25 Days of Christmas

I know I’ve said this in a previous post, but Christmas is my favorite time of the year! This year has been a little different as today is two days before Christmas and it is 65 degrees outside. It has been a very mild winter so far, I still haven’t pulled out a lot of my sweaters. The temperature change has not stopped me from enjoying my favorite things to do during the season. This year I enjoyed another year of the Raleigh, Cary and Apex Christmas parades. This year my dancers continued to wear their tuxedo jackets and tap danced down the street to the new Mariah Carey song “Oh Santa.” We had a pleasant surprise at this year’s Raleigh parade where Scotty McCreery was the Grand Marshall. He walked right past us walking to his float where our dancers were lined up for the parade.

(Premier Dancers at the Cary Christmas Parade)

December would not be complete without our yearly cookie decorating event. Since we were in college friends have gathered at my friend Kiera’s apartment or house to decorate Christmas cookies. This year we decorated gingerbread houses! I think we did a good job considering this was a first attempt at making a gingerbread house for most of us!

To add to the festivities of Christmas I performed with my tap company, Footnotes, at the Carolina Inn’s 12 Days of Christmas event series. Our performance, “Nine Ladies Tapping and a Guy” was so much fun. The audience was packed and was standing room only! Children gathered around the dance floor and we performed our favorite tap dances to popular Christmas songs. The Carolina Inn is nestled in the heart of Chapel Hill and is known for its’ history and University-spirited character.

Among all these festivities, my favorite part of Christmas is getting together with friends. Friends that have become family come back into town and the reunions we have remind us of why we love each other. Last night, Premier alumni Alana, Leigh, Margaret, Lauren and myself gathered at Monica’s house to celebrate the holidays. Monica has become our second mother/sister as she has been our lifetime dance teacher. The five of us danced together from the age of 3 until we were 18. We still continue to stop by the studio, teach and offer a lending hand at recital. We just can’t stay away! Last night we gathered around Monica’s kitchen table and looked at old pictures and watched old dance videos until the early morning hours! I don’t know the last time I laughed so hard. These friends are truly special and will forever be a part of my life.

What exciting activities did you do this December?

A Classic Christmas

I absolutely love this picture! This is a picture of my mom (on the left) and her older sister Mary Alice with Santa Clause. They met him when they were Christmas shopping in Savannah, Georgia. I feel like this picture would have been the perfect cover page for Time Magazine. It captures the "classic" thoughts of Christmas. It's timeless and brings out the joys of Christmas through the eyes of a child.

The Heart of Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of the year! I love everything about it... the smells, the sounds, the music, the lights, the decorations, the colors, the movies, the television shows, the stories, the Christmas parties, the hustle & bustle of the malls (yes.. I love the excitement and energy) and most importantly - the birth of baby Jesus and spending time with family. I think the most important part of this time of year is to cherish it and not take it for granted. Take in every experience, soak it in. This time of year comes around only once a year and we need to enjoy every minute. This time of year is a true gift from God. He not only gave us his son this time of year, but he gave us the blessings of all the excitement this time of year brings.

I heard a song on the radio yesterday. It is by Christian artist Matthew West and it's called "The Heart of Christmas." I think it perfectly describes this season of the year. Here are the lyrics:

I'm gonna make a wish this Christmas

I'm gonna say a little prayer

I'm gonna stop here for a moment

before the moment disappears.

