One LEAP at a Time

February was another jam-packed month! Between the Miss Clinton County Princess Program and the last locals winding down, I have been on the constant go. Though, I would not have it any other way. 

On February 13th the Miss Clinton County board, Miss Clinton County, and Miss Clinton County's Outstanding Teen held the very first Princess Program at Bemis Pavilion. We were joined by four sweet and rambunctious little girls: Jenna, Bella, Natalia, and Kenzie. The Princess Program is designed to be a mentoring program between the princesses and the titleholders. Both sides benefit from this exciting and fun relationship. The program is designed for girls who are looking to improve upon skills that promote self-confidence and poise and find mentoring from today’s young leaders. 

The girls had a packed day full of Community Service, Arts & Crafts, Lunch, and More! Each little girl received a tiara and decorated her own sash for her crowning moment. It's surprising in how such a short period of time a little girl can teach you so much and touch your heart. Each second with these little girls your eyes are opened to a whole new world. To them, we are role models and mentors. To us, they are inspiration, motivation, and teachers. Together we grow. Together we have a blast! The next few months together will go by extremely fast.

The end of the month was filled with local pageants. February 20th housed Miss Johnson County and February 21st was Miss Burlington. I attended Miss Johnson County with the Miss Clinton County Board as well as my Alpha Chi Omega little Katie Markey. We had an absolute blast. The next day, I traveled with Miss Iowa, Taylor Wiebers, to Burlington. Sunday was a day full of singing, laughing, and fun. Congratulations to Christy Scimeca, Halie Struecker, Paige Siegworth, and Ally Markey on their titles.

                                                  

                                             

The last thing I want to leave you with, is to be yourself no matter what someone else thinks. If they dislike you, most likely they are jealous. Always continue to be the best you every single day whether that be at school, with your friends, or with yourself. Remember, you have to live with yourself. They do not. So why would you want to be anyone other then who you are? Being different is more fun. Be Original. Be Unique. BE YOU!

Have a FABULOUS March!

The Year of the Monkey

Happy New Year! Like always the past month has been extremely busy! But, I would not have it any other way. From Miss Muscatine to the Brry Scurry, I had an exciting month.

The Miss Muscatine pageant was a blast. The Clinton County board members, my mother, and I began by attending the Runway and Rhinestones event. The entire event was fabulous, not to mention Mallory Hagan was the keynote speaker. The lessons Mallory gave to the audience will never be forgotten. At last, pageant time rolled around. The contestants were all extremely worthy of the titles. I would love to give a special shoutout to Miss Jessica Baker the 2016 Miss Pearl City and Kaylee Jones the 2016 Miss Muscatine. Congrats ladies!

January 16 was a fun-filled day full of dancing, decorating cupcakes and picture frames, doing make-up, and karaoke! Miss Iowa, Taylor, came down to Centerville to help give a diva bash for fabulous little girls. I know we both had a blast. We delivered the cupcakes we decorated to the police and the fire stations. A fabulous day with excited girls!

Next up was Miss Cedar Valley! I traveled to Cedar Rapids with my little, Miss Katie Markey, to watch the wonderful women compete and her sister give up her Outstanding Teen title. The Miss Clinton County board met me there to watch the extremely smooth pageant. Congrats to Michaela Rader Miss Cedar Valley's Outstanding Teen, Molly Schunicht Miss Cedar Valley, and Anna Masengarb Miss Palisades! 

I spent the first weekend in February in Clinton at the 35th Annual Brry Scurry. I had the honor of emceeing the event at Clinton Community College. We had a fabulous turnout and gorgeous weather! It couldn't have been better! 

As always, I end with my advice for the day/month. Today it comes in quote form. 

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

Everyday presents a new challenge, a new opportunity. Where will you take it? Will you let fear conquer you or will you embrace it and jump into the future? That is all.

2016 Iowa Caucus

Today is the day everyone has been waiting for. Oh, wait! That's tomorrow when all of the political ad campaigns calm down in Iowa. I do not know about you, but I can not wait for them to be done airing.

I am extremely excited for today. Today is the day I begin my first step as a registered voter in the Presidential election. Finally! I have been waiting for this moment since the last Presidential election where I fell short by one year of age.

You bet I am going to be caucusing tonight. For whom, I will not say. For those of you who do not know how or what the Iowa Caucus involves, let me give you a little lesson from the 2016 Iowa Caucus webpage.

"The Iowa presidential caucuses are local party precinct meetings where registered Republicans and Democrats gather, discuss the candidates and vote for by party preference to elect delegates to the 99 county conventions and choose their candidate for their party’s nomination.

The purpose of the caucus vote is to select delegates to attend a county convention. Each caucus sends a certain number of delegates, based on the population it represents. The delegates at the county convention in turn select delegates to go to the congressional district state convention, and those delegates choose the delegates that go to the national convention.

