April 9 and 10

Sunday was another day of rehearsal from 8:30-4:45 pm. We then had 30 minutes to run up to our rooms and get ready for an evening with the Best Buddies program of Baltimore. Best Buddies is a non-profit national organization that pairs people with disabilities with a "buddy" so they may have regular interaction. My buddy was a 40-year-old woman named Kenice.

She was so fun to be around and kept telling everyone she met that she lived on her own in a one-bedroom apartment. I didn't want to ask her what her disability was because it didn't really seem like she had one or that it really mattered. I was able to have normal conversations with her like I would anyone else. When the buddies first got to the Wyndham we were loaded onto four "Ride the Duck" buses. The Ducks transition from buses to boats and we were able to drive them straight into the water! We were each given "quackers" that made duck noises and we had so much fun blowing them during the ride.

When our Duck ride was over, we were taken to the Baltimore Science Center for dinner and fun. We even got to lay on a bed of nails!! I could tell Kenice had a lot of fun looking at all the hands-on exhibits, especially the tornado simulation and the pulley ropes.

I was pleased to learn that the Best Buddies program has been in Phoenix for several years! The Miss Universe Organization has made Best Buddies it its official charity for Miss Teen USA, but Miss USA and Miss Universe are also able to participate in the fun!

That reminds me, during our tour of the Cover Girl Factory a couple days ago, we were able to meet Chelsea Cooley, the current Miss USA. I can certainly see why she won the crown last year. She is gracious, poised, humble, beautiful, and extremely well-spoken, everything a Miss USA should be. She is such a delight and I can't wait to get to know her better over these next ten days. We also met Carson Kressley, this year's backstage commentator! He came into one of our rehearsals and filmed some stuff for the telecast. He pulled me out of the group (glasses, ponytail, visor, and all) with Miss Louisiana USA and made a joke about one being very wet, the other very dry, and that we should stick together! He seems really fun, from what we talked about yesterday. Chelsea and Carson also joined us with Best Buddies!

This morning I had to wake up at 5:30 to reshoot some photos of my evening gown (not the Fadil Berisha photos) because the ones I took last week came out fuzzy. Two other girls were also there to reshoot. A little after 9am we left for Savage Mills for some shopping!!

It was a very cute shopping center with many different shops, galleries, and studios..not your typical shopping mall, but we had a great time nonetheless! We stayed for lunch then headed back to the Wyndham for rehearsal. That lasted from 1:30 until 9pm (of course we had a break for dinner). An early night?! What are we to do with ourselves?

On my way back up to my room I stopped in the hospitality suite where I had three letters and a package waiting for me! Thank you to everyone who has sent me cards and letters. I don't think you realize how much we look forward to getting them every day! Thank you also to my fabulous director, Britt, for the flowers I received last week. They make our room smell soooo good! The package I got today was from my awesome personal trainer, Justin Popovics, of Built2Win. I won training services with him when I was crowned Miss Arizona USA in November and we got right to work! I am so proud of how hard I have worked and am so grateful for Justin's support and encouragement. He send me the best care package stocked full of necessities: protein bars, protein shakes, snack mixes, band-aids, cotton balls, safety pins, water bottles, makeup sponges, vitamins, and so much more! It was like Christmas!

I get to sleep in until 7 tomorrow morning (I never thought getting up at 7am would be sleeping in...) and we have breakfast then rehearsal at 9:30. I think it will go until about 3pm then we have another event in the evening, though I'm not quite sure what that will be. I want to wish my boyfriend Jim a Happy Birthday! He's 23 today (April 11, as I'm writing this after midnight local time) and I am very sad that I cannot spend the day with him, but I'll see him when he comes to Baltimore on the 21st!

Until next time...
Love and Blessings,

Brenna