Memorial weekend

Hello everybody!
This past Sunday I was honored by being invited to Cragun's Resort in Brainerd, MN for their annual Memorial Day event(s). They hosted the Cragun's family fun day and I've got to say- that was a BLAST! They started the morning off with a parade around the back of the resort, on the shore line! I had my very own golf cart, and Bailey Wachholz (MMOT 2012) got to drive me! (: Miss Central lakes OT Lizzy Thurlow and Miss Brainerd Lakes OT Serena Schriefels; was in a golf cart in front of Bailey and I! We almost played a game of bumper cars, but decided it wouldn't be the best idea for me to go to MAOT with broken bones! Maybe next time girls!(: After the parade, we all gathered on the lake shore in a little picnic area where a podium was set up! There were SO many amazing speakers at the event! They told of war, sorrow, love, peace, happiness, compassion, and heroism. Personally, I think the most touching speech was given by Col. Lowell Kruse. Every word he said truly came from the heart, I could see he was fighting back tears, and I myself was crying with the words he spoke. I never realized how much Americans take our military for granted. I was asked to speak, right after all of these amazing speakers, and I just felt unworthy! These amazing men who got up and spoke! Wow. I'm still in awe. Following the speakers; they retired the colors and the fun began. They had different vendors, food, live music, and games for all ages! It was so much fun! All of the queens had a caricature done, and they turned out pretty hilarious! I can't wait to frame these! (: at the kid's games on the beach- I approached a you g girl wearing a wolf ridge sweatshirt! For those of you who do not know what wolf ridge is, it is a camp that 5th graders go to for about a week to learn about nature, and I still think it was one of the best things I've ever done and completed! Well, I was talking her, Lauren, about her experience at wolf ridge and I asked Lauren what school she went to; she replied "Westwood" I was like, whoa, wait a second Westwood elem. in Prior lake, MN? She gets really excited and says YEAH! And then I asked who her teacher is, and she said "Mrs.Timmerman!" I was in shock! Not only did I spend my 5th grade year at Westwood elementary in Prior lake, I also had Mrs. Timmerman, and so did my older sister Chelsea! It really is such a small world! I ended the day riding in a military humvee! WHOA! It was so cool! Mr.Wenzel (I do not know his military status) drove Lizzy, Serena, and I and we had an absolute blast! We talked a lot about his experience being deployed twice over seas to Iraq, and we cracked some rumors! Yes, it is true that the boys over there constantly have their guitars out, and are constantly jammin'! Those Vehicles can seriously take a beating! We found that out the hard way when we backed into a tree!(: It was all in good fun!
On Monday I was invited to the Nisswa American Legion for another Memorial Day service! It was very very emotional! I did not speak at the event, I was simply there to give thanks to the veterans, the fallen soldiers, and the current and active military officers. I managed to keep my tears under control through out the program, but the minute the singer sung his rendition of "God Bless the USA" I lost it, and so did just about every other person in the audience. Halfway through the song when he sung "and we proudly stand up, next to you and defend her still today"; the entire room stood and sung along with him. It was so moving and so breath taking! I will never forget that moment. It was absolutely incredible.
Please take a moment out of your day to thank a military member, whom ever they might be! Shake their hand, nod your head, make it known that you respect who they are. We take our military for granted, and that is not right! Without the men and women risking their lives everyday for us, we would not have the many freedoms and liberties that we do today. I've made it my life mission to always honor those in the armed forces; and to always give a helping hand to those who need it.
Love Always and Forever,
Corrina Marie Swiggum!

OH! And P.S- my 16th birthday is on June 12th! 15 days away! (: don't worry, I will not be driving any time soon!

Here piggy piggy piggy piggy!

So yesterday, I got to dissect the pig! My class only had time to open the mouth of the pig, and I made my partner do it! It was really gross, and hopefully ill have more to say about the actually dissection when we have more time to look at the pig next week! The guys in my science class had a lot of fun picking on all of the girls, including me, by chasing us with the pigs. One word, GROSS!!!!!!!!! Definitely will never forget this.
On a happier note I'm on my way up to Cragun's resort in Brainerd, Minnesota for the veterans appreciation day for memorial weekend! I'm excited!
Love Always and Forever,
Corrina Marie Swiggum <3

Owatonna school district!