Presidential preference on the Republican side is done with a straw vote of those attending the caucus. This vote is sometimes done by a show of hands or by dividing themselves into groups according to candidate. In precincts that elect only 1 delegate they choose the delegate by majority vote and it must be a paper ballot.

The Democrats have a more complex system. In a typical caucus, registered democrats gather at the precinct meeting places (there are close to 2,000 precincts statewide), supporters for each candidate have a chance to make their case, and then the participants gather into groups supporting particular candidates (undecided voters also cluster into a group). In order for a particular group to be viable, they must have a certain percentage of the all the caucus participants. If they don’t have enough people, the group disbands, and its members go to another group. The percentage cut-off is determined by the number of delegates assigned to the precinct.

Democratic candidates must receive at least 15 percent of the votes in that precinct to move on to the county convention. If a candidate receives less than 15 percent of the votes, supporters of non-viable candidates have the option to join a viable candidate group, join another non-viable candidate group to become viable, join other groups to form an uncommitted group or chose to go nowhere and not be counted. Non-viable groups have up to 30 minutes to realign, if they fail to do so in that time, they can ask the for more time, which is voted on by the caucus as a whole. If the caucus refuses, re-alignment is done and delegates are awarded. A “third party” may hold a convention to nominate one candidate for president and one for vice president as well. The results of this caucus activity on both the Democratic and Republican sides are not binding on the elected delegates, but the delegates usually feel obligated to follow the wishes expressed by the caucus-goers. Thus the initial caucus results provide a good barometer of the composition of Iowa’s national delegation."

This sounds complicated because the Iowa Caucus is. This year special measures are being taken to make sure there is no miscounting or mishap on which candidates win the Caucus. The State of Iowa is not publishing the winners until the state is 100% sure of the winners.

So, if you are still confused on how the Iowa Caucus works, watch this video.

WATCH ME!!

I hope everyone has a chance to go out and caucus tonight in the State of Iowa. Everyone should want a say in which candidate will become the next President of the United States and this is how it starts. We are the first in the nation to have a say, so why not start a trend?! GO OUT AND CAUCUS!

State of the Union 2016: Be Aware, Don't Share

Tuesday January 12, 2016.

What does this date mean? It could mean absolutely anything but in the world of prescription drugs, January 12 is a whole new beginning.

President Obama in his State of the Union address promised to provide assistance and focus on prescription drug abuse. President Obama stated prescription drug abuse would be a bipartisan first concern.

"Tonight marks the eighth year I've come here to report on the State of the Union. And for this final one, I'm going to try to make it shorter. I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa. I also understand that because it's an election season, expectations for what we'll achieve this year are low. Still, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the constructive approach you and the other leaders took at the end of last year to pass
a budget and make tax cuts permanent for working families. So I hope we can work together this year on bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform, and helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse. We just might surprise the cynics again."

 President Obama issued a Memorandum to Federal Departments and Agencies back in October with two important steps to help and combat prescription drug abuse:

1. Prescriber Training.

1. Improving Access to Treatment

The release from the White House stated, "More Americans now die every year from drug overdoses than they do in motor vehicle crashes and the majority of those overdoses involve prescription medications. Health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for opioid pain medications in 2012 – enough for every American adult to have a bottle of pills.  Opioids are a class of prescription pain medications that includes hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, and methadone.  Heroin belongs to the same class of drugs, and four in five heroin users started out by misusing prescription opioid pain medications.

In 2010, the President released his first National Drug Control Strategy, which emphasized the need for action to address opioid use disorders and overdose, while ensuring that individuals with pain receive safe, effective treatment.  Since then, the Administration has supported and expanded community-based efforts to prevent drug use, pursue ‘smart on crime’ approaches to drug enforcement, improve prescribing practices for pain medication, increase access to treatment, work to reduce overdose deaths, and support the millions of Americans in recovery."

This is a major issue in our country. Today's news headlines are filled with stories about "pill mills" and "doc shopping," and while they are real problems, they are not the primary suppliers.  Neither are typical drug dealers on the street. 

So where do they get it, and what exactly is “it?”  It is the typical pharmacy drug found in average household medicine cabinets across the United States.  That means that the person who is subscribed the medication has become the supplier and does not even realize it. That means, it’s you and me, parents and grandparents, friends and family.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2013) that 67 percent of the abused drugs come from friends and families.  Naturally, adults keep their prescription medications accessible so they have it when they need it – in the bathroom, on the nightstand, on the kitchen counter, in her purse.  But what adults don’t realize is these medications are now handy for teens to take.  Parents and grandparents, the "unwitting suppliers," must be made aware and not share their medications. What’s the solution?  What can we do to help combat this problem?  

The solution is Awareness.  Simply put, if we make people aware, they won’t share.

