You can tell a lot about a girl from her shoes…

Terrin Thomas, Miss Indiana 2013 was “Miss Indiana University” before wining her state title… Hence, the red and white striped shoes complete with white netting and a tiny basketball on the toe 🙂

In another classic ‘shoe moment’ – we also LOVED this photo of Terrin during the arrival ceremony in Atlantic City.  Her stick-thin stilettos were sinking into the New Jersey Boardwalk so often, she simply decided to take them off.  As someone who ended up ruining a pair of shoes walking the boardwalk in my teeny-tiny-heels – I give props to Terrin for being smarter than I was. 🙂  See?  You CAN tell a lot about a girl from her shoes 🙂

You can also tell a lot about a girl from her reaction when she’s crowned…

Terrin’s reaction is definitely one of our favorites from the whole year!  That look of “shock and awe” is classic!  You can tell she didn’t believe she was a ‘shoo-in’ for the crown, if you know what I mean.

LOVE IT!

Now, before we move to the Junkie Watch List – We need to take a moment and recognize Indiana for their 34 contestants this year – 34 is the largest group of contestants in Indiana history!!!  Fantastic!!!  In fact, it’s their 4th year in a row to have more than 30 contestants!  That’s incredible growth for a state that only had 14-15-16 contestants during a few years back in the 90’s.  CONGRATS!!!  Great Work Team Indiana!!! 🙂

And now – who will take Terrin’s place???

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Courtney Jurick – 3rd runner up ’13, Top 12 in ’12
Morgan Jackson – IN OT ’07, Top 10 Nationals, Mom is former Miss NM
Morgan Grady – Rookie Prelim SS in AR, ’13
Gracie Lyons – 2nd runner up ’13 and Prelim SS
Megan Thwaits – 4th runner up ’12, IN OT ’08
Katelyn Marak – IN OT ’10, Top 10 Nationals, Newcomer award ’12
Audra Casterline – 1st runner up ’12, Top 12 in ’13
Pagie Conrad – Top 12 in ’12
Alyssa Slater – Top 12 in ’13
Taylor Knox – Top 10 in ’13
Emily Mishler – Junkie Dark Horse

BIG PROPS once again to our Junkie Research King for his help with our Miss Indiana post!  It’s a Fabulous thing to have a King in your corner! 🙂

GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!!  JUNKIES LOVE YA!!! 🙂  

One of our FAVORITE photos from last year’s state pageant season was this one – featuring Shelby Thompson, Sarah Stokley, Elisabeth Oliphint, Kyndall Covington and Hannah Robinson – also known as, the Top 5 at Miss Tennessee…

Talk about ‘capturing a moment’…   That Top 5 was jam-packed with stunning ladies in a super-competitive fight to the finish, but during this moment… They were all filled with child-like joy and incredibly happy to be one step closer to the title of Miss Tennessee. 🙂

The eventual winner, Shelby Thompson,  did the state of Tennessee proud this year by traveling over 70,000 miles – serving as the Governor’s official spokesperson for Character Education in TN.  Additionally, Shelby did a fabulous job promoting her platform: Big Brothers, Big Sisters and was even featured on WBIR Television out of Knoxville, TN in this video here…

The Junkies were super-impressed with the way Shelby has impacted others through Big Brothers Big Sisters – Lovely interview from a lovely titleholder!  We wish Shelby all the best in whatever path she she chooses!

Now – regarding Miss TN 2014, only 1 of the ladies in that Top 5 photo above is back – which means there’s room for some fresh faces and for some new names to break into the Top 10 this year!

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Sarah Stokley – 1st runner up ’13, Prelim SS, Top 10 at Sweetheart
Kaleigh Bullard – back-up vocalist for “Juliette” on the hit show, Nashville, OK DYW ’08 and Top 10 at Nationals, uber-talented singer, clogger and fiddler
Courtney Walker – recently lost 60 lbs, very conversational interview
Rachael Turner – Top 10 ’13, 3rd runner up TX ’12. lovely voice
Jessica Haas – Top 10 ’13 – speed painter!
Jaclyn Torrento – Top 10 ’13
Haley Lewis – Top 15 ’13

