And the 1st ever Mr. Waseca is….

A few months back, I casually mentioned the idea of a Mr. Waseca pageant to Sadie as a way of fundraising money for our CMN accounts. We both agreed it would be a great idea! We talked it up with our directors and put it in motion right away! They were all so great with helping us along the way because they are the ones who know how to run a pageant! As Sadie and I were crazily running around getting sponsors, contestants, and advertising, Molly, Jen, and Christy were writing scripts, printing programs, and collecting silent auction baskets! 

About a month before the event, I was getting pretty nervous about how the turn out was going to be. We only had 3 locked in contestants (one being Joey, so actually 2) and little talk about it. Out of the blue I received an email from the Mankato Free Press asking about the event and if I could be interviewed (WHAT?!). After the Free Press, the Pioneer Press wrote an article and many other newspapers followed. Just a few days after, Jen called me and said the WCCO wanted to interview us (Okay, crazy right?). I was so excited! I set a date for us to meet up with Frank (yes, Frank Vascellaro) and Chris Shaffer! They were a hoot! Sadie and I taught them the fitness routine, witnessed their talents, taught them how to walk, and asked them on-stage questions. If you missed it on WCCO ,you can watch us here! Just a few days before, Molly said she heard about us on the radio! But even with the publicity, I was still nervous (just ask Sadie)! Thankfully, we had 10 contestants in no time! 

I don't remember which director said it, but one of them said that with big events, something always goes wrong. Honestly, I was not a fan of that statement. But they were right, we had a contestant drop out last minute…and the night went on :) JUST LIKE THEY SAID! 

Our contestants were such good sports (even though they all complained about the fitness routine (: ) They all got pretty creative up on stage whether it was interpretive poem reading, singing, or ripping their shirts off during the fitness routine…

Larry cooked us up a DELICIOUS Italian dish for his talent. #nomnomnom Cooking was a great talent for him to perform! Lauren and I sure enjoyed eating it (: 

My lovely sister queen, Miss South Central, Lauren, helped in the deciding factor of who would be crowned! The beautiful Miss Minnesota Outstanding Teen, Corinna Swiggum, helped us judge and impressed the audience with her sweet ka-rah-tay moves. Ken was, of course, such a hoot. I sat right next to him and he was cracking up the entire time which made my night 100x better. Our emcee was HILARIOUS. Shout out to Ann Fitch for being so great. Our event would not have been as successful without you! 

Congratulations again to Mr. Waseca 2014, Larry Johnson! Thank you for allowing us to use the American Legion and everything you do for our program! 

At the end of the night, we ended up raising $900! It was way past anything that I expected! Sadie and I could not have been more excited about it! It was such a great way to get the community involved in our program! 

Thank you to everyone who helped put this event on! Sadie and I are so grateful to all of you! 

xoxo,

Katie

Polar Plunge take 2

Yes, you read that right…TAKE 2! I was crazy enough to take the plunge AGAIN. Why? I have no idea. The plunge in Waseca had the proceeds go to the Waseca Marching Band (That's probably why…) I was a band kid in high school and I loved every minute of it (maybe not every minute, but most minutes. Definitely not when Mr. G made us do bleachers in the gym) Waseca is so lucky to have such a wonderful band program. If I wasn't in band in high school, I would not be the leader that I am today and I would definitely not have as many friends. I owe so much to this program, the least I could do was to jump into a frozen lake. 

Wondering what the heck we are doing...

And we're off! 

It was MUCH MUCH MUCH colder than the plunge in White Bear Lake. Sadie and I had the power of pink on our side though :) Also, the swords were to pretend we were fighting for Narnia…but we chickened out once we actually got up there. Whoops! Did I mention that the night before Sadie and I stayed up until 3:30AM decorating our superhero masks and watching Hercules? #sisterqueenprobs I have always wanted a little sister and I am so glad I can experience this year with her! 

The entire time up to the warming house, I couldn't figure out what was on my head! I was saying, "WHAT IS ON MY HEAD?! SADIE WHAT IS ON MY HEAD?!?!?!" And of course she was shivering and not even paying attention, so I just panicked that I had a fish on my head until we got up to change and I realized it was just my cape :) 

If you didn't notice, our pink shirts say "Girls rule the world" because clearly, they do! In case you are wondering where we got our amazing outfits, they were purchased at Wal Mart in the little girls section of all places. We just really like pink. At least I do, and I was really convincing when picking out our outfits :) 

The night before, Sadie, Alyssa, and I helped out at the American Legion's Adult Carnival. We helped with games, played games, and Larry even read us our fortune! We are so grateful for the American Legion allowing us to use their space for our Holiday Extravaganza and for our Mr. Waseca pageant on February 22 at 7PM (shameless plug). Larry has been such a wonderful sponsor and is so great about letting us use his space when necessary! THANKS, LARRY!!! 

