Just got back from a girls trip to Florida with my cousin! Well, technically my second cousin but we claim each other as first cousins 😜. We flew into Orlando and drove to the beach our first day, Disney World the next two days, Universal Studios the next day, and then hung by the pool the last day. I debated breaking this post up into multiple posts... because I have a lot cover. But I decided just to keep it as one post. So beware it's long... but decently entertaining. So pull up a seat and lets get started!

We had a few flukes on our trip--well, more than a few. Literally one thing after another was going wrong. The only thing we could do was laugh at how comical it got and just roll with the punches... though there were a lot of punches. Like... I might have a black eye now.

We started out the trip with a red eye flight flying out of SLC. I’ve decided anyone who prefers red eye flights isn’t human... curse you people that can fall asleep easily! So we get to the airport at 10 PM... our flight time was 10:55 PM. We go to the gate... they aren’t boarding yet so we are like, “Let’s go get some edamamae from Squatters before we board”. Mind you, Squatter's was right next to our gate. Like, right next to it.

We enjoy our edamame and get back to the gate at like 10:25. No one is boarding and it says the flight is delayed. We think it’s weird... but a lot of people were waiting in line to talk to the agent and she looked ORNERY. Like scary ornery. So we were like alright then, we will just patiently wait. So we waited. And waited. Kept getting notifications sent to our phone saying the flight was being delayed. Kept waiting. (Mind you, right outside the gate the whole time).

Finally, once 11:15 PM hit my cousin was like, “I’m going to go make sure everything is going ok and see when we are boarding.”  She goes to the gate agent (a new one by this point) and I see her talking to him and then look back at me with wide eyes and wave for me to come over. “Oh 💩” I think.

I walk up and she turns to me, “They’ve been boarded on the plane this whole time... they just pulled away from the gate”. 

Wait WHAT. We were literally here the whole time. Well basically the whole time. They must have boarded early while we went to get our edamame and by the time we got back they were all on the plane. We didn't hear any final boarding calls or ANYTHING. My cousin turns to the gate agent in disbelief, “We were literally here the whole time. The whole time.”. He chuckles and says, “You’d be surprised how often it happens. Let’s get you on the next flight. It will have a layover in Atlanta.”

A 45 minutes layover in Atlanta. AKA, we got off our red eye flight (where I didn’t sleep the whole time) and we busted our butt running from one end of the terminal to the other. And have you seen those terminals in Atlanta? Those things are like a mile long! With NO moving walkway. Out of breath we rolled up to our connecting flight right as they were finishing up boarding. 

K, I thought, maybe I’ll get a little sleep on this flight to Orlando.

Me and my cousin weren’t together on this flight... so I go to sit in my seat (an aisle seat) only to find I actually only will be sitting on half a seat due to the physical nature of the other two passengers in my row. 

💩

K... I won’t be sleeping here either. It will just have to wait until we get to the hotel. 

Get off our plane. Wait forever to get our rental car (why does it ALWAYS TAKE SO LONG). Get our keys. Walk to outside kiosk to finish final paperwork.

Drop my phone.

Face down. 

“Dear everything holy please no,” I think as I reach down to pick it up.

Turn it over.

Shattered.

Screen completely shattered.

Efffffffffffff

At this point everything that’s going wrong is getting comical. Not to mention I'm sleep deprived and delirious. So I literally look at my cousin in disbelief and laugh. Nothing else I could do.

Alright, we finally get the keys to our rental car. Get in. Smells like smoke. Go back to the kiosk. Request another car that doesn’t smell like smoke. Get in the car... and we are off. 

We stayed at the Hilton Grand Vacations Seaworld hotel and the location was so perfect. It was 15 minutes from Disney World one way and 15 minutes from Universal studios the other way. And walking distance to Seaworld but we didn't go there.

On zero hours of sleep we check into our hotel at 10 AM, take a two hour nap, and head off to the beach.

My goal this past year was to feel confident in a bikini. This is the first time I've work a bikini in like 7 years... and I felt pretty good. I mean, everything is a work in progress but that's health isn't it? A journey, not a destination. The most important thing is that I NOW feel good physically and mentally. 

We decided to drive to the gulf (even though it was a two hour drive) instead of going to the Atlantic beaches... for a few reasons. One... the water in the Gulf is warmer than the Atlantic. Two... not as many sharks. And three... a guy from Tinder that I’ve been talking to lives out there. 

