Tulip Festival

On Friday, Hannah and I made an appearance at the Tulip Festival in Pella. We rode on the Pella FFA float for the afternoon parade and I rode on the float for evening parade. We were a little chilly, but thankfully it didn’t rain! I would like to thank Mr. Williams, the FFA Advisor and the members of the FFA Chapter for allowing us to ride on the float with them! The parade is made up of beautiful floats made with lots of tulips and other Dutch emblem’s. During the evening parades all the floats light up!

Hannah and I with some street sweepers before the parade.
We were able to walk around before the parade and visit with people dressed in Dutch clothing; we also signed some autographs. We really enjoyed looking at all the beautiful tulips and we even tried on some wooden shoes, but we decided we would stick with our boots! I really enjoyed the festival; I treated myself to some Dutch food and BOY was it wonderful! There are so many people who put in a lot of time and work to make the festival a success and we really enjoyed being apart of it!Doctor David Roe and his family. Dr. Roe is the President of Central College.

Texas Roadhouse Meet and Greet

This last weekend I was a little closer to home. The PBR was in Des Moines and the Texas Roadhouse had a meet and greet with Aaron Roy. I was able to make an appearance with him. We signed autographs and hand out prizes. It was a lot of fun!
My co-workers really enjoyed asking me questions about what I do, how I got into rodeo and being a queen and they really loved my autograph sheets! I think I signed as many for everyone who works at the Roadhouse as I did for the customers that came into eat!

Saturday night I volunteered to prepare the dinner at the Ronald McDonald House. Paula, Connie, Judy, my mom, Joanne and Hannah, Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa helped with prepare the food. The Ronald McDonald house provides housing for families whose children are receiving treatment at the area hospitals. My sister and her husband stayed at the house for three months when Nash was in the hospital. The house is a wonderful place, there is food available at all times for anyone who stays and a dinner is served every night by volunteers.
I would like to thank Connie, Paula, Judy, Hannah and my mom for helping with the dinner!

If you would like to volunteer or donate items please check out there website:
http://www.rmhdesmoines.org/home.html
This week Hannah and I head to Pella on Friday for the Tulip Festival. We will be in the afternoon and evening parade, riding on the Pella FFA float! My brother and sister both went to Central so I am really excited to head back and celebrate since it has been a few years!

Until next time, “Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

God Bless,
Jordanne

Team Kuehl

Last weekend my family and I headed to Cedar Rapids to walk for the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes is dedicated to improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature births and infant mortality. My sister, Jayme Kuehl has put together a team for the last couple of years. “Team Kuehl” had nineteen signed up to walk, but due to the weather there were only nine of us. Thankfully the rain stopped after the first mile of our seven mile walk. When we finished there were food stands and games for children to play. I was able to talk to the children and pass out candy. It was a lot of fun to help raise money for continued research for future babies!
“Team Kuehl” started a couple years ago after my sister had some complications with her pregnancy. We walk in memory of Faith, who passed away at birth. We also walk for Nash, who is now 3. Nash suffers from cerebral palsy, but has been a miracle and blessing to our family! Faith and Nash were both three months premature.
A large amount of money was raised for research and to continue to help premature births. I can’t thank everyone enough for your support! This weekend the PBR is in Des Moines and I will be signing autographs at the Texas Roadhouse Saturday from noon till 2…so stop by if you are close to Urbandale and say “Hi.” Also on Saturday, Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa, some of the Miss Rodeo Iowa board members and I will be preparing dinner for the families that are staying at the Ronald McDonald house in Des Monies. I am really looking forward to a busy, but fun weekend!

Until next time, “The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” John 1 2:17

God Bless,
Jordanne

Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo

My first trip to Idaho for the Dodge National Circuit Finals rodeo was so much fun! Every morning I was able to wake up to the beautiful view of the mountains.
My trip was truly an adventure starting right at the airport in Des Moines. My flight was supposed to leave at 6:30 in the morning, but instead we didn’t leave until 8:30 because Chicago was having thunderstorms. And because of the delay I missed my connecting flight to Salt Lake City. I was lucky enough to get on a flight at 12:45, but that flight ended up not leaving until 1:30 because there was no crew! I missed my ride from Miss Rodeo Utah from the airport to Pocatello, but was able to get on a shuttle that dropped me off a block from my hotel! So after arriving 6 hours late I missed most the kick off party for the rodeo, but I am very thankful that I made it there safe!

Miss Rodeo Florida; Heather Hall, myself, Miss Rodeo Illinois; Katie Chaffin, Miss Rodeo Idaho; Measha Gittins and Miss Rodeo Missouri; Erin Watts

On Wednesday we started the morning off at Holt Arena, practicing for the grand entry. After practice, some of us headed to the Pocatello Care Center. It was so much fun talking with the patients and signing autographs. We also got to take a look at the Life Flight helicopter and take pictures in it!
The rodeo started on Wednesday night, I didn’t carry flags that night so I helped sell programs and walked around signing autographs. I was able to help with the mutton busting at the rodeo as well.
On Thursday we visited some schools, went shopping at some local western stores and a few of us went with Miss Rodeo Florida up the mountain to see the snow. I can’t say I was all that excited about it after all the snow we have had this winter, but we did have fun throwing snowballs and taking pictures. Thursday night was Tough Enough to Wear Pink night at the rodeo. Matt Kenney and Wade Sundell competed and Matt won tie down roping that night with a 7.8!! Neither of them made the short go, but they both did an outstanding job and I really enjoyed watching a couple guys that I know personally…I competed in high school rodeo with both of them.
As a queen and the spokeswomen for the sport of rodeo, we do a lot of other jobs. At a couple rodeo performances a few of us queens watched a little boy, Gator. His dad was a tie down roper and he needed someone to watch his son while he competed. Gator sat with us and even signed autographs for people on some notebook paper we gave him. We had a lot of fun with him! On Friday we visited a nursing home and then signed autographs at the credit union. I carried sponsor flags throughout the rodeo both Friday and Saturday night.

