Miss Orem 2011 Hannah Harkness!!

Miss Orem 2010's LAST POST

Friends, Family, and Followers,

Although I still have 2 more weeks til the Miss Orem pageant, I wanted to make sure I'd have time to write a last post since these next 2 weeks are going to be pretty busy!

First off, I want to THANK EVERYONE for helping me along this wonderful journey. THANKS to family, friends, Kim, Elisa, Committee, Royalty, City Council, Mark, Pat, Heather, and about 100 other people who made my year as Miss Orem absolutely glorious. (Note to Kim- Kim, this isn't my farewell letter. haha).

Tomorrow will make it one year as Miss Orem, and that's hard to believe! This year has been glorious yet challenging. Here are 3 things I've learned as Miss Orem:

1. The worth of a soul: one soul is of more value than the wealth of the world. And I believe that. If everyone realized their own worth AND the worth of others, we would have no hate, envy, lust, or greed. Not convinced? Exhibit A: Little girls. When I go to schools around Utah I always make sure to give the girls (and even boys:) a chance to try on my crown. In that moment in which the crown touches her head, the little girl's face glows because she feels like royalty. And she is. In that moment when I have the awesome opportunity to see these girls getting a glimpse of how much they really are worth, I see greatness. Not to forget the boys, they are also worth SO MUCH, but putting a crown on their heads just brings giggles :)

2. Importance of Service. This past year I've had my share of heartache and disappointments, but the one thing that saved me was service. We all have a tendency to sit and complain or dwell on our rotten luck or our heartache, but when we do that we only bring ourselves and those around us down. Instead of feeling awful go and SERVE and I promise you that you'll feel loads better! Exhibit B: In early September I had experienced a huge disappointment that really brought my spirits down. Luckily I had a service event for Miss Orem scheduled to help out at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. That whole day I was focused on others, and I had no time to worry about my own problems. Service is the best cure for just about anything :)

3. Smile :). I'm happy to inform you that my cheeks are 50 percent stronger than last year, because this year as Miss Orem I've smiled a LOT! Try the following: Sit in your room and just smile for no apparent reason, just smile! Yup, you'll feel good :)

Again, THANK YOU, I truly do love you, and I pray that you'll never give up on yourself or on God. I'm onto the next adventure (Miss Utah)! Come what may and LOVE IT!

LOVE,

Bridget Kreis

Miss Orem 2010

Habitat for Humanity

This morning I had the opportunity to BUILD with Habitat for Humanity. It was the end of "Women Build Week", where local female community leaders and Democratic and Republican women came together to work on the house. It was so fun to work with these educated and political female figures in our community. It was especially fun to work with women from the Orem city council (Margaret Black, Karen McCandless), they never cease to amaze me!

Today Keith (the amazing builder!) taught us how to put dry wall on the ceiling.... lets just say that it was a LOT of work, but we managed to finish the whole living room! It was such a blast to get up on the scaffold and feel like a construction worker haha. Keith even trusted me with the nail gun.... although I just held it and stared at it :).

Habitat for Humanity is such an amazing organization and I hope to help out again in the near future! (It was also fun to hear about the family that will move into the house, what a wonderful opportunity).

Tickets and Blooms :)

Attention all citizens of Orem, Utah, the United States, and the WORLD!!

Tickets for the Miss Orem Pageant are available online! Here is the link where you will be able to purchase the golden tickets:

http://missorem.yolasite.com/tickets.php

Finally, I've had something on my mind for the past couple of weeks, and I hope that it will bring a little light into your life :). Sometime ago my Grandma asked me, "Bridget, what happened to your bloom?" At first I didn't understand what she was asking me, and when I asked for clarification she said, "A rose is just a rose...but with the bloom returned...it's GLORIOUS!!" After my Grandma said this I had a lightbulb moment. Sometimes the hard times in life can take away the "bloom" from our flowers. Instead of letting our petals absorb the light that God has given us, we close ourselves off for many reasons: hurtful situations, people, or circumstances.

Luckily, we can restore our "bloom" in our lives. Here are three things that help me to restore my bloom: 1. "Embrace this day with an enthusiastic welcome, no matter how it looks." 2. "Be grateful for every opportunity to serve." 3. "When you are compelled to give up something or when things that are dear to you are withdrawn from you, know that this is your lesson to be learned right now. But know also that God wants to give you something better."

May we all restore the "bloom" to our lives :)