Miss Sexiest

Why, hi, hello! Please ignore the fact that I haven't blogged in 45 days...give or take...

So many wonderful things have been happening lately! First, I have FINALLY realized that I should probably stop referring to myself as "the new Miss Delaware..." If I don't stop now, I can almost guarantee that I will be referring to myself as "new" all the way into next year...

Looking at my blog, the last thing I wrote about was my trip to Florida! I have some serious catching up to do!

Delaware had a funny way of welcoming me back to my state after rubbing elbows with Disney characters for a week....all hail the powerful hurricane, Irene. Wonderful. What does the Cahill family do when a hurricane hits? Buy out half the grocery store, pull out the VHS player and watch home videos, then whip out our skateboards and umbrellas. Skateboards and umbrellas you ask? Why would we need these? To Land Sail of course! (aka. stand/sit on the skateboard, open your umbrella, and let the heavy wind take you down the street!) GREAT idea if you don't mind ruining 800 umbrellas....it was worth it for me..... Besides some missing siding on my house, downed trees, and flooding, we were fine. Some houses were hit by tornadoes, so we were extremely lucky!

After a couple of postponed appearances (because of good old Irene), next on my agenda was a photo shoot and interview with Wilmington University!! They asked me to be one of the faces for the "What's My Story" campaign so I will be featured in a lot of their marketing! I still have a couple more photo shoots and interviews to do with them and I am sooooooo excited!!!

The next appearance I had was at "The Children's Beach House". "Children's Beach House (CBH) is a Delaware-based 501(c)(3), non-profit organization that fulfills founder Lydia Chichester du Pont's vision to help children with special needs reach their highest potential as functioning members of their families and the communities." I got to mingle with all the guests, help sell items at the live auction, sample all the food (perfect!) and take so many pictures! The craziest thing about events like this are the people that you get to meet! I met modeling agents and magazine editors just to name a few!! However, raising money for wonderful charities such as this make it all worth while! Check out http://www.cbhinc.org/ to read more on the Children's Beach House!

The next week it was on to the Absolome Jones Senior Center! While there, I was able to talk about the impact that the Miss Delaware and Miss America organization has had on my life in such a short period of time. I also got to dance for them!! The residents of the senior center loved it. After I was done I got to meet every single one of them personally. It was so wonderful to hear their reactions and how they loved having someone so down-to-earth as their Miss Delaware. Hearing that is one of the biggest compliments I can ever receive. I met this one gentleman who was blind. We had an instant connection after we found out that our birthdays were only days apart. (He loved the fact that we were both Capricorns!) After discussing our favorite music and the fact that one of my eyes is half brown, he told me that he knew that I was beautiful because I was so nice to him! Wow! I love meeting people who I would never have had the opportunity to meet if I were not Miss Delaware. Everything happens for a reason, people.

My FAVORITE appearances are those involving hospitals. I had the extraordinary opportunity to visit the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) for the Radiothon for Children's Miracle Network. Some of the little kids I met were absolutely incredible!! It brings joy to my heart that the sight of a sparkly crown can make a child forget about their illness for a little while.

One of my favorite little girls was Christina, who couldn't wait to be a "hip hop cheerleader" one day! Good for her....I could never do that. I made her a crown so we could be matching! :)

At CHOP, I also met three girls, Alli, Shelby, and Lexi!! Hi, guys!!! It was great meeting you three. Hopefully, you learned a little about how cool we Miss America girls are! : ) Ps. I am still trying to decide who had the better charactature....

BUCKET LIST SIDENOTE: I am obsessed with caricatures. I have never had one done, but have always wondered what I would look like as one...that's why it was on my bucket list!!!! Well, I got one done at the Children's Hospital! I will post a picture of it soon! Boy, oh boy, being Miss Delaware is perfect if you have an everlasting bucket list!!

