Way To Go, FedEx!

Today, FedEx announced that they will again be supporting Autism Speaks, this Sunday in the FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway! Check out Autism Speaks Autism Speaks for more details! Thank you, FedEx, for supporting funding to help aid research for 1 in 88 individuals who will be diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder this year!

Slightly Starstruck

In the last few months, I met some really cool celebrities at appearances, basketball games, and Miss America. Let's start with one of my all-time fave celebs, Jesse Metcalfe. You probably remember him from John Tucker Must Die, Desperate Housewives, and more recently Christopher Ewing on Dallas. I had a HUGE crush on this guy as a teenager! I was already excited- this was my first Dallas Mavs game and we had great seats. I spotted Jesse sitting a few rows below, and it took me until that last three minutes of the fourth quarter to work up my nerve to go talk to him and ask for a picture. He was so nice in person! After I got my picture with him, a flood of teenage girls followed behind, but he took pictures with all of them and was very gracious.

This January, I had the opportunity to attend the 2013 Miss America pageant in Las Vegas, Nevada. I watched the final night of competition to cheer on my friends, DaNae Couch, Miss Texas, and Candice Bennatt, Miss New Mexico. Before we took our seats for the show, we had a chance to meet and greet with former Miss Americas from each decade. I met one of my idols, Gretchen Carlson of Fox & Friends and Miss America 1989. Hopefully I will be interviewing with Gretchen on the red couch as Miss America! I met with another one of my favorite Miss Americas, Heather French Henry, Miss America 2000. Heather was so kind, and had the ability to make me feel like I was the only person in the room when she was speaking to me.

Last week, I met a lot of great people, from pro golfers to college football coaches to musicians. Although I am Miss Carrollton, I live in Fort Worth, Texas and attend TCU. Living in Fort Worth, I had the chance to work the Crown Plaza Invitational Golf Tournament at the Colonial Country Club and Golf Course. The first day of working the Pro Am drawing, I met TCU Horned Frog Coach, Gary Patterson, and two of my favorite Texas Country singers, Randy Rogers and Wade Bowen.

 Emily Falkenberg, Miss Kauffman County, one of my dear friends, and I worked the 15th hole of the course with Chimy's, providing food for the pro golfers and amateurs during the day. Here we are with some of our favorites, Matt Kuchar and Zach Johnson. They were so nice!

Stay tuned for more posts as Miss Texas competition is coming soon!

All of my love,

Brittney

There She Is, There She Gives, There She Creates!

Bear with me, as I'm still trying to catch everyone up on recent Miss Carrollton appearances. My schedule has been SOOO busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way! I have to admit, it is very difficult to be a full-time student, graduate assistant, clinician, pageant contestant, and to try and have a little bit of a social life. With final exams (hello 4.0 #scholarship), community service engagements, mock interviews, talent preparation, two-a-day workouts, summer school, externship, and appearances, I am always on the go. But it's so worth it! Here is just a snippit of what I have been doing lately!

I recently had the opportunity to judge the University of North Texas Health Sciences Center Chili Cookoff Contest! Talk about a delicious appearance! I was so fortunate to meet some great faculty and staff from the UNT medical school, and I got to taste lots of yummy, spicy chili made my student organizations. It was so hard to pick one winner! Here are a few pics of the fun!

I just had to have a little fun with the Mardi Gras mask!

Earlier this Spring, I took some photos with the AMAZING Zac Grimaldo. Let me tell you about my friend, Zac.

Here we are making our signature pose at Miss Texas last year.

I absolutely LOVE this guy! He is a true artist with his camera. He brings out the best in everyone's pictures. Zac is also a wonderful friend. Here are some of the fantastic photos we took recently.

Zac is responsible for my wonderful Miss Texas Headshot! I could not be happier with it!! This is what the judges will see prior to meeting me during interview.

Zac has a partner in crime, Micaela Soto. Micaela is one of my dearest friends. She does hair and makeup for my all of my photos and big events. Thank you, Micaela, for making me look and feel glamorous like a Miss Texas should.