Yeah I know, sounds like something straight out of the movie Taken doesn’t it? Two girls go to meet guy they’ve never met before. Before you judge, I had been talking to him for months and done my due diligence before agreeing to meet up.

"What is due diligence in the world of dating apps?" you ask. Well, first you need last names. Perform a basic google search. Do some social media stalking. If they pass that, the next step is tell a trusted source (for me this is one of my BFF’s Kaitlyn) where you are going and the full name and picture of who you are meeting. I also have my location services turned on for her at all time in the “find friends” app... so heaven forbid if I ever DID go missing she would have access to my location. Well, my phones last location anyway.

Anyway, can’t be too careful ladies and gentleman. Can’t be too careful.

Luckily my necessary precautions paid off and my tinder match WAS NOT Ted Bundy. Yahoo! Another Tinder win. Tinder is great guys. You have to sort through a fair amount of creeps... as well as couple's that are wanting you to be the three to their threesome BUT there are some good finds in there too. Hahahaha. What is my life. The stories I get out of being on tinder though guys... PRICELESS. I have so much blog material now it's insane. Hahaha.

Back to this guy, he grew up in Florida and was a Marine in Afghanistan. He has some crazy stories about all of that. Especially about how they train Marines in the first place. INTENSE. We spent the day at the beach (Treasure Island) got some food and he even paid for me and my cousin (my cousin who was third wheeling this outing like a CHAMP), which was so sweet. We watched the sunset on the beach and then me and my cousin left to make the two hour journey back to the hotel because we were hitting the parks early the next day.

He's super handsome isn't he? And a Marine?! Impressive. I mean, I don't think anything serious will ever happen between us because he’s a Florida boy and I’m a Utah girl... and neither of us will be moving 😜. But I'm glad we got together! He travels for work and is in Utah every so often so we'll probably get together next time he's in town.

Cotton candy skies... completely unedited. And even more vibrant in person. Surreal.

The next day we got up at the break of dawn to get ready and to the parks before opening. Yes... after not sleeping the night before we still pulled our butts out of bed to go hit the parks HARD. The plan for this day was to make it to Animal Kingdom before opening so we could run straight to the new Avatar ride (and hopefully bypass the rumored 3 hour wait).

We get to the gates (the park opened at 9:00 AM) and literally run straight to Avatar. We get into Pandora and there is a Disney employee standing quite a distance from the ride holding a sign that says “end of line”. Wait what. “How long of a wait is it?” we ask her. “Two and a half hours,” she replies.

I look down at my watch. 9:06 AM. 6 minutes have passed since opening and it’s a 2.5 hour wait?! What? They didn’t even have the extra magic hour here this morning so they literally didn’t let people in until 9 AM. 😳

Whatever, we’re waiting. Luckily me and my cousin are on the same level of theme park fandom so it wasn't even a question.

Us in Pandora about 1.5 hours into our wait.

Actual unaltered footage of us being the most touristy tourists ever. And loving it! 

Florida heat is so different than Utah heat. Even if you’re outside for just one minute the humidity has you sweaty profusely. My cousin and I bought some portable fans on amazon and they turned out to be lifesavers, especially while we were in line for Avatar! Mine was a lanyard that hung around my neck and was a pretty impressive fan! While waiting in line for so long you tend to make friends with the people around you... the ones in back of us were a couple from Michigan. They waited in line for the Avatar ride for three hours a few days ago... and they are doing it again today. “Yeah, by the time we waited and finally got on the ride we were hoping that we wouldn't think it wasn’t worth it... because the wait was brutal. But to our surprise it was TOTALLY worth it. So here we are again.”

After 2.5 hours of waiting we finally made it on the ride... and... drumroll please. It was so worth it. It’s kind of like a virtual reality ride but you’re riding one of the dragons (or whatever the Avatar people call them) and the graphics are incredible. There was one point it felt so real and beautiful I was actually holding back tears. TEARS. Crazy right? I’d totally wait another 2.5 hours to go on it. Out of curiosity I looked up the longest wait time that has been clocked for that ride... SIX HOURS. Six. Hours. In. Line. That’s insane!

