My Best Vacation Ever!

Kari and I.. We look extremely young

The summer after my freshman year of high school I was fortunate enough to go on an amazing three week trip with my bff Kari and her family. The trip was for her moms 40th birthday party. We went to many great places and  through many great states. The paragraphs that follow this one will be about the places that we went.

To start off we to Cincinnati to drop off her two doggies at her dad's parents because we was going to be driving for a great while. Kari's mom's parents was meeting us up there. We was going to leave in the morning. It wasn't as easily to get there because there was a big hail storm and and a two hour trip took more like 4 hours because it also rained really hard and there were times we had to pull over. 

The next day we would be starting our trip to Arizona and Nevada. We would also be stopping in Texas because some of Kari's family lives there and we was also going to visit them as well. We stopped at many hotel rooms to stay the nigh instead of driving through. Can't really remember right off hand where all we stayed. One place I do remember getting off the exit is in Oklahoma. The reason why I remember that is because we only got off the exit to go to Walmart. I bought this shirt that doesn't fit me anymore but on the shirt it said, "Silly Blondes Brains are for Brunettes" I thought that shirt was hilarious. 

Picture of the Grand Canyon with the Colorado River going through it. 

We finally made it to Arizona. We first stopped in Flagstaff because at the time Kari's aunt lived there. But we was heading towards the North Rim Grand Canyon first. SO after we left her aunt we headed towards the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon was amazing. Like nothing I have ever seen before. I'm not going to lie getting close to the edge was kind of terrifying because if you fall, well your pretty much dead. We developed many jokes on the trip as well. Back then I was really gullible and believed almost anything any one told me. I asked her grandparents how was the grand canyon was made? Well her grandma was quick to answer and said people with spoons dug it out. Needless to say I had a really big blonde moment and said "Really?" They laughed for like five minutes. 

Then after we left the Grand Canyon we went to Las Vegas and stayed at this hotel called Circus Circus. It was more orientated for people under 21 that couldn't gamble. It was pretty awesome those. Except for the fact Kari and her grandma got sick. They said that there was something going around Flagstaff that was some kind of stomach virus and I think they caught that stomach virus. Luckily it only lasted about a day or so. The next day Kari and I went to explore and saw that they had an arcade, Like two swimming pools, a McDonald's for kids.   They even had an indoor theme park which was really awesome. One of the nights in Vegas we went to the MGM and saw an awesome play. The play we went and saw was Mama Mia. Ever since that play her family and I was hooked on it and was so excited for when the movie came out. We also went down the famous strip. It was alright, just really hot and muggy. We spent about 5 days at Las Vegas. 

After we left Las Vegas we went back through Arizona and back through Flagstaff and visited her aunt again. We was headed to the Southern part of Arizona to the South Rim part of the Grand Canyon. That one was different then the first and it was cool. We got to take a train ride down there. The only draw back was on the way to the South Rim Grand Canyon I got sick. The same stomach virus that Kari and her grandma got. One thing I remember in particular was that the squirrels and the deer were so fat. They said the reason that was because the tourist would feed them. They was not shy at all, they would come right up to you and if you weren't paying attention and was eaten they would take your food right out of your hand. Another one of the jokes came from Kari's grandpa. On the top of this ledge in the distance during the Grand Canyon her grandpa told us there were buffalo up there and we believed him because from distance they looked liked buffalo but when we looked through Kari's binoculars they were just trees. Well a little big later we cam across some antelope. Well her grandpa told us they were real but I didn't believe him because of the buffalo issue and they actually turned out to be real. 

After we left the Grand Canyon we started heading the dreaded drive back home. I was so sad to be leaving because I had such a great time and did not want it to end. For anyone that is thinking about going to Vegas or the Grand Canyon. DO IT!! You will not regret it. I do remember we went through and stayed in Albuquerque New Mexico. They had this cute little diner that was really good as well.

Well hope yawl enjoy my post on my vacation to Arizona and Vegas. I really enjoyed riding and it brought back many great memories. 

Thanks,

Brittany

My favorite time of the year!!