Molly also discovered a game that "WAS JUST LIKE THE PRICE IS RIGHT!!!!!!" She was so excited about it that all of us had to try. :) If you can't tell by our faces, it was pretty exciting. Sadly though, we did not win. But Molly did get some tee shirts for us because no one can say no to the crown :) 

xoxo,
Katie

Kruger Memorial Vintage Snowmobile Dragraces

It is no secret to anyone that knows me that the Krugers have a very special place in my heart. It is always hard to think back to that horrible day, but I find myself doing it more and more often as I get older. It is still as clear in my mind today as it was 7 years ago. When someone is asked the question "Who is the most influential woman in your life?" most would answer with their mom or grandmother. Since that day in seventh grade, I have always answered "Hilary Kruger". Not that I don't love my mom and grandmas, I do love them. But Hilary has always stuck in my mind. She is the kind of woman I want to be someday. She is strong and confident and funny. She is down to earth and loving. She went through something that none of us can imagine and she came out on top. I hope that someday I am able to be half the woman that she is. 

Saturday after the parade, I headed out to the lake to see the Kruger Memorial Races. I got to catch up with Hilary and Zak for a few minutes while we watched a couple races. It is crazy to think that Zak is already a junior. I remember Hilary and Zak coming to pick up Alec from my house in seventh grade. Zak was just a little 10 year old then. He is now towering over me. It makes me so sad. I am so thankful God has put these two in my life. They are a true inspiration.

xoxo,

Katie

Sleigh and Cutter

What a weekend!!! I still haven't caught up on my sleep yet. I had to bring Joey back down to Waseca today because no matter how many times I told him he should bring dress clothes to school, he wouldn't listen. Boys will be boys I guess…but, I did get a nice nap in :) So that was a plus! 

Thursday afternoon Sadie and I attended the opening of the new Waseca Safety Center. What a beautiful building! The amount of work that the people of our community put into that project in such a short period of time is amazing. You would never know by looking at it that it was build in just a few short months. Ellie gave us a wonderful tour around the entire building! 

New parking for the firetrucks!

Trevor arrested us :(

Thursday night Sadie and I were interviewed by Frank and Chris from WCCO about what it took to be Mr. Waseca! If you watched the segment, I think it is safe to say they would both make wonderful titleholders! They were a hoot! Thank you so much WCCO for promoting our event! If you didn't catch us on tv, find it here ! 

Noah and the ladies :)

Ryan loves the crown!

Chris Brooks and the Silver City Boys!

Chris Brooks. That is all I have to say. Holyyyyyy smokes! Friday was a BLAST with my lovely team. I temporarily lost my voice from singing so much!! We literally danced the night away. Also, shout out to Lau's Meat Market for the amazing stuffed pork chops. So delicious. And to the VFW bartenders for making the best Shirley Temples ever. YUM! I also got to dance with my first one on one student, Eustice :) What a goofball. He was too embarrassed to dance with me at first because "YOU ARE MY TEACHER!" but eventually he came over and grabbed me by the arm. 

Too sleepy at the dance...

Saturday came REAL early. We were up and at 'em for the parade registration! It was only the start of an eventful day. The weather was beautiful and it was snowing just a little (it was perfect winter engagement weather). I had two of the best horses in the parade, Jeff and Rocky. Team Waseca was joined by royalty from all over southern Minnesota! It is always great to see the other girls! Special shout out to Katie Bull. :) It is so great to see all of the people that are involved with the festival! Ken does a wonderful job putting on this festival. If it wasn't for him, I am sure it would have died out many years ago. We are so blessed to have such a caring man in our community. 

xoxo,

Katie

  

Polar Plunge take 1

Saturday I was crazy enough to take the plunge! It was a balmy 12 degrees outside and myself along with 4 other of my Miss MN sisters decided to jump into White Bear Lake for the Special Olympics! We were all newbies and had no idea what to expect! After waiting a hour and a half, it was FINALLY our turn! We all stripped down to our orange and blue to represent Miss St. Paul's (Rachel Latuff) school, North View Junior High. 

Miss Midwest (Chelsea Swiggum), Miss Morris Area (Cassey HIckman), Miss St. Paul (Rachel Latuff), Miss Waseca County Sleigh and Cutter (Katie Schroeder), and Miss Mankato (Kaitie Borneke)

Of course, as we all shuffled quickly outside, all the parents wanted to take pictures of us. IT WAS FREEZING!!! But we made our way to the jumping zone! The man yelled 3-2-1 and we all jumped….or pushed each other. 

We all made it back to the warming tent. I don't think I have ever moved so fast in my life to get into warmth! Once we got back, Chelsea realized she lost her crown in the lake…whoops. But luckily, the fish didn't want it! :) 

Even though it was so cold, it was so fun! And we jumped for such a wonderful cause! 