After hitting the rides at Animal Kingdom we headed over to Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day. Magic Kingdom is magic just BEING there. We didn’t hit too many rides but just soaked it all in. No lies though, we were exhausted still from that red eye. I snapped this video of my cousin on one of the busses between parks and we are still laughing at it. 

We stayed for the fireworks and those were on another level. They project images onto the castle (and again... their projections are INCREDIBLE) and have you on the verge of tears the whole time. Seriously, tears streaming down my face. Freaking Disney, they always get you! Even the toughest ones!

For the record I went to Disneyland earlier this year and Disney World wins the prize for best firework show. The projections on the castle really make it that much more magical. If you go make sure you stand somewhere between the Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse statue and the end of Main Street. Best view! 

The next day we went to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. Epcot we hit the ride Fast Track and Soaring... Hollywood Studios we hit Tower of Terror (yes, they still have the original and didn’t change it to Guardians of the Galaxy!) and Aerosmith's Rock 'N' Rollercoaster (such a good one)! Also guys... have you had the cinnamon glazed almonds from Disney??? They are, hands down, my new favorite Disney treat. I think I ate three bags myself. Don’t judge me. 😝 I convinced myself they were semi healthy... because they're nuts. I mean... it's not three bags of cotton candy is it?! We good.

Despite having a good couple days, the bad luck of our trip wasn’t over just yet. As we were walking back to our rental car in Epcot's parking lot we notice a HUGE dent on the passenger door. Like someone had backed into our car. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say as we walk up and assess the damage. NOOOOOO. Dealing with damage to rental cars is THE WORST. Rental car companies always charge even more than the damage is worth. At this point I wasn’t laughing at our bad luck anymore, I was finally getting discouraged. We call the rental car line... which forwarded us to someone from India that spoke broken English. “You will be responsible for any damage caused to the car,” he tells me while sounding strikingly like that gas station owner from the Simpsons. What's that guys name, again? Apu. Apu gave us no hope.

See it?

Cool. Ok... nothing we can do right now. Get into the car (which is like I don’t know... 200 degrees inside) and sit down just as my cousin says, “I’ve literally never had this much bad luck on one trip before”. Insert the keys... turn them. They don’t turn. The car doesn’t start. The battery is dead. 

At this point we just look at each other half expecting Ashton Kutcher to jump out from the sea of cars and say, “YOU’VE BEEN PUNKED”. But he didn’t. Because we’re not that lucky. But Ashton if you're reading this I love you and I'm single. Marry me. 

Back to reality, we chase down Epcot’s parking lot security and he calls someone to jump our car and in the meantime gives us some cold water bottles. Awwwww. Disney, you’re always outdoing yourself when it comes to customer service. I love you too.

We chose not to think about the car situation until we had to drop it off back to the rental car company. Nothing we could do about it until then. We went home, took a nap, and tried to recover some of our optimism that was running dangerously low thanks to our luck. After we woke up we headed back to Hollywood Studios to catch Fantasmic before the night ended. Which was great, for the record. Not as good as Magic Kingdom's firework show... but still good!

Sunday we went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Let’s be honest... we were there for Harry Potter World and strictly Harry Potter World. Florida’s Harry Potter World is on ANOTHER LEVEL compared to California’s. Sorry California... I’m ragging on you in comparisons on this post but I do still love you! Florida just has that much more room to make it that much bigger! They now have it in both parks (Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure) so definitely get the park hopper because you’re going to want to hit both sides. 

First time trying the "butter beer" and it was REALLY good. I could go for some right now!

Plus, if you get the park hopper you get to ride the Hogwarts Express between parks (which is a ride in itself). 

Prior to this trip I had only been on the islands of adventure side of Harry Potter world... this was my first time being to the Universal side. It’s funny because you get off the Hogwarts Express and walk out and it just looks like London. You don’t really see anything that screams “Harry Potter”. However, as we were walking we noticed crowds of people walking out of this area with no signs... like an alley way. We were thinking, "What’s back there?" And decided to walk back to find out.

Oh just a whole other Harry Potter World. Diagon Alley to be specific. We went on the new ride (Escape from Gringotts) and ate some Harry Potter treats while watching a show they were performing. I love that they made it so hidden like that, makes it that much more cool!

Oh Harry Potter world... what would we do without you. More importantly... what would Universal Studios do without you?! Haha! They did take out the Jaws ride to expand Harry Potter world (which I am a little sad about) but it’s Harry Potter and Harry Potter is worth it. 

