Happy New Year 2011

I want to wish all my friends, near and far, a terrific new year!  May you all be safe, healthy, and happy in 2011.  Many wonderful things happened in 2010 and I just hope that 2011 has the same blessings for me and my family and friends. 

My family
My brother took some classes in the spring to better his GPA and I'm proud to say that he graduated Magna Cum Laude (3.5-3.75 out of 4.0) with a Bachelor's in Finance with an emphasis in Real Estate.  He's been working at InSite Real Estate with one of my fellow Gore Scholars!  My parents' health is great!  We had a scare this year, where doctors thought my mom might have breast cancer.  Thankfully, the results came back benign!  The news was the best Christmas gift a daughter could ask for!

My friends
Although some of my friends have struggled with a tough year with their families, I only pray that it will get better in 2011.  One of my high school friends is getting married this year and my college friend is getting married next week (Congratulations to Lisa/ and Joyce/).  I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people in my life. 

Me
I was blessed this year to live out my dream of being a television reporter.  I'm thankful to be in a career that I absolutely LOVE!  I look forward to waking up every morning to see what story I get to tell!  Everyone has a story and I can't wait to tell that story!

I'm also thankful for a wonderful, last hurrah in the Miss Kansas USA pageant system.  I was prepared and have zero regrets about my performance.  Thanks to my wonderful sponsors and friends: Courtney, Deanna, Gary, Joan, Roger, Joe, Juliana and Satish.  To all my wonderful friends who came to support me - I gave you my best performance and I was happy to share my experience with you all.

I finished in the Top 10 in the pageant and won two awards (Photogenic and Mentor).  The Mentor award meant a lot to me because the teens voted on that award and one of the reasons I wanted to be Miss KS was to inspire young people to go after their dreams.  I was blessed to befriend many of the young ladies at the pageant.  Two of the teens I helped recruit placed very high - one was in the Top 10 and the other went on to win the title of Miss Kansas Teen USA 2011!

Here's a small glimpse of some of the memories captured in 2010.  Hope to have more in 2011!