Muscatine Winter Festival

Today, I had a wonderful time at Muscatine's Winter Festival at the Municipal Golf Course. Christy and I carpooled from Iowa City together, grabbed lunch on the way, and tried our best not to break any windows as we sang and jammed out. Once we got to the golf course, we suited up for the day, putting on our crowns, sashes, and heels. We were ready to start our day  in the wonderful city of Muscatine!

Once we walked in, we were given directions on how we could help out and what we would be doing for the rest of the day. As children and their parents began to fill up the golf course clubhouse, Christy and I sat with some of the children coloring pictures of snowmen, snowflakes, and ice skating. The kids were so excited to get the Snowpile Treasure hunt started and kept talking about how they have already seen some of the hidden golfballs. Finally it was time to get going so Christy and I got set up at our stations. I was handing out wristbands and Christy was handing out finger puppets. The kids searched for golfballs and ran back and forth claiming their prizes. Although it was a bit misty and cold, the kids loved digging through the snow.

After the Snowpile Treasure hunt, Christy and I were challenged to try the golf simulator inside that all the kids had been playing. Both Christy and I are no pro-golfers so we hesitated but figured we should give it a shot! Christy was up first, and although she whiffed a couple of times, she ended up having a great last hit! WOOHOO! I went second, and let me tell you, it is not so easy to have a great golf stance when you are in 4 inch heels...but I made it work! Both my dad and brother often go to the golf range to hit balls so I've had a little bit experience, however I am no Tiger Woods. Mini-golf is more my game. :) Anyways, I ended up going 2/3 which was a very pleasant surprise.

The next part of the Winter Festival was the Snow Sculpture Contest. Christy and I were asked to be guest judges which we were both thrilled about! The contestants had an hour to sculpt so we took that time to stop by and visit one of our favorite sponsors, Le Chic! We stopped in and then headed back to the golf course to score the snow sculptures. Each sculpture was judged out of 30 points, 10 for creativity, 10 for aesthetics, and 10 for quality. Judging was WAY harder than I thought, and I was so impressed with all of the sculptures. In the end, the whale took first place, Eiffel Tower took second, and the army tank took third. I actually picked all three winners!

I have to say that I personally loved the Eiffel Tower since I visited Paris for the first time this summer! I had to ask the family that made the Eiffel Tower where they got their inspiration from. The family said it was their daughters idea. She told me that she draws Eiffel Towers on all of her homework and that she wants to go to Paris one day. I told her that I went to Paris the summer after I graduated from college, and her parents looked at each other and told her that after she graduates college, she can go too! :) Standing next to the snow sculpted Eiffel Tower reminded me of how beautiful it was in person! Can't wait to go back!

While we tabulated scores, Christy and I took a walk around the golf course stopping at each food station. There were smores, hot apple cider, snack bags, and a grill out station. I don't remember the last time that I had a smore, but yum!! Christy and I might have burned our marshmellows but that was the way we liked them! By the end of our walk, we were soaked and had chilly fingers, but it was absolutely worth it!

Once everyone finished the walk, we said our thank you's and goodbyes. It was such a wonderful day! I am so glad that I get to represent the city of Muscatine and spend time with such great people! Until next time!

XOXO

Miss Muscatine 2015

Kristen One

Fitness First!

Last night, I drove out to have my first visit with Jon Hunt and 8one8 Fitness in the Quad Cities. Although the trip there took me a little longer than I had hoped, Jon and I had a great meeting on my next steps concerning fitness. I am excited to work with Jon and his team and cannot wait to see the results. As a former gymnast, I have a pretty fast metabolism (which is definitely nice) and a good work ethic when it comes to staying fit, which is really important to me. Working with 8one8 Fitness these coming months will keep me on my toes and push me to crank up the difficulty level. As part of our consultation, Jon had me go through some various exercises including lunges, squats, push-ups, sit-ups, and the oh-so dreaded burpees. No one likes burpees… but I’m working on changing my mindset, so cross your fingers for me! Maybe by the end of this year, burpees will be my favorite exercise! Wouldn’t that be crazy? Anyway, we worked through the short circuit just so he could get an idea of where I was at physically. As a student teacher, the biggest obstacle for me is finding a time to work out. I haven’t quite decided if working out BEFORE school at 5:00 am would be a better routine for me or if sticking to my AFTER school work out around 6:00 pm. Luckily, 8one8 fitness specializes in at home workouts which means if I don’t make it to the gym at 5:00 am OR 6:00 pm, I have no excuse to not do it in my own apartment! Thank you to the Muscatine Scholarship Program for allowing us to work with these phenomenal sponsors and an even bigger thank you to 8one8 for taking us on! We actually have been lucky enough to be one of the first group of clients to work out in the new location. Look up 8one8 Fitness to find out information on their methods of training and the more! 