The last day of our trip we hung out by the pool at our hotel. It was a nice change of pace.  While sitting in the pool we noticed a plane write in the sky “Jesus forgives... ask.” Which was pretty cool... I’ve never seen a plane write something in the sky before and this was literally right above Disney World. I wondered if it’s something he does often or a one time thing.

This swimsuit is so cute but it gives some KILLER tan lines. Not in the good way. But I'm so in love with it I usually take my chances every once in a while and just layer on the sunscreen.

The time came to return the rental car and we were sweating bullets just imagining what they were going to tell us. We park and the employee walks up to the car and I see him eyeing the side of the car that has the damage. He walks around the car... comes up and says, “If the keys are in you’re good to go!”

“Oh uh... we noticed some damage to the side of the car and we just need to know if it was there prior to us or not,” I say.

“Oh yeah... I scanned it already. You’re fine. You’re good to go.”

Me and my cousin look at each other with wide eyes, thank him, and quickly walk off with our luggage never looking back. Hahaha! So it was there the whole time but we just never noticed it due to bad lighting and being sleep deprived from our red eye flight. Sweet!

So let’s do a quick recap at everything that didn’t go as planned this trip. Miss our flight, get on another flight with a layover in Atlanta, get 0.5 of a seat on that flight, no sleep, shatter phone screen, think someone backed into our rental car, have car battery die... oh and I forgot the last one. I washed my 160 dollar apple AirPods in the washing machine while we were there. 

HEYO! 

Never have I had a streak of poor luck as bad as this. Never. But we are home safe and had a blast despite the set backs so I’m still calling it a win. But I do feel like we are ready for some good karma to start rolling in. On that note... Megan, let’s go buy some lottery tickets. 

Shout out to my ex husband for moving around some of his parent-child time so I could get a few days away and shout out to my mom for taking care of the kids a couple nights while I was gone as well. It takes a village. And an ex husband. Jk. Kind of.

Guys, if you’re still reading this you’re amazing. This is my longest blogpost in my history of blogposts... and if you've made it all the way here you better leave me a comment below because you’re the real MVP. Plus I need some cold hard evidence that ANYONE even made it to this point. I’ll be sending out participation awards tomorrow to you rockstars. Hahaha!! Jk. I’m poor now, do you know how much it costs to replace a phone screen at Apple? The answer is TOO MUCH. Curse you Apple. I swear they do these shattering phone screens on purpose.

Any who.

Love ya guys!!

Over and out ✌🏼

Britney Munday

Life update (5 months since leaving IG)

I’ve been hiking a lot. Alone. Which, could be scary if you were to analyze all the things that could go wrong. Getting bit by a rattlesnake... running into a badger on the trail... encountering a mountain lion... I could keep going. But it hasn’t been scary, it’s been healing. I’ve always loved being in the mountains... I used to hike consistently before I got married, stopped for six years, and now I’m finding myself in the mountains more than ever.

Anyway, this last hike I was walking along the trail with my parent’s dog and started thinking about how great it felt to be up there. To hear the stream... feel the breeze... smell that mountain air... touch the tree branches along the trail that were smooth from the touch of other’s hands before me. No one to keep conversation with besides myself. No one in a rush to go anywhere (my kids were with my ex husband). I found myself just stopping in the middle of the trail and looking out over the valley and thinking. Just thinking. 

Hiking up Malan's Peak in Ogden Utah... such a fun hike but STEEP and hard. 

I like alone time. I’ve spent so much of my life thinking I should try to be someone I’m not and surround myself with people constantly even though I don't necessarily need that. I’m a natural introvert... I need alone time to recharge. When you have so many thoughts always keeping you company who needs someone to talk to?! Ya know?! Ya know??

