North Carolina's Distinguished Young Woman

 When I was in high school I became involved in the Distinguished Young Woman Program which is formerly known as Junior Miss. Since being a participant my Junior year of high school, I was a committee member for the Pitt County Program while I was in college and am a current committee member for the Wake County Program. The participant that was given the honors of Wake County's Distinguished Young Woman in August, competed in the North Carolina program this weekend. I am excited to say - she won!! Our very own, Taylor from Wake County, is now titled North Carolina's Distinguished Young Woman! She received almost $13,000 in scholarship money on Saturday night. Now that she has been chosen as the North Carolina representative she will be heading to Mobile, Alabama in June to participate in the National program. We cannot wait for Taylor to represent our state in Mobile! 

The North Carolina Distinguished Young Woman Class of 2014. 

Pirates in Tampa - Gasparilla 2014

I know that I have a love for pirates. My football team mascot, the historic pirates like Blackbeard who left their buried treasure on the North Carolina coast, the Pirates of the Carribbean  and especially Jack Sparrow. However, I have never been introduced to the pirates in Tampa, Florida... until this year! Every year Tampa celebrates the pirate Jose Gaspar at the Gasparilla Festival in January. This year I went, and what fun it was! I went to visit my cousin, Alyssa, who lives in Tampa. We got to watch the Gasparilla Pirate Ship invade the city full of pirates! The cannons and guns were very loud as they invaded the city. Following the pirate ship were hundreds of boats entering into the Bay to throw down their anchors and have a great time socializing on their boats. 

After the invasion of the Gasparilla we went to the parade. The parade route is over four miles long (twice the length of the Raleigh Christmas Parade that I am used to walking) and attended by over 300,000 people! There were a lot of people watching the parade and catching beads. 

 

It was very refreshing to leave the 19 degree temperatures in North Carolina and spend a weekend in Tampa with temperatures in the 60's. With the sun shining and pirates everywhere I turned, I can safely say that Tampa gave me a great weekend! 

2013 Comes to a Close

2013 has officially come to a close. December finished with some fun memories! There were Christmas parties...

A visit to the PNC Arena to watch my Pirates loose to the Wolfpack in basketball.. 

A family celebration of Christmas at the Farm...

And ringing in the New Year with great friends in Apex! 

Cheers to a special 2014!