An early riser, Luke loves to eat bananas and drink chocolate milk in front of the television set in the mornings. David sleeps in and takes a little more time to get ready for pre-school. The mother of 3-year-old twins, Nicole Lindsay Nichols of Dallas, NC, is an attorney who owns two businesses. Recently she added a crown to the many hats she already wears.

"I guess you could say my philosophy of life has always been to reach for the moon," said Nichols, a 1998 Campbell University Law School graduate. "I might get a star instead of a moon, but that's still a good thing." Nichols definitely snared the moon on February 14, 2004, when she was crowned Mrs. North Carolina. But despite all of the acclaim, she somehow manages to keep everything in perspective.

"My family calls me a realist," Nichols said. "I expect the worst but always hope for the best." Being a realist earned Nichols a law degree from Campbell University. It also motivated her to participate in beauty pageants to help pay for her education.

In 1996, while still a student at Campbell, Nichols was crowned Miss Erwin-Denim at the Denim Days event in Erwin, NC. She also won the title of Miss Topsail Island in 1997, and placed in the Top 10 at the Miss North Carolina Pageant twice. "I grew up being in pageants, and I continued to compete because it was a good way to earn scholarship money," Nichols said.

In addition to owning her own law firm, Nichols also owns a pageant consulting business and dance studio in the same building. "We have an interesting office," said Nichols, who recently hired her first cousin, Stacey Parker, as an associate. "It's painted taupe on one side and teal blue and pink on the other."

Her consulting business, The Perfect Step, prompted Nichols to enter the Mrs. North Carolina Pageant in the first place. "I did this pageant to practice what I preach," said Nichols, whose business consists of coaching prospective contestants for their interview and teaching them makeup application, dance, and modeling skills. "I never thought that I would win. You always hope that you will, but you never know."

As Mrs. North Carolina, Nichols is eligible to compete in the Mrs. America Pageant held in Palm Springs, CA, in September. She'll also be traveling around North Carolina making appearances and promoting her platform, "Protecting Our Children," a program affiliated with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that teaches survival skills to children in the case of endangerment or abduction. But Nichols' primary objective is to be able to spend more time with her husband Donnie, an insurance adjuster, and sons, Luke and David.

"I would like to be a class mom and participate in all of their activities," Nichols said. "I want to help provide for my family, but I also want to be involved with them. It's kind of a cliché, but I want to have it all."

Founded in 1887, Campbell University is North Carolina's second largest private institution of higher education and the second largest Baptist university in the world. Located in Buies Creek, NC, just east of the center of the state, Campbell combines academic excellence and Christian commitment.

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