I spent all day Friday having the time of my life! Being in the Owatonna school district showed what being Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen is all about! I started off the day at KOWZ 100.9 radio station! It was so much fun! Molly and Craig were so incredibly funny, and made me laugh so many times on and off the air! Now I'm like a pro radio person saying "on and off the air" (: who knows maybe ill be a radio DJ in the future!

Talking with Molly and Craig on the air!

Molly and Craig


I went to the Elementary school and walked in heels up and down all of the hallways and stairs! Lets just say my legs are still VERY sore! It was all worth it though because when I got to all of the classrooms, the kid's faces lit up and suddenly every question in the entire world came to their minds! (: I didn't mind though because most of those questions were hilarious! A few favorites include do you have a king? Are you a real princess? How does your crown stay on your head? Where did you get your dress? Do you live in a castle? A few questions the kids asked me, weren't really questions, they were more like stories that had nothing to do with what I was talking about. BUT I loved them anyways, they were so funny and I love listening to kids try and make sense of things! After visiting 9 classrooms, I (tried) to make my way back to my car! Thank you so much to principle Beth Svenby for letting me come to their school!

talking to some of the kindergartners

 

 

Talking with a 4th grade class!


We met up with Val Rose, an amazing woman that was on my South Central OT committee, at the Owatonna high school! I had two sessions with both girls and boys that came from all grades, and backgrounds! I had some students who were so interested and so willing to ask questions and they really enjoyed it, then there were some who say there with blank faces as if I was telling them the history of the encyclopedia. By the end though, I made everyone smile and laugh and that is one of my many goals I have with my platform! Unfortunately, during my first seminar they had a lock down drill! Ill never forget what one of the older young ladies said as we were all rushing into the room, "But Corrina is here, she has weapons! She'll protect us!" And another theory my mom had about why the lock down occurred is because the administrators heard my yells, came to check out what was happening and saw my kamas (karate weapons)! I don't think that's true though, but who knows, maybe it was!(:

Teaching "wrist flicks" to some of the high schoolers

 

Giving a few more pointers while they were Practicing!

 

I not only went to the elementary school and high school, but I also went to the local daycare center! Kids Korner is a day care center with kids up to kindergarten! I visited 7 of their classrooms, mostly to visit and I told them 2 easy safety tips. Tell your guardian where you are at all times, but also always have a buddy or trusted adult with you. I got asked some pretty funny questions, and stories just like every little kid wants to ask!

Answering one of the many funny questions asked

Acting silly with the preschoolers! Best class ever(:

 

To end the night, I was invited to the junior achievement fundraiser at spare time bowling alley in Owatonna! Junior achievement is a program for kids to learn different skills, and lessons to help them for when they are older and independent! I have never heard of the program until they invited me to their fundraiser; but Claire, one of the children involved in the program, told me all about it and she was my teacher for the night, telling me all about the different skills she has now like balancing a check book, and she's in the process of learning how to calculate taxes! What?! I can't even do that! She is one smart girl, and I can already tell she's going to be an amazing young woman!


Well I think that wraps up this weekend but Friday night ill have another short blog posted about my experience of pig dissection! One word, ew! We will see how this goes! Oh and only about 12 days left of my school year, which means we are that much closer to the Miss Minnesota pageant! I'm sad to see Siri go, but at the same time I can't wait to see which lucky woman gets crowned to represent our state! (:
Love Always and Forever,
Your Miss Minnesota's Oustanding Teen 2013,
Corrina Marie Swiggum