Right after my appearance at the Children's Hospital, I drove to Dover for Denim and Diamond, a fabulous event that benefits Meals on Wheels! A HUGE shoutout to my wonderful executive director, Debi, who was one of the people that put the whole thing together and invited me! It was fun to mingle, help sell the live auction items (which I have to admit I'm quite good at) and take pictures in the photo booth! It was a great event to help out an even greater cause. As I am writing this I am watching the Food Network. It makes me hungry. Now, I am going to have a tiny bit of self control and not get food, but can you imagine not having the luxury to walk to the next room and make yourself a meal?! Meals on Wheels provides hot meals to some of the 6 million seniors facing the threat of unanswered hunger!

On September 11th, I was able to attend a small event at Chelsea Tavern with Michelle Falla, my wonderful Artistry by Amway representative, her husband Brian, her cousin and his fiance! 15% of everyone's bill went to help support our troops! I have never been more proud to buy a burger!!! A HUGE thank you to our troops at home and overseas for protecting the greatest country in the world. I am forever grateful to you. God bless America!

Finally, one of my good friends, Stephanie, agreed to have a fun photo shoot with me! Her one stipulation was that she had to first shoot me with my natural "fro" and NO makeup. Yes, you heard me correct. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Big Fat Goose Egg. (Eric Larson, shame on you for suggesting such a thing.) Here are a couple of my favorite pictures.

If anyone ever cared to know how I look completely naked-faced with my natural lion hair, have a field day and knock yourself out....

CONGRATS, WORLD. You just saw me in all my natural glory. MEOW. Now to the other stuff...

I have more blogs on the way!! Do I need to start doing them more often? Why, yes...yes, I do!

Stay chill and support Children's Miracle Network Hospitals,

Maria Cahill

ps. feel free to start donating to my Children's Miracle Network account! Please visit https://missamericaforkids.org/m.aspx?i=22668758D9BE47FC3 . Thanks! :)

"Little children, let us love, neither in word nor with the tongue, but in deed and truth." 1 John 3:18

My last appearance was the evening I returned from Buffalo – straight from the airport! with QSAC: Quality Services for Autism. I met "Charlie the Matchmaker" at a Straight Talk event with dot429 and he introduced me to his husband Gary Maffei, founder of QSAC. I presented an award to one of their corporate sponsors, but also receiving an award that night was Richard Oceguera, President of the New York Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NYGLCC), and organization that has been supportive of me this year, including their donation to my Miss America ad in the program book. This was a great way to end my year, once again realizing that just because there are LGBT people supporting a cause, it does not make it a “gay” event. It is because they are people supporting human causes.

But don’t get me wrong, that room did enjoy the sash J

In the few days I had left as Miss New York, I spent my time on Long Island at my friends’ house – Eric and Walter – to relax, reflect, write my farewell and finish planning the logistics of Mr. New York. Since I was a “homeless vagabond” the last two weeks of Miss New York (My lease was up May 31 and I was traveling so much at the end of Miss NY and after, there was no reason to spend thousands of dollars on a NYC apt I was barely living in!) I was very thankful for Eric and Walter opening their home to me as my own.

I witnessed a beautiful, beautiful thing that weekend. In the two years I’ve known them – they do the musical at Hewlett HS that I choreographed after Walter judged me in Miss Jubilee – we have of course talked about my service and platform as Miss NY, but I had heard Walt say before, “I don’t need the state to tell me that I’m married. I know that we have a home together, a life together, and it’s just fine the way it is. Neither of us are going anywhere.” Interesting perspective for someone who has been in a relationship for many years. But something changed; something evolved. And through my conversations with Walt, he started the Human Rights Club at the high school, has become more open about answering students’ questions, and has realized, he needs to be married to Eric. They say it’s because of me. I say it’s because they are two people who love each other unconditionally with eternal commitment. Both musicians, we went in the piano room and Eric played piano as Walter sang “their” song. Tears. Heck, I’m getting teary-eyed now and this moment was two and a half months ago. I was a mess – but not sad tears – happy tears! Another realization of what “marriage” means to some people, but what a relationship truly is.

