Busy April

Good afternoon! Sorry I haven't blogged in a while I have been a very busy Miss Kansas USA! I have really been sticking to my workouts and healthy eating and I could not feel any better! I also have been watching CNN daily to keep up on my current events! This past week I went to 2 different elementary schools... Rosehill and Broken Arrow of the Shawnee Mission School District. At Rosehill I went to an assembly for the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to encourage the kids to do their best on the Kansas assessments. They were a great audience and I had a lot of fun! Here are a few fun pictures from Rosehill....

This is me being introduced by the principal at the assembly!

This is the group of students who participated in the assembly!

A few days later I went to Broken Arrow Elementary for thier spring carnival to sign autographs! I went there with a big stack of my autograph cards and left with zero! I sat at a table and signed autographs, took pictures, and answered some pretty funny questions. One little girl asked me if I am Miss Kansas because I'm the presidents daughter! That might be my favorite question I've gotten so far. Here are some pictures from Broken Arrow...

Rosehill and Broken Arrow are both great elementary schools with the sweetest students I am so happy that I was able to go to both!

Yesterday I did a photoshoot with Jenny Wheat of Wheat Photgraphy and I'm so excited to get all of my pictures! I posted a couple to my Miss Kansas USA Facebook page so "Like" my page if you haven't already and take a look at them! Thank you so much for stopping by my blog :)

Jaymie Stokes

P.S. 53 days until I leave for VEGAS!!

St. Patty's Day Parade!

Hello I hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's day and a great spring break! On St. Patrick's day Miss Kansas Teen USA 2011, Taylor Clark, and I were in a parade in Topeka, the Kansas capital! We had so much fun together and it was such a beautiful day to ride on the back of a convertible. We got to hold a snake it was a little frightening but yet exciting! While the parade was moving a man came running up with his baby yelling "Will you hold my baby!!?" so I held this man's baby during the parade! We had many funny incidents like this! After the parade Taylor and I got the opportunity to meet the Kansas Governor, Sam Brownback. He was such a nice man we were honored to meet him. Overall, the the day was so much fun and we had a blast!

Also this past weekend we had another Vanbros boot camp with the incredible Valerie Hayes! We worked on interview all weekend. It was extremely helpful and I know all of us were so happy to have had Valerie there. We also had mock interviews where several people came in and asked us questions just like the personal interviews will be. I feel so blessed to have such great directors, sister states, and sponsors. This experience would not be as extraordinary without these people.

This past week my mom, sister, and I took a spontaneous trip to Castle Rock, Colorado to visit my Aunt Susie and my cousin Melissa! My mom sister and I went hiking 2 of the 3 days. It was a lot of work but the view and the weather was incredible! Here is a picture of me on top of the castle rock....

Haha. Excuse my sassy pose!

Post back soon!

*71 days until I leave for Vegas!

*86 days until Miss USA!

Jaymie Melissa Stokes

March

Hello! March has been such a fun month! I found out that I will be leaving for Miss USA on June 4th, that means I have 87 days to prepare. I cannot believe I will be in Vegas for 16 days! It sounds so long but it is going to go by extremely quick. We had a Vanbros beauty boot camp a couple weekends ago. Kim Forsyth came to Kansas City to help us 5 with our walking. We also talked a lot about what to expect at Miss USA, which made me very excited! Us five (Miss NE, MO, OK, and AK) had so much fun together and it will be great going to the pageant already knowing 4 other girls. This next weekend we have another boot camp and our focus will be with interview. Valerie Hayes will be coming to Kansas city, I have been working with her over the phone so I am excited to meet her in person!

This past Thursday I went to Lexington Trails Middle School to speak to the 6th graders. I was asked to go there by Sally Beck, the chapter advisor at my sorority, Gamma Phi Beta. I spoke about doing your best in school and working hard because you can achieve anything when you put your mind to it. I asked the kids if they had any questions and they were some of the craziest questions I have heard! Some of the question were has anyone ever fallen off the stage? and has anyone ever gotten sick on the stage? I was very entertained by the question! They were such a great group of kids and I was so happy to have been able to go to their school! Here are a few pictures...

Have a great rest of your week!

Jaymie Stokes

Elementary Schools and Girl Scouts!

Hello! I just wanted to post some pictures from some appearances I did the past couple weeks! I went to Ray Marsh Elementary school to be a part of their pep rally for the state assessments. I got to host the "Miss Math" competition! I have never seen a school with so much spirit! I also spoke a little about trying your best on the state assessments and a few tips on taking tests.

The students cornered me for autographs! One little boy said "I'm going to frame this!!!!!"

With some of the students!

