Miss Vermont USA

Catching up

2010-03-06T23:20:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, it has been a while since my last post! Miss USA is right around the corner and I've been busy, busy, busy. Only two months is left until I leave for Vegas! I have actually been computer-less for nearly a month now because my computer broke but I'm taking advantage of being at my home in Essex to write a quick update on how my life is going. I've volunteered at various organizations in Vermont, mostly Chittenenden County, and yesterday and today Brooke Bibeault, Shelby Gregoire, and I all played on a softball team for the Freezing Fun for Famlies softball tournamnet fundraiser to raise funds for an eight year old girl who was diagnosed with cancer. It was a double elimination game and we unfortunately lost our first two games, but still had a blast. The fundraiser even made the Guiness Book of World Records last year as the largest winter softball tournamnet. Last weekend we all traveled to Boston for Katie Boyd's Miss Fit launch party, which was such a great time. All of the models modeled Lululemon Athletica wear (which I wish we had in Vermont) and got crazy 80s hair and makeup wich looked amazing on everyone!

So that's my quick update for now! Check back soon for another :-)

Penguin Plunge

2010-02-06T17:16:00.003-05:00

Brrr... I'm still shivering from the Penguin Plunge!

Today Shelby and I went to the Burlington Penguin Plunge at the Waterfront to benefit the Special Olympics. It was my very first time going, although I had heard a lot about it in the past. So... I believe it was nearly a whopping 20 degrees at the waterfront, but it felt like much less with the wind. I was also told that Maryland had canceled their Penguin Plunge because is was only a mere 30 degrees! Oh, what I would have done for those 30 degrees today! In past years it has been below 0 and plungers continue to line up to jump in the icy water to raise money for the Special Olympics. I was very thankful for the invention of hand-warmers today.

When we first arrived at the Plunge they were attempting to take the ice out of the water with heavy machinery. We met many people there, many volunteers, spectators, and plungers. It was great to see so many Vermonters out participating in such a great event and fundraiser. I honestly didn't expect to see so many people there. Many even brought their dogs dressed in their 'Vermont' attire of a coat and boots; they were all way too cute. This has definitely been one of my favorite fundraisers thus far. I'm already looking forward to my next event!

Hasta luego,

Nydelis

Back to Vermont

2010-02-03T19:13:00.000-05:00

Hello, hello,

I arrived back in Vermont on Sunday safe and sound after a very eventful and exciting three weeks spent in Mendoza. Now it's back to the real world! I started with classes again this week. Officially my last semester of college, which I will admit is pretty exciting. I'm only taking two classes this semester to focus on preparing so I don't even have a full course load which I can't complain about. I've got a pretty packed month of appearances for this month so I'm pretty excited. This Saturday is the Penguin Plunge in Burlington...brr! Next Thursday I have a charity dinner at Spectrum in Burlington and many more. I promise to keep everyone posted as the appearances get closer, and of course include pictures as well.

So the big news is finally released on when the new Miss USA date is. Sunday May 16th on NBC 7-9pm ET for those who haven't heard yet. At first I was a little bummed to hear the news... it's the day after my college graduation (I'm the first person in my family to graduate from college so it's a pretty big deal to me and my family), but then my brother and I came up with the perfect solution. Since he won't be able to go to Vegas he's going to take my place and get my diploma for me :-) and then the next day he'll watch his little sister on TV of course.

Unfortunately I have two weeks of work to make up so off to do homework I go!

Until next time,

Nydelis

p.s. As promised, I have added some pictures :-)

A Week Full of Adventures

2010-01-23T12:27:00.003-05:00

'Wow!' Is all I can say right now.

Last weekend I had the amazing opportunity to go rafting and hiking through the Andes. I met some awesome and extremely interesting friends from California, Australia, and Brazil. This was my first time going rafting...and let me tell you, I was definitely very excited. I have always loved the water and love to take any chance I can to be in or around the water. On my raft were the friends that I met that day that I named above, which was about 7 of us total. I have some great pictures that I can't wait to post! We even had the opportunity to jump off of the raft into the water for a photo-op, which of course I had to do ;-) After rafting was when I was scheduled to go hiking, but most of the other people that I met were going to zip-line through the mountains, and of course I had to do it too.

