Deep thoughts from RENT...

...How Do You Measure A Year?

In miles logged?
School Assemblies addressed?
Bobby pins used?
Autographs signed?
Children hugged?
Hours of sleep lost?
Cups of coffee?

I'm not sure how to measure this unforgettable year, but I have EXACTLY one month to figure it out. That's right, in one month there will be a new young lady embarking on defining her year as Miss Nebraska. Until then, I'll keep working on mine :)
Best wishes in your preparations ladies...you will all be fabulous!

Side note: make sure you check out the Miss Nebraska website for information on preliminary and final night tickets!

Cornhusker Kiwanis

I was invited to speak at a meeting and I ended up joining!












Thanks to KLKNtv news anchor, Rod Fowler, I am now the youngest member of the Cornhusker Kiwanis Club. I went to speak for an appearance....and I ended up joining! I was looking for other activities to get involved in the Lincoln community for post-Miss NE and I think I found just what I was looking for. I just wanted to extend another thank you to the Cornhusker Kiwanis group for inviting me to be a part of the organization and I'm so excited to lend a hand in the city of Lincoln. Here are some photos from a recent pancake feed that raised funds for various youth projects.

Schools Galore

School is almost out for the summer and guess what that means? Field trips, awards nights and school assemblies. Cue: MISS NEBRASKA

That's right, its a busy time of the year (when isn't really?!) for Miss Nebraska appearances! I've been tooling around to all of the nooks and crannies of the state visiting many incredible schools. Meeting all of the educators and faculty is so much fun and its a blast to be welcomed with open arms into schools all across the state to share my message on individuality and leadership. However, it's kiddos that keep the job interesting! They are always so inquisitive and ask the best questions....both thought provoking and humorous. I've decided kindergartner's are the best at keeping me on my toes! Any way, back by popular demand I have decided to add to the list of questions I have received the past few weeks. Enjoy!

: Do you have a dog? My family has a little Lhasa apso named Jessie. This was quickly followed by how old is your dog? Has your dog ever been hurt? Does your dog bite? Do you sleep with your dog? My dogs name is Ernie...so on and so forth :)

: Are you more country or more city? I'm a mix of both, I'm a small town girl with big city dreams!

: How many speeding tickets have you got? None thank goodness! We won't mention the warnings! KIDDING

: Again, are you married/have kids? No way jose

: Were you scared when you were competing? I had a major adrenaline rush but it was more excited butterflies as opposed to nerves.

: Were the contestants nice? They were better than that, they were amazing! I keep in touch with a lot of them regularly.

: Do your feet hurt wearing those shoes? I can run, haul 4 bags, a computer case, dance shoes and balance a crown on my head in these shoes! But yes, I'm flat footed so they get a little sore at the end of the day.

: Whats your favorite color? Sparkly

: Have you met Ndamukong Suh? Unfortunately my shout out to him at Miss America didn't get me a meeting, but I still have my fingers crossed!

: Do you wear your crown when you report the news? Nope, I hang up the tiara.

: Can you yodel? (Sidenote: Miss Nebraska 2008 Gretchen Bergquist is a phenomenal singer and can also yodel! Something the kids have not forgotten about from her appearances last year! ) NO..but sometimes I try to give them my best attempt :)

: Do you get to keep the crown when you are done? I sure do

: Does your mom know you are Miss Nebraska? I think she has caught on! Just teasing, Momma Lisa is the best mom ever. She keeps me organized and moving in the right direction, plus hugs and long car ride phone conversations.

:Are you on facebook...followed by can I text you? Wait...what? Aren't you 5 years old? Yes I'm on facebook! Friend me!

: Do you ever sleep in the crown? No, aside from the night that I won! But I do have a retainer..hot.

Good Perspective

A story former Miss America, Kirsten Haglund, shared on Facebook and I found it really interesting! Take a look...

I'm SO not hip...

Okay friends, picture this:
A day with Miss Nebraska Princess day. Doing fun/light on-stage questions with the little ladies. I asked this darling little lady who she liked better, Backstreet Boys or N'Sync? Seemed like a fair question. I myself, would have picked NSync (Justin Timberlake), but I wait for her answer. Cue the crickets. ALL 30 little girls look at me like I have 3 heads. They don't know who these legendary boy bands are!!! Cue my gigantic sigh. I'm SO not with it. I try to quickly recover and ask which is their favorite Jonas Brother...she says Nick. I say enough with my failing attempt at teen heart throb trivia and more PRINCESS DAY!

You all know how much I love hanging with Princesses. Seriously, I adore hanging out with little ladies who are full of moxy and sass because they are hilarious and have so much energy! Hence my platform I suppose. I was so excited when the Miss Nebraska Little Sisters Alumnae decided to host "A Day with Miss Nebraska Princess Party". The fundraiser helped to raise money for the Miss Nebraska talent award scholarship. Being a recipient of this award, I recognize the importance of this incredible scholarship for the contestants and I was so grateful to JJ's Bridal and the Quality Inn and Suits for helping to make it possible. 30 little girls showed up and participated in various different activities including painting nails, making sashes and necklaces, modeling gowns and onstage interviews. The best part of the day was probably the Miss America evening gown modeling. In terms of runway music, I learned Selena Gomez is way cooler than Miley Cyrus but Taylor Swift reigns supreme...she's my favorite as well. Love Story was the jam of choice.

The glitz and the glamour of the day is so much fun however it is so rewarding to watch these little ladies between 6-11 years old show off their unique talents and confidence. The day was all about feeling good and confident about who they are, and boy were they ever! I wish we would have had this fundraiser prior to Miss America, they probably could have given me some walking tips for evening gown!

xoxo Brittany

FUTURE MISS NEBRASKA'S

Back to the Interwebs...