This month is one of my favorite months of the year. Not just because March happens to be my birthday month but also because of March Madness. I love the first two days of the tournament the best because its literally like almost 24 hours of basketball. So how could it be wrong? Right? lol

I am extra happy this year because my team UK actually made the tournament. Thank God. and we are playing are rivals in the sweet 16. Unlike the final four when I was extremely nervous this year I am really excited!. One reason is because UK has nothing to loose. It's like the roles has been switched around compared to the final four. In the final four UK was heavily favored and if we lost it would be so devastating. 

       

I really love it this week as well because of the #LouisvilleHateWeek, and all the trash talking both sides do. And also because since the SEC tournament UK has turned a corner for the good and I love it!! We are the most underrated team in the tournament. The section committee gave us an 8 seed that we didn't deserve, and we are sticking it too them. Especially when we beat the number one seed in our region. I really think the section committee did a horrible job with a lot of the seeding this year. 

Its so funny every time someone ask me when my birthday is and I say March there always like so your a St. Patrick's day baby and I am like umm nope I am a MARCH MADNESS baby!! 

Not only is the City divided between UK and UL fans what I like even more is the two Coaches; Coach Cal and Pitino can't stand each other what makes this rivalry even better!!! 

Also we can't forget the great social media usage of March Madness as well. UK and unfortunately UL both have a pretty big showing on social media accounts especially on Twitter with their hashtags. For UK its probably #BBN and for UL probably is #L1C4. But even NCAA as a whole has some Twitter Trends. For example the biggest one is # MarchMadness. 

So my prediction for this game is of course I am picking UK over UL. Going to be 65 to 55. GO BIG BLUE!!!

Hope yawl enjoyed my post on March Madness. Until next time.

Thanks,
Brittany

I want to Move to Another State!!

                   


 So spring break I traveled to the good ole Sunshine State Florida. It was so inspiring, and I didn't want to leave. The weather was great pretty much all week, and I had a hard time leaving. I could handle sunshine weather all year, and not have to worry about that fluffy white stuff most people call SNOW!!! I am so sick of snow.

With that being said I have a plan to move to Florida in some time of 2015. That is the goal that I have set for myself. I want to move to either Orlando, or some where on the beach on the gulf side like St. Petersburg, or Tampa. Going from Tampa to St. Petersburg is pretty awesome because you get to travel on this bridge that is in the middle of the Gulf. I am not one who likes to go over bridges but that was pretty awesome. We went to Ft. De Soto, which is why we went from Tampa to St. Petersburg. 

                                                                  

Florida has a great atmosphere, and I really think I would love living there. Plus there is a lot of great job opportunities that is in the field of what I want to do in my future career. There are a ton of sports teams, which I wouldn't mind working for and doing something with social media, or even working on video producing projects. Also they have a lot of theme parks I could work for rather its, Disney, Universal, Island of Adventure, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, and Legoland. 

The only bad thing about moving to Florida is I will miss my family a lot since I am really close with them. I would definitely come back and visit them a lot. 

Well hope you all enjoyed my blog post on where I plan to move within a year. I loved every minute of Florida when I was down there and can not wait to move back. Until next time.

Thanks,
Brittany

HOOTSUITE CERTIFIED!!!

It's been along time since I have done a blog post and I am trying to get back in gear and stay on top of it. After a wonderful Spring break, then starting school with five more weeks left has given me major senioritis. Well this week I am going to blog about my accomplishment with HOOTSUITE!! 

One thing I manged to do before spring break was, I was able to complete my Hootsuite certification and I am so Happy that is one less thing off my plate. To me it wasn't really all that difficult, and I was able to do it basically in one day. There were like two other days that I watched a couple of the video sections.  

I honestly that it would be more difficult then it really was. I got a 98% on the test and passed. 

Well hope you all enjoyed my post on being Hootsuite certified. I am really proud of this accomplishment and think that it could help me after college when I branch out into the professional world. Until next time.

Thanks,
Brittany

My college career!

I have always wanted to go to college for as long as I can remember. Throughout High school I have changed the major I wanted pretty much every year. I started my college career at Eastern Kentucky University. I loved it there. The campus was awesome. Then I thought I met the LOVE of my life; moved in with him and his mom and transferred to Morehead State University.  Morehead was alright, then we split up and I moved back home to Louisville, Kentucky and that is how I ended up at University of Louisville. On a side note I went to Morehead State when they beat UofL in the NCAA tournament. As a UK fan I really loved it and as a Morehead State student I loved it even more and was good for the University. 