The President's announcement in October gives new efforts at the federal, state, local, and private sector aimed at addressing the prescription drug and heroin epidemic. In addition, CBS, ABC, the New York Times, Google, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and other companies will donate media space for Public Service Announcements about the risks of prescription drug misuse.

I hope in 2016 we can make this a reality. 

To see more facts visit https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/10/21/fact-sheet-obama-administration-announces-public-and-private-sector.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Again! It has been a whirlwind of a month! From traveling to the Big 10 Championship, taking finals, Christmas, New Years, and the Rose Bowl I have been on the go! Like Always! :)

I began December with an outstanding trip to Indianapolis, Indiana for the Big 10 Championship. I was proud and honored to have been able to watch my Hawkeyes. The atmosphere surrounding the game was unreal. Hawkeye fans out numbered Spartan fans 4 to 1 which was evident in the stadium. Even though we did not win the game, the support and Hawkeye pride could not have been out matched.

As soon as I returned from Indianapolis, it was time to cram for finals. Though this is generally the most stressful time of the semester, I have taught myself many ways to relax and not have a panic attack during studying. My favorite way to relax is to color! That's right! I buy myself a coloring book and engage my imagination. I find coloring is a fabulous way to calm and center my mind during the strenuous time. So the next time you feel stressed, grab some colors and take an adventure into your childhood.

Christmas was a family affair. My family stuck with tradition this year. We attended mass Christmas Eve and waited for Santa to tell us if we were naughty or nice. Christmas day was full of the typical hustle and bustle. My Aunt Susie, Uncle Chris, cousin Will, Alex, and Andrea as well as my brother JT, sister-in-law Michelle, niece Charlotte, and nephew Camden arrived at our house. We opened gifts, feasted, and enjoyed each others company for a day and a half. Overall, It gives light and a reminder as to why this is the most joyous time of year.

My parents and I spent our New Years in California for the Rose Bowl. Once again cheering on our Iowa Hawkeyes. There is just something about Hawkeye football that makes the Lange gang travel. We arrived on Tuesday where we traveled to Long Beach to see the USS Iowa, a very eye-opening experience. We even made the KWWL news! We finished our first day at California Adventure where my mother and I went on the BEST rolla coster ever, California Screamin'.

Wednesday we went to the President's Tailgate in downtown Los Angeles. Afterward, we traveled to Hollywood Boulevard and saw the walk of stars. On our way back to the hotel, we were stuck in traffic for two hours!! Talk about a nightmare.

On Thursday, we woke up bright and early to travel to Catalina Island. Catalina is absolutely gorgeous. The sights were breath taking which were enhanced further when my mother and I zip lined through the canon. We drove a golf cart around the island in order to take in all of the views and ate a little seafood bistro right on the ocean. All in all, a fabulous and long day. 

Finally, New Years Day arrived and it was time for the football game. We started our morning at the Rose Bowl Parade. The floats were extraordinary with thousands upon thousands of flowers used to decorate them. After the parade, we made our way down to the Rose Bowl stadium for a pre-game alumni tailgate and the game. Although the game did not turn out how everyone wanted, the day surrounding the Rose Bowl was an experience in itself. 

December has treated me well. I look forward to the next month and the opportunities that it brings. Tonight I want to talk about motivation. Motivation is what drives us all. It gives us the courage to do things we may not have thought we could. Where does motivation come from? Where do we find it? Motivation comes from everything that surrounds us and what makes us happy. Whether that be your favorite team winning or your family, motivation is all around us. We find our motivation in the "little" victories each day. Even if that victory is choosing an apple instead of a cookie. Celebrate those. They give you the motivation to continue to push toward your goals whether they be long term or short term. Have a fabulous January! 

Bright Lights, Bright Community

November was a little bit of a slow month for Miss Clinton County. Though I still got in a few appearances, I spent more time cherishing my friends and family. Obviously Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks for everyone and everything we have in our lives. I took this to heart as my family surrounded me for the days surrounding Thanksgiving.

We truly do not know what we have until it is gone. For that reason, on these special holidays we must sincerely appreciate everything which makes up the world around us. I was fortunate to have two of my three brothers with their families join us for Thanksgiving along with my niece and three nephews.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving I traveled to Clinton to assist at the Symphony of Lights 5K. Saturday night was a chilly night but that didn't stop the 210 runners from coming out! Congratulations to all of the winners. What a great way to ring in the holidays!

On December 3, I along with the Miss Clinton County Board volunteered at the Symphony of Lights gate. We had a blast and I even got to see the lights afterward! Who doesn't love jamming to Christmas music and seeing gorgeous lights. Thank you to the Symphony of Lights board for a fantastic job!!

As I head into finals week, I realize the importance of taking "me" time. I encourage you to take one hour at least this next week to something you enjoy that you wouldn't normally do. Challenge yourself, relax, and have fun. Be your own inspiration.