When marriage passed in NY two weeks later, Walter texted me, “Thank you. We’re getting married December 31.” More tears.

One thing I wanted to do during my reign as Miss New York was focus on traveling to Western NY. Miss NY has not had a strong presence there, and we are missing out on so much. So I contacted the local titleholders in the Buffalo and Rochester areas and we went to town. I was so impressed by Desiree Wiley, Miss Buffalo 2010, from whom I immediately received an email CC’d to me through the superintendent of schools in Lockport as well as a few other area school districts. Katie Martin, former Miss Greater Rochester and now co-executive director, contacted some Rochester area schools as well. Since JetBlue had so graciously offered to fly me anywhere to talk about my platform, I took them up on it! So the trip went a little like this: Sunday straight from Queens PRIDE, I flew JetBlue to Buffalo, NY where Desiree hosted me for the few days.

Monday we spoke at Lockport High School in multiple assemblies, covering their entire 1,600+ student body, focusing on diversity, bullying and acceptance. Desiree was able to share that as a recent Lockport grad, she has already accomplished great things as Miss Buffalo and they were able to accomplish what they set their mind to as well! At the end of one of the presentations, a senior girl came up to me to say “Thank you” and invited me to the G/SA meeting that afternoon. When I went to the meeting I was so excited to find that it was actually their last meeting – what a way to celebrate! We had fascinating conversation about the role of youth in this civil rights movement as well as the shifting climate in schools that makes sexual orientation a bit less of an issue, however still reliving some important stories that should not be hidden to the public about bullying.

Desiree and me with the Lockport HS Principal

Lockport HS Final Gay/Straight Alliance meeting

In between the assemblies and the G/SA meeting, we were able to sneak away for a trip to Niagara Falls. I hadn’t been since 2006, so it was exciting to be able to return! Of course we had to take one picture with our crowns and sashes on and boy did that draw a cute crowd! People were sooo excited to meeting Miss Buffalo and Miss New York and one lady even told me about how excited she was last year to meet Miss America Caressa Cameron at an event! We had a family cookout that night where I got to experience just regular life with the Wiley’s friends and family.

Miss America fans!

with my hosts, the Wiley Family!

Tuesday, we went to Rochester to Golisano Medical Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center at Strong Hospital where we were joined by Chelsea Prophet, Miss Greater Rochester 2011. In the play room, we had arts and crafts time, made frames and had some great talks with the kids there. With Desiree’s platform of organ, eye, tissue and blood donation, she was able to connect with some special kids who were there in that play room because of a donated organ. And since we were all dancers, that was a topic of conversation as well. I’m glad that we made such an impact on Golisano Hospital as Kaitlin Monte, Miss NY 2011 has already been able to go back! In fact, she went on an upstate CMN Hospital tour – take a look on her blog HERE. We returned to Buffalo for some media interviews which you can see featured HERE on the front page of the newspaper.

The next day in Buffalo, we had a meeting with Senator Tim Kennedy. I met the Senator in Albany on a lobby day and he was so excited to bring Miss NY to Buffalo and share experiences from the marriage equality trail. He is an upstanding Senator who has been very supportive and vocal about marriage equality, regardless of it’s potential effect on his political standing and/or race. After hearing from me, and also hearing of Desiree’s involvement with her platform (he had a blood drive set for the following Saturday!), he said to consider him a partner of the Miss New York Organization and became and Elite 100 Donor to the Empire State Scholarship Education Fund. I’d say overall it was a very successful trip! Taking this trip to Western NY allowed me to check off my wish list as Miss New York and I’m very grateful for all who helped to make it possible and especially to the Wiley family for hosting my stay.

