Kortney's Blog

Over the weekend, I had my bridal shower. I have been stressing for weeks trying to plan this and deal with school. However, the day finally arrived and it went wonderfully. I was overwhelmed with the entire experience and it was truly a great, yet tiring, day. On Friday, I went to the venue and set up and decorated with my mom, grandma, mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and maid of honor. Saturday morning we all met very early to get food going and ready for the brunch. We played several games including a contest for the best toilet paper dress, Jeopardy, Family Feud, and Put a Ring on it. There were more people that attended than I had expected and my fiancé and I were incredibly blessed with the generosity of our friends and family. This makes me even more excited for the wedding and our future together.

This past August I went to St. Augustine, Florida, with my fiancé and his family. We accidentally booked a condo there instead of Myrtle Beach and it ended up being the best mistake we could do! We went to many historical monuments there. We visited a fort from the 1500s and found out that the pilgrims actually were not the first people to come to the US. Spaniards were actually the first ones to colonize the United States. After I did a quick Google search about things to do in the area, I found a place called Ginnie Springs that was only two hours from our condo. I convinced my fiancé and his family to drive us there one day. Ginnie Springs is a series of natural, crystal clear springs that are extremely picturesque. Of course, I forgot to bring my underwater camera so I got no photos of inside the springs. Each spring has different caves and are around 54 degrees. I was the first one in the water and it was certainly a shock to be in water that cold. I quickly got used to it (or n

In Chapter 10, we read about measurement and evaluation when it comes to social media. This chapter was actually relatable to my current job at Boutique 415 and Polished. As mentioned in the chapter, many people think that social media is easy and free for businesses. In order to get anything from it, these things are actually false. A lot of hard work and planning goes into running a successful social media account for your business. Because of this, having a social media budget is crucial for any business. Here is a guideline of things to think about when budgeting for social media: Tools (smartphones, software, computers, etc.) People (social media specialists) Consulting Fees (if work is needed from an outside source or firm) Research Education (books, webinars, certifications, etc.) Promotion and Sponsored Content With my job, I can relate to a few of these. The first one would be tools. My boss brings her laptop to work everyday in order for me to create content a

As many know, my major is Risk Management and Insurance. For awhile now, I have heard rumors that ONU was going to get rid of RMI as a major. Unfortunately, these rumors were true and I received the email that it will no longer be offered for incoming students. This made me very grateful that I am graduating just in time before it is no longer offered, but it also made me sad that incoming students will not have the opportunities or see what all the Risk Management and Insurance industries have to offer. As a freshman, I was introduced to the RMI major. It was something that sparked some interest and I thought it was worth looking up. Because of that, I have dedicated my entire career to RMI. When researching it, I found that there is a 100% job placement rate for anyone seeking work in those industries. There are more people retiring from the industries than coming into them. This makes jobs very secure. Another part that is interesting to me is that the insurance industry is alw

I am just wrapping up a much needed break from school and opportunity to see family. Having Easter late this year was definitely a blessing with all the chaos and stress from school and life going on. On Friday, my parents and I took a drive up to the Toledo Zoo to watch the animals get their Easter eggs. This is a tradition my dad and I have done for years, but my mom finally got to tag along this year. My favorite part was probably the gorillas getting their eggs. They tend to hoard them and hide them. This trip was especially important to me as my dad is about to get open heart surgery next week. That whole part is scary but it was great getting to spend time with him before he has to be healing. My mom and I a second before we both fell off the buffalo. On Saturday, my family and I celebrated Easter and April/May birthdays at my aunt's house. We had lots of fun and it was great getting the family together. On Easter, I had two church services and three Easter's to

A little known fact about me is that I have had a piece of my artwork get put into an art gallery in Lima, Ohio. In my art class during my senior year of high school my teacher told me to create a drawing that is unique and gave me no other guidelines. With that information, I sat and thought about what I wanted to do. I decided I wanted to draw a photo from New York City. I found a photo online and used it as my reference the entire time. I also decided I wanted to not just draw a photo of the city, but I wanted to make it a drawing or photo no one has seen before. I decided to keep with cool colors for the background, and warm yellows for the taxis. I went online and found this photo for reference (I do not know who took the photo): From that photo, I spent 13 weeks drawing each individual detail that I could. I worked on shading, shapes, and dimension. This, by far, was the most challenging part of the process. After I had it all drawn out and measured out, I spent 2 weeks