That’s a joke. Mostly. Anyway, a good chunk of my life I’ve been guilty of thinking the more people in my social circle, the better. More, more, more. I feel it's almost a societal pressure to have a raging social life. I've felt obligated to go to parties and "blogging" events even though it made me all kinds of uncomfortable. I did it thinking that those people were my "friends" but just like Hugh Jackman sings on the Greatest Showman, "A man learns who is there for him, when the glitter fades and the walls won't hold". Those connections that I thought were so valuable were so much more shallow then I thought... even while publicly going through the most raw time in my life I heard from nearly NONE of those connections. I don't know how that surprises me... but I think when you are a empathetic soul yourself you expect others to be the same. But they aren't. Not in the insta world anyway. Call me bitter but I think most of those connections are really just for selfish reasons. As in... a lot of these bloggers want friendships that they see can bring them value in one way or another. #morefollowers #morepopular #morebloggingeventinvites. Not all of these bloggers are like this, I do have some SOLID blogging friends (top of my head... @emfillerup, @nataliedarling, @trishabell)... but ironically these friends aren't the type that show up at these blogging events anyway. They know what's up. 

Honestly, I'm not bitter about it. I'm grateful that experiences like this show the true colors of your social circle. I once described it as being in the garden and being able to pluck out the weeds from the flowers. Don't let weeds grow in your garden girl. That's YOU'RE place, you have complete control over. The only people... ahem, I mean PLANTS... that belong in your garden are ones that YOU want there.

And I'm not talking about friendships that I formed on instagram with my "followers"... that sounds so Hitler-ish now. I'm talking about people that actually had other means of getting in contact with me (see: cell number) but chose not to because I no longer brought value to them. But like I said, it's a blessing in disguise. Hurt at first, but a blessing.

Anyway, back to the introvert talk. I think something about me makes people think I’m an extrovert. My height? I don't know. I’m baffled as to that tends to be an assumption... but I've found that when I let my naturally introverted and partially shy self show, people tend to interpret it as me being “stuck up”. Over the years hearing this has made me try to change that by trying to make myself extroverted, no one wants to give off that vibe! But now I’m realizing...

it’s okay.

I don’t need to make myself someone I’m not just to appeal more to what is culturally expected of me. I’m an introvert, dang it! Take me as I am! Lol. I’m finding the more time I make for my moments of solitude the more healing it has been for my soul. The last year has been a doozy... between going through a messy divorce, moving, and trying to find my footing again... sometimes all you need to find yourself again is simply quality time with yourself.

The majority of my socializing is with my cousin above. Haha! This was up at Snowbird on one of their outdoor concerts. It's gorgeous and just the air up there smells AMAZING. You HAVE to make it up there sometime this summer.

Next matter of business, I don’t even miss Instagram now. Like not one bit. I was so deep into it... the fact that I’ve gone this long without it and don’t miss it at all is CRAZY. Leaving has been priceless for my peace of mind. I feel like it has given me that additional emotional capacity and energy to focus on living my best life for me and my children. It’s been great. 

Next topic... On the sickness front we had a ROUGH last month. Both my kids got hand foot and mouth... and then I GOT IT. Yes, I, as an adult. Got it. My fever got up to 103.6 and my tonsils looked so awful. I was so miserable. I didn’t get any sores on my hands or feet (my kids didn’t either) but my tonsils were on another level. They looked like one giant white sore. Ewwww. I know. I alternated between Tylenol and ibuprofen to try and keep my fever in check (but even with both of those I could only get it down to like 101 degrees). We also had a prescription for the “miracle mouth wash” (which is lidocaine, liquid Benadryl and liquid heartburn medication) so that helped numb things out enough to actually get some liquid down me. I can only imagine how the kids felt... poor things! Since getting it I've been talking to SO many people whose kids have gotten it, and even them themselves. It's brutal. Definitely made it into the top three sickest moments of my life. 

I’m going to give you a rundown of how it looked so you can be on the lookout for your kid. First they will complain of a tummy ache and maybe even dry heave, then they will get a super high fever, you’ll likely think it’s the stomach flu until you look in their mouth and see sores all over the place. Jake was complaining about how he kept having to swallow his spit and Chloe was literally drooling down her face and in tears from the pain. We also noticed that even though she didn’t have sores on her feet she was walking around on the balls of her feet for a couple days, so they must have hurt. It’s a virus so they can’t prescribe anything to cure it (no antibiotics for this one), it just has to run its course. You just want to make sure that their fever isn’t getting too high (because it can cause brain damage) and that they are getting enough fluids. There was a day where I was sure we were going to have to take Chloe into the ER because she wasn’t drinking enough and was hardly was having ANY wet diapers. Luckily I got her to drink some bottles of milk and that saved the day. I would give it to her when she was like half asleep so she didn’t realize just how much it hurt to swallow. It’s crazy because her and Jake came down with it at the exact same time but their mouths looked way different.... maybe it’s because Jake is older so it didn’t affect him the same way? Anyway, it’s terrible. You don’t want to get it. But you’re probably going to because it’s EVERYWHERE right now. Seriously. Just plan on getting it. lol