The world's in a hurry this December

City streets and shopping malls

I wish we could slow down and remember

The meaning of it all

Wherever you are, no matter how far

Come back to the heart, the heart of Christmas

Live while you can, cherish the moment

The ones that you love, make sure they know it

Don't miss, the heart of Christmas

Let's make it feel the way it used to

Let's find that wonder of a child

You can see the magic all around you

Come on, and open up your eyes

You can find it in the warm embrace of your family

Or calling up a long lost friend

You can find it in the eyes of a stranger

When you reach out a helping hand

In the shadow of a steeple

In a star that lights the way

You will find him in a manger

The heart of Christmas has a name

I'm gonna make a wish this Christmas

I'm gonna say a little prayer

Wherever you are, no matter how far

Come back to the heart, the heart of Christmas

Live while you can and cherish the moment

The ones that you love, make sure they know it

Wherever you are, now matter how far

Come back to the heart, the heart of Christmas

Live while you can, cherish the moment

The ones that you love, make sure they know it

Don't miss it, the heart of Christmas

Every year I get to spend this wonderful season with my extended family. The love that we share is apparent in the fact that we don't mind fitting 8 people on a couch!
A few years later, we didn't quite all fit on the couch. But we were still sitting on top of each other!

The State Fair

This year I made a personal record of 3 trips to the North Carolina State Fair! The State Fair is one of my favorite things to do each year. I love the lights, the smells, people-watching and the excitement that fills the air! After going to the Fair almost every year of my life, I did an activity this year I've never done before. I watched the pigs race! I rode the ferris wheel, ate deep fried Reeses', saw the 4-H animals and spent time with my dancers in the Folk Festival Tent for the clogging competition.

Anything that is deep-fried is a popular favorite at the NC State Fair. You can get anything from fried oreos, fried ho-ho's, fried cheesecake, fried candybars and fried Kool-Aid.

Hot Air Balloons

This October I went with my friend Amy to the North Carolina Hot Air Balloon Festival in Statesville, NC. Our day at the festival was amazing! We were there from sun-up to sun-down (literally!). Right after sun-rise the hot air balloons did a fly-over where they flew over the festival grounds and competed by trying to throw a bean-bag into a drawn circle as well as throw a ring around a tall PVC pipe sticking out of the ground.

In the early afternoon we got to experience a mass ascenion of 48 hot air balloons in the air at one time. It was the most beautiful and spectacular experience. To look up in the air and see hot air balloons everywhere. The shouts and squeals from children pointing and smiling at the balloons contributed to the excitement.

After dark the hot air ballons returned and were grounded. The pilots then lit-up the balloons for a Balloon Glow. When we thought the day couldn't get any better, this topped the cake! To be standing next to all of the beautiful glowing balloons was truly breathtaking.

This is a festival that I will need to make an annual experience.

Loving the Arts

Last weekend, the arts were the buzz in the streets of Raleigh. The annual arts event, Sparkcon, brought people from all over to share their love of art in downtown Raleigh. Friday, Saturday and Sunday the streets of Raleigh were shut down to celebrate the joys of art. Street painters filled the streets and entered contests on their chalk work. The works they created were incredible and full of detail! Dancers filled the street corners and the stages. Skateboarders did skateboarding demonstrations. Friday night consisted of a DJ Battle and a fashion show. Saturday and Sunday entertained dancers of all art forms, free dance classes, poetry, songwriting workshops, musicians, grafitti contests, photography classes, mobile cell phone picture contests, aerielist workshops, & fire and LED light shows. I enjoyed going to help celebrate art as a whole, as well as perform with Footnotes Tap Ensemble. I feel as if "art" gets overlooked in today's fast-paced culture. However art should be nurtured. It is a creative outlet for children, teens and adults to express themselves. It is a way for people to de-stress and step away from the business world of computer screens. I applaud Raleigh for creating an environment of a completely free arts festival to promote healthy individuals through creativity and self-expression.

One of the awesome street painting squares.


This one is so creative! A cat looking through a fish bowl.

Performing on the main stage with Footnotes Tap Ensemble.