http://www.8one8fitness.com/

Fires, explosions, and acids OH MY!

Hello everyone!

My life has gotten a lot crazier since my last blog post. For one... I started my student teaching experience at Linn-Mar High School. Go Lions! It has been both terrifying and exciting all at the same time. At Linn-Mar, I work in the General Chemistry class which includes a mix of sophomores, juniors, and seniors. My cooperating teacher and I already have some great ideas for the semester, and it's only day three! These past couple of days have been a whirlwind but I am thrilled to see the teacher I become throughout the semester and to work with all these wonderful young scientists. Since I started student teaching, I realized how much time and effort it takes to get through just one day of high school--whew! I did not give my high school teachers enough credit... But now that I am on the other side, I definitely appreciate everything they did and more. I want to make a difference in these students lives and I know that I am 100% in the right profession to do so.

Lucky for me, four other members from my science education program are also at Linn-Mar student teaching, so we carpool everyday from Iowa City at 6:30 am. Because I have to leave Iowa City by 6:30 am, I have to wake up by at least 5:30 am to eat breakfast, get ready for the day, make a HUGE cup of coffee and drive to the meeting spot to leave. 5:30 am was a rude awakening at first but I'm getting used to it. Between the five of us, we take turns driving to Linn-Mar, conserving gas, and bouncing ideas off of one another. Within my first week at student teaching, I have already run a couple labs and started to take over one of the classes. In lab, we have done some min-explosions and worked with some seriously cool (but dangerous) acids. I'm looking forward to the rest of this year and getting to know the students.

Lately, I have been thinking about my goals for Miss Iowa. Thanks to all my sponsors, I have already made some decisions regarding Miss Iowa week and have begun my journey to the Miss Iowa stage! Just yesterday, I spent some time with our wonderful sponsors Jessica and Michelle from Legacy Pageant Consulting talking about my goals, what I hope to accomplish throughout my year, and reliving the Miss Muscatine crowning moment :) Our time allowed for reflection and discussion which is always important so that you can find ways to improve. After talking, I know what I want to work hard on and what I need to dedicate my time to. I plan to approach my goals at full speed these next coming months and I can't wait!

I have some exciting events and appearances coming up so stay tuned! Thanks for reading :)

XOXO
Kristen One
Miss Muscatine 2015

There is no such thing as a lazy Saturday

Today has been a crazy Saturday and I have been on the go since 6 am! This morning I woke up in Chicago with my car all packed and ready to get back to Muscatine and the University of Iowa. However, I hit a stroke of bad luck and could not find my keys ANYWHERE. If you know me, this is rare--most of the time, I am extremely organized. That being said, I searched high and low, and finally found my keys and bolted out the door so that I could to Iowa in time for all my appointments. As I was driving out of the city, I realized how beautiful it was outside! One definite perk of driving at 7 am is catching the sunrise. Check it out!

As I jammed out in my car all the way to Muscatine, I prepped myself for the day. First stop, COFFEE. Second stop, Le Chic! Le Chic is one of the many amazing sponsors and this morning I stopped in to try on some dresses. Now who doesn't love that?! Stacy and Heather are great a what they do and have an special eye for finding the perfect dress. I cannot wait to continue working with them. After spending an hour trying on beautiful dresses, I was onto the next part of my day which included a meeting with Mayor Hopkins. I met Mayor Hopkins at China Garden where we had lunch and talked about my plans for my year as Miss Muscatine. I learned a lot about Mayor Hopkins, including our shared passion for traveling. Fun Fact: Mayor Hopkins has strong relationships with many of China's important leaders... How cool? Overall, Mayor Hopkins' words of advice on promoting my platform and getting involved in Muscatine were very helpful.