Besides being sick for a good two weeks we’ve still been going to the pool nearly every day. It’s been great... such a nice way for the kids to run off energy and all of us to soak up some nice vitamin D! I get anxiety about the summer ending because cold dark winters wreak havoc on my overall well being so I try and take advantage of the warmth as much as I can. We usually just go me and the kids... and I'm usually the only mom in the pool and DEFINITELY the only mom getting her hair wet. Sometimes I'm a little self conscious about it... like other moms are looking at me thinking I'm some heathen for getting into the pool (that's probably 30% straight urine) and heaven forbid GETTING MY HAIR WET. Yolo! That's why ya chop it off ladies! Bob's are great for swimming. Lol!

We had a great Fourth of July. It was supposed to be my ex's holiday but he asked if I could take them instead and I happily obliged, of course I'm going to want to be with them! We grilled at my cousins house and then went and watched the Layton City fireworks. Which were AMAZING, BTW. And huge. And right over our heads. Magical. The only thing that wasn't magical was the two hours it took to get out of the parking lot afterwards. And getting flipped off from a mom in a minivan. Rookie mistake. Now we know where to park for an easy escape. Not being flipped off though?? To be determined. 

This picture was from the fourth of July. I jokingly posted this on my facebook saying, "Happy independence from those darn Brits. I have a whole new appreciation for this day if you know what I mean!" Heyo. Just call me Amurica. JK. Don't do that. 

My life has been relatively drama free... which has been AMAZING. Until someone sees my joke above probably. Lol! But on a serious note I’ve learned so much about toxic relationships and how to place appropriate boundaries. The knowledge I’ve gained recently has put so much into perspective. Every now and then there will be a day that has a BLOW UP of drama... but it’s happening less and less. 

Speaking about learning about things... guys. I'm still obsessed with zodiac signs. OBSESSED. No one can try and convince me otherwise because it explains my whole life perfectly. I may even believe in it more than any other religion. JK, I think. But seriously, different trials with relationships or friendships have been explained by zodiac personality characteristics so perfectly. I'll write a post on it later. 

I just got back from a trip to Florida with my cousin... and I have a ton of pictures to share from it so I'm going to wait for another post to tell you ALL about it. I might have even met up with a tinder date while I was there. And I might have even watched the sunset on the beach with him. And I might have even got a picture. And I MIGHT even upload it. Who knowwwws. 

Also, I started watching The Handmaid's Tale thinking there was NO WAY it could be as good as everyone is saying. Well... it is. It's real good guys. REAL GOOD. I mean... the concept behind it is appalling and there is some nudity. BUT SO GOOD. And for the most part it's just a little bit of nudity and no swearing. Does that make it any better? No, it doesn't. But I was a nurse on the mother/baby floor for two years so an occasional nip slip doesn't offend me. Used to it. Hahaha!!

Anyway, I binge watched season 1... and I'm literally ending this post now to go start the second season. Later gator!! 


Later gator... I never say that. I've obviously been in Florida.


Thanks for reading guys.

XOXO

Gossip Girl

I mean, Britney. XOXO Britney.

Life Update (4 months since leaving IG)

So dating wise I've kind of taken a step back. I was going on dates frequently but then I just kind of burned out for a little bit. I hang out with my other single cousin often and we have a great time together... I'm thinking that might make it so I'm not as willing to go out of my comfort zone and frequent those first dates ya know??

I did go on a date Friday night with a solid guy (that I met through bumble!). We had dinner at a restaurant at Farmington Station and then went to see Oceans 8 (which I really liked for the record). I think it's so funny when I hear people that are against dating apps (like Tinder and Bumble) because I've met so many great guys through there. I just consider it a singles database... I can swipe to my hearts desire and find guys that I think may be worth my time. And even if there isn't a spark then I just have a new cool friend. I'm totally pro dating apps. 

So that's the dating update.

