Mrs. Utah America Pageant

I won "Best Smile" Award

Last night was the Mrs. America Pageant contest. I recieved the "Best Smile" award, but did not win the Mrs. Utah Title. I felt really good about the whole process from start to finish. I had a wonderful time. I originally set a goal to compete in this pageant as part of a bucket list that I have and to promote my platform. But I gained so much more in the process. I am very proud to have been able to start an annual Lehi Legacy women's gymnastics meet to continue to benefit the Huntsman Cancer Foundation for breast cancer research and I will continue to promote my platform for Breast Cancer research and awareness with other projects as well. I was honored to be able to compete with some of the most amazing married women of Utah. Congratulations to you Heidi, you will do an awsome job! I would like to say to my wonderful husband, Thank you so much for all of your support and love throughout this process. I know it has been a little stressful at times. You have been my rock and greatest support! I could not have done this without you. Thank you to all of my friends and family for believing in me and last but not least a huge thanks to all of my wonderful sponsors, you helped me along this journey and helped me accomplish this goal. I will forever be grateful for this amazing experience!

Think Pink Gymnastics Benefit Meet

Thursday, 29 January 2009

"Think Pink" Gymnastics Meet!

Lance Madigan - North County Staff - Daily Herald

Jumping, flipping and tumbling, a group of about 30 athletes competed last Friday in a meet dedicated to fighting breast cancer. The Think Pink Advanced Women's Gymnastics Competition was for girls level seven through nine, and had participants from all over Utah County. "The Think Pink theme came up because my and my cousin's grandmother died of breast cancer," said coordinator Janene Lay. "We were going to host a meet anyway, and so we decided to come up with a Think Pink theme to bring about breast cancer awareness." Lay said they teamed with the Huntsman Cancer Foundation to raise awareness of as well as money for breast cancer research. "We are very excited," Lay said. "All of the proceeds will go to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation." "It all will go to research specifically," said Jen Murano, Huntsman Cancer spokesperson. "It won't go to any overhead costs or anything, which is great." "We have wonderful third-party events that really help us," Murano said. "It is wonderful that people want to give locally, which is what we are really trying to do. If you have breast cancer, you are treated locally. It is wonderful. These events are the bread and butter of what we do." Murano added that there was a similar event also going on at the University of Utah the same evening. Lay said they also had prizes, raffle and silent auction items donated by Costco, DK, Fantastic Sam's, Kneaders, the Legacy Center, Olive Garden, Pioneer Party, Smoothie King and Textile Team Outlet and Design. "Both of our girls are wearing a DK leotard that have the ribbon insignia for breast cancer," Lay said. Entertainment was also provided by the American Fork Twisters Squad. "We have had a really good response," Lay said. Five teams competed at the event. "We are very glad to be able to do it, and plan to do it every year."

Courage and Determination

My life, like many people, is full of stories of accomplishment over adversity. I would like to share one such story with the you the reader of this blog.

One evening during my freshman season at BYU I was enjoying time with some friends. After a good joke and a hardy laugh I felt something pop in my upper back. The pain was enough that I sought medical attention at the nearest emergency room. After reviewing the situation they diagnosed a "pulled muscle", gave me some pain killers, and sent me home. This pain endured during gymnastics practice, but I was unable to sit out as my team was relying on me to be ready for Regionals. We traveled via airline to our meet and this seemed to increase the pain to the point of tears. I competed in the meet and provided the needed scores for my team to qualify for Nationals. Upon returning home I sought a second opinion from our team doctor who with a grimacing face suggested that we head to the emergency room. The diagnosis was a pneumothorax, or in layman's terms, a collapsed lung. They performed a tube thoracostomy (chest tube) to relieve the pressure in the lung cavity. This process took two days before the lung function was restored to normal and I was still able to train and compete at Nationals. Through this experience I learned that I could exercise courage and determination to push myself through difficult circumstances. During my career as a gymnast I endured five shoulder surgeries, two of which resulted in collapsed lungs requiring hospital stays.

I know that we all have the strength inside of us to overcome adversity and we just need the courage to use it.