You can click here to watch us take the plunge! 

Saturday I kick off the Waseca Sleigh and Cutter festival by plunging AGAIN in Waseca :) Also, lovely blog readers, are you from Waseca? If you are, do you know a guy who would be great at competing for the Mr. Waseca title? Contact me for more info! :) 

xoxo,

Katie

New year, new beginnings!

Hello and happy new year to you all! I hope you all had a fun and relaxing winter break! I know I did! I am now back in full swing at Bethel fulfilling my first field experience in a 3rd grade classroom in St. Anthony. I was so nervous about 3rd grade, because I have only worked with younger elementary students, so that was what I was hoping for. I know that God always has a plan for me though, and boy, is His plan great! I have a wonderful classroom of students and the best cooperative teacher! Today was only my second day and she let me plan a lesson that she would teach later in the day. I was so nervous about doing well that I'm pretty sure I redid it about five times before I considered it done! Ms. Cooper has already instilled so much confidence in my ability and I am so grateful for this experience. 

Earlier in December I had the opportunity to travel down to Fort Benning, GA to see my best friend graduate from Basic Training and AIT. It was well worth the week of make up work the week before finals! I am so extremely proud of the man he has grown to be and he is continually blessing me each and every day. Most of you know that I am the BIGGEST sap in the world, but for all of you to know, I didn't cry! So hard to believe, I know. I'm pretty sure I wasn't totally convinced it was real life though! Brittney told me a few times "This is real life, Kate." 

                                                                                                                 

Brit and I also had a wonderful experience on our last day in Georgia! After breakfast on our last day, we headed back up to our room to pack and leave for graduation only to find that our door was broken! The poor manager couldn't even get it open. The grounds worker had to come and break in for us. Luckily, we were toughing it out in the "cold" weather. It was 45 degrees. We were loving it. 

This past weekend Team Waseca went gown shopping! I was successful in finding a ramp gown and Alyssa found a beautiful evening gown for MMOT! I'll admit I am a little sad that dress shopping is over for me…I love shopping and pretty gowns. 

After shopping, we attended the Miss Minneapolis/St. Paul pageant! I would like to congratulate Rachel and Julia on being crowned Miss St. Paul and Miss Minneapolis! You are both stunning and I cannot wait to get to know you! 

Lately, I have been reading so many inspiration posts on Facebook from the Miss MN class of 2014. The stories behind their platforms and the things that have made them who they are today are so inspiring. I am so honored to be among such an outstanding group of young women. 

I love you all!

xoxo,

Katie 

Nearing the end of the semester

As the end of the semester draws near, I find myself extremely busy with Student Activities, homework, and being a queen. But somehow I manage to do everything without losing my mind! And thank goodness for that! 

Sadie, Alyssa, and I went to see the new Miss Coon Rapids and Miss Coon Rapids Outstanding Teens be crowned! Congratulations Kayla and Brianna! It was so nice to finally meet some of the other Miss MN contestants as well! 

 I would say we're a pretty good looking group!

 Thanksgiving day I had the amazing opportunity to serve those in our community who have no where to go for a meal! (Shout out to Molly Kopischke for giving me this opportunity!) I met some great people and had a wonderful time creating smiles for being in my own community! 

Last Friday the Canadian Pacific Holiday Train came to Waseca! Alyssa, Lauren, and I handed out paper bags to people in Waseca to fill with non perishable food items and bring to the train earlier in the week! Even though it was a cold night (windchill of -13!) so many wonderful citizens of Waseca showed up to support the food shelf and see the train! I also got to see smiles from those who came when I gave them some hot cocoa to sip on while listening to the performance from the band on the train! :) What a fun experience!

Freezing our tooshes off for a good cause!

SO COLD!

Saturday was the Holiday Extravaganza in Waseca! We raised over $1300 for Children's Miracle Network and our pageant fund!!!! Sadie, Alyssa, and I went around town to sell poinsettias to local businesses earlier which brought in a huge profit for us! There were also 30 vendors at our extravaganza that helped support our fund. Miss MN 2013 and Miss MNOT 2013 came to perform for us during the day too! (Even though Corrina couldn't do her karate routine, her singing was still beautiful!) We had our pictures with Santa and performed our talents for everyone. My personal accomplishment for the day was getting Rylee to get her picture with Santa. I EVEN GOT HER TO HUG HIM! I was so excited! 

Tomorrow I take off for Fort Benning, GA to see my best friend and boyfriend graduate from his basic training and AIT! I could not be more excited to see him and experience some warmer weather! (It's supposed to be in the 60s!) But, with missing a whole week of school, comes lots of homework. Especially the week before finals :( 

I love you all! 

xoxo,

Katie