One of the coolest things for me this year was to attend the Miss Utah Pageant, but instead of participating in the pageant I got the chance to watch and enjoy it from the audience. Sitting there brought back so many unforgettable memories and new friendships that took place last year. Even though it felt weird sitting on the other side of the stage I still felt nervous, for the girls competing for the title of Miss Utah. But all in all they all did well and I praise them for their services as ambassadors of the Childrens Miracle Network, their confidence and their time they put into preparing for this week... Like the now reigning Miss Tonga Utah said "Whoever said pageants were easy is a liar!!" LOL it's far more then just make up and big hair... I gotta give it to these pageant girls....especially Eleni Toluta'u the reigning Miss Tonga Utah that I had crowned last year. Let me give you a little run down as to how Miss Utah distinguishes what group performs what night. Prior to the competition the girls pick numbers to see which of the 3 groups they will be competing in as well as who their roomate is. Then from there they have activities that bring the girls to get to know each other a little before competition. Which I think is a great thing because by the time competition comes you're pretty much comfortable with your group as well as your roomate. For me it definitely made my week at Miss Utah a lot more comforting and at ease to already know my roomate. I'm lucky I had the roomate I did have.
Miss Utah is a four day competition filled with tons of things to do. From the annual "Show Me Your Shoe" competition, where each girl designs a shoe that represents themselves and the title in which they hold. It gets pretty out of hand with the shoes. Lst year I remember thinking "Wow... I wish I was that creative sheesh..." lol to the current Miss Utahs Pajama Party and then the actual competition itself. The Miss Utah Organization works pretty hard to make Miss Utah an amazing experience for each "queen" by putting so much time and effort into everything from the PRE-pageant workshops, activities, must dos, production numbers, hotels, food, judges, and just the whole Miss Utah production. I've worked with some pretty amazing directors, coaches, and even title holders that I just adore and learn so much from. I LOVED my MISS UTAH experience, it was definitely something I would love to do again before I'm too old or married.
This year was really fun though, my family as well as the NTAS (National Tongan American Society) and I went the first night of competition which happend to be Elenis talent night. Lucky for me my old roomate Arial was also in Elenis group so I got to see both of them perform. And I will tell you they rocked that stage. I was so proud of them!! =) I'm glad I had the opportunity to go and support Eleni with this experience, I sure hope she learned as much as I did last year. Although Eleni represented our Tongan community as her title was Miss Tonga Utah, every Polynesian should be proud of this girl. She represented us so well and her sweet spirit sure as heck left long lasting memories with those associated with Miss Utah and the Miss America Organizations.
Thank you leni for reigning so well and opening even more doors to our Polynesian women and women in general..... and most of all thank you NTAS for giving us the opportunity to share this experience!! =)
Eleni and her Little Miss Larissa Vea
Me, Leni, and Larissa
a proud NTAS and Family
Arial (my roomy from last year) and yours truly!
