Miss Teen USA 2009 (Atlantis, Bahamas)

Evening gown by Carlos Alberto, Puerto Rico.


Me in evening gown. Dress by Carlos Alberto! The best gown designer out there!


Me, Kent, and My roomie (ohio), on the first day there! Love them.


Breakfast.


Our first breakfast. MMMMmmM.


Me and Calic-- chefs for a minute. Cooking!


At the cocktail party!

Some of my family and I after the pageant!


Dayana crowning me at the airport!


Hey everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since I've been on. I have finally caught up on my sleep since the pageant. I will try to make this as short as possible while still hitting major parts of my trip. First of all my flight was at 6 a.m. and I was all alone. I carried my dress on the plane with me and the pilot and crew were nice enough to let me leave it hanging in the captains den so it wouldn't wrinkle. I slept the entire flight. I had a brief stop, and continued on to Nassau where I met a lot of the girls. The first day we met each other at the Atlantis and were pretty much free to do what we wanted. The next days to come were nothing like that. I was sleep deprived. We had 18-20 hour days. Waking up at 5 a.m. every morning, getting back up to our rooms at 11 p.m., and not sleeping until 1-2 a.m. Being organized and having a clean room (which Miss Ohio and I strived for our entire trip) really helped us get ready every morning. We had a cocktail party on Tuesday, which I unfortunately had nobody to be there with. Families were allowed, but because of whatever reasons, my family couldn't make it to the Bahamas until Thursday. Nobody ever knew this, but there were times where we would be walking from one part of the hotel to another, and I would start to tear up seeing all the girl's families waiting for them in the halls, cheering them on. I just wanted to see my family and feel their love. Finally when they arrived, they came straight to the restaurant we were at, luggage and all, and surprised me. I burst out in tears! I was so happy to see them; that brought all my spirit back up. I got to see them for only a split second because the organization got notice of who they were and made them leave. I turned back to join the group, and all the girls were crying of happiness for me. It was one of the greatest bonding moments I've ever felt with a group of girls. Presentation show was on Thursday. It was so nerve wrecking, even more than the final night. You know nothing about the judges or what they want, all the choreography was new, and it was our first moment on stage. I immediately pointed out my family in the audience, and I was all smiles! Back to bed I went after that, being that I had to be up at 6 a.m. to get ready for my interview at 8 a.m. There I met the judges! My interview was TOOOO much fun. The judges were very nice; we laughed a lot. There was one time I remember in particular where one of the judges immediately asked me, "Which celebrity do people say you remember most?" All weekend I was getting it, as I did at the Michigan pageant. Jokingly I said, "I know what you're thinking, JESSICA SIMPSON RIGHT!?" She look so confused, saying "Oh, no. That is not who I was going to say at all!" Then I started laughing and said, "I am SO joking... Kim Kardashian I know, everybody thinks that once I leave my hometown!" We were all cracking up, which set the mood for my interview! After the first group of girls went to interview, the second group got to go, so I hit a couch in the lobby and took a nap. As I was sleeping I heard someone coming to wake all the girls up for breakfast, so I took my blanket and ducked under my blanket (at that point I would have rather been sleeping). One of the ladies who worked at Atlantis insisted I got up, but i didn't move. She grabbed my blanket off me and everyone started singing Happy Birthday to me. I was so shocked. I did not expect this at all. I was so overwhelmed with all the pageant stuff, I forgot it was my birthday! That was the best part of the entire trip! Finally, it was finals night. That night I was called into top 15! Nothing at that point could ruin my day. My one and only goal was to make top 15, anything from there would have been a blessing, but I put the entire situation in God's hands. Everything happens for a reason. Who knows maybe you'll see me again on one of those stages.

Cool things!

-My birthday was the day of the pageant.
-Sea lions and dolphins smiled, blew kisses, talked, and acted on command!
-I made top 15.
-I was put in a dance group for the opening number, and I can't dance choreography.
-I messed up the dance at every rehearsal, but not for the show!
-I won best hair by SEVENTEEN Magazine.
-I was delayed at the airport in the Bahamas for 5 hours, got stuck at the Ft. Lauderdale airport for 5 hrs., got put in a hotel for a night by the airline, had to transfer to Miami International, got transfered to another airline, and got delayed another hour, before we got home 2 days later than planned!



<3Kristen