Others not to miss!
Cassidy Shephard – daughter of Kelley Cash, Miss America 1987
Stephanie McKain – Strong interview
Aria Stiles – Killer Talent, studied under same violin teacher as Gretchen Carlson
Anna Leigh Phillips – Top 15 ’12
Dacey Winkleman – MAO academic award ’13, super smart, 2nd time at Miss TN

GONNA BE A TOUGH ONE!  GOOD LUCK LADIES!!! 🙂

MAJ

Amy Crain celebrated her birthday on the same day as the Miss America finals… That’s quite a journey from the road she was on in High School…

Amy was bullied.  Badly.  What started as online messages, escalated into threatening voice mails, then verbal confrontations and finally, Amy was beaten in a physical attack.  Ultimately, she and her family chose to move and Amy attended a different high school which allowed her to have a ‘normal’ Senior year.

Naturally, Amy’s platform centers around bullying awareness and prevention.  In fact, she created a “Bullying Awareness Week” in Northwest and Central Arkansas and has shared her message with hundreds of students in every corner of the state.  If Amy’s family would’ve known their daughter would be competing on the Miss America stage on her birthday – and that she’d be selected as a Top 15 finalist – I’m certain it would’ve made her bullying days easier… But that’s not how life works.  And because Amy has known ‘ugly days’, we know that her ‘happy days’ like those at Miss America, are that much sweeter now.  Kudos for ‘going through’ the mess Amy… And for using your experience to help others. 🙂

And now – The state of Arkansas gives out A LOT of awards at their pageant… Which is fabulous – but it really forces us to do our homework!  Nearly EVERY GIRL competing has won something if they’ve ever been to Miss AR before.  Therefore, we’ve done our best – but because only 1 of the Top 5 is back this year, this one could go A LOT of different ways…

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Lauren Howell – 4th runner up ’13 – overall SS winner ’13, Top 15 and Prelim SS ’12
Mary Lacy Thompson – Prelim Talent and Top 15 ’12
Abby Lindsey – 2nd runner up ’13 – overall interview award ’13, Alpha Talent ’12
Klancy Johnson – Top 10 ’13, Prelim SS ’13
Jennifer Ulloa – Top 10 ’13 – Newcomer Award
Riley Snell – Top 10 ’13 – Newcomer Award
Kendreka Myles – Overall Alpha Talent Winner ’13
Mackenzie Moore – 2nd runner up  OT ’08, Overall Talent Winner,
Bailey Moses – 1st runner up OT ’11, Overall Talent Winner
Ashton Campbell – AR OT ’11

Also Keep and Eye On:
Samantha Hudon – Top 15 ’13
Elle Johnson – 1st runner up  AR OT ’12
Ashley Walthall – Prelim Talent ’11, Top 15 ’12

JUNKIES LOVE ARKANSAS!!!! WHOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

MAJ

Here’s the deal…

Junkies LOVE Miss Utah 2013, Ciera Pekarcik!!!  I mean – get a load of these photos and try to tell me you don’t love this girl…

That’s why we weren’t shocked in the slightest when we heard Ciera was voted “Miss Congeniality” by her peers!  She’s obviously a hoot-and-a-half — But in case you don’t believe us yet, here’s a few more photos to prove our point!

In all seriousness – Ciera spent 4 years working to become Miss Utah – which is case you don’t know, is kind of unusual for this state.  Most girls (not all of ’em, but most of ’em) are ‘one and done’ at Miss Utah – two years at the most!  But Ciera knew what she wanted… which was a chance to compete on the Miss America stage.  She continued to persevere – and made it happen!

Ciera also was instrumental in getting a bill passed in the State of Utah that also included lobbying efforts from Elizabeth Smart (if you’re under the age of 15, you might need to google that name) – a bill that requires sex abuse education to be taught in the Utah school system.  Funny and Smart!  No wonder Ciera’s beau of 7 years recently offered her an engagement ring!!!