Performing a historical Bill Bojangles piece from the early 1900's called "Doing the New Low Down"

September 17, 1908

September 17, 1908. This was the day that my Grandma (Elva Alice Anderson Belcher) was born. She passed away in May of this year but today would have been her 103rd Birthday! 103 seems like just a number, but when I think about what she saw in her lifetime I stand utterly amazed. She was a special woman, the oldest of 11 children in a small, South Georgia town. Her life was the story you only hear about in books and movies. Growing up in the world of farms, horse & buggies, outhouses, no electricity, and housework she was taught at an early age the meaning of hard work. In her life she witnessed the invention of the automobile, the airplane, home telephones (what we call landlines), the radio, the television (black and white, and then color), the computer, music records, cassette tapes, CDs, VHS tapes, DVD players, cellphones and so much more. She experienced the life and times of World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, The Cold War, Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was saddened with the rest of the world on the days of Pearl Harbor, JFK Assassination and 9/11.
She could tell you stories of walking to school, "courting" in the parlor, spending all day preparing supper for the family, living off hardly nothing in the Great Depression, being a farmer's wife, a mother to four children, pulling all-nighters to make a daughter's dressing for a school dance and a loving grandmother and great-grandmother.
Nothing pleased her more than family coming to visit her at the farm and she could make her famous chocolate layer cake. If you were the first to shoot a deer once deer season came around, you won the award of her winning smile! My Grandma is greatly missed and will continue to be. She gave us 102 years of life of love, crotcheted blankets, chocolate cakes, smiles, hugs and kisses.

(Our family when my Grandma was 99 years old)

(She loved when her great-grandchildren came deer hunting)

Pirates Plunder Charlotte

This weekend I got to see my ECU Pirates play their season opener game against the University of South Carolina Gamecocks! Well, we lost... but what a fun game it was! ECU started off strong and showed South Carolina that we did know how to play football. Unfortunately, we came back after halftime and looked like we'd never played football before. However this game was a first of many for me. This was the first time I have been to a football game in the Carolina Panther's stadium game. This was the first time I have experienced seeing my team play a nationally ranked SEC team. It was also the first time I have had a fan throw-up on our seats, it was cleaned up and then another fan bled all over our seats .... all in the 1st quarter! We were then moved to lower-level 50 yard line seats. Sadly, ECU lost their first game of the season. But we still had a great time and enjoyed watching the Pirates play, win or lose!

Labor Day Weekend

Fall is in the air! Last week we were blessed with cooler weather, the first sights and smells of the upcoming Fall, and the start of football season. This Labor Day weekend was the perfect way to say 'goodbye' to Summer and 'hello' to Fall. After work on Friday, I drove to Charlotte to visit friends and cheer on my ECU Pirates in the season opener against University of South Carolina. Friday night I got to spend the night with my good friend Leigh and we enjoyed visiting Amelie's 24-Hour Bakery! What a hidden treasure this place was! I loved eating the Salted Chocolate Caramel Brownie (sounds weird, but was heavenly!) On Saturday morning we woke up and took in the first minutes of Fall on a walk at Freedom Park. This park reminds you that nature can be found anywhere, including in the heart of a large city.

Spending time with Leigh, she introduced me to many "hidden treasures" of Charlotte. We enjoyed sitting on her front porch mesmerized by the Charlotte skyline and watching a child run past us with a soccer ball. On our hour-long walk in the park we witnessed a wedding and then enjoyed a perfect hamburger at Big Daddys. On Sunday morning we woke-up and walked to church.

This weekend I was reminded to enjoy the little things in life. For me it doesn't matter what I'm doing, just as long as I'm with people I love and continuing to invest in lifelong relationships.

Our American Idol

This year marked the tenth season of the popular television show, American Idol. In the show's first years I was an avid viewer, but honestly have not watched the show in seven years. However this season, my Tuesday and Wednesday nights turned my eyes back to the reality show. Why? Because of a contestant named Scotty McCreery. Scotty is a "local boy" from Garner, NC. Not only did I tune in for our "hometown hero," but also because this 16 year old is extremely talented. He has a deep voice like Josh Turner, southern charm like George Strait and captivates his audience like Elvis. His fans range in age from 5 years old to 95.