She is gorgeous and oh so fashionable!! If you have a wedding, prom, special event, or just want to look smashing, she is the go-to girl! You can find her at Phillip K Thomas Salon in Dallas, or at hairandmakeupbymicaela.com


Shamrock Texas

On St. Patty's Day Weekend, I had the opportunity to host the Miss Irish Rose pageant in none other than Shamrock, Texas! My dear friend, Elvis Moya, asked me to help him with this event and I was thrilled to be a part of it. Elvis and I go way back to my beginning competition days as Miss Lubbock and he's a Red Raider. Get your Guns UP! I am so glad that we had the chance to work together again!

Miss Carrollton with one of the Miss Irish Rose contestants. I just love her spicy, red, strapless gown!

Elvis and I with some of the judges for Miss Irish Rose! We had Stephanie Tucker, the owner of the Amarillo Venom Arena Football team, Jamie Biter-Thompson, a former Miss Shamrock, and Rouzbeh Kordestani, a plastic surgeon from the Amarillo area.

Thank you, Elvis, for asking me to help. He put on a fantastic event and it was so wonderful to see a fellow Red Raider again!

Stay tuned to hear more about my travels and appearances!

All of my love,
Brittney

Fun, Fab, and Fit!

I absolutely love this quote and I try very hard to live a healthy lifestyle (minus my MAD sweet tooth). 

It just so happens that one of the critical elements in my Miss Texas training is physical fitness. If you know me, you know that I have a passion for working out and I love to keep things fun! While I realize that fitness is not just about working out, (healthy eating is also key) it can get really boring running on the treadmill and lifting weights! So, to keep things challenging and to avoid falling into a fitness rut, I try lots of different trends.

1. Aerial Silk Acrobatics 

Before I tell you all about my aerial silk excursions, I must introduce someone very special! I have a precious friend, Jillian Stanfield, who is a fellow Speech-Language Pathology graduate student in my program at TCU- go Frogs!  Jillian and I both share a love of dance and adventures, so when she asked if I wanted to go to the LoneStar Circus School and try Aerial Silks, my immediate answer was yes! Even though we are not ready for Cirque de Soleil just yet, we had a blast learning the basics. Talk about an upper body workout! Aerial silk is a great way to build upper body strength and challenge yourself. 

Here is a picture of me trying an inversion at our first silk class. 

2. Aerial Silk Yoga

Jillian and I could not get enough of this silk business, so we also decided to try Aerial Silk Yoga at Indigo Yoga in Fort Worth. According to Indigo, "Aerial yoga combines traditional yoga with the physical training of an aerial acrobat. This practice uses a low hanging, soft fabric "trapeze" to support body weight for deep stretching, effortless inversions, deep core strengthening and a entirely new, fun way to approach your practice." I have to admit that I am a novice when it comes to yoga, and I was expecting this to be very relaxing- boy was I in for a surprise! Although not as intense as Circus School, I was quite sore after the aerial silk yoga endeavor. Meet my dear friend, Jillian on the right. 

3. Kickboxing and Boxing

Just when you think you have heard it all (Circus School, Aerial Yoga)- I tell you about my favorite new way to stay in shape: Boxing! Cue the Rocky music and picture me running up the Rocky steps in Philly. As Miss Carrollton, I am so incredibly blessed to have a fantastic fitness sponsor, Abundio Munoz of Abundio's Studio in Fort Worth. Abundio's studio offers so many great classes, but my favorites are the cardio kickboxing and boxing classes. Boxing is a major calorie burner and I can tell that it is really helping to tone my arms. Here is a blurry pic of the amazing Abundio Munoz and myself after class! 

My fitness goal for this year's competition is to be better than last year. More toned and defined, less body fat percentage, and to show even more confidence! I want to do this in a healthy way, by eating a balanced diet, and making fitness a true part of my life. I keep this photo on my fridge and on my phone as a constant reminder of this goal. 

I will keep you all updated on more of my fitness trends as the competition date grows closer. In the meantime, have fun with your fitness, and let me know how you stay in shape! I am always looking for ways to make fitness fun and fabulous! 

