Bertha's Road 2 Miss

This weekend I competed in the Miss PA USA pageant at the Hyatt Regency Pittsburgh International Airport Hotel!!😁 Lights, cameras and high heels defined my weekend. Who would have thought that I would participate in a pageant of this magnitude, especially the USA pageant!!?? That's my girl  by Fifth Harmony is the best way to describe my weekend. This song was played throughout rehearsals 24/7 lol. If you need a hype song, this is the one for you! 😆 Besides the song, this pageant felt like a long and short weekend. How is this possible? The days seem long from rehearsing and preparing, but overall the pageant went by so fast! Now, that it is Thur sday,  I can't believe this incredible weekend came to an end. H ere is a breakdown of what happened. Friday Before check-in  on Friday , I was freaking out. I doubted my judgement for committing to this pageant. I was thinking to myself, why did I sign up for this? O...

Hi readers! I will be posting a blog about my experience in this past Miss Pennsylvania USA Pageant! The blog will be up on Wednesday, December 6th, 2017 ! Come back on Wednesday to get an inside scoop on this weekend!😃😁 Love, Bertha

About a week ago, it was Halloween and as we all know, it is the scariest time of the year. Boo!👻 From ghouls to monsters to haunted attractions, there are always mysteries that lie ahead. This is a time, where many of us push ourselves out of our comfort zone by trying something completely new and scary. Some people pay to go to a haunted attraction and others may watch scary movies with their eyes closed. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we put ourselves through the most scariest things during Halloween? I can tell you why! 😊We get a thrill from overcoming our fear. By walking through a haunted house alive or by watching an entire scary movie without closing our eyes, it makes us excited once it is all over. For Halloween, we face all the scariness that comes with this holiday and this is how we should face our life.😏 In life, there will always be scary moments and sometimes we may not want to face them, but we have to learn how to overcome our fears. Remember, "fear...

Click clack, click clack is the sounds of the heels walking on the hardwood floor. 👠Splish Splash, splish splash are the endless swimsuits I am wearing store after store after store. 🏊Who knew this would be a part of my lifestyle? Lately, I feel like I live at the mall lol. I've been there almost every weekend this past month. I've been looking at different heels to wear and it is so hard because there are so many to chose from. How does a woman chose one pair of heels? I can tell you, it is not easy 🤣. You know what is worst than trying on different pair of heels? looking for the right swimsuit! I've tried over dozen and dozen of swimsuits and I still feel like I can't find the one. I sound like I am looking for my husband lol . But no, seriously, when I try on my pageant's swimsuit, I want it to speak to me. I want to feel like BAM, I love it! I am still looking and hoping I have that feeling. I've gone to the mall to try my chances but nothing. I have...

Throughout these past couple of weeks, I've struggle with writing my blog and everything else. 🙁 As the pageant is only a couple of months away, you would think I would be determine more than ever to compete? Right? Unfortunately, it hasn't been feeling like that lately. It is interesting how everything is interconnected. At my job, I am a consultant and as a consultant, you are always looking for your next project, but it can take some time to find it. So recently, I was on the bench for a couple of weeks and I did enjoy it at first, but it started to drag on. Being on the bench can be plain boring because you are not really putting your knowledge to good use. (At least that is the way I see it, some may disagree) On the bench, I was proactively looking for my next role, but I was getting no responses so I started loosing hope in trying to find my next role. Weeks and weeks would past by and I still had nothing.😢 Looking back, I didn't realize how much work affect...

3 months are left until pageant weekend. Time is ticking and I still can't believe it. ⌚ This past weekend I watched the Miss America Pageant and it was amazing. I learned so much from these ladies. I was taking notes myself to prepare for the big weekend. I was so excited to watch Miss Pennsylvania compete because she is a Penn Stater. We are....Penn State! It gives me hope that maybe a Penn Stater can take the crown for Miss Pennsylvania USA, and maybe that can be me!😁😅 Now, more than ever, it has hit me that I am doing this pageant. There is no way of backing out.😊 I've started learning how to use makeup and let me tell you... there is so much too learn from it. After using simple makeup such as foundation and eye shadow, I realize it can damage your skin. When you invest into makeup, you also need to invest in skin care.💓  Normally, I don't wash my face or cleanse it because I never know what products to use. Recently, I found the product for me! I am trying ...

Hey all! Sorry for not posting a blog last week! I had writer's block and I promise it won't happen again. I know some people look forward to my blogs and I don't want to disappoint 😊  After two weeks of thinking, I finally thought of a topic to write about ...... Everyone deserves to be a Queen!♕♛ As children, most of us watch various fairy tales♛ from Cinderella to Mulan to Sleeping Beauty. I loved watching all of these types of movies because it gave me hope that one day I can become a princess/queen! As a little kid, I always dress up as a princess for Halloween, year after year. Now that I am older, I don't have to wish to be a queen because I have already become one by treating myself like one. You don't have to take being a queen 👑 literal, but figuratively. I won't be crowned queen of an entire country, but there is still an invisible crown I can wear and still take control of in my own world. When you think of queens or kings, you think of roya...

