A Self Interview for ALWB #2.

1. Name & Birthday

My name is Cindy Britton and I was born October 11.

2. How long have you been blogging?

I have only been blogging since November 2013. So, about 6 months give or take. You can follow me here at Southern Mom Life.

3. What is your favorite part of being a blogger and why?

My favorite part about blogging would have to be the “meeting” new people that are from all over the country and world. Also, the discovering new activities and others’ opinions on things is another of my favorites.

4. Why did you start blogging?

I’m not real sure why I started blogging. I love to talk and also loved to blog hop and read others’ blogs and ideas. One day I just thought, “hey, I can do that too.”

5. Tell us a little about your Family.

We have a 3 year old daughter who never stops moving unless she is asleep. 😉 She is a very busy little girl from dress up, picnics and tea parties, Barbies, fishing, drawing/painting/coloring, baby dolls, youth rodeos, singing, and playing outside she definitely keeps us B-U-S-Y! We also have a 7.5 month old Miniature Long-haired Dachshund named Sofia the First and a Welsh Pony named Sugar. 

We are getting married October 2014 in a private ceremony in Asheville, North Carolina and having a reception for family and friends at home that next Saturday.

6. Where are you from?

I am from Lawrence County, a rural area in North Alabama. I lived in Troy, AL for a while during my undergrad years and have since then moved back.

A photo I took last summer while riding around one afternoon with the fam!

7. What is your greatest achievement?

Teaching my daughter about Jesus and influencing her love for church, her Bible, and “learning about Jesus.”

8. If you could live anywhere where would it be and why?

I think as long as I had my daughter and fiance/husband, I wouldn’t mind living anywhere! I want to travel and as long as I had the opportunity to move again.. I would consider living anywhere for a while. (Excluding places like Antarctica, Iceland, etc. other than that I’d be good!)

9. Favorite Movie?

All time favorite would have to be…. Pearl Harbor.

10. Favorite Music/Song?

Every great song I hear is my favorite. Ha!! I honestly don’t think I could choose just one. I do listen to Country music (very old and new) and also contemporary Christian.

 

11. What are your hobbies?

Blogging (obviously 😉 ); outdoor activities like hiking, canoeing, a new found love for kayaking, etc.; arts and crafts ideas with my daughter; DIY stuff for my home; reading.

THESE ARE A FEW OF OUR/MY OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES AND ADVENTURES:

12. What inspires you?

Mainly my daughter. Because of her I want to be a better person and better mother. She constantly wants her nails or hair done like mine. Just this morning she wanted to wear a  sweater over her dress because I had one on. She inspires me to be the role model I should be. As a result, I want to live life to the fullest so that she learns to do the same. I want to try new things and never limit myself in hopes that she lives a wonderful and adventure-filled life.

13. Favorite Color?

Orange. I think. Can I just like the rainbow? 🙂

14. What is your dream job?

Working with underprivileged and troubled children. Hopefully in an elementary school setting (preferably.) Changing the lives of children who otherwise would think they didn’t have a chance to reach their goals/dreams.

15. What are you looking forward to most in 2014

Getting married! 😀 Also, getting to spend more time dedicated to my daughter! I also can’t wait to grow my blog and see where all of its adventures take me!

If you would like to join me and follow along on my rambling life adventures, please follow my blog and you can also find me on Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Hope you have a great week and start to Summer!

Advertisement

Travel Bucket List

 There are so many places that I want to visit and see. I have created a Life Long Travel Bucket List for myself so that I can keep them in order and prioritize as we plan vacations, etc over the years. I may be 23 years old, but I’m going to need the next 70 years to visit every place (;

…

Read more about my travel bucket list over at Alabama Women Bloggers today!

 

I’m walkin’ down the highway, with my suitcase in my hand

Below is the link to the post I made today in regards to my current Bucket List Vacation trip. Please share any advice or experience you have with backpacking, international traveling, Ireland, etc.

Have a great evening!

I’m walkin’ down the highway, with my suitcase in my hand.

Dream Vacation: Backpacking Across Ireland

As my final post for the month of March, head on onver to http://www.alabamawomenbloggers.com today, as I talk about my current dream trip. Hopefully it will be my next Big Bucket List travel experience to mark off of the list.

Have you backpacked on vacation before? Head on over and leave me some advice!

Thank you for following along all month.

Marry Me, Today and Every Day

THE FAVORITE PART OF EVERY COUPLE’S WEDDING SHOULD BE THEIR HONEYMOON.

