First Snow!

I have really been slacking (like always..). Varsity soccer has kept me going. A few nights ago (Sunday, I believe), it snowed. Not a lot or anything, about 1 or 2 inches. It melted the next morning, but it was special because it was Sophie's first snow! And she loved it.

At first she just sat and stared.

Then, she went wondering..

She came in covered in snow. It was so awesome watching her enjoy it all. Anyways, that's enough for one night.

Sweet Dreams,
Brittany xoxox

Bittersweet Analogy

If you met me two years ago, I was weak. I was fragile. I was really naive. I was crushed emotionally by the smallest things. I wasn't the same person then that I am now. I believe, with time, everything can change. Why? Because I surely have changed. I like to think I am stronger, smarter (still naive at times though, but aren't we all?), and emotionally stable and guarded. Two years ago, I would have completely been invested in one thing. And when it didn't work out, I would have been crushed for months... Heartbroken. Now, I have a mentality of "what will be, will be." Meaning, what is meant to happen to me, meant to be apart of my life, will find it's way into my life. So when I say this next part, please understand, I am completely fine. I haven't shed a single tear over it. I actually still find myself very lucky (will explain why I feel that way later).

Scholarships are kinda like relationships.
You meet a guy. You work really hard to impress him, make him like you. You see a scholarship. You work really hard to write about how awesome you are.
With a guy, you have to shew away the other "women". With scholarships, you have to beat the other contestants.
With a guy, you constantly wait for that text or call. With scholarships, you are constantly refreshing your email.
When something doesn't go your way with a guy, you feel rejected. When things don't go your way with scholarships, you lose $10,000 that you never really had to begin with.
When your friends ask about the guy or that guy texts you apologizing, you type millions of text messages trying to say something back, but erase them all because they are either mean or you feel ashamed. When your friends ask you about the scholarship, you say "I haven't heard yet." or "It just wasn't for me."
With a guy, you learn from your mistakes, realize you are still awesome, and move on because there are plenty of fish in the sea and you will find your one person. With a scholarship, you move on because money is out there for college. You realize there are other scholarships and you are awesome!

Moral of the story, all these things happen in life, whether it is a scholarship or a guy. Simply put, it is how you handle it and respond to these things that make you who you are and shapes you as a person.

Friday, at approximately 6 pm, I heard from Coca Cola. I did not win the Coca Cola Scholarship. And you know what? That is perfectly okay. I am still applying and I am still up for many huge scholarships. I feel lucky to have been one of the 2,200 people out of 84,000 people who made it to the second round.

As I continue this journey down the path of college and discovering who I am, I realize I like what I am seeing. I realize I have so much more to learn, to experience, and so many opportunities going for me. Time tells all. (Too bad I am the most impatient person ever...).

Much love and no regret,
Brittany xoxo

Feel the Burn

I promise I have a fantastic excuse for not blogging as much this week. In all honesty, there is so much I want to share.

Coca Cola contacted me! And said that they will be sending out email/letters later this week!! They had so many highly qualified applicants that they needed more time to make the decision.

Additionally, I submitted three other scholarships this week,

KFC
Doing Good
and
Richie Spirit

I am up to 15 scholarships submitted now.

And I AM A FINALIST!!! WOO HOO! It is for the Axa Community Achievement Scholarship. They reward $2,000 to 12 people per branch per state. Last year, two people in Durham won! I have to submit my materials by March and hear back in late April.

This entire week has been soccer tryouts at my high school. As many of you may know, I am completely and utterly in love with some soccer. This, unfortunately, will be my last year playing. For the first time, I believe my school will have a Varsity and JV team. My calves and shoulders are definitely sore and I have most definitely felt the "burn".

So many exciting adventures I am being able to experience. I am lucky, and I am very blessed.

Excited to share,
Brittany

Eleven Percent. That isn’t as much as you think.

I’ve been slacking keeping up with blog posts. But you guys haven't! Officially reached 500 views (540 to be exact!)

Honestly, I have been waiting. On the mailman. How silly is that? I have noticed lately, everything that is important to me mail wise (i.e. college acceptance letters) take ages to get to me. 

