A weekend at home!

This is my first weekend home in almost a month and I was so excited to see my parents and celebrate my mom's birthday. I won't tell you how old she is, but she looks more like my older sister than my mother. Happy Birthday, Mom! My dad and I gave her a gorgeous picture frame for the wall that says, " We may not have it all together, but together we have it all." How true that statement is. I am so insanely blessed by God to have the parents that I have. They have been beside me each step of the way and in all of my endeavors.

I also got to spend time with my Aunt and Uncle who will be leaving tomorrow morning for Germany and will be gone for seventeen days! Please keep them in your prayers. I loved seeing one set of my awesome grandparents tonight, and my grandfather experienced the "Hibachi grill" for the first time. Needless to say, he was not impressed and suggested Wendy's, McDonalds, or Burger King. What a hoot! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful start to 2010 and that you all had a great Valentine's Day! I know some have mixed emotions about that holiday, but I find it nice to have the ones you love there regardless of whether they are a significant other or just being with family and friends. Johnny D. and I had a great weekend last weekend at the Jenn Cady photo shoot for their upcoming ad in "Four Points Magazine." Thank you all so much for inviting me to be a part of this experience, it was a pleasure working with you.

I cannot wait to see my "sisters" at workshop next month. It is always a great experience when we all come together at once for the first time! We have so many new, sweet, beautiful, and talented young ladies in the program this year. I can promise you, Miss Tennessee week will leave you with so many memories, and it will be one of the best weeks of your life.

I wish everyone a great weekend and week and check back next week for more updates. I will be headed back to Nashville to attend the last local of the 2010 cycle. Good luck to everyone competing and I hope to see you all soon!

God Bless!

Hannah-Wade Powell

Another great weekend in Music City!

Well it was another successful weekend in Music City! After classes on Thursday, I made the drive to Nashville and rushed to get ready for the Music City Cares: Haiti Relief Benefit that Johnny D. put on at B.B. Kings downtown. It was an amazing event, and I was so honored to share the stage with recording artists Scarletta, Cody & Chance, Florida/Georgia Line, Nashville Star's Casey Simpson, Taylor Pey, and Johnny D! There was a ton of talent on stage and I was so blessed to be a part of a small effort to help a nation that has suffered the devastating loss of over 100,000 lives! The day started early on Friday morning with another photo shoot. Thanks so much to Jenn Cady and Julia Burton of Jenn Cady Photography for inviting to be featured in one of their ads for Four Points Magazine. It was a blast! The weekend continued with more pageant prep and planning for the 1st Annual Miss Rhythm of Nashville/Children's Miracle Network Gala on April 24th! Mark your calenders! More info to come!!!

A Productive Weekend in Music City!

First off I would like to give MAJOR Kuddo's to Kristy Belcher for her amazing photography skills and to Joel Green for being one of the most talented hair and makeup artists I've ever had the privilege to know! The photo shoot was one of the best experiences I've ever had with photography. Kristy and Joel made me feel so warm and comfortable and I couldn't have asked for it to go any better! Then we were off to watch Stefanie Wittler perform on the Miss America stage with all of our guests! Thanks to everyone who fought the horrible weather to come cheer Stefanie on! Congratulations on your INCREDIBLE job and we are so proud of you for placing 2nd runner-up! We all thought you had it, but we are so proud! You have truly represented Tennessee well.

Everyone have a great week and be safe on these icy roads. Check back next week for more updates!

My First Week Returning to School!

I returned this past week to the University of Tennessee at Martin to complete the second semester of my Junior year of college! It started off somewhat rocky because I woke up on Tuesday morning with flu-like symptoms so to the doctor I went! I can proudly say I am "over the weather" and feeling much better! I am fortunate enough to be able to take my second public speaking course this year and to my surprise today I had to give my first speech! It was my first class for public speaking that I attended, so I had absolutely no idea that I would be having to deliver a speech that I had not prepared for. I think this was the professors idea of "welcoming" us to the world of speech. I happened to have my MAO local titleholder crown close-by so I talked about how courses on speech are vital and instrumental to young ladies that are interested in the job of Miss Tennessee and Miss America. I stressed the importance of being able to relate to your audience whether it be young or old. You have to be able to stoop down and get in the "adult" mind-set of a child to be able to present your point in a way that they will understand the information they were just presented with. That being said I would like to extend a good luck and well wishes to Stefanie Wittler, Miss Tennessee, while she is in Las Vegas working hard to bring home Tennessee a Miss America Crown. Congratulations on being named a Quality of Life finalist! I will be headed to Nashville this weekend for our Miss America viewing party and an event that Johnny D. and I will be attending afterward raising money for a Children's Miracle Network hospital. It will be a weekend filled with pageants, working out, and more preparations! June isn't very far away and I cannot wait to compete for the Miss Tennessee crown!

Fun weekend continues!!!

The busy weekend continued on Friday when I took a trip to the Tennessee State Capitol. It was so exciting to see where Tennessee law is made! Immediately following that visit, Johnny D. and I attended a send-off for some of our service men from Fort Campbell. We wish them safety overseas and send our blessings and prayers! Thank you to Sergeant Chris Lang for sharing one of his few nights left with us! Saturday started with a quick workout followed by a fun road-trip to Bristol to check out the Miss Bristol/Mountain Lakes/Tri-Cities Pageants! Along the way we had a blast and ended up doing a little shopping. Since it was "cheat day" on my Johnny D. Fitness Swimsuit Action Plan, we popped by Five Guys for a delicious cheeseburger and fries before the show! What an amazing pageant! So many great girls competed and we honestly had no idea who would win. I was proud of my fellow Miss Rhythm of Nashville sisters, Britany Boatwright and Kendall Schulz. They did great. Major congratulations to all of the new winners. I can't wait to get to know you better at state! Well it's been an amazing weekend so now it's off to bed, then back to Nashville and eventually Martin tomorrow to begin my next semester of school!!!

I drove into Nashville yesterday for some pageant prep with Johnny D. and my very first appearance! The day was packed with appointments and ended at the historic Ryman Auditorium for the 28th Annual Colgate Country Showdown National Finals! It was amazing for me to attend the national finals since I had been fortunate enough to represent the state of Tennessee at the 2007 regional competition. I never quite made it to the national level, but it was exciting to see everyday people making their dreams become a reality on such a legendary stage. I also had the opportunity to stop by the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and the CMT Studios. There's never a dull moment in Nashville - I now understand why they call it "The Athens of the South!" Today is another jam packed day! I start the Johnny D. Fitness Swimsuit Action Plan and will also devote some more time to shopping and practicing my talent. Tomorrow, we are making the five-hour trek to Bristol to support the girls competing for the opportunity to hit the Miss Tennessee Stage in June! I hope to run into some of my fellow sisters from the Miss Tennessee Class of 2010!!!