting me Mitzi!

Two of Bobby's biggest fans :)

More crowning..

Events like this do not work without the sponsors!

Love my new t-shirt, it will always remind me of this awesome event!

Overall, the event was amazing. There was a great turnout, everyone was having a fun time, I got to hang out with Star Wars characters, and I was reminded why live every day for Bobby. I could not be happier that I made the trip to Omaha this morning to attend the event. I want to thank Mitzi Ritzman for inviting me, and all of the other volunteers for working so hard to make the event so special.

Well that's all for now!

Until next time,

Rachel 

Children's Hospital Visit!

Hello everyone!

Now that I am finally back on a good time/sleep schedule, I am back into the swing of things! This morning I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the children at the Children's Hospital and do a craft hour with them! I had 6 awesome kids to work with this morning and we had a blast together, it is always such an amazing experience to visit the children and have fun with them! We made door decorations and animal puppets, and of course we spent a great deal of time deciding what to name the puppets!

Here I am with two of the Children's Hospital representatives, they are so wonderful for letting me come and do a craft hour with some of the patients!

Craft time...

Parker made a dog and named it Spot!

This is Jaden, she made a very cute dog and named is Fluffy! We had so much fun with the colors and fluffs! :)

Here is a picture of some of the crafts we made! There are puppets of owls and dogs, and also some very fun glitter door hangers!

This is Faith, she was very excited to show the door hanger she made!

I am so thankful to be able to spend time with these wonderful children. The Miss America Organization is one of the main partners of the Children's Miracle Network, giving titleholders wonderful opportunities like this to meet with some of the children in the hospitals. I had a great time with the kids today and I am looking forward to visiting the hospital again soon as well as participating in some other events put on my the Children's Hospital!

That's all for now!

Love,

Rachel 

Miss Lincoln

Miss Nebraska Orientation and the World Championships!

Hello everyone!

I have a very exciting post today! I am going to share my experiences from Miss Nebraska Orientation, the Harlem Globe Trotters performance, and the Baton Twirling World Championships in Switzerland!

On Friday March 30th, the 13 Miss Nebraska contestants got together in North Platte to meet our host families (I will be staying with the host family that both of my sisters had!) and to hang out with Miss Nebraska 2011, Kayla Batt! It was great to see everyone and to meet the new girls!! This is going to be such a fun year at the Miss Nebraska pageant!

Saturday was time for business! We turned in all of our paperwork, talent CDs, and our ads (I am very happy to announce that I am the first Foehlinger girl to sell 4 full pages of ads)! We also had our official head shots taken for the program, had a mock interview, and practiced our talent on stage! We also had the pleasure of an etiquette lesson from Brook Hudson, Miss Nebraska 2004! It was such an exciting day! Unfortunately I did not get many pictures, but I can assure you, everyone looked amazing!!

Here I am with Mindy, Meghan, and Kalyssa!!

Here is my official Miss Nebraska Headshot!

To view all of the other contestants and their head shots, you can click this link! http://missnebraska.org/2012.html

Unfortunately, I had to leave Orientation a little bit early to get back to Omaha for a performance at the Harlem Globe Trotters game at the Century Link Center! It was such a fun performance, and the audience loved our "Can-Can" routine!

Here is our final pose, what a fun performance!

The Globe Trotters are so fun to watch!

Saturday night after the performance, I completed my final packing checklist for my trip to Switzerland for the World Baton Twirling Championships! Our first stop was Venice, just to relax and enjoy the wonderful scenery. The next day, we headed to Switzerland for the Team USA banquet!

Here are some of the Stepper-Ettes at the amazing banquet!

Here I am with Jennifer Curtis, a past Miss Nebraska contestant!

After the banquet, it was time to get down to business with our final practices and preparations for the competition. The opening ceremonies were held on Wednesday, April 4, and we competed on Sunday, April 8th! 

Our team ready for the Opening Ceremonies!

I am so patriotic! :)

After the Opening Ceremonies, there was a beautiful photo-op by the famous Lake Neuchatel! Here I am with my family after the ceremonies!

Here I am with some of the team members, very excited to be at our last practice before we competed!

The competition for Twirling Corps was held on the last day of the Championships. We competed using an "Alice in Wonderland" theme and ended up coming home with the GOLD MEDAL! Holland got 2nd place, and France came in 3rd. It was such an honor just to be at the World Championships, it was definitely the icing on the cake to come home with our second World Championship Title!! We worked so hard and came together as a team all year, it was so wonderful to be able to share these moments with 28 of the hardest working girls I know!!

WORLD CHAMPS!

Tears of joy from everyone!

My family with the trophy!

Very exciting times! Now that all of that is over, I am on a one-track mind from now until Miss Nebraska! I will be keeping very busy with appearances, talent rehearsals, and interview practice for the next two months! I can't believe the pageant will be here so soon! I am looking very forward to the pageant this year, and will make sure to keep posting blogs to keep you all updated on my journey to Miss Nebraska!

That's all for now!

Love,

Rachel

Miss Lincoln