After lunch, I headed to the Muscatine Mall for the bridal expo. There, I met Miss Pearl City and Miss Riverview. It was so fun to see these girls and catch up! A lot has happened after being crowned last week! I am so excited to share my year with these two!

Had to get a picture with these two!

At the bridal expo, we gave suggestions to the models on how to walk and pose on stage. The girls were all naturals and absolutely beautiful in the various wedding gowns. I was also asked to draw from the raffle and pick the winners to sit in the front row seats to watch the bridal expo. They got to sit in recliners and enjoy chocolate covered strawberries. Very luxurious. Once the show started, it was a vision of white dresses! While the girls did all the hard work modeling, we were backstage helping them get zipped in and out of the gowns. All of the models were very gracious and appreciative to our help, which just made the job that much easier. 

How beautiful are they?!

Throughout the show, we helped where we were needed and made sure each model felt comfortable in their dress. One of the girls told me her heart was pounding when walking on stage and she asked me, "How do you do this without fainting?" I smiled and  thought about the many times that I personally have had butterflies when walking on stage. It happens to the best of us :) The emcee of the show also made sure to introduce each and every one of us and even asked us some questions about our upcoming year as a titleholder. Overall, the show was extremely successful, and I am so grateful to have been a part of this. Thank you to everyone who welcomed me to Muscatine so graciously today. I am honored to be your Miss Muscatine! I cannot wait to visit frequently throughout the year, making appearances and speaking to my platform. As of now, it's back to reality for me! I am back in Iowa City, in my apartment on campus, getting ready for my second semester of graduate school! GO HAWKS!

Always time to be silly! Go like Hawkeye Photo Booth to see more photos!

Cannot Imagine a Better Start to 2015 :)

I still CANNOT believe that I was crowned your 2015 Miss Muscatine this past Saturday. I am so honored to hold the title of Miss Muscatine and I cannot wait for the year ahead of me. To top it off, I was also selected as top model and awarded best fitness. Hard work definitely pays off! Also, if any of you were there watching crowning this past weekend, I bet most of you thought I looked like I was going to pass out on stage. And your right! At that point, all I could think of was breathe in...breathe out... breathe in... breathe out. After they announced 2nd runner up, 1st runner up, Miss Riverview, and Miss Pearl City; all I could think about was, "PLEASE please please call my name!" and then it happened. They called my name, your new Miss Muscatine is Kristen One! 

Immediately after crowning, I was full of happiness and honestly shock. We took photos with our incredible judging panel and all of the other contestants. The judges were so sweet, and even in my interview I could feel their warmth and excitement towards finding the new Muscatine titleholders. The judges had a really hard job, and I definitely did not envy them. Within minutes of crowning, I was already being interviewed by the Muscatine Profile, talking about my past pageant experience and my road to Miss Iowa. Finally, the curtains were reopened and I was able to see my parents and every one who came to support me. Giving them hugs and seeing how proud my parents were made my night :) To finish off the night, I was able to go to an after party with all my friends, family, and eat good food in good company. What a perfect night! Winning this title means that throughout my year, I am lucky enough to have some amazing sponsors thanks to the Miss Muscatine Scholarship Program. These sponsors will help me feel my best when I get to the Miss Iowa stage in June and will prep me to become the best Miss Muscatine that I can be.

Now for a little about me. For those of you who do not know me, my name is Kristen One. I am originally from northern suburbs of Chicago, but have called Iowa my home for the past five years. I completed my bachelors degree in Chemistry at the University of Iowa last May. I loved the university so much though, that when it came to choosing graduate school, I couldn't leave. With that, I still attend the University of Iowa pursuing my Master's in Science Education. I could not be happier, surrounded by some of the best professors and people. Ideally, I hope to be teaching high school chemistry or physics. Teaching young students that science is important and FUN is a huge passion of mine. This is also where my platform comes into place--throughout my year, I plan to promote the importance of STEM education throughout Muscatine and the state of Iowa.

