Black and Blue Ball and Pound the Pavement for Parenthood Run

These past few weeks have been extremely busy from the Black and Blue Charity Ball to the Orem Summerfest, to Miss Utah. I've had such a fantastic time throughout the madness! One of my favorite parts of these past few weeks has been becoming closer to my royalty and my little sister Jackie. We've had so many great bonding moments like having a spontaneous dance party to the Cupid Shuffle in front of our parade float. I'll go into more detail later...

For the first weekend in June, Abby and I had the opportunity to volunteer at the Black and Blue Charity Ball for muscular dystrophy at the Grand America Hotel. Our duties consisted of promoting the various games the ball provided, providing bid numbers and tables to the guests, distributing various materials for the games, collecting the donated money, and acting as escorts. There were so many well known and powerful people there that it was a little intimidating addressing them, but they were all very cordial and patient as I acclimated to the role of hostess.

It was a very rewarding experience. We met several people and made many friends throughout the process. The girls pictured are those who contributed their paintings for the auction held at the ball. They are INCREDIBLY gifted painters. One girl is entering her senior year of High School and she painted a stallion which sold for the highest bid of the night. The other is still in Elementary School and painted a darling picture of an owl. They truly show that despite the curveballs life may throw, you can make the best out of any situation.

The next day, Jackie and I attended the "Pound the Pavement for Parenthood" 5K run at Lakeside Sports Park in Orem. Jackie and I were asked to sing the National Anthem to commence the event and we were terrified! We had time for a quick run through and then we sang. It wasn't as scary as I had anticipated, and it was great for both Jackie and I to get out of our comfort zones! 

Following that, we headed to the water station located at the halfway point in the 5K. I'm actually not sure if it was the halfway point... but as we were cheering on the runners it felt appropriate to sing Bon Jovi's "Oh you're halfway there. Whoooa, livin' on a prayer!" so we did. We also would hand water to the runners as they passed by and cheered them on. They were all such great sports, especially for running in the intense heat!

After distributing water to the runners, we had time to greet some of them at the finish line. We also got to meet cute little guys who were thrilled to be freshly out of school. Jackie and I had a great time talking to and getting to know them.

These two events were so exciting and I enjoyed being a part of them. It was amazing to see the generous donations from the community to these causes. People took time out of their day to run a 5K to raise money for infertile couples so that they can build their families. Other people donated money so that children who suffer from muscular dystrophy could attend a summer camp with others like them, giving them a chance to enhance their self-esteems and recognize that they are not alone in their struggle. 

My thought of gratitude today correlates with the actions these people rendered and render to help others. I'm so grateful for people who look outside of themselves and their own personal struggles. Being human, it's easy to be solely focused on ourselves, our lives, what to eat for breakfast, you name it; yet, the moments where we direct our thoughts and energy towards others and their happiness are the ones which we remember most.

Much Love,

Jesse Craig

Miss Orem 2015-2016