So it is 4pm on a Sunday afternoon and I am sitting in my new home (Starbucks...as the power has been off since Thursday night, and I have been living in thier cafe and the gym) and realized that it has been a while since I posted a blog. So what have I been up to as of late? A lot!
Pageant Stuff: Here is an update on the pageant life as of late...I have done several appearances after coming home from nationals in August. I served as a model in Macy's shop for a cause, made an appearance at the Lee Speedway Oktoberfest, spent a weekend at Pease Air force Base volunteering at a carnival for military families and their children, walked in the Portsmouth Holiday Parade, volunteered at the NH Junior Miss Pageant, and performed as a guest skater in Passionately Pink on Ice, an ice show fundraiser at Dover Arena.
Skating in the ice show was quite a feat for me, as I have not skated a significant amount within the last year. After not skating for nearly 9 months, I decided to lace up the skates a few times over Christmas vacation. I was pleased to discover that I could actually land some double jumps cleanly, spin without getting horribly dizzy, and still pull off a pretty good Russian split! After returning to NH, I agreed to perform in the show, skated at Rochester Arena during my lunch hour several times per week, and choreographed a fun and energetic program to "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy". Although I was pretty nervous, I skated an almost clean program and had a great time.
I have also kept up my volunteer efforts with the Miss New Hampshire (MAO) Scholarship Program and had a wonderful time emceeing Miss Monadnock Region, judging Miss Merrimack Outstanding Teen, and helping prepare Miss Strafford County's Outstanding Teen, Melanie Konstant, for the state pageant. Melanie was fabulous and finished 4th-runner up! She has one year left to compete for the teen title, and I am confident that she will be even stronger next year :) I have also been working with Margo Reola, Miss University, to help her get ready for the Miss New Hampshire pageant this May. She has an unbelievable talent and is so passionate about her platform--truly a dynamite contestant. She recently hosted a benefit concert in Hampton and raised almost $3,000 to fund care packages for troops overseas. It was a wonderful event and I was honored to have Chris, my favorite army stud, by my side at this event.
Speaking of Chris, I saw him for the first time in 10 months this February while he was on leave from Iraq! He was only home for two weeks, but we had a great time together, and I even mastered the art of Ice Fishing! We also had a wonderful Valentine's Day Dinner at Gauchos in Manchester (love it...check it out!). It was sad to see him leave, but he will be back in the US for good in the end of April/beginning of May, so hopefully time will fly! It will also give me the time to make-up all the vacation time I used during his stay so I will no longer be in the "PTO hole" at work.
Onto work. I am still at the same job at eCoast in Rochester, New Hampshire, but my role has changed quite a bit. I have now transitioned to a marketing role and am officially a Marketing Communications Program Manager, managing many marketing programs for a variety of high tech clients and partners. I now have a pretty extensive knowledge of search engine optimization (yep, I can help you get found online!) and have been doing a lot more writing as well. I have written a few articles for the eCoast blog too; here's a link to my favorite: Build Better Marketing Collateral: Construct your Case Study like a Cathedral. I read/sort of became obsessed with Ken Follet's The Pillars of the Earth and had to pay tribute to him in some way!
Now about my life. Life is good. I had a great time with the Barkers over Thanksgiving and a blast at in Colorado over Christmas/New Years. The holidays were very relaxing. My company shuts down between Christmas and new years, so I had a chance to catch up with so many friends from high school and skating, spent some good quality time with the parents and the kitties, and saw Avatar...yes, I am now a huge Avatar fan!!!! I also took a last minute trip to Las Vegas in the end of January to see Lindsey Compete in Miss America! She was fantastic and I am so proud of her and her accomplishments. She was the first runner-up for the Quality of Life award and looked fantastic during all phases of competition. I also finally got to see a live performance by Cirque du Soliel and loved it!
The NH National Teenager Pageant is coming up in two weeks and I have been working hard to get everything in order to give up my title. I had such a great time
representing New Hampshire and encourage a lot of other girls to get involved in the program (there is still time to enter the pageant btw). And once again, I want to thank everyone who has helped me out along the way for their support!
Peace, Love, and No Power in Dover NH,
Erika Lehman, 2009 Miss NH ANTSO National Miss