Because I have yet to receive a letter from coca cola, I went back and read the fine print. One piece of paper says February 10^th. Another says early February. They all say everyone is notified (And I confirmed that by asking a parent who had a kid who won and another kid who didn’t. They both got a letter). But only 250 out of 2,200 people get it. That is 11 percent. What?!?! I just want to say, either the mailman is snail-slow lately or coca cola needs to get on the ball because I can’t wait any longer. This letter would guarantee me between $10,000 to $20,000 (holy cow, what a dent that could make in my expenses). So, whenever I find out, I will be sure to share. Hope it is soon…. 

 

Lately, I have been obsessed with my new photoshop program. I have been focusing on the eyes, bags, lashes, teeth, and blimishes. It is surprisingly fun (most likely because it is new). Above is one of my favorite images.

Hope you enjoyed my little chat,

Brittany

Believing in the Impossible

How about that shot last night? In the Duke/Carolina Game? Yes, you know you were watching! Admit it was good whether you have hard feelings over it or am still hyped. Truth is, it was an awesome shot.
So recap: Duke down 12 points in the last 2 minutes. Duke comes back, making threes and free throws. Kelly hits a two. Keller scores for Duke. And then there is that Austin Rivers Boy... standing above the 3 point circle, dribbling from 14 seconds to 5 seconds. Releasing the ball and hitting the 3 pointer that wins the game. Needless to say, I was screaming jumping out of my chair. March will have one awesome basketball game in store!

Today, I got an awesome gift. Photoshop CS5. How excited was I? Way too excited. I have been playing and watching videos on it all night. Some of you know, I work in a wonderful photo studio downtown, Celestial Expressions Photography and Design. I love what I get to do there. Tonight I learned how to lighten and make eyes pop. So simple and I always thought it took so much more work. Hopefully I will share a photo with you when I feel more confident.

So, I need some prayers. Tonight is the eve of when I find out if I made it to the final round of the Coca Cola Scholarship. It would make a significant impact on my education if I was given the opportunity to go to Atlanta to interview for $20,000. As I continue to say, I believe what is meant to be, will be. In addition, I know that if things don't work out, I will still be going to college and there will be other scholarships. I lay this all in gods hands as I go to sleep tonight. He never fails. <3

xoxo,
Brittany

Time to Battle!

All day long, I have seen it all over facebook. All day long, I have heard about it. All day long, I have seen bets take place. All day long, I have been anticipating it.

I believe everyone knows the UNC and Duke Men's Basketball rivalry! And tonight they face off. I have said very little on the topic today. But without a doubt, here I sit wearing my Duke shirt about to watch. Forever faithful to my dark blue. Ever since I was accepted into Carolina, my family has been talking about how they would "change sides" if that was where I was to attend. Truth is, I don't know if I will ever change sides. I will be that girl rooting on her devils even though she is a "ram".

No matter what happens, I can promise you tomorrow morning I will be standing behind my boys whether they take that win or lose. (But we all know, I will have bragging rights tomorrow). Let's just say, someone will be talking crap tomorrow, someone will be paying up, someone will be not having a good day, and someone will be basking in that win!

Enjoy the game,
Brittany

Disease. Symptoms. Diagnoses. Treatment.

 
Disease: Senoritis

Definition: A condition peculiar to high school seniors, hence the subword "senor" in senoritis, who are "itching" to graduate and move on to bigger things (Urbandictionary.com).

Symptoms: Complaining about every class assignment or scholarship essay, lack of attention in class, constant talk of graduation, moaning and groaning at the word class, fatigue, no excitement except when the word "graduation" is said, etc.

Treatment: With stand the sickness, push through, and experience relief after walking across that stage

If it wasn't apparent by now, I have an awful case of Senioritis. For most people that know me, they would probably describe me as motivated and determined with an occasional complaint about work (okay... maybe more than occasional... but....). Today, as I sat writing an essay for a scholarship about Thomas Jefferson, I had nothing but moans, groans, and complaints. It seemed like torture to make me sit still for an hour to do research and type about 700 words on a computer screen (usually, I can crank out 500 words in 30 minutes and that is including my thought process). In the past week, I have set my mind on what I want to wear walking across the graduation stage (it's sad that I have even picked out the jewelry), planned out my "speech" (which is really not a speech... surprise! You'll have to wait till June.), and still had time to keep up with 3 AP classes and an honors course.

