Whirlwind of a weekend!

Wow!! I had SUCH a busy weekend!!  Friday was Delta Zeta Phi Rose Dinner!  I went with Ben Graves this year and we had a lot of fun!

Had to be up very early the next morning for the Glass Slipper Project!  My sorority, Alpha Xi Gamma volunteered.  We took donations for dresses & worked at the event to help girls in Monroe County find their dream prom dresses at no cost!!  I didn't get to stay very long, but it seemed like a success while I was there!  A lot of girls left very happy, & it was a great feeling to get to be involved!

I left straight from the event to drive to Kingsport, Tennessee, for the Miss Tennessee United States Colloquium!  I got to meet the current Miss Tennessee United States, Mariel Lane who was actually 3rd RU at Miss United States.  She had great information & plenty of useful tips!!

Then, yesterday, I had a photoshoot with Charis Photography, which was a lot of fun & I can't wait to see the pictures.  Here is a sneak peek that my mom took from her phone...

So, as you can tell, I am staying busy between sorority, pageants, and modeling right now.  Representing my title is a blast!!  Hopefully I will soon be representing the STATE title :)

XOXO - Ashley <3



Time to Play Catch Up!

Oh my gosh! I cannot believe I haven't blogged since October!  If that doesn't tell you how busy I am, then I don't know what does!  I am going to catch this up a little on what I have been up to!  [I don't even know where to begin!] This may be a long one!

I have been experimenting a little with pageant systems here lately!  It has actually been a great experience so far!  After USA, I competed at Miss Nashville & then in the Miss Scenic City pageants, just to give the America system another go...and didn't do as well as I had hoped.  I need to put a lot more work into my talent & interview before I will be successful in that system but I am NOT closing that door just yet...contrary to what anyone may say...just decided to take a short break.

In December I competed at Miss Christmas Eve, in Bristol...and won.  It was a prelim to a USA prelim, but it was definitely well worth the gorgeous sash and crown, not to mention the free headshot & free pageant entry to the state pageant that I received.

Early January, I came into contact with Stephi Williams, who asked me to compete in the United States system.  I'm open to change, so I decided to give it a go!  I won her preliminary pageant and I am now the current Miss Northeast Tennessee United States 2012!!

 A few weekends later, I was able to volunteer at the Knoxville site of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition...  and by volunteer I mean... I was taken STRAIGHT to VIP.  Let me add, I don't watch a lot of TV...therefore, I really don't know the people on the show (besides Ty Pennington, but who DOESN'T know Ty Pennington??).  So, as I was sitting in VIP with a bunch of famous people that I didn't realize were famous...I decided that this guy was!  (John Littlefield) He was very friendly, and he made sure to notice how "pageant girls" stand!

Also, I've been doing a lot of bridal shows!  Two so far this year actually.  Which was an absolute blast. Anybody that knows me knows that pursuing modeling has always been a huge dream of mine so I'm finally getting opportunities to do a few things here and there when I have time and it has been an absolute blast!!

I also just celebrated my 20th birthday!  Crazy to think that I'm not a teenager anymore, and I'm not quite sure yet how I feel about being halfway to 40. (Pessimistic, I know).  But I did celebrate it with the people I love which is the best way to get old, I think!

Just this past weekend, I was able to make my way back to Bristol, where I competed in the Miss Heart of Bristol pageant...  and... I was lucky enough for another win!  It was a great feeling & I truly believe I worked harder for that win than any other so far!  



So, as you can tell it has been a busy year for me so far.  2012 has been beyond amazing & I am staying busy & loving every single minute of it! 

As of right now, I am still preparing for Miss Tennessee United States....hours in the gym every day... tons of appearances, as well as trying to stay on stage!  March is going to be a very busy month for me.  Everyone keep me in your prayers!!

XOXO - Ashley <3

MISS TN USA 2012

Well...it's a week later...but I am going to relive my experience of Miss TN USA 2012.  I made friend that are unbelievably amazing, and has an absolute blast!!  I got there Wednesday night after a NINE HOUR DRIVE.  [Clarksville is only 4 hours away from Sweetwater so don't ask me how my mom managed to drag it on THAT long!]  Well, probably because I had to stop and get a spray tan...and then stop and buy luggage..oh, and a new purse :)... and then had to stop and get ANOTHER spray tan after realizing the first woman used NO BRONZER!!  No bronzer = no tan.  ugh.  But anyways...after a verrrrry long trip to Clarksville, we made it safely and I walked into the hotel at 3 am to see a huge welcome sign in the lobby.

I go to my room and of course can't sleep...because I have registration at 8 am the next morning.  So, on about 2 hours of sleep, I show up at registration and we have orientation and then we are escourted to our bus!!  The amount of security at the hotel was INSANE!  We were escourted everywhere by security guards and it almost makes you feel like a celebrity!  So, all the contestants show up at the Austin Peay State University for the 1st day of rehearsals!  ALLLLL day long in 5 inch heels...for some reason was still soo much fun.  Kent Parham was in charge of course...so there was no way rehearsals wouldn't be fun.  At this point, I still couldn't figure out who on earth my roommate was!!  So we had lunch and headed back to the hotel for some downtime before the Mayor's Dinner which would be taking place that night. 