Senator Tim Kennedy, Buffalo

PRIDE MONTH!!!! (lame, I’m sooo late. But I tweeted lots about it when we were actually IN the month of June) Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that June was probably a pretty big month for me with my platform, right at the end of my reign as Miss New York.

I was reminded of my Queens and Staten Island PRIDE events this week when I got an email of photos from a woman, Laura, whom I met at Queens PRIDE. She has sent me a pin that is a rainbow colored high heel. Could you represent my year as Miss New York any more perfectly?! Love it. To finally wrap up on my Miss NY year so that I can get this book of my year printed, AND start blogging as “Just Claire” here’s one final push at finishing my year of service.

After kicking off PRIDE Month at PepsiCo, it was on to the real celebration of PRIDE Parades. Now these parades have indeed caught flak before; I believe it was Carl Paladino who referenced them as “bumping and grinding…disgusting” and “speedo-wearing men with gyrating movements.” I’m sure there was a “leather” reference in there somewhere. Well stereotypes do come from some example, but are generalizations that are detrimental and limiting to any group. Instead, at Staten Island PRIDE where I served as the Grand Marshall, there was a fairly small group of people, many youth and very diverse minorities were represented. Christopher Hines, a producer who was filming a documentary for Logo, joined me at SI PRIDE to get a taste of the reception the community has for Miss New York. I’ve just received word that I am “prominently featured” in the film, which will release in October. I’m excited to see the support and highlights of exciting straight allies like myself, Hudson Taylor, Ben Cohen and more. At the festival, we heard from many politicians in support of equality and I of course signed quite a handful of autographs. It was great to see Kim Cantoni, Miss Liberty 2011, and Jim Smith, Executive Director of Miss Staten and the 2005 Grand Marshall of SI PRIDE!

Kim Cantoni and Jim Smith, ED of Miss Staten Island and the 1st Staten Island Grand Marshal

Danny Dromm, City Councilman

Matt Titone, NY State Assemblyman

The next day, Queens PRIDE really went above and beyond! Danny Dromm, out City Council member, started Queens PRIDE years ago and it has grown exponentially since. I was a co-Grand Marshal with State Senator Tony Avella. Unfortunately, I was only able to stay for the parade and lunch and did not get to visit in the festival because I was flying to Buffalo, but it was such a wonderful afternoon and I most certainly did not want to leave! I ate lunch with a few young people who were interning with Christine Quinn because they wanted to be advocates for social justice. So cool. And once again, negative stereotypes of PRIDE parades were proven wrong – instead crowds of loving and supportive people, in jeans and t-shirts nonetheless, celebrating equality and supporting their forward, fair-minded politicians.

with my Queens PRIDE drivers

Tony Avella, Co-Grand Marsal, NY State Senator

Tom Duane, NY State Senator

What we have to remember is that the Pride parade is one day, and Pride month is one month, June, but we must celebrate people all day and every day. This year’s Pride month in New York was especially energetic because of the momentum in the fight for Marriage Equality. Unfortunately, I was not able to march in the NYC Pride Parade because I was a surprise guest at Miss North Carolina, but I’m pretty sure I could hear the celebration, the day after Marriage Equality was passed in New York State!! Now that is something to celebrate with huge PRIDE, excitement and love!

I did experience a first at this parade though that I have to share. So I’m sitting up on the back of a white Mustang convertible - very nice – ready to start the parade when the car behind us dies. So with me still on the top we pull forward, reverse back, wind around the car and then proceed to jump the car with cables. In case you weren’t picturing it funny enough in your mind, here’s a look. What an experience – one every pageant girl must have. ;-)

Disney World. The land of an obnoxiously large castle. The land of mice that run around wearing outfits calling themselves Mickey and Minnie. The land of the 8 dollar (good grief) Tinkerbell key chain! THE LAND OF AWESOMENESS!!!!