On the contrary, I am sad this bug has hit me so soon. I really wish it would have held off a little longer. Then, I wouldn't be procrastinating as much or "itching" for June to hurry up. It didn't really hit that I was graduating until I was shopping online at school for a dress. Woah. I remember thinking, "Wow, I really am a senior. I really am going to be graduating. I really am going to college. I really am going to be giving a speech. I really am awesome!" (Well, maybe I didn't say the last sentence, but ya know, gotta have some confidence.).

Anyways, moral of the story:

Seniors: Don't get Senioritis.
Parents: If your kid gets it, little to nothing will you be able to do to stop it or help it.
Teachers: Senioritis leads to no motivation. No motivation means little will be learned. Little being learned means.... Well you get the picture.
Brittany: You are graduating, You are a senior, So get it through your pretty little head.

Sincerely wrote while procrastinating,
Brittany

The Four "S's"

Sick:
Up until today, I have had one massive migraine. As some of you may know, I suffered a concussion my sophomore year in high school which now makes me lose my vision when I have a migraine. Hence why there is a lack in the number of blog posts these past few days. Luckily, I am as good as ever now.

Sharing:

For a while, I worked at a kid's party place in town that threw little girls' birthday parties. It was part of my job to make and decorate the cupcakes. So, I thought, for tonight, I would share a quick and easy tip. In the picture above, I make a normal cupcake and frosted it with a normal butter knife. So far, nothing fancy. After venturing to walmart (where I bought some fondant), I combined food coloring with the fondant and kneaded until I achieved the appropriate color. After, I looked in the cabinet for the cookie cutters, I cut two circles (of different sizes) and a flower. I placed the flower smoothly over the icing, applied some water onto the place where I wanted the circles to go, pressed them down, piped a dot as the center, and Wa-llah! For affect, I placed a tall candle in and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! Simple, elegant, and made some children happy. Don't be afraid of the fondant. It can be your friend... sometimes.

Super Bowl:

I may just be the biggest sports fan in my family. I follow college basketball (Go Duke! whoop whoop) and football. This year, none of my favorite teams are in the Super Bowl, so, on game day, I decided to just sport a white tee.

Honestly, I feel like the patriots are always in the Super Bowl. I may be slightly rooting for the Giants. Who do you think will win?

Skype:

To finish off the night, I had a much needed skype date with my best friend! I miss her so much! And can't wait to have a reunion soon.

She's pretty gorgeous!

Hopefully, Friday I will have good news to share with you guys!

xoxox,
Brittany

Top Five

I got my hair cut today!!! This is the first hair cut I have had for a year. The last time, the lady butchered my hair... I was highly disappointed... and it was cut super short (like by my ears...), so I grew it back out. I only cut off three total inches this time, and got it super layered because I have thick hair. My head now feels lighter, whew. And Amanda, at urban fringe, did an amazing job!! Definitely in the top hair cuts of all times. Above is the "after" photo.

 Her theme was the heartbeat which was super cool. The two center pictures on the sides were the opening theme, basically showing all the nasty headlines written about her. She had no back up dancers and only 2 back up singers and the band. She talked like a normal person the whole time, which I personally liked.

Last night was a BLAST! Can I just tell you that Kelly Clarkson can rock the stage? I don't believe I sat in my chair at all. I knew all the songs she sang and danced all night. Top five concerts I have ever went to. In the beginning of the concert, Clay Aiken showed up. I really feel like people need to learn some manners. The poor man was just trying to have a nice evening out (like everyone else) and support his friend (like most people like to do) and be normal (like we all are). I swear the entire theater stood to swoon over him. Personally, I was just like leave him be, but that's just me. Anyways, awesome concert, awesome company, and a great two days!! Whoop, Whoop!!

All smiles,
Brittany