TODAY I’M TALKING ABOUT HONEYMOON PLANNING DO’S AND DON’TS OVER AT ALABAMA WOMEN BLOGGERS. HEAD ON OVER AND CHECK IT OUT AND SHARE WITH A BRIDE IN YOUR LIFE.

http://www.alabamawomenbloggers.com

Timothy Olyphant and Harlan County, Kentucky

Well, hello there Raylan Givens aka Timothy Olyphant. Ha!

Yesterday’s blog topic for the March Madness Challenge over at Alabama Women Bloggers is to Review Something: A book, TV show, movie, music. I have over the last few seasons become addicted to FX’s series Justified.

Justified is based in Harlan, Kentucky where you either work the mines, the whore house, or run the drug deals and the shady bars, maybe all of the above. Well, or you could leave. People don’t amount to much more than criminals around there, of course, except Raylan. Someone has to be the good guy. He leaves his criminal father and Harlan for a job in Lexington as a United States Marshall. Talk about from one end of the spectrum to the other.

Raylan still finds himself in Harlan from time to time for work and having to deal with his own cousins and people he has known all of his life. Sometimes he cuts them a little slack and overlooks the prostitution or the illegal businesses if they help him find whomever the latest fugitive might be. The show has taken on a few different spins within the last few seasons where Raylan, his cousin and Harlan crime boss, Boyd Crowder, and a few others have their own stories that always seem entangled. How can 2-5 different people become connected to the same crime bosses/workers from Canada, Mexico, Tennessee, Florida, and Kentucky? It is ridiculously thrilling and suspenseful.

The above is a picture of cousins Raylan and Boyd.

Now, one cannot be so hard on Boyd. In the last season or two he has taken on a softer side where he wants to do good, but he’s just in a bad position. In a recent episode his fiance is moved to the state prison and his anguish made me truly feel bad for him. Don’t we always like the bad guy and see his good qualities? Ah, let’s cut him some slack. It’s okay if he just shot 3 people, he’s trying to get ahead so he and Ava can leave Harlan. Ha! People and our TV shows.

Not that Raylan is a picture perfect American Hero. He might work for the law and uphold it 99.5% of the time, but he has his bad qualities of walking away from feuding criminals and letting them take care of one another on their own (which gets him a hard right hook from his supervisor in this latest season) to his womanizing ways. While his ex-wife and infant daughter are off in Florida, he is too busy wanting to save the world from Kentucky’s redneck hell-bound “crime bosses.” He even laughs when someone considers Boyd a crime boss.

But, what can I say, something about his American Hero job and tendency to lean on the law when it might help out some poor soul makes him pretty attractive. I mean, then we can throw in his looks (greying hair and all) and it’s all over. Ha!

Really though, the show keeps you waiting for next week’s episode. We had dinner with family last night, causing us to miss this week’s new episode and I am so thankful for DVR. I just want to find out if Ava gets out of prison or what happens since Raylan’s most recent flame he actually seems to like, broke it off at the end of the last episode. What?!

It is a show that Man of the House and I watch together. It has enough action and law breaking and violence to keep him interested, but it’s not gory or enough constant blood shed to cause me to leave the room.

It is not kid-friendly. And for once, Justified is a show that displays that loud and clear at the beginning of the show and end of every commercial break with a huge M for mature logo on the screen. I would definitely recommend you find Season 1 and start this journey through Harlan’s 21st Century crime lords (and ladies) and all of their never ending turmoil and activities.

Guest Post

Head on over to Alabama Women Bloggers today

where I talk about beach vacations with toddlers!!

 

A Perfect Day in Southern Mom Life

What would I consider my perfect day?

This is the topic of today’s March Madness Blog Challenge over at Alabama Women Bloggers.

I have never thought about what a “perfect” day would be like. I believe it would be very different than how the days go now! Ha!

I’m sure an absolute dream like perfect day would include the beach and Man of the House and kids, no worries on costs or bills, relaxation, fun, quality time kind of activities and things all day every day.

BUT…

A REALISTIC VERSION OF THE PERFECT DAY: It would start out with waking up around 6 a.m. after a full night’s rest (is that even real anymore?) and being able to prepare breakfast for a sit down meal together. Then I would kiss Man of the House as he headed off to tend to the cattle and farm (that we don’t quite have completely yet) and I would load our daughter up for school. After dropping her off at her classroom, I would head to my job as an Elementary School counselor (a career I’m still pursuing by working on my Master’s). After spending a great day helping develop and encourage the lives of children, I would leave around 2:30 to pick up our daughter and we would either have a little mom-daughter time (ice cream, shopping, etc.) before heading on home to Daddy, or head on home and have some great family time outside. (My perfect day would of course be approximately 75 degrees, so outside activities would be a must!) Then I would leave daughter and Man of the House for some outside quality time while I prepared for dinner. We’d have a relaxed evening. While our daughter did a little homework and/or free time, Man of the House and I would sit on the back patio and talk for a little while before heading in to do the bedtime routines and get little one ready for school the next day.