Saturday morning was the special needs rodeo…my favorite! I was paired with Anthony. He loved the roping and also liked to pull the head off of the hay bale, so I did a lot of running after him:) There was a Saturday afternoon performance and then the short go was held Saturday night. Eight people made the short go in each event and then the top four came back for the finals.
My flight home was at 7 AM on Sunday so Miss Rodeo Idaho was nice enough to volunteer to take me to the airport along with a couple other state queens. Since it is a three hour drive, we drove an hour to her house, slept for two and then got up and drove two more hours. So we all basically pulled an all nighter, I haven’t done that since high school prom! By the time I got home on Sunday afternoon, I was pretty tired!

The DNCFR was a great rodeo. The committee works very hard to put on a wonderful rodeo. I can’t thank Carma enough for putting everything together and scheduling events for us throughout the week. I would also like to thank our drivers; there were four wonderful volunteers that drove us to and from events. I rode with Fred Evans all week and he treated us like royalty! Opened the doors for us, picked us up at the front door every time and was the sweetest gentleman! He even had water and candy for us everyday in the van! Somehow Fred just knew I loved candy!!

It was a wonderful experience and I can’t wait for my next trip. I have a few things here in Iowa in the next couple of weeks and then I will be heading to Franklin, Tennessee in May.

Until next time, “If we confess with our mouth, "Jesus is Lord ," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9

God Bless,
Jordanne

Miss Rodeo Iowa Clinic

Amanda Eason, Miss Rodeo Iowa 2007 is AMAZING! She put the clinic together, arranged all the speakers and took care of everything. The clinic was very organized, each speaker did a wonderful job and there was a lot of information given.

I was able to help out and give a presentation on preparing for a pageant. I talked about what to study, gave some tips on how to study and when to start studying.

If you are interested in becoming a rodeo queen or would like to gain more knowledge in all areas of the competition, keep an eye on the Miss Rodeo Iowa website for details on next years clinic.

Until next time, "God blesses those who realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them." Matthew 5:3

God Bless,

Jordanne

Two Trips in One Week!

My first trip was to Eastern Iowa. I was able to ride in the Saint Patrick's Day Parade in Cedar Rapids. I can’t thank Randy Kuehl Honda enough for their sponsorship this year. I had a wonderful Saint Patrick’s Day in Cedar Rapids. There were two Honda cars in the parade and I was able to ride in the back of a Honda Ridgeline.

Pictures; Jerome Gray: Service Manager/Parts Director, my nephew, Nash Kuehl and Paul Thulin: Sales Manager

Boy, was there a lot of people in green! Thankfully the sun showed up right as the parade started, so it was a very pleasant ride through downtown Cedar Rapids.
Again I would like to thank Randy Kuehl Honda for their support this year. I would not traveling all over the state and country without their generosity and support!

Pictured with me is Randy and Nate Kuehl

On Friday my mom and I headed off to Franklin, TN. I attended the Miss Rodeo Tennessee queen clinic on Saturday and Sunday. It was very nice of my mom to ride along…okay I’ll admit it, I did most of the riding…and she drove! But it was nice to have some company for the long drive! On the way there is was about 11 hours, but thankfully the traffic wasn’t bad on the way home so we made it in about 10.
It was a wonderful clinic put on by Kelly Azevedo, the Miss Rodeo Tennessee Pageant Director and clinician Amanda Jenkins, Miss Rodeo America 2006. They both provided so much information. I had a wonderful time and look forward to heading back to Franklin this summer for the Miss Rodeo Tennessee Pageant and rodeo.
Pictured: Amanda Jenkins, Miss Rodeo America 2006, Destiny Vought, Jackie McMullin, and Kelly Azevedo.

Until next time, “Do everything in love.” Corinthians 1 16:14

God Bless,
Jordanne

Iowa Public Television Festival

On Sunday evening I hope you tuned into IPTV because Hannah, Miss Teen Rodeo Iowa and I were there helping them with their festival. The festival takes place through March 21 and it gives Iowan’s and surrounding states a chance to support the programming they enjoy all year long. We arrived at 6:30, had a little training and then went live. Throughout the evening we took calls; getting pledges and asking callers a few questions. We did make it on TV a few times during the night! There were a few callers that specifically called in to talk to the girls in the cowgirl hats!

Hannah and I had a great time! All of the volunteers were so much fun and IPTV was very generous in providing a meal as well as snacks throughout the night.

I will be heading to Franklin, TN this weekend for a queen clinic!

Until next time, "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

God Bless,

Jordanne