Last week, I went to Florida for the Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant with my mom and one of my sisters. The trip started out great even though we had to leave at 4 in the morning. I was feeling upbeat, had stretched, ran around my living room (because there is so much room for activities) and felt like I had successfully packed enough (which never happens. EVER.). The day was going really great. The plane ride was smooth. I had my ray-bans on. I had my Glamour and Marie Claire magazines....AHHHHH this is the life....then we landed.

Guess what didn't show up. One of our bags. In it was packed my flat iron, curling iron, makeup, and ALL of my sister's clothes.

Now, normally, this wouldn't bother me. I have come to not like (believe it or not) wearing a lot of makeup and, most times, I don't mind my hair going crazy....

...even though that is how my hair looks on a GOOD day...fail.

HOWEVER....this was one week I HAD to look halfway decent. There was filming for Miss America, filming little youtube videos and pictures GALORE. How could this happen to me?!?!?!

Okay...putting all drama aside....the bag did show up 6 hours later....that dumb thing just decided to board another flight to Orlando. What a loser. It showed up just in time! God, if that was you playing a joke on me....that was literally the most not funny joke EVER.

That week, I wore heels 20 out of 24 hours and wore a dress. It was like an abridged (massively) version of Miss America!

Sidenote - Heels are very cute. Not only do they give you a height boost which in turn gives you a better view of the room you are in, but it also elongates your legs which makes them look lean and mean. However, some heels are the WORST! Sure you may walk in Bebe and try on 6 inch nude platform pumps that are the greatest thing to happen to this fashion world, but the thing to do is to save them until the last day...unlike me. Bebe heels = not so comfy. Bebe heels = the worst blisters. Ever.

BEAUTY IS PAIN. BEAUTY IS PAIN. BEAUTY IS PAIN.

Goodness, as much as I try to tell myself...it doesn't work. It is like telling yourself that broccoli tastes as good as a hamburger. Just...no.

Anyway.... the week was a blast. My little "sister", Tori, did absolutely INCREDIBLE. She is one of the most beautiful dancers I have ever had the privilege of watching. She did absolutely wonderful and I have never been so proud. She is doing such a fabulous job as Miss Delaware's Outstanding Teen. Love you, girl!!!

Not only were we there to root for our girls, but the 53 Miss America contestants got to film in Disney for Miss America and Disney promotional commercials, listen to talks by Miss America and the Miss America board members and so much more. The most memorable part, in my (and I am sure many of the other girls would agree) opinion, was when we listened to a talk by Colonel David Sutherland of the United States Military. I am usually pretty good at holding it together at funerals, sappy movies and things of that nature, but hearing him talk about losing his best friend right in front of him, the devastating effects that war can have on these soldiers, and when he ended his speech with "I am Colonel David Sutherland of the United States Military, and I WILL DIE FOR YOU," - there was literally not one dry eye in the room. Incredible speech from an incredible man.

One of the other crazy experiences of the week was riding on the Tower of Terror. Check off the bucket list? I think yes! I was really excited for it and Miss PA, Julianne Sheldon, was really pumping me up! The ride was great until...the end... Who got stuck when the ride broke down for a good 5 minutes in the pitch black. This girl...along with about 20 other Miss America contestants. Perfect. Making memories? Yes. On the bright side, one of the girls had Twizzlers and water in her bag so we could have lasted for a couple days...

Overall, the week was a blast. I had a wonderful time getting to know the girls, meeting the current Miss America (who was FABULOUS and so incredibly gracious and humble) and getting a feel for the Miss America pageant in January.

A huge thank you to my Uncle Bob, Stan and Calvin Wilson for taking my mom, sister and I to Universal Studios after the pageant was over so that I can now check off 2 items on my never ending bucket list...one, to go to Harry Potter World and two, to go on the Jaws ride.

Sidenote - I have wanted to go on this Jaws ride for years and years...and after I rode it and a little boy started crying...I knew that it lived up to the hype...