Junkies wish Ciera all the best in her future endeavors!  We expect many awesome and silly photos like these in the years to come! 🙂

Now – remember that part above about how girls don’t usually compete year after year after year in Utah?  Yeah… So, that makes our job REALLY HARD when it comes to predicting Miss Utah 2014.  Like, really, REALLY hard.  However, while we were researching ALL 44 contestants – we discovered worth mentioning…

This year, Miss Utah asked each contestant to collect used shoes for a non-profit project called “Shoes for Love”.  The contestant with the most pairs of shoes, wins a trip to Africa with “Shoes for Love” to help deliver the shoes to orphans and people who have spent most of their lives going barefoot.  To date, we know at least one contestant has collected over 10,000 pairs of shoes!  We can’t wait to learn the total number of shoes the contestants from Miss Utah were able to collect during their Shoe Drive!!! 🙂

Ok – back to researching all 44 contestants!  To be honest – I have no clue who’s going to win this thing… This is definitely our ‘best guess’ and could be our poorest performance to date – but, that’s why we play the game! 🙂

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Hannah Harkness – 3rd RU ’12
Lindsey Lloyd – Triathlete (broke both arms), 1st place state violin soloist
Chelsi Lukens – Top 10 ’13
Mallory Rogers – Top 10 ’12
Katherine Ellis – opinion editor at The Daily Utah Chronicle
Karlie Major – Dance UDA instructor, collected 10,000 shoes
Kelby Tyler – Community Service award ’13, Pharmacy School student
Brittni Strickland – Suicide awareness platform based on personal experience
Caitlin Woods – starting a rehab clinic in her community
Kelsey Blaser – former OT contestant

GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!  JUNKIES LOVE UTAH!!! 🙂

MAJ

A lot of state queens “live their platform”… but few of them have the story that Johna Edmonds, Miss North Carolina 2013 has…

When she was seven years old, Johna had to admit she couldn’t read.  Up through the 2nd grade she simply relied on photographs inside of books to explain the story to her.  Once she admitted she couldn’t read, she was teased by her classmates and embarrassed because her own mother was a 5th grade teacher.  But that experience fueled her inner-fire – and even at a young age she refused to be labeled as someone who was illiterate.  Once she learned to read, she discovered she had what she calls an “insatiable love” of books, learning and reading.  Years later, she established the “Readers to Leaders” initiative which became the foundation for her platform today.  And as Miss North Carolina, Johna spoke to countless schools across the state – and was even named a finalist for the Quality of Life award at Miss America due to the dedication of her platform. 

Obviously, Johna’s biggest challenge has now become her greatest joy!  She recently accepted a position on the Board of Directors for “Communities in Schools” – a non-profit organization in North Carolina dedicated to encouraging and empowering kids to stay in school.  After finishing her reign, Johna plans to put her Accounting Degree from North Carolina State University to good use at Ernst & Young.  We know Johna’s story is just beginning – and Junkies wish her all the best! 🙂

And now – let’s talk about Miss North Carolina 2014!

In case you don’t know, Junkies have a serious fondness for Miss NC… and we take waaaayyyy more time than usual when researching their contestants.  But it’s easy to do – WHEN YOU HAVE VIDEOS!!!  Yes – Miss NC hosts a “viewer’s choice” contest alongside Time-Warner Cable and each contestant currently has a video that you can view too!  Just click this link and you’ll be directed to the Miss NC Viewer’s Choice page!

Thanks NC – JUNKIES LOVE VIDEOS!!! 🙂

OK – When it comes to the competition it is anyone’s game this year!  Three OT’s are competing, 2 girls are back from the Top 5 and 4 more have been in the top 10 in either ’12 or ’13.  That usually means points go ‘all over the place’ — and it should be a tight competition!  Consistency will be key… After doing our regular research AND watching videos AND googling nearly every contestant in this year’s competition – We’ve narrowed it down to this list…

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Beth Stovall – Top 11 ’13
Brianna Hester – 4th runner up ’13,  NC OT ’07
TyNia Brandon – 3rd runner up ’13
Kensely Leonard – Top 10 ’12, great video
Victoria Huggins – Top 10 ’13
Maddisson Sheppard – Top 10 ’12
Kayla Hollingsworth – NC OT ’10
McKenzie Faggart – NC OT ’12
Cheslie Kryst – Well spoken, law student, former athlete at Univ. of South CarolinaMolly McKinney – Junkie Dark Horse

JUNKIES WILL ALWAYS LOVE NORTH CAROLINA!!!  ALL THE BEST!!! 🙂

MAJ