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!

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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!!

 

Alabama Women Bloggers – March Featured Blogger

I am honored to have been chosen as featured blogger in March over at Alabama Women Bloggers. Please check out the page and see what I am writing about over there this month during my first ever feature!

The theme is “Have Suitcase, Will Travel”. So I spend a little bit of time talking about a few of my travel experiences.

Alabama Women Bloggers – Self Interview

Well, I saw this on Twitter this morning, and thought how fun would that be to meet other female bloggers from my area!

1. What part of the state do you call home?

North Alabama. (The Tennessee Valley)

2. How long have you been blogging?

Since November 2013

3. Why did you start blogging?

Actually, I’m not completely sure. To share my adventures in being a southern mom and the life that happens along the way.

4. What do you love most about blogging?

Reading and “meeting” people from all over! (Not just North Alabama!)

5. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I see my fiance and I married, possibly already having our second (and last) child. By then we also hope to be in cattle farming. MAYBE I’ll be almost through with my Master’s.

6. What is your favorite movie?

I love so many movies, but I think one movie that I have truly loved since I was a child is Pearl Harbor.

7. If you could use any actress to play you in your life, who would you choose and why?

I’m not sure who I have ever considered my celeb look alike. No one? But I think with all of my ambitions and goals, I could always refer to Angelina Jolie. (I know that she may get plenty of negative attitudes and responses, but her over all goal is similar.) She has a passion for children, especially the under privileged children or those who cannot control the circumstances they have found themselves in, and in that, we are similar. I would want her to play my part so that her passion could be genuine and real.

8. Name the top 5 things on your bucket list.

My life bucket list (I have yearly ones that are more event detailed.): 1. Sky dive. 2. Attend my grandchildren’s weddings. 3. Travel to each continent. 4. Make sure my children have the chance to experience culture around the world. 5. Take a road trip with Trevor from East Coast to West Coast.

9. Who or what inspired you to blog?

Just the fact that I love to share my experiences as a mom, hoping to help or encourage someone else along the way.

10. If you could be known for one thing in your life, what would it be?

Changing the lives of children who otherwise thought they never had a chance.

11. Where is your favorite place to go on vacation?

I love the ocean. Anywhere with sand and sun and salt water makes me happy!

12. Describe the best moment in your life.

The day our daughter was born. There are no words to explain those emotions and happiness.

13. We’re headed to your neck of the woods for one day. What is one thing we have to do, and what restaurant we must eat at?

We MUST eat at “the steakhouse”. It’s actual name is Western Sirloin Steakhouse.. but if you call it that, we know you’re not from around here. (; And there is so much to do… it depends on what kind of things you’re into. But I’d definitely prefer to take you to “the mountains”, aka Bankhead National Forest and let you hike the Sipsey River. There’s also a place we found that has a waterfall not on a map.

14. What is a tradition you and your family have?

Christmas has been the same since I was a small child. Christmas Eve with dad’s family, Christmas morning EARLY with my mom, and Christmas breakfast and gifts at my maternal grandmother’s house.

15. We all love social media, share your links so we can follow you.

TWITTER: @britton_cindy

INSTAGRAM: @cindy_britton