ENJOY SOME PIX :)

LOVE my girl, Tori!! So proud of her!!! :)

PS. THANK YOU to the people in my life who are so supportive of what I do during my year and remember that I am the same person with or without a crown. I am SO lucky to have people like that in my life, especially now.

Also, I am starting to raise money for Children's Miracle Network! Click on the link to the left side of the page ("MAKE A DONATION TODAY") and search my contestant name to help out! Every little bit helps! :)

Stay chill and go on the Jaws ride whenever you can,
Maria Cahill

"Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Proverbs 37:4

WOWZERS!! I am way behind on blogging! Me, procrastinate? Never! .....

The past couple of weeks have been pretty insane...surprise, surprise. I had an appearance at the Georgetown Festival of Hope. This appearance was INCREDIBLE. I got to meet SO many people, especially kids. I came in 2nd place in a watermelon eating contest...second to an older gentleman who kept looking at me and laughing into his watermelon because 1. I was funny looking or 2. I was just entertaining while I shoved watermelon in my face. I feel that coming in second should either win me free food for a year or at least earn me a silver medal...although I would prefer the former...

Sidenote - I like watermelon. I really do. I like eating it. I like smelling watermelon scented things. I like spitting the seeds out at people. When someone asks me to join a watermelon eating contest, I get very excited. I did a contest like that at the Delaware State Fair and ate that piece of watermelon as fast as I could. This time, I expected my enthusiasm to be the same....UNTIL......I found out that this contest, instead of eating one piece of watermelon the fastest, it was to see who could eat the most watermelon in 5 minutes.........UHHHH.....

How I looked before the contest....

How I looked after......

GROSS.

NEVER.AGAIN.

At the Festival of Hope, I met this one little girl who gave me my first ever silly band (an elephant! YES!). She came from an extremely bad home situation but was still so incredibly optimistic. She gave me one of her bracelets so I would not forget her. Talk about something tugging at your heart strings!!! I just wanted to take her home, especially when I went to leave and she hugged me for a good couple of minutes and wouldn't let me go.

Right after the festival, I drove to Milford where I was able to emcee the first pageant of the season with the wonderful and talented, Bliss Soucek. I crowned Chelsea Betts and Alyssa Murray (love you both!) I was so proud of both of them! One pageant down, a million more to go!

The next morning I was off to Cape Henlopen High School to speak at the Free to Breathe 5k walk/run (or in my case, a "sit there and watch"...). It is extremely inspirational to meet people who are so passionate about fighting lung cancer. The stories of how their families have dealt with lung cancer was very moving. Afterwards, I was supposed to go to a parade, but is was rained out! BOO! What to do instead? Head to a diner with my driver, Donald!

The next day was a HUGE appearance for me! For anyone that doesn't know, Extreme Home Makeover is in the middle of filming here in Delaware!! I had the opportunity to Irish Dance in a fundraiser concert, hosted by Telly Leung ("Wes" of Glee who was also in "Rent" on Broadway) in front of so many people! There were cameras filming and, while I am not sure if they will air this concert on television, be sure to check out upcoming episodes of Extreme Home Makeover on ABC (the same channel as Miss America....woot woot!!) What a phenomenal experience! Being Miss Delaware has opened up my life to so many fantastic opportunities!

1. My "DelawareToday" magazine cover shot (and article) is on stands now. Pick yours up today! (....that was my way of being super convincing...).
2. If you reside in Mobile, Alabama, listen for me on the radio tomorrow!
3. Happy day-after Birthday to my now 14 year old brother, Jack. What a bro.
4. Thank you to Bill Sammons of 88.7 the Bridge for the book "Jesus Calling." This is a wonderful book of daily devotions that I got a chance to read while co-hosting. So glad to have a copy to call mine. Thanks SO much again, Bill!
5. stay tuned to read about my trip to Florida and more! Check back in the next day or two to read about my experience at Miss America's Outstanding Teen!

