Life doesn’t always follow your plan.
It seemed so simple to me. My good friend Katie and I were training like CRAZY getting ready for our respective state pageants. I was caught off guard when I won my pageant, I thought for sure that I wasn’t going too. Then I was caught even more off guard when Katie didn’t win her pageant, not because she did anything wrong, but because on that weekend, that year, and for those judges, she was not the person to be chosen.
Survivor’s Guilt
This is a real thing. I couldn’t even begin to explain how awful and horrible I felt. Katie had wanted to be a state titleholder for as long as she could remember. She had literally gone to school for it being the first person in her family to graduate from college with her degree in history and a specialty in cowgirls/rodeo queens. She knows more information about rodeo than even my own sister (who is a bona fide genius). Seeing her after the pageant was devastating, she felt as if she had let me down.
Going on without her, without all of our plans, was really hard.
Everything happens for a reason though and I think that both of our lives have improved dramatically based on the course of events that God had laid out for us. Katie has regrouped, been reinvigorated and she is content being herself and the brand that she has created for herself.
I, well, I have learned to walk on my own two feet in the queen world, having the opportunity to form my own opinions but, the most important part, I got this amazing opportunity to reign with Miss Macy LaValley of Cheney, Washington.
Fear of Friendship Aversion
I guess my biggest fear with Macy winning and everyone already knowing about “Katie Squared” via my blog, was that Macy would form some sort of friendship-aversion to me. I come from the sports world, a world that teaches you better than anyone else that scores are the way they are for a purpose, a reason, and so I took faith in the scoring system without any thought of doubting it.
Unfortunately, although I saw her at a few events, I never really got the chance to see Macy. Every time we talked it was charming and wise. I listened to a radio interview she did for a radio station in Washington in the spring and couldn’t help but be impressed with her composure, speaking ability and intelligence. It’s not that I doubted that any of that existed, but many state titleholders spend their time quiet and in hiding; especially when it’s compared to me and all that I do on social media! (#SorryNotSorry)
Miss Rodeo Oregon Host Week
It wasn’t until Miss Rodeo Oregon Host Week that I finally felt that Macy and I had the opportunity to connect. No one, and I mean, NO ONE is more put together than Macy LaValley. No matter if it’s 5 o’clock in the morning or 11 o’clock at night she always looks fresh, energized and ready to go! I am absolutely envious of her for this trait and totally admire how she performs this voodoo magic!
The best part about the quality time that we get to spend together on big host trips is that we get to know each other a little bit better. It’s obvious, from the start, that we are all going to at least have rodeo/horses in common. It turns out Macy and I have a whole lot more in common!
Did you know that Macy wanted to go to school for culinary arts? But she had promised her parents that she would go to a four-year university and a four-year university with a culinary arts program doesn’t exist. This I know because I TOO wanted to go to school for cooking… but I also needed a Division I school with a basketball team. We couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that we both stated that if we happened to miraculously stumble across a lot of scholarship money at the Miss Rodeo America Pageant we would both be heading off to Culinary Arts school!
The second thing is that we also have a love of adventure, travel and history. I don’t think you could have ever found two rowdier individuals in the Pendleton Underground Tours than the two of us! Macy totally understood how we just HAD to know where every set of stairs, every trap door, and every fake wall led. The history of the underground and the people that lived there avoiding the law and so much more just absolutely blew my mind! As well as Macy’s! People on our tour got a kick out of us, especially Macy’s, absolute love of the adventure that the history of Pendleton brought to us! 
We’re also pretty big sports fans and, I’ve got to say, that I am totally jealous of her Seahawks themed chaps!
The Future
Macy and I are guaranteed to be together in one more place in the future… well two but not counting the Miss Rodeo America Pageant, we will be at the Columbia River Circuit Finals in Yakima, Washington November 4th – 5th. There… well just be prepared for a lot of fun. Macy and I are both passionate about the Rascal Rodeo program; Macy’s chaps are even a tribute to her brother who has Cerebral Palsy. We love getting the opportunity to work with Ann-Erica and her phenomenal gang as well as the many cowboys and rodeo personnel who partake! 
If Macy wins the title of Miss Rodeo America 2017 she will make Washington the first state to ever win the title back-to-back and if anyone could make history like that I have absolute faith that Macy LaValley, Miss Rodeo Washington 2016, could do it! Be sure to cheer her on in Vegas!
Pacific North West Country Girl 