So...I have a little confession to make. I have always been afraid of heights and for some reason that day I decided to be adventurous and go zip-lining. I tried not to think about my fears as I was waiting for my turn. Once my turn came around I was feeling very nervous. It was very high up and a thin wire suspended in the air didn't exactly seem like the most safe thing to do at the time. But I went anyway, and I don't regret it one bit. I loved the rush it gave me to be 'zipping' through the air so quickly. Once I got to the other side I was hooked. There were about seven or so lines total, which I also have photos of. I told my mom I did this as soon as I got home via email and she almost didn't believe me until she saw the photos because she knows I was'nt a fan of height.

The next day, on Sunday, I went on a trip to Alta Montaña with my friend from Indonesia, Astrid. We had the opportunity to be on the heighest point in all of South America. Although, I didn't really plan ahead and bring a sweater like I was supposed to. Even though it's nearly 100 degrees where I am in Mendoza, on top of the mountain it felt like I was in Vermont again. Brrrr!

On my rafting and zip-lining excursion one of my new friends told me that he went paragliding and that he absolutely loved it. After going zip-lining and getting that rush I knew I had to try it. So this morning, I went paragliding for my first time! I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. It was absolutely amazing and most likely not the last time that I will go. Unfortunately this is my last weekend here in Mendoza so that was my last adventure of my trip. I will be leaving the following Saturday afternoon and then it's back to Vermont and back to school.

Chau,

Nydelis Ortiz

Argentina parte dos

2010-01-13T15:46:00.002-05:00

Hello again,
So today I saw a man walking on the sidewalk with crocs on...it made me giggle inside and think of home. Ahh the ever so fashionable croc, and rainbow colored at that. Not to bash crocs, they are definitely extremely comfortable, just not my style, and they were the last thing I expected to see here. Today was a good day, starting to make some new friends here. I had lunch with the girl from Indonesia I mentioned in my last entry and am going for a run around eight tonight with a girl from Paris and a couple from Belgium at the local park that I hear is gorgeous. It is so interesting to get to hear all of the students life stories because they are all so unique.

My mom sent me an email today that my Fadils arrived but I cant see them! Too bad they are almost a 22 hour trip away :-(

So I learned something about myself today...you always hear people tell you that you can never ask too many questions, but I have come to the conclusion that that statement is false. Somehow I managed to spend an entire two hour class just talking with my professor about Argentinian history because I had so many questions and was extremely curious. Actually, I even managed to go over the alloted two hour period by half an hour, we didnt even go over anything in the book at all...now thats talent. My professor didnt seem to mind though because the entire conversation was in Spanish and it is also important that I learn about different Spanish cultures (for my Spanish major).

Ooh I cant wait to get home and post pictures! Its absolutely breathtaking here, my room/house is amazing, and I have THE cutest photos in the universe of my seven year old host sister wearing my sash...so precious! Last night I watched the Hulk (in Spanish) with my host sister and her five year old brother and afterwards went on the computer to check my facebook and accidentaly got them addicted to Farmville, oops.

I also discovered a cyber cafe right around the corner from the school Im attending which I am super excited about!

Chao,

Nydelis

!Saludos desde Mendoza, Argentina!

2010-01-11T20:25:00.002-05:00

Hello, hello! In case you dont understand what my title means, my title translates to "Greetings from Mendoza, Argentina!" in Spanish. Just yesterday I arrived in, the very hot, Mendoza. I am studying both Spanish and business at Castleton State College and am doing my study abroad here in Argentina! It is currently their summer and probably close to 90 degrees right now at almost 10 30pm and it is absolutely amazing, I love the warm weather. I am staying with a wonderful host family with two young children, a boy who is almost six and a girl who is seven years old. They are the sweetest most loving children I have met in my life!

Although I think its awesome, I am writing on a Spanish laptop. It is definitely a slow task to write this blog entry because many keys are in different places, new letters have been added altogether, and I cant figure out how to type and apostrophe :-( So please bare with me!

I had my first day of classes today. It was definitely a long day but so worth it! I have already met people from all over the world, there is even a girl from Indonesia who has been studying Spanish for only a year and already sounds like a native Argentinian! I have met people from England, Scotland, Germany, Australia, and France. I love that our common language is Spanish and I can communicate with these people from around the world with my native language. I will be in Mendoza for three weeks. I am VERY much looking forward to this Saturday where I will go rafting and repelling! I am right next to the Andes mountain and not too far from the highest peak in all of South America. My host mom said it was a wonderful excursion so I am hoping to go there during my stay as well.