Stay chill and never eat massive amounts of watermelon. EVER.
Maria Cahill

"But if I say, 'I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot."
Jeremiah 20:9

Hi. A lot of exciting things have been happening!!!

A recap of my week so far, first? Why, sure!

I had the great opportunity to attend the Delaware Electric Co-op with my business manager, Susan, and her husband, Gene. When I was told this was going to be a large event, I had no idea that they actually meant HUGE. It was just hours and hours of shaking hands, meeting adults and children, and taking pictures....and I LOVED every single minute of it. These types of events, where I get to meet hundreds and hundreds of people, are the reasons that I love my job.

Sidenote - If you are 5'8'' and wear heels on top of that....that makes you incredibly tall....oh well.

The good thing about high heels? The air is better up there...and you can see for miles.
The bad thing about high heels? You are so tall that if it starts raining, it hits you first and you get soaked before anyone else.

Eating fried chicken at the Co-op! :)
Photo courtesy of Dave Chambers

Thank you to Chuck for the earrings and bracelet and to Bliss for letting me borrow your dress :)

Me and Bliss :)

Today was Miracle Treat Day at Dairy Queen locations all around the country. One dollar from every Blizzard sold went to Children's Miracle Network hospitals. If you didn't get your Blizzard...shame on you. Next time, get chocolate chip cookie dough like me! YUM! I went to the Middletown, DE, Dairy Queen and got to meet people, talk about CMN and Miss America, and sign autographs. The best part was talking to a man about Ireland (because it rules) and finding out that it was his birthday! He told me that talking to me was the best birthday surprise he ever got. The simple things, people...the simple things.

A lot of people I have been meeting have been commenting on the fact that they read about me in 'The Dialog.' For anyone that has not read that article...help yourself... http://www.cdow.org/dialog.html

---click on the box in the middle, then scroll down to the last page---

**One of the most heartwarming moments of my year so far was receiving a letter from a man who has a stepdaughter receiving spinal surgery. He said he couldn't wait for her to be well enough to read my story. I was completely touched and it makes me realize that there are people out there who appreciate what I am doing to spread the word about faith and family. "I can do all things in Christ who strenghthens me..."

A HUGE SIDENOTE (that has nothing to do with anything) - Throughout this entire year, my goal is to show that not all pageant girls are the same. I do things differently than most. My goal is to appeal to the younger generation that might have a preconceived notion of pageants or the Miss America Organization. We are fun and we eat (a lot), but we wear a crown, get scholarship money for education, and speak about things that we are passionate about. So what if I crack a joke or ten? If you can't tell by reading my blog....I refuse to take life too seriously. It is just too short for that.

Good golly, that was the most serious I have been in a long time....enough of that!

I have an AMAZING events coming up!

HERE IS THE BIG NEWS FROM MY LAST POST!!!!

While many people have read it on facebook, I am going to be a part of Extreme Home Makeover!!!!!!! I am going to be performing at the pep rally at Cape Henelopen High school! It will be filmed as part of the episode featuring a family from Delaware!! This is such a huge opportunity for me and for the promotion of the Miss America Organization and I absolutely cannot wait! For anyone that wants to attend the pep rally (it's free!) or help volunteer in any way, visit http://schellbrothers.com/extreme/ for more info! :)

Other SWEET events coming up/in the works!

-- a clothing designer (Spaceboyclothing.com) contacted me to help with their Delaware themed clothing line by putting my signature on their shirts! YEAH BUDDY!!! The project is still in the works, but it is AWESOME nonetheless!!

-- in talks to be on a radio show in Mobile, Alabama!!!

-- off to Orlando, Florida, next week to root for Tori in Miss America's Outstanding Teen (and I am also filming for Miss America)!

--going to be in a full feature spread for Wilmington University magazine (shooting at the end of the month)

Last by not least...

Here are some of the pictures I promised from the Delaware State Fair! Check out the rest on my facebook page!