So, I FINALLY met my roommate...Kayla Stanfill, Miss Valley View.  She was AWEEESOME of course.  We are so much alike that it was almost ridiculous!  We got ready for Mayor's Dinner that night and went and met the rest of the girls..along with the teen contestants.  Dale Smith Thomas was the speaker at the dinner and...I don't think Greenwood Productions could possibly have done any better choosing someone.  She was soo motivational and funny and really calmed our nerves. 

The next morning...more rehearsals because prelims were that night!!  So we worked out all the kinks for the show and got everything ready...  and prelim time was there before we knew it.  Here are some pictures from my preliminary competition...

I didn't do the best in preliminaries....but it was a lot of fun and I had a great time.

The next morning was interviews!! They went by super fast and the day of course flew by again and it was time for the final show...I was sad to hear that I hadn't made the Top 15...but there were 15 beautiful ladies on stage left to fight for the crown!!  I got to watch the remainder of the competition from a TV in the dressing room and cheer for the girls!  It came time for awards and Jessica Hibler, Miss Midtown was crowned Miss Tennessee USA 2012.

 Lucky me, I didn't exactly leave empty handed.  I did win Most Photogenic, thanks to Kristy Belcher for the amazing headshots and Joel Green for the awesome hair and makeup.



So without a doubt I will DEFINITELY be going back next year.  I had the time of my life!!  Greenwood Productions really knows how to make every girl there feel like a princess! 

xx -- Ashley



R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Well, before I blog about the amazing weekend I had at Miss TN, I would like to say a quick goodbye to the American inventor and entrepreneur, Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc.  [Thanks for Ipods Steve!!]  He was also a member of the board of directors of the Walt Disney Company in 2006... Brilliant man right??

 

He is also well known for his 2005 Standford Commencement speech.  In the speech, Steve said:

You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

 & how powerful these words are.  R.I.P. Steve Jobs. [ 2.24.1955 - 10.5.2011 ]

xx- Ashley Ingram

Faveee Show :)

In my last post...I forgot to mention that my FAVORITE SHOW EVER is back on...yes, you guessed it. DANCING WITH THE STARS!

My favorite teams are below.  Be sure to vote for them. :) 

 Rob Kardashian and Cheryl Burke.  Team CherBert!!

Kristin Cavallari & Mark Ballas. Team KristinBalls!!

xx-- Ashley <3

I'm alive I swear! :)

So to catch you up on my past few weeks...Well, Miss Universe came and went.  My personal opinion, of course, is that Alyssa Campanella was the most beautiful woman on the stage.  However, Miss Angola took the crown!  And okay...let's be honest...she is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING.  There just isn't any way around it.  I was disappointed for Miss USA but we still have a wonderful Miss Universe.  So...congratulations Leila Lopes!

 Then last weekend, when I was supposed to be going to Nashville (which if you didn't know..is my favorite place in the WORLD) to meet with a pageant coach... I'm pretty sure that anything and everything went wrong...  I come home from school and get hair and makeup ready and start to pack up my stuff to wait for Ben to get out of practice.  He wanted to go home and see his family so we were just going to go together.  Well...his baseball practice started late and he called me to tell me to go on without him...which was a problem because the tires on my car needed to be changed!  and in the midst of all of this...I couldn't even find my Johnathan Kayne heels!!! Talk about a trainwreck!  So I had to cancel my appointment and stay home..which I hate doing...but I took my car to get it fixed the next day and the mechanic told me that I would have had a blowout on the way to Nashville no doubt.  So maybe it was God trying to give me a heads up!!  and I'm SO glad he did!

Then Saturday was the UT vs. Florida game.  and don't ask me why...but every single stinkin year I go into that game just KNOWING that we have it in the bag... talk about being a true fan.  Well...we didn't have it in the bag.  Not even close.  I'm going to blame it on the fact that we lost our best player [Justin Hunter] in the very first quarter of the game.  Sooo sad...and now he's out for the season.  So I'm depressed to say the least.

and this week has been slow. just school, dance, pageant prep, sorority, repeat. 

xx - Ashley

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY.

So, it's been a while! I have been kinda M.I.A. but here's an update of my life the past couple of weeks!

Last week was Rush week for the Greek organizations on campus.  So, I was beyond busy between Open House, Informal, Formal, and helping my sisters pick who was a good fit to join us!  We gained 6 new sisters!!  and then had Open Rush and got 3 more!  It was SOO exciting to get to experience Rush from the standpoint of being an Active instead of a Pledge this year and I am looking forward to this year with the girls!!

Yesterday, I went to Clarksville, Tennessee, for Miss Tennessee USA 2012 seminar!  It was such a great experience to meet everyone and it made me feel a lot better.  I haven't really started getting nervous yet...but I know the week before I will have a break down and be a nervous wreck!  But I'm spending the majority of my time preparing for that...

Today is the 10 year anniversary of the day that Americans will never forget.  10 years ago, America was under attack and I remember sitting in my classroom on September 11, 2001, watching the news thinking....how is this happening...??  It was terrifying news for me at the age I was, and I'm sitting here now...10 years later, 10 years older...and it's still just as hard for me to wrap my mind around.  All I know is that I will never forget that day that so many American lives were taken...

Tomorrow is Miss Universe so I am praying for Miss USA to pull a big win so we can send Miss Tennessee off to New York to be the new Miss USA!!!  Can't wait.

xx - Ashley