I flew over to Mendoza from Santiago, Chile and traveled over the Andes mountains. And I thought we had moutains in Vermont....they look like bunny hills compared to these mountains! Although I will admit the flight over the Andes was pretty frightening. I am not the best of flyers being afraid of heights and my airplane was going through a ridiculous amount of turbulance and made the most awful noises I have ever heard a plane make! My host family says that it is completely normal for planes to do that when flying over the Andes though, apparently there are air pockets created because of the mountains that the plane has to fly through.
I will get on the laptop to update as much as I can! Its dinner time now at 10 30! Yumm!!

Hasta pronto,

Nydelis

So much to say!

2010-01-06T12:38:00.005-05:00

I would like to begin my very first blog entry by advising you that this will most likely be one of the longest, if not the longest, entry I will come to write. Over two months of catching up to do is in store!

My name is Nydelis Ortiz and a little over two months ago on November 1st my dream of becoming Miss Vermont USA was realized and my journey as Miss Vermont USA 2010 begun. These passed two months have been the most exciting and rewarding months of my life. I have met fantastic people who I already know will be a part of my life for many years to come, numerous doors have opened for me, and I have been given opportunities I never would have dreamed of having just a few years ago.

In fact, just yesterday I returned from New York City to get my headshots taken by world renowned photographer Fadil Berisha, who was absolutely amazing, and picked out the PERFECT evening gown for Miss USA (which I am completely and utterly in love with!). I traveled with my good friend Sonah and on the plane ride home to Vermont I told her, "The last time I went to New York City was in middle school. If you had told me then that the next time I would return to New York City would be as Miss Vermont USA I would have never believed you." Although it has been my dream ever since I can remember (I don't believe I've ever missed a Miss USA or Miss Universe pageant on the television), I never believed it would really come true. I was very shy and quiet growing up and was never really comfortable in my own skin. When I was fourteen years old I began competing in pageants and have grown immensely since then, which I attribute to pageantry. But lo and behold, here I am in the center of Times Square with a shiny thing on my head and banner across my chest that reads "Miss Vermont USA" taking photos with other tourists from across the world!

I would be thrilled to tell you about my crowning night...but I'm not sure that I even remember it very well! Once the emcee began to announce the top 5 everything became sort of a blur. I remember thinking to myself "Don't call my name. Don't call my name. Pleeease don't call my name" as they named off the 4th runner up, then the 3rd runner up, 2nd runner up, and finally the 1st runner up. After the moment they announced the 1st runner up and said "Our new Miss Vermont USA is Nydelis Ortiz!!!" I was on cloud nine, everything was comletely surreal. It didn't feel real, it felt like a dream. I couldn't believe what was actually happening. I've always asked myself what the two final girls say to each other as they are waiting to hear which name is called as the winner, but I honestly couldn't tell you!

That night they also crowned Shelby Gregoire as Miss Vermont Teen USA. I couldn't be more proud to call her my sister queen and I can't wait to watch her rock the stage at Miss Teen USA! That night I also aquired a new family, the Clemente family. I am convinced Laurie and Anthony are the best directors a titleholder could wish for and I consider myself truly blessed to be able to say that I am part of their pageant family. The entire Clemente staff is absolutely amazing. Neil, with his rad toolbelt, makes me beautiful :-) I know my trainer Katie Boyd is going to whip me into shape so I can look my best for Miss USA. The Crowning Touch provides us with the most amazing wardrobe and accessories a girl could dream of. And the rest of the Clemente staff that will help me along my journey is fabulous!

Shelby and I made our very first appearance the weekend after being crowned at my college's last home football game of the season. I'm a senior at Castleton State College and this was the first ever year my college as had a football team, which is a huge deal for us, stadium and all. As a matter of fact, we were the first brand new college football team to win their very first game in the history of varsity college sports! Go Spartans! We received an immense amount of support from the Castleton community and it was an amazing experience.

A few weeks after being crowned Shelby and I attended the Miss Massachusettes USA/Teen USA and Miss Connecticut USA/Teen USA pageants where our new sisters Lacey, Brooke, Ashley, and Alyssa were all crowned! I had never attended a state Miss USA competition prior to these pageants and let me tell you...they are just as nerve racking as if I were competing all over again! I was on the edge of my seat both final nights. These girls are all amazing, I can't wait to go to Vegas with Ashley and Lacey! Love you girls ;-)

So I think I'll cut myself off there before I really do write a book. Check back frequently for more updates!

Until next time,

Nydelis Ortiz
Miss Vermont USA 2010

p.s. more photos are coming soon!