Next week will be my last week at The Daily News. I just wanted to thank everyone who came to my blog now and then, and those who read Max Entertainment Magazine every Thursday. I have worked very hard on Max in the past eight months or so (with the help of others at the paper), and have thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved knowing about all the fun events and concerts going on all the time.

I have also enjoyed putting together the Neighbors section each week. The celebrations page was always fun for me because I’m a girl and I’m into all that pretty, wedding, engagement and anniversary stuff.   

Besides my coworkers, I will miss a few things about the area.

I will definitely miss doing interviews with musical artists, especially country music singers. I did my last interview for this past week’s Max. It was awesome, aside from the fact that I coughed incessantly during the interview from a bad cold. I told Rich and Andy I would sit at the other end of the table and not to shake my hand, but they insisted. What gentlemen. The interview was with The Karg Bros. who perform around our area frequently. They were fantastic people to interview and I was glad I ended my last writing experience here on such a good note. I have had the opportunity to interview some great people: Elliott Yamin, Chely Wright, Charlie Daniels, Caroline Rhea, Aaron Tippin, Jeff Bates, Josh Turner, and the list goes on and on. Hopefully, I can find a place in Raleigh that will let me write some. I didn’t major in writing in college, but I have always had an interest in it. I have learned a lot from working at The Daily News in the past 13 years in both graphic design and writing. Hopefully, I can continue both in Raleigh on a freelance basis.  

in addition to the writing, another thing about Jacksonville that I will miss is also something that I will always take with me. I am thankful for the opportunity to live among such wonderful, brave men and women in the Marines and Navy. Other people in other places don’t look at the military quite the same as one does who lives, or lived, here. They just don’t quite understand it all. But I have seen the families anxiously waiting for their loved ones to come home, I have seen the wounded coming back from Iraq and I have seen how hard the Marines and Navy corpsmen work. I will always remember that and take that with me. And, I will always stick up for the Marines whenever I hear any negative words about them - not just because my brother is one, but because Marines don’t deserve anything but our support and our gratitude for doing what they do. In a strange way, I will miss the huge military presence. It gave me a sense of comfort and gave me and my little girl a huge sense of pride in our country.    

Thanks again for reading my stories, catching my blogs and enjoying my page layouts for the past 13 years.