This is a picture of EKU's campus.

Some of the majors I wanted to pursue in college  were journalism, Pre-law, fire fighting, detective. Then when college started I was so set on being a Pre-med major. I wanted to be a pediatrician  and eventually open up my open children's hospital. Then that dreaded biology class happened and I just couldn't hack biology and switched to communications. 

Ever since I switched to communications I have loved every moment of it. The professors are amazing and really helpful. 

When I first became a communication major I wanted to be a sports reporter. Now I have changed it and want to either do something in social media, or directing, or video editing or producing. Thanks for inspiring me Dr. Freberg and Merkel and also Thanks Dr. Ashlock for helping me decide what I wanted to do and being an awesome ADVISOR!1 I graduate May 10, 2014, and have mixed emotions about it. I' really scared because I have only known school and nothing else; but I am also excited because I will finally have a degree and be able to make my FIVE years in college pay off. 

I can honestly say that UofL has a nice campus but I don't like the athletic teams; that's just me being a UK fan. 

It's been along journey from kindergarten until now, and I am proud of how far I have came along.

Well I hope you enjoyed my blog post on college, probably the best decision I have made in my entire life! Until Next time, have a great day!

Thanks,
Brittany

Do you know how to monitor your social media sites?

Social Media is a big trend now days; and a lot of people and companies are turning to social media. Rather its a business or sports team, a campaign, a brand (i.e. Doritos). Every one is using it. But manage multiple social media accounts can kind of be a pain. Luckily there are several sites you can use to manage your social media sites. 

My favorite site is probably Hootsuite. Even though I do not know much about it, I like it because they help you get certified and how you how to do basically everything on there. Also Hootsuite can monitor pretty much all your social media sites at once.  https://hootsuite.com/ That is the link to start a Hootsuit account but does cost money to get certified. 

This is an example of what TweetDeck looks like with multiple columns. 

Another site to use just for twitter is TweetDeck. I love TweetDeck because I can pick the hashtags that I want to monitor so I do not have to go through my news feed all the time. For instances I use TweetDeck when I am on my laptop because I can see our classes tweets and its a lot easier to post by tweet up dates for the class and also a lot easier to post my blog. 

These are the only two I have really had experience with but I recommend both of them. 
Also it is good to sign up on Klout and know your Klout score. That let's you no your influence on social media. Meaning that what ever you do on social media can influence people especially if they do something with what ever you post. My Klout score is a 53, but I am trying to get that higher. 

Hope yawl enjoyed my blog post on Social media marketing. Stay tune for one of my interest or something I have done tomorrow!! :)

Thanks,
Brittany

Nick Stover +Social Media+Sports=Great!!

This is a picture that Nick Stover showed us in class of the events that he got to go to.

Nick Stover came to speak in my social media class today. It was real eye opening. I really enjoyed hearing his perspective of social media and sports. As a sports fan and a user of social media sites I really liked what he had to say. 

First of all he talked about Becoming an Expert on the Right platforms. I really like this point of view because not every platform will work for all your audiences so it is good to decide which ones will work and you may need to test it out see if they work or not. 

I also liked when he talked about Learn the Social Media Signs. He said it is really important to have good content. Rather its schedule, or campaigns. Some example campaigns he mentioned were the NCAA Tourney, Bowl Game and a Countdown. Also Programs.  Next he said Branding. Examples of this is Graphics/Logos, Video, Philosophy, National Presence. The last thing he said was support. Examples of this is the fans, Views, Partnerships, sponsorship's, and fundraising.

Lastly he gave examples of some of the things that he does for UofL. He does the Social Media Hub, Google Glass, Behind the Scenes stuff, Monetization and lastly his blog which is NickStover.org.

I really enjoyed his presentation today in class. It was right up my alley with my two favorite things- social media and sports.

If your a big UofL fan follow him on twitter @ULFlyingCard, he loves to have feed back on how to make your experience better with social media and sports games!

Hope yawl enjoyed my blog on Nick Stover!. Until next time. Have a great day. 

Thanks,
Brittany