When the American Idol Tour rolled through Raleigh on July 27th, I wanted to go and see this boy in real-life! Not only do I love concerts but I also wanted to see him for his talent and that the American Idol winner would be performing for his hometown. My mother is a real estate agent with Fonville Morisey Realty and she works for the same company as Scotty's mom. As a company event we could purchase tickets and sit together. I assumed we would have a section of tickets on the first level. Boy was I wrong! I arrived at will-call the night of the show to pick up my tickets and my eyes were immediately drawn to section "FLOOR." Then it said, "ROW 12." Are you kidding? As we made our way to our seats, we kept getting closer and closer to the stage. We were 12 rows from the American Idols. The American Idol contestants were inches from us! It was an amazing experience. One I will never forget! The best part was being able to loock around and see how electric the RBC Center was. Getting to see what it looked like from the performers' view. Reading "I Love You Scotty" signs to "Scotty, I'll Meet You at Bojangles" signs. Scotty topped the performance when he came out for his encore in a Carolina Hurricanes jersey. As famous as he has become, Scotty still hasn't forgotten where he's come from and that he loves North Carolina "THIS BIG."

The view of the RBC Center from the 12th row.

Me, Kiera and Travis screamed along with 30,000 screaming fans!

Bleeding Purple and Gold

As I ran errands this weekend I was reminded of college students going back to school. Everywhere I went college students were with their parents buying dorm furniture, notebooks, and an endless supply of Raman Noodles and Easy Mac. Seeing all of the excitement bustling around me has made me nostalgic of my college days. The memories have continued to flood back. Memories of Freshman Move-In (carrying everything I could possibly need for the next year up three flights of stairs), meeting my new friends in the dorm, our scheduled lunches and dinners in the dining hall and gathering in each other's rooms for the newest episodes of The Bachelor, One Tree Hill or The O.C. I was very fortunate to call the town of Greenville, NC and East Carolina University home for four years. ECU blessed me with the best memories and the best friends a girl could ask for.

A Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On!

Today was a first! I have lived in North Carolina my whole life, and today I experienced an earthquake! Sitting at work all of a sudden my monitor started to shake, then the flourescent lights above me started to shake and almost give a humming sound. It lasted about 20-30 seconds. Lots of thoughts were crossing mind during these quick seconds. Thoughts like, "Am I imagining this?," and "Could this be an earthquake?" I quickly reminded myself - I live in NC. I've never known us to have an earthquake. Everyone in the office was thinking the same thing. Within moments Twitter and Facebook were telling us that this was in fact an earthquake. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake near Richmond, Virginia that could be felt as far south as Charleston, SC, the beaches of NC to as north as New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
What I was most amazed by was the technology that we have access to in our modern times. Within seconds my Twitter and Newsfeed was full of information regarding this earthquake before the local or national news had posted it to their websites.
I can now say that I've survived an earthquake and that 2011 has brought me another "first."

A Trip of a Lifetime

As kids are starting to go back to school, the popular once-a-year question starts to be heard, "What did you do this summer?" Almost every year my answers have been similar. "Went to the beach," or "Went to visit family." However this year I have an answer I've never had before, "I went to Africa!"

On June 25th I left the Raleigh-Durham Airport with nine other people from my church headed to Kenya for 10 days. These 10 days were completely life-changing. I learned a lot about how long international flights can be, what it's like to drive on the other side of the road, speak the same language as someone 8,000 miles away from home, go to the bathroom on the side of the road, feed a baboon from your car car window and catch a glimpse of seeing the world as God sees it. We did more and learned more in a day in Kenya than I've ever done in America. My visit to Africa was a once in a lifetime experience and I can't wait to share my stories with you.

A Day in the Life

This is it! I have joined the 21st century and decided to start a blog. I've come to the conclusion that life moves too quickly. There are so many moments in life that I wish I could pause and live in these moments forever. But these moments tend to go by in the blink of an eye! I love photography and in order to "capture" these moments I tend to take a lot of pictures. By a lot of pictures, I mean.. A LOT! I believe a picture is worth a thousand words and these pictures will help me to "re-live" these special moments.
Through this blog I hope to keep a journal of special moments in my life. I believe everyday is a treasure and worth every minute. I hope you enjoy a glimpse of my life and the little moments that make life so wonderful.