The Liebster Award

Oh my goodness y'all, my little heart is so excited this Monday morning! I've seen the Liebster Award floating around blog land for the past few months and always dreamed that someone would pass it on to me. Well, over the weekend Lindi at Sweet Southern Sparkle gave it to me and I'm just so honored. 
For those of you who do not know, the Liebster Award was started by bloggers to nominate new bloggers in order for them to gain recognition and give them a boost to keep going.

The Rules 1. You must link back to the person who nominated you 2. You must answer the 11 questions given to you by the nominee 3. You must pick 11 nominees with under 200 followers to answer your set of questions 4. You cannot nominate the person who nominated you 5. You must tell the nominees that they have been nominated by you
So here are Lindi's questions for me:
one// Why did you start blogging? For a few months I had been following different blogs and I loved the community that surrounded these bloggers. I wanted a way for my family to keep up with me after I graduated college and started my "big girl life". I knew these first few months would be a little slower since I was traveling with my job and not really living a "normal" life, but I'm excited to come off the road in May and turn this little blog more into the vision I have!
two// What is your favorite beauty product? My favorite beauty product is one that I found while traveling to Texas last semester and it is Jane Iredale's Zap & Hide Blemish Concealer. I featured this wonderful product on My Favorite Makeup of 2013 post so you can read more about it there!

Jane Iredale

three// What was the name of your very first pet? Well, I was one of those children that was deprived of having a dog until the summer before 7th grade. So growing up we had lots of fish but our first real pet was an all white guinea pig. I named him Casper (like the ghost) and let me tell you, besides my puppy, Casper is the best pet I've ever had. 
four// What does your blog name mean to you? Growing up in North Carolina my entire life, I've always considered myself a southern girl. Upon taking this job as a Traveling Leadership Consultant, I've learned just how much southernness there is in my blood. Every where I've traveled from snowy Pennsylvania to the gulf of Texas, everyone always ask me where my accent is from. I guess you could say I've got that southern charm ;-) So I decided that the second word in my blog name would be "abundance" for the overflowing amount of southern love that runs through my blood.
five// If you could pick one place to travel to where would it be? My dream vacation is of course New Zealand. Y'all if you've never been there you must go at least once in your lifetime. It is by far the place I feel the most blessed to have traveled to in my young age. Since I've already been to New Zealand though, the one place I would pick to go to now is South Africa. Who can resist these breathtaking views?

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six// What are your hobbies besides blogging? Traveling, crafting, taking pictures, scrap booking, and reading
seven// Who is the most influential person in your life? This is a hard question for me to answer. Personally, I don't think there is just one person who has influenced my life the most. Everyone from my parents, to my little sister, to my grandparents, Josh, and the families I've worked for at mission camp. I'm one of those people who is a firm believer that if you take the time to get to know someone, they can leave an impact on your life for forever. 
eight// What is your dream job? Growing up I had one dream job but then when I attended college I added two more dream jobs to that list. I'm currently living one of those dream jobs being a Traveling Leadership Consultant and cannot believe my time will end in May! My other two dream jobs include: being a teacher and owning my own Etsy shop. Hopefully both of those dreams will come true this summer!
nine// What is your go to wardrobe item? Even though it's not an actual clothing article, my go to item every day is my black long champ tote. The reason I love it so much is because it literally can go with the most dressed up of outfits but you can also rock it at the gym. I love how big it is and that I can carry so much in it.

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ten// What is your favorite type of candy? Anything sour all the way! I love Sour Patch Kids, Warheads, sour gummy worms. If it's sour, chances are I love it!
eleven// What advice would you give to a new blogger? While I still consider myself a new blogger as well, I think one of the biggest things I have learned is to be a reader. The more blogs you read and comment on daily, the stronger of a bond you create with that blog author and have the chance to gain new followers. Also, just be yourself :-)
My Nominees: 1. Ashley @ A&O on the go 2. Chesson @ A Southern Twenty-Five 3. Jessica @ Preppin' Postgrad 4. Hope @ Hope in a Blog 5. Cait @ Home Sweet Ruby 6. Khala @ The Birdie Bowl 7. Jessi @ Jessi's Design 8. Lauren @ Peach State of Mind 9. Courtney @ Southern Class, Carolina Sass 10. Kristin @ Young & Southern 11. Kaitlin @ The Sequined Spatula
My Questions: 1. Why did you start blogging? 2. What is one goal you have for this year? 3. If you could go back in your life and relive one moment, what would that one moment be? 4. When you were younger, what was your dream job? 5. If you could live in another state, what state would you live in and why? 6. What is your favorite winter Olympic sport? 7. If you could switch lives for one day with anyone in the world, who would it be and why? 8. Favorite organizer/planner/calendar company (because I love organization!)  9. Where would you like to see your blog be in 6 months? 10. If you could only read one blog for the rest of time, what would that one blog be? 11. What is your biggest advice to any bloggers?
I loved doing this post so much and hope that the eleven of you ladies I've tagged will participate as well! Happy Monday :-)

A Thankful Heart

Y'all, my little heart is just bursting with so much love and thankfulness today that I just could not help but share with you all the two ladies that made it be this way! 

Jana Tolman Design You might have noticed that as of yesterday I have a BEAUTIFUL new blog layout, ekkkk! I just love it so, so much and cannot stop looking staring at it. If you read about my blogging goals for January, you saw that on my list I wrote: purchase a new layout. I searched and reviewed many blog designers and even made an Excel spreadsheet to compare what each designer offered in their packages. After all this, I could not have been happier to purchase my first professional layout design from Jana Tolman Design.  Jana is one of the nicest ladies you will ever work with and she was always so quick to respond to my e-mails. The vision I had in my head was made perfect by her and I am so excited the design is finally live on the blog. If y'all get to missing me you can come find me up on cloud 9 where I'll be for the next few days weeks just admiring the blog! You can also follow Jana over at her blog Life Could Be A Dream. 

A Worker at Home

I am also so thankful for Katie who blogs over at A Worker at Home. Being featured in her sponsor spotlight yesterday was such a neat feeling and will always be something I hold close to my heart as a new blogger. (You can view the post here!) She has given me so much social media love as well that I just want to give her the biggest hug in the world. Katie's little family is fixing to go from 3 to 4 as her and her husband welcome a new baby girl in just a few short weeks. I'd be lying if I didn't say I'm excited to read all about this precious little girl once she arrives! 

A Worker at Home

So to Jana and Katie, thank you both for your kind hearts and dedication to helping my little blog grow. You two don't know how thankful I am to have worked with y'all!

Follow Southern Abundance on Social Media!

I'm excited to announce that Southern Abundance is now linked on Twitter, Instagram, and of course the ever so wonderful Pinterest (Facebook page will be soon to come)! Follow along with us to get more daily updates and see sneak peaks before they are on the blog. Southern Abundance is excited to get back to our normal posting tomorrow with the Christmas break behind us but until then, follow along on social media. See you tomorrow pretties!

 @SouthernAbundan

@southernabundanceblog

Pinterest

First Post Y'all!

After months of stalking reading every blog I came across, I finally decided I wanted to start my own! I already have one for my job, which you can learn more about here, but I wanted a personal one that I could keep up with even after my year of travel was done. It is my promise to you to update this multiple times per week and to provide a range of subjects for you to enjoy! 

What is everyone doing this weekend? Currently I'm in Philadelphia and looking forward to my drive to Atlantic City, New Jersey tomorrow to see the Miss America Shoe Parade!