All of my love, 

Brittney 

2012 in Review

The past few days, I have been preparing final reports and studying for final exams in grad school, Miss Texas preparation is in full swing, and I have been organizing my new apartment in Fort Worth. In the process of re-organizing myself, I came across photos from my journey as Miss Carrollton that may have made it to my Facebook, but haven't been on the blog. Looking at these photos, I have been blown away at how fortunate I am to have this opportunity and to have the job of Miss Carrollton. Here are some of my favorite memories from 2012.

DIFFA/Dallas "Burgers and Burgundy" 

I began my year of service with an appearance at "Burgers and Burgundy" for the Design Industry Foundation Fighting Aids (DIFFA/Dallas). It was a great opportunity to spend time with my pageant sisters and get to know more about a wonderful organization in the Metroplex. Thank you, Bobbie Scott for including me in this appearance. 

From Left to Right:

Miss Fort Worth, Miss North Texas, Larissa Maner of Shimmer Boutique in Carrollton, Miss Tarrant County, Miss Carrollton

Cancer Care Services "Joy of Life Gala" 

November was a month filled with great opportunities and so many fun appearances. On November 10, I had the honor of volunteering for Cancer Care Services Joy of Life Gala. I met the most precious young man, Tyler Bates, who was the 2012 “Face of Joy” honoree. Tyler was my “date” for the evening, and I so enjoyed getting to meet him and his sweet family. What a blessing to know that this special 5 year old is now cancer-free! 

This beautiful lady in red is another survivor. We had a blast modeling and selling pink boas. Each boa that we sold raised $100 for Breast Cancer Research.  

Sears "Team Up To Stop Bullying" 

The next day, I helped with the Sears’ “Team Up To Stop Bullying Everywhere” campaign at the Parks Mall in Arlington. Way to go Sears, for providing the public information and resources to help those who are affected by bullying. Miss Tarrant County, Miss Tarrant County’s Outstanding Teen, and I signed autographs, met with shoppers, and learned so much about what we can do to help them in the fight to end bullying. 

To find out how you can be involved and help, check out:

http://www.sears.com/anti-bullying-teamup/dap-120000000283425

DIFFA/Dallas "Deck the Doors" 

Later that month, I was thrilled to be working with DIFFA again, for their annual “Deck the Doors” fundraiser held at Timothy Oulton of Dallas. Incredible Dallas designers auction wreaths to help raise funds for AIDS care and research in the Dallas area. My friend, and Miss Duncanville director, Jim Hanson, was kind enough to take photos of this event! 

Look who I found at Deck the Doors… Santa! He was so jolly, and even offered to listen to my Christmas wish list for this year! 

I really enjoyed bonding with Miss Duncanville’s Outstanding Teen, McKenna Woodlan. She was so much fun to be around and I loved our photo booth session with Jim! 

My job for the evening was to auction this top hat designed by John Bobbitt. Thanks to my expert bargaining/auctioning skills, the hat went for $1,500!! All of the funds raised will be going to AIDS care and research in Dallas. 

This was one of my favorite appearances from 2012.  I am looking forward to helping with another DIFFA event in 2013! 

Later in the year, I had the opportunity to host Carrollton's Christmas on the Square! It was a great event and I had a blast hosting with my Outstanding Teen, Jacy Etter. 

We had a wonderful time joining in on all of the festivities: we even went down the snow slide! What a blast! 

After Carrollton's Christmas on the Square, I had the opportunity to host the Christmas Tree Lighting with the Mayor of Carrollton, the Honorable Mark Marchant and his father, Congressman Kenny Marchant, pictured below

We also spent time with the owner of Vintage Martini- one of the many amazing stores in the downtown Carrollton town square! 

To finish out the year, my sweet friends from graduate school hosted an incredible Tacky Sweater Christmas party and Secret Santa Gift Exchange. 

These amazing people help me keep myself together and have been some of my biggest supporters during my Miss Texas journey, so I had to give them a shout-out on the blog! Stay tuned for more posts about what has been happening recently in the world of Miss Carrollton! 

All of my love, 

Brittney