Also this week I met with some girl scouts to talk about self confidence and body image. I told them  about how when I was growing up I was very self conscious because I was the tallest student in my classes. Now I am about 5'11" and I am so proud of my height! We played a little activity where they each had a piece of paper on their back and they all went around and wrote nice words to each other. On mine they mostly wrote tall and "pritty". That was such a fun experience and I'm so happy that I was able to meet this great group of girls.

Notice the girl on the far right with the NBC New York shirt! Maybe it's a sign!

The Vanbros girls have a bootcamp this weekend so I will keep you all posted! Have a great week!

Jaymie Stokes

Photoshoot Weekend

This past weekend all of the Vanbros girls came to KC for our Will Patterson fashion photo shoot! Thankfully I only live ten minutes from the hotel we stayed at so I didn't have to do any major traveling. That day we went to Sassy Chic to hangout with all the girls who were auditioning to win a prom dress. I had so much fun hanging out with Miss Kansas Teen USA Taylor Clark, Miss Missouri Teen USA Sydney Stottlemyre, and Miss Missouri USA Hope Driskill. Later that night we had a little hair and makeup Q&A with Lisa Proctor and Brian Wood. It was so helpful and we even got a few makeup items to keep!

Later that night Kim Forsyth our stylist came to mine and Taylor's room to help us pick out outfits for our shoot the next day. Taylor and I were starving because we made the mistake of napping instead of getting dinner earlier so we made a little trip to Chili's at 10:45.  We both wore leggings and leather jackets so we looked like we were a part of a biker gang haha! I wish I had a picture of this!

The shoot went great! I love all of my looks and my hair and makeup looked phenomenal, thanks to Lisa and Brian! I am so eager to get these photos!

I also wanted to add some pictures from the elementary school I spoke at last Thursday. They were all so great and I had a blast! They even gave a a Shawanoe Elementary water bottle filled with candy!

I spoke about education and how I wouldn't be where I am today without it!

I love this picture! When they took it everyone yelled "CHEEEEEEEESE" haha

Well I am speaking at Ray Marsh Elementary this Thursday so I will be sure to post pictures from that! Talk to you later.

Jaymie Stokes

Beginning of February

February has been a busy month! I have been doing a lot of things and I have many events and appearances coming up. On Wednesday the 2nd my prediction for the Superbowl (which I was correct!) was in the Johnson County Sun newspaper! http://www.kccommunitynews.com/johnson-county-sun/26690010/detail.html
On the 3rd we started thinking of designs and color ideas for my Miss USA evening gown. I am so excited about it and I think it is really going to be a beautiful gown! Also, this month I have been talking with my interview coach, Valerie Hayes. She is incredible and has so much great advice! I have been working on my video questions that we will be shooting this coming weekend.
This past Saturday I did an appearance for the Corinth Elementary school auction which was put on by their PTA. I got to wear my crown and sash with a pretty red dress while modeling a beautiful Tivol necklace. Also, I was being auctioned off to go to a little girls party and talk about confidence. The winner of the auction contacted me today and they are going to have me come to a girl scout meeting! I am so excited for that! I would post pictures from it but unfortunately they were all blurry when I downloaded them.

Now that I have told you what I have done I will tell you what I will be doing...
 I have 2 elementary schools and 1 middle school that I will be speaking at before the Kansas State Assessments. Education has always been really important to me and I believe that learning study habits and test taking skills at a young age will greatly help you to excel high school and in college.

This coming weekend we will be doing our Will Patterson fashion photo shoot with hair by James Pilatzke, make-up by Lisa Proctor, and styling by Kim Forsythe. I am so excited to see all of the other Vanbros titleholders!

And last but not least the date and location was officially announced today!!!!

Miss USA will be on June 19th at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas! I am SO excited!

Have a great week and happy late Valentines day!

Jaymie Stokes

January Events!

Last Saturday evening I did a Bridal show for Natalie M. Courtney Courter, Miss Kansas USA 2009, works at the store and recruited me to do the Disney princess themed show! It was a lot of fun because I have never worn a wedding dress in my life. I got to wear the Jasmine themed dress and it was very pretty. Here is one of the gowns that I wore....

The next day Natalie M. had another fashion show. This was themed Disney Prom and it was available for high school girls around the area to participate in. My director, John Vanetta, had me go to this and promote the Miss Kansas USA and Miss Kansas Teen USA pageant for next year. I was at a booth with my lovely mother and we handed out hundreds of flyers! There were other vendors around that I got to meet. One of them was a couple of really nice ladies selling Beijo purses. They decided to just give me a purse! It was so generous and it was a really cute handbag! My mom and I had a lot of fun talking to high school girls about the benefits of pageants and how you gain confidence and poise by participating in them. Overall it was an awesome weekend!

Be sure to follow me on twitter @MissKSUSA11 and "like" my fan page on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Jaymie-Stokes-Miss-Kansas-USA-2011/144146848976120

Have a great day and talk to you soon!

Jaymie Stokes