That’s my version of a realistically perfect day. What would yours be?

Juliette Gordon Low

The Girl Scout Birthday is coming up on March 12, 2014, and the Alabama Women Bloggers’ March Madness Blog Challenge is focusing Wednesday’s on National Women’s History Month; therefore, I am going to focus my first post about a woman from history on Juliette Gordon Low, also known as Daisy to family members.

Young Daisy Gordon developed what was to become a lifetime interest in the arts. She wrote poems; sketched, wrote and acted in plays; and later became a skilled painter and sculptor. She had many pets throughout her life and was particularly fond of exotic birds, Georgia mockingbirds, and dogs. Daisy was also known for her great sense of humor.

Juliette Low was very athletic. From her childhood on, Daisy was a strong swimmer. She was Captain of a rowing team as a girl and learned to canoe as an adult. She was also an avid tennis player. One of her special skills was standing on her head. She stood on her head every year on her birthday to prove she still could do it, and also celebrated nieces’ and nephews’ birthdays by standing on her head. Once, she even stood on her head in the board room at National Headquarters to show off the new Girl Scout shoes.

Juliette Gordon Low founded Girl Scouts on March 12, 1912, when she gathered 18 other girls in Savannah, Georgia to register the first two patrols (troops). The next year, the name was officially changed to Girl Scouts. Juliette’s movement brought girls of all backgrounds the opportunity to become self-reliant and resourceful. She not only believed in girls taking on the traditional role as a homemaker, but also the possibilities of girls and women in future professional careers outside of the home. How correct was she with her hopes and plans?

There are more than 2.4 million Girl Scouts between the ages of 5-17. 80% of women business owners were Girl Scouts, 69% of female U.S. senators were Girl Scouts, and virtually every female astronaut who has flown into space was a Girl Scout.

She knew what she was doing! I am very grateful and proud to be a current troop leader for some girls in my area. Everything Juliette hoped to accomplish in teaching girls often comes true before my eyes! Help me as we celebrate National Women’s History Month and encourage a Girl Scout somewhere. Oh, and buy some cookies from her.

Locks You’ll Love

If you have thick, dark hair and struggle between oiliness and dull/dryness all within the same week I have great news for you!
Keep reading below.

I have oily hair and then dry frizzy-ish hair sometimes within a 10 day period. It is ridiculous. And I cannot use only one shampoo constantly, it causes my hair to lay flat on my head. Gross. So I always try to have two shampoos on hand. I have went through and tried so many different shampoos in the last few years. From Tresemme to Aussie to Suave’s new product lines to brands no one has ever heard of anywhere else on the planet. Haha! After a while, my hair looks the same as always because of buildup. Do you have the same hair type and struggle with the same problem??

I have two products that I LOVE and will promise is worth every cent.

1. Mane & Tail ShampooI used this product during childhood when my mom would buy it and bring it home. It makes thick hair feel AMAZING. I had stopped using it for some time during high school and even during college, but I have come back to it. Here is my advice: Once you find a product that works for you, stick with it. Don’t stray off for every new pretty product, etc. There’s a reason it worked for you. This product used to smell strange when I was younger, but the bottles I have bought lately don’t have much of a scent to them. That is a definite bonus. My hair gets oily so easily, that I never purchase conditioner products, but you’ll know you’re hair type better than me. They offer a conditioner as well as the shampoo. At Wal-Mart I cannot find it in the shampoo section. It is actually in the pet section, Ha! Dollar General and other stores have placed it in the shampoo and hair care aisle, though.

2. John Freida Brilliant Brunette

This product is the definition of a little goes a long way. A small amount of this shampoo and a good scrub on my head makes my hair look totally different! (And I personally like the scent.) My hair color is somewhere in between dark brown and almost black. I’m not sure that almost black is a shade you could ask for at the salon, but that is about the best way to describe my hair. This brilliant Brunette makes such dark hair shine without looking oily. I have this really ridiculous and strange OCD against my hair being oily. My co-workers swear it doesn’t look oily when I think it does. So this eases my mind (: And the results really are great.

I don’t really have a set schedule on which shampoo I use on certain days, etc. I know my hair and how it has been lately and go with it from there. You should do the same. Any beauty tip page will give you an outline and schedule, but I truly think that they are suggestions for you to build your routine around. No two people’s hair or skin is identical, how can we all follow the exact same routine?!

Do you have dark and THICK locks? What products have worked for you over the years? Are you a faithful product user, or like me for a few years and swap around?