Park rapids/governors fishing opener

Last Friday, I was in Park Rapids, Minnesota for not only the governors fighting opener but I also went to the local elementary/middle school and presented my platform "self defense:awareness is key"! It was great! The students there were amazing, the 7th and 8th grade girls were funny, kind, and they appreciated my weird-ness! (: I had a chance to walk around the school and see some of the kids in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade! I went into one of the music classes and sang the national anthem with them, and the school fight song which was set to the theme song of spongebob! They shared another song with me, along with cute choreography, and I realize that those 2nd and 3rd graders are better at choreography then my entire high school choral department! (: I sang to them a verse of my favorite song, Bless the Broken road by Rascal Flatts and it was great when all of the kids gave me a standing ovation!(: I presented to the 7th and 8th grade girls during their gym classes, and I have to say, those girls are so incredibly smart! Bailey Wachholz, Miss MNOT 2012 always "warned" about the questions people might ask me... She was right! And to answer those questions, no I don't have a king, I do not live in a castle, I do not have butlers, it is a real crown, no I am NOT rich, and yes my mom is the queen(: After school got out, everyone headed over to Main Street for the governors fishing opener community family picnic! It was a blast! The governor made a speech and presented a few gifts to the city of Park Rapids, and Park Rapids gave a few gifts to the governor. There were many booths set up, they had pretty awesome games, and yes they had Minnow races, and no I did not win, in fact I was in last place every time, but that's alright because I had fun!(: Thank you to Park Rapids School district for letting me visit your elementary/middle school for the day! Thank you to the Park Rapids Super 8 motel for a nice and cozy stay the night before! Talk to you all very soon!
Love Always and Forever,
Your Miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen 2013-
Corrina Marie Swiggum

Feed the Need cookie concert/CELEBRATE! concert

Well hello there everybody! i hope everyone has had a good weekend, and a great start to the week!(: I, myself, had a wonderfully full weekend! Friday night, i had the great honor of doing homework for two hours (that was sarcasm) (: but on Saturday i had an absolute blast making an appearance at the girl scouts "Feed the Need" cookie concert hosted by Radio Disney! i couldn't have been happier to see the smile on the kid's faces when they saw a "Princess" and "Belle". (From beauty and the beast) i signed, what felt like millions of autographs cards in only 4 hours! Gwen, i just have to say, you're my SAVIOR! You see, i didn't quite understand that the concert was outside, my mom and I thought we would be in the cozy warm temperature, inside! Gwen ran to target and got me a sweatshirt and cute, pink scarf, which i TOTALLY rocked by the way. (: Yet, even with the bitter spring cold, those girl scouts weren't even phased! They toughed it out and danced the day away, played games at all of the different booths, and some were even crazy enough to be eating ice cream! I got to stand in the water park of America booth, and make crafty and creative ID tags with the girls, and their parents. 8,000 people, millions of autographs, 3,000 pictures, and many hot chocolates later; i ended the night with our yearly celebration choir concert at my high school.
The concert is a choreographed, costumed, GIANT production with a common theme. This year the theme was "Oh, the places you'll go!" Our last song of the show was an "all choir" song meaning that every singer was on stage singing the same song, and usually its the "theme song" of the concert. This year's song was "We are the world 25" which was originally recorded for Haiti but my choir dedicated the song to The victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting, and the many victims and survivors of the Boston marathon bombing. I had the honor of having a solo in the song, and the words didn't mean that much to me when i first sang it during rehearsal; but right before we opened the show, we sat in our warm up room and my choral director stood on a chair and told the entire choir the story of the dedication and that's when it hit my choir. Not only were we dedicating this beautiful song to the victims of recent tragedies but we were singing to everyone who's has ever felt sadness. my solo only had a few words but those few words moved me. "We are all apart of God's great big family. And the truth, you know, Love is all we need."
About three years ago, my family went through a very bad time. My dad had his right leg amputated because of an unknown medical mystery illness, my older sister, Chelsea, cut open her right arm (accidentally), and my sister's boyfriend Jeff passed on. All through that entire time, on days i didn't know how to function properly, i knew i had the love of my family and friends! I STILL have that love, and it means more to me than anything.
I had an amazing time at this appearance and i cant wait for the many more to come, this Friday my dad and I will be headed up to Park Rapids, Minnesota for the governor's fishing opener! I cant wait! talk to you soon!

Until next time, love always and forever, Your reigning miss Minnesota's Outstanding Teen 2013, Corrina Marie Swiggum 💙