Colonial Days!

So, just a week and a half before the Miss New York pageant, I had a jam-packed weekend in Corning for the annual Colonial Days festivities, specifically the pageants and parade. I had a ton of fun, it gave me exactly the release I needed from all of the pageant-prep stress.

I drove down on Thursday for the first night of Colonial Days, for the Tiny Miss and Little Miss Colonial Days pageants. It was an absolute thrill for me to see all of these beautiful little girls doing what I love to do, and having the guts to get up on stage at such a young age when, at 21 years old, it's still nerve-wrecking for me!! We crowned two perfect winners that night as well as some runners-up and Miss Congenialities. I think the best part was being able to visit my little brothers and sisters, spend some time with them and just see my family for a little while.

Ok, a prize to whoever can follow me through this paragraph and actually make sense of it. I have five siblings, three brothers and two sisters, all through the same mother. Only two of those siblings have the same father...... sad, I know. Anywho, those two sibs are Joey (17) and Shey (14). They live with their dad Aaron who, by the way, is the coolest guy ever. He just got re-married in September, for which I was so honored to be a bridesmaid, to Wendy. Wendy has two children from a previous relationship, Trevor (9 I think?) and Lexi (13 I think...). Additionally, Aaron has another daughter, Courtney (9) from his second marriage (after my mom) who lives with him. SO, this house is FULL of kids, all of which are like blood related family to me that I love so much and that treat me like their favorite toy on Christmas whenever I come visit. I had a wonderful time just relaxing with them, hangin' out with Wendy girl-talking, and taking the kids to school on Friday morning. As you know, if you know me or if you've been keeping up with my blog, I really don't have a family, so being able to spend time with this one gives me that connection that I've been missing out on for pretty much half of my life, and it's just the greatest feeling in the world. Appreciate your families, people, because I am SO jealous of those of you who have moms and dads!!

Continuing on with Colonial Days, on Friday I had the great honor of being given a tour of Corning and Painted Post by the Mayor of Painted Post, Edward "Sandy" Franklin, Jr. with Sarah, the local Children's Miracle Network rep, and Leigh-Taylor Smith, Miss New York. I learned so much about Corning and everything that is done here and made here, and it was a spectacular learning experience for me. We then had a nice lunch, and made our way to the big tent for that evening's pageants, Little, Teen, and Miss Colonial Days. Leigh-Taylor and I presented Sarah with a check for the hospital in Elmira, money raised from the very pageant at which I was crowned! Being a part of the Miss America Organization has been rewarding in a million ways, and helping out the CMN has perhaps been the most rewarding. After the pageant, Leigh-Taylor and I headed to the hotel to get ready for a wild girls night out on Corning... which included a trip to Wal-Mart and some popcorn while watching Uptown Girls! It was good times :)

The parade the next day was really amazing, the second-largest professionally judged parade of marching bands next to the Macy's Day parade. It was super long, with thousands of people, and coincidentally it was Leigh-Taylor's very first parade as Miss New York, and I was very proud to have her in my central city of reign for that! I gotta tell you, your arms get REALLY tired after all that waving, though! It was so fun, seeing all the kids smiling up and waving. I hope to inspire a lot of girls to achieve all of the things they want to, and I hope to instill in them that they are all so beautiful and so sweet, and as long as they hold onto to that confidence they will accomplish incredible things.

After the parade, I helped hand out trophies to the marching bands that competed. When it was all said and done, I was on my way back to Syracuse, to wind down from the weekend and relax before I have to get my head back in the game... one week to go! Keep me in your thoughts!!