Although graduate school is very demanding, I also love spending time traveling, spending time with my family and friends, exercising, crafting, and so much more. My family is really important to me. I am a triplet and am very close to both of my siblings, Jennifer and Justin. They push me to be my best and are ultimately my best friends. Jennifer went to Yale for undergrad and is now at the University of Minnesota for a doctorate program in biomedical engineering. My brother, Justin went to Iowa with me for undergrad and is now working at Coyote Logistics in Chicago. Without them, I wouldn't be the person I am today. They are my number one supporters, along with my parents, and I am excited to share my journey to the Miss Iowa stage with them.

Thank you thank you thank you for all of your support and love. I have felt like the luckiest girl these past couple of days. I couldn't have done it without each and every one of you! Cheers to the new year and to my new journey to the Miss America stage!

P.S. Excuse my writing...I'm a chemist not an author :) Hope you enjoy reading about my experiences as much as I love sharing them! 

Miss Muscatine 2015 is Kristen One!

Crowning Moment!

Sister titleholders - Miss Pearl City, Christy Scimeca; and Miss Riverview, Stacy Phipps

My India Mission Trip Dec 17, 2014 - January 4, 2015

My trip to India was both the best and worst experience of my life. Never before have I been taken so far out of my comfort zone. As I know and expected, the Indian culture is completely different than our own American society; talk about culture shock! I went to India to volunteer and work with homeless children. Our group wanted to make a difference in their lives but I know that it was clearly our lives that were changed forever. I travelled with a group from my cousin's church, Living Waters Lutheran Church from Peoria, IL. Our group's lead family's parents were both from India and they knew six of the India Hindi dialects. Please know as you read this blog, I will be describing the harsh realities I witnessed. To honor the Republic of India Government's wishes and to respect the children, I cannot post pictures of our group working with the beautiful people of India.

Paul, Sumitha, Sunar and Suneet, Sophie and I with one of our guides

When we first met with the "street kids", everyone was watching the other group. For the kids, they had ever seen blonde, blue-eyed Americans before. For our group, we had ever before seen children  that were so neglected, hungry and craving for love. The amazing part was all the kids were so excited to meet and see us! They couldn't stop smiling. It was contagious. Our first meeting with the kids they performed dances for us, we talked, and gave them gifts for Christmas. We also learned about each other. Over that first meeting, I learned that the kids all had mothers, but that did not mean much. In order to have food and money, the mothers had taught their children to beg. The harsh reality is that the younger and more sick you looked, the more money passerby's will give you, to take home to your mother. When the girls were old enough, they went to work in the brothels with their mothers. The relationship between mother and child was not one of love, it was a means to an end.

The second time we met was when the kids performed their dances for the community. Until this point, we did not met the kids where they lived. It was explained to us that if we met the kids on the streets and passed out gifts, we would be swarmed. India has an unimaginable number of homeless people trying to service, with no government assistance or programs available. There are many amazing people and organizations working to stop the hunger and poverty in India, but the need is simply too great. Everywhere you look, there is a homeless person forced to beg for food to feed themselves. They have no clean drinking water, no shelter, no family and no help.

The third and final time I was able to meet with the kids was on the streets, where they live. Christmas morning on the side of a polluted river, we finally gained enough courage to pass out food directly to those kids and the surrounding homeless people. As we walked up, we were treated with giant smiles and hugs. After passing out breakfast, we were able to look around. The water source where they went to the bathroom was also their primary drinking water source. Most didn't have clothes let alone blankets for the cold nights. They didn't know what school was. The list is endless. . .

What struck me the most is that even in having nothing, the children were full of life. They couldn't stop smiling or playing around. In the worst situation I have ever seen, they were filled with joy. They have never heard of "retail therapy" before. They didn't need it. They were truly thankful for everything they were given and had. That cannot be said for children in the US.

This was one group of many I worked with in India. After such an experience, you can't help but look at your own life and think how much we take everything for granted. Be grateful for what you have been given and what you have in your life because there are others that couldn't even dream for a fraction of what we all have.