I have about 3 months left till I get on stage and compete for Miss PA USA! Just thinking about it makes me nervous and excited at the same time.😀 Who knows? I mightl be the next Miss PA USA! 👑 During these 3 months, I have to prepare, prepare, and prepare. I can't get tired of preparation. As the pageant is getting closer, I am more than ever dedicated to do all that I can to win it! (I will still be happy even if I place) People have asked me: how is the pageant preparation coming along? Honestly...... it is not easy. Preparation takes time, dedication and consistency. Those things can be hard to juggle when you work a full time job. Don't get me wrong, I am enjoying every part of this pageant experience. Every step I take, I learn something new and I meet someone new. If we look at this past month, I have accomplished many things, but it is never enough. Think about it, if you want to be the best, you have to work night and day to be the best!👏 During this...

When you get into the pageant world, it can seem a little overwhelming, especially if you are new to it. There are pressures from many sides and you try to juggle it all. 😞 One of the pressure for me in this pageant is looking my best during the swimsuit competition. In the pageant, I am scored on three categories: my personal interview, evening gown and swimsuit. When I read the criteria of how I will be scored for each, the swimsuit made me a little nervous. For swimsuit, it said judges will grade me based on how "fit" I look. Fit? How can you determine how fit I am based on how I look? I can be the fittest person on the planet, but my body may not show it. I wonder to myself, how many other participants have read that and thought to themselves "Hmm, they are going to grade me on how skinny I am." 🤔When I first read that statement, I initially thought they were looking for someone skinny, but I had to stop myself right there. I have my own definition of fi...

Thank you for joining me again for another blog. Sorry for the delay in posting this one. I appreciate every viewer who looks forward to my weekly blogs. 😀I wouldn’t be telling my story if it weren’t for all of you. You all push me to expand my horizons and write my story. (I know I am not the best writer, but I am trying lol)😃 This blog is going to be a little different compared to some of the others I have written in the past. I want to give a shout out to one of my good friends Jiggy Yoon.  As a motivational speaker, she encourages people to be vulnerable. Her most powerful message is “ Vulnerability is Dope. ” 👍 When I first heard Jiggy’s message “Vulnerability is Dope,” it made me realize that as a society we need to embrace vulnerability more. People view vulnerability as a weakness, when in reality, it is a strength . Sometimes it is hard to allow ourselves to be vulnerable. " Vulnerability is Dope" shirt from Jiggy Yoon. As I embark on this jo...

Week 3 is here!  🙋Wow, I can’t believe it, the weeks are flying by like race cars! As I write this post, I am thinking to myself why did I say I’m going to write weekly blogs? I’m starting to run out of ideas lol If there is something you would like me to write about, please comment below. That way I can keep my blogs interesting!😃 So week 3, hmmm …. Reflecting on things I still need to still work on….😫          Learning how to use makeup     Walking in 3-6 inch heels     Becoming a healthier me     Fundraising     And soo much more … You might be thinking, how does Bertha keep motivated when she has so much work to do for a pageant that she has never competed in before? There are two things that keep me motivated…. 1)       The hope of inspiring someone during my journey 2)       Teaching people to love their bodies Preparing...

How did this pageant journey start? Welcome back to my 2nd pos t! Thank you for coming back and wanting to read more about my pageant journey! I will post every Wednesday, since its humppp day!  Many people are wondering how did I get selected for Miss PA USA? Honestly, I do not know lol. 🤣 Everything happened in the spur of the moment. This is my first time competing in a pageant of such magnitude. I will tell you how I got to this point in my life. It all started a couple months ago, when I watched Miss USA 2017 on TV. I try to watch Miss USA every year! This year when I watched Miss USA something sparked inside of me. As Miss DC took the Miss USA crown, I felt inspired. Miss DC won Miss USA two years in a row.. Being a native of Washington DC,  this made me feel very proud. I was inspired to see a woman of color in STEM take the crown. It is a nice reminder that pageant winners are not just beautiful, but also intelligent. Since I am a Latina woman...

Hello everyone!! 😃 Thank you for joining me on this journey to Miss PA! I hope you are all able to read my weekly post! I think this is a great way for people to know my personal experience with this pageant. Some people may think this is all roses and rainbows, but it is so much more than that. There are some bumps along the road. So if you are interested in hearing about my journey to Miss PA, you are in the right spot! Continue reading..... Many times individuals focus on the destination of their goal, but not the journey. I want to change that mentality and focus on this new and challenging journey. The reason I created this blog is to hopefully inspire some one out there to follow their dreams. I want you all to know that following your dreams can lead to some bumps, but you have to overcome those and look at the bigger picture. My favorite quote of all times is "For every thunderstorm, there is a beautiful rainbow." Who would have ever thought that I would b...