Now that I am officially back in the technology age I thought I would share a snippet of April until I can give you a big debriefing later this weekend! I apologize for not posting lately but life as I know it is pretty chaotic right now (isn't it for everyone?!?!) Actually the biggest/lamest excuse is the fact that I have moved (more on that later) and I have not had internet for about 2 weeks. Now that I have powered through moving and performing my duty as "tech support" I am up and blogging again!
I have been very occupied with Miss Nebraska duties and I have to say, every appearance, every crowd and every venue has been varied which has made for a lot of fun memories this month. I thought I would try to hit some of the highlights though!

-I was so honored to be a guest presenter at the Artistry skincare convention in Lincoln, NE. As many of you know, Artistry is a new sponsor of the Miss America Organization I'm so thrilled to see the involvement trickle down to the states. The Artistry branch in Lincoln is incredibly strong and full of very motivated business people and leaders. It was pleasure to share my work with Uniquely ME, my experiences at Miss America as well the MAO partnership with the incredible skin care line. The representatives even blared "Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night" and created a slide show of my year...I have to say the Miss America throw back was pretty awesome and the energy in the room was fantastic!





-I also participated as a "walker" in the American Heart Associations official kick off to annual Capitol City Heart Walk. I huffed and puffed on the treadmill and helped sign up walkers for the upcoming event on April 24th. The cause is incredible but it was also a blast and half to catch up with former Miss Nebraska, Tina Foehlinger and former Miss Omaha, Alexis Geist. I'm honored to call both of these incredible women my friends and was beyond excited when they asked me to help with the event as they are both representatives for the American Heart Association.


-Finally I have toured numerous schools (more photos to come) and even got some time to enjoy the production of "The Wizard of Oz" at the Lied Center with some of the Miss Nebraska board members. It was an incredible date night ladies! Sorry Charlie.
-Tommorow I am heading out to Hebron and Davenport to visit numerous schools, then on to a Teammates event, followed by Photo shoot for the Miss NE program book, a Princess day (we all know how much I LOVE those) seriously, and then more schools and a blood bank fundraiser next week! I will post pics as soon as I can!

xoxo Have a fabulous weekend everybody!
Britt

My Best Days Are Ahead of Me...

Okay, not to get all "world peace-y" on everyone but I have to honestly say one of the best things about my Miss America experience was walking away with some incredible new besties. One of which is Miss Nevada, Christina Keegan, or Nev as I say. I had a particularly awesome gab fest with her this weekend and I'll spare you all of the gory details but we may or may not have discussed all of the shenanigans of our lives and jobs post Miss America. Coming to the realization that we will never again be as bronzed or toned as we were then and that's ok...opting for dessert and yoga over lifting and protein shakes now. Future plans, plotting reunion trips and discussing the mixed emotions that come as former-dom comes flying at us. Essentially, I just love that she gets where I'm at and I'm so grateful to have her as a sounding board to talk about all of the changes going on in our lives. Not just in the pageant realm, she truly is a wonderful friend and person. I've said it once and I'll say it again, never in my life will I be surrounded with the caliber of women, in regard to talent and intellect, that I was while I was at Miss America...well, not until our reunion anyway :)



That being said, I think you could really sum up this season of life as transition time more than anything. I know many equate change=bad, but its not that way at all! Although its hard to relinquish the reigns sometimes and go with the flow, I am truly enjoying all of the new opportunities and plans unfolding around me. Every day is a delicate balance to juggle work life/Miss Nebraska duties/Brittany time/missing my bf/ family life/professional goals/fun time but I guess this just means I'm at the threshold of adulthood...dun dun dun....welcome to the future I guess!
Keeping up with the demands of my new job and Miss Nebraska duties has been pretty seamless, minus the whole sleeping bit! For those of you who try to call me in the afternoon, I promise I'm not ignoring you, I'm probably sleeping. You see I've really reverted back to sleeping patterns of a toddler, and lets be honest, who doesn't enjoy a good nap? Since I'm a night person I feel like I'm being punished if go to bed at 7 o'clock soooo I don't! I go to bed at 11ish, I blame Charlie for late night phone dates, and I get up at 3. After working out, running errands, Miss Nebraska appearances, I typically pass out on the couch like a little child. My naps are coma style the longest nap to date is officially 5 hours, impressive right? The new job is incredible though. Every day it's challenging on a professional and personal level but I'm so incredibly grateful for the opportunity and am really embracing this new phase of life. (KLKN Channel 8 ABC morning and midday show..shameless plug to watch..sorry!)

Another announcement: I've moved! In Brittany fashion I decided to add to the cluster that is my life and move. I must say I love having a girl palace to come to, my closet is immaculate and my kitchen canisters are brimming with coffee and candy. perfection. I wish I was more of creative person like my Mom, but I'm really trying to dabble in decorating! I can only aspire to reach her level, but I can proudly say that I have hung pictures and valances and even arranged nick-knacks without hurting anyone or myself for that matter! Maybe there is hope for me yet.

However, with my alone time I've had way too much time to reflect on my year and I'll find myself tearing up while vacuuming (another new obsession). There is a huge thank you/reflection note coming...not sure when I will get up the gumption to do it. So it remains on stand-by. Truly, each day that goes by I realize how truly blessed I am and what an incredible year this has been in every aspect from professional to personal, you name it it's been incredible. I can't even begin to sum up all of the gratitude and appreciation I have for all of the people and organizations who have touched my life this year. I'm never for a second not felt appreciative and thankful for this year, I'm beyond beyond beyond grateful.


Once again, a good tune always sums things up well for me. My incredible host mom, Michele, suggested this song to me and she was right, it seems to fit this whole transition bit pretty well!
enjoy!