As far as the kids go... they are doing great! I LOVE summer time with kids... it's seriously the best. We usually go to a pool every afternoon just me and the kids. If you followed me on instagram you know how OCD I am about my kids and water safety... we've been doing survival swim lessons at Aquatics Academy in Draper once a week for about the past year. It's totally paid off! Jakes an awesome swimmer and Chloe knows how to keep her self safe in the water without a life jacket. 

In fact, she's obsessed with jumping off the diving board. Without a life jacket. Yes, she turned two last month. She usually has everyone at the pool staring at her in awe... it's hilarious. I will wait in the water for her, she will jump in, swim up and float on her back. And then do it over... and over... and over again. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a proud mama moment! I'll attach a video of it right here! She cracks me up.



Jake goes into kindergarten this fall and I'm so excited for him! We've slowly but surely been putting our roots down here and developing new friendships (both him and I!). It makes me so happy when he makes new friends. He is definitely and extrovert (with a fairly introverted mama) so when he goes to the pool and makes friends with kids that were total strangers it makes me proud. He's also been going to a preschool summer camp and he LOVES it! So glad I stumbled upon it... it gives him a chance to get out and be social with kids his age and it gives me a little break if ya know what I mean. Haha!

So that's the kid update.

Anyway, life is good! I'm healing. Summer is amazing.

I hope you all are having a great summer as well, again I love hearing from you so say hi down in the comment section along with your IG username! Thanks for your continual love and support, you guys are the best!

Britney Munday

Life Update (3 months since leaving IG)

I have a new life update. Not so much anything set in stone but more so set in stone in MY MIND. I've decided to go back to school and get my nurse practitioner degree! This was my plan all along, but I had kids and was expected to put those plans on the back burner. But now I'm free to build the life that I want and that I think is best for me and my children so it's back to plan A! 

As of now I'll probably wait until my little girl goes into school... so a couple more years until I start working on my NP degree... but that will be good for me. I feel like I need more real life experience working as a nurse before I dive into the NP degree. But I'm excited to have this plan that I'm working towards and to be that much closer to being a financially independent single mom.

We are still living with my parents right now and probably will for awhile, which actually has been great for us. My parents have been so gracious to take us under their wing and they love having Jake and Chloe running around and lighting up the house with their little personalities. I wouldn't be able to afford to live on my own but right now it wouldn't be ideal anyway... during this time of change I do feel that me and the kids need the consistent support (and honestly just a helping hand for this single mom life) that comes from living with my parents. Both my parents work full time so during the day it's just me and the kids anyway. And two cats. And a dog. Oh and I mean basically the UPS workers live here too because my dad is as addicted to Amazon as I am. But it's good. I'm good. We are all good. 

My parents are building a new house that should be done the end of this year so that will be nice because me and the kids will have our own rooms again. Right now Chloe has her own room (because she is the lightest sleeper known to mankind) and me and Jake share a room. He has a little daybed off to the side and it's been sweet to have him close but I'll be honest I'm ready to have some space again and I'm sure Jake is ready to have his own room again!

These are the little details you don't know about my single mom life. Honestly, it's not how I imagined my life at this point. And it takes some swallowing of my own pride to move back in with my parents at 28 years old. But I'm determined to build the best life possible for me and the kids, and I'm not waiting around on anyone to bring that to me. I'm not waiting around for prince charming to come riding in on his gallant steed and to swoop up me and the kids. I'm going to work my ass off and buy that damn horse myself! In fact I'll buy three... one for me, one for Jake, one for Chloe and we will ride off into the sunset together. Or maybe Disneyland, yeah... actually... forget the sunset we're going to Disney.

I've already made the mistake once of giving up my education, life plans, etc... to someone else when I thought it was love and they said they would always take care of us. Maybe I'm jaded now, or maybe I'm wiser, but either way I'm not letting it happen again. And when I say I'm not letting it happen again I mean I'm not waiting on someone else to bring home the bread, only me. I feel like this new found independence has given me a new lease on life, and I'm frantic to not waste it. 

This is my life.

My decisions. 

My destiny. 

And no one is going to stop me from making it the best life possible for me and my children. 

Life Update (2 months since leaving IG)

Hello. It's me. I've been wondering if after all this time you'd like to meet. To go over. Everything. Hahaha just kidding guys I'm not going to write this whole post in Adele lyrics but I couldn't not start with it.

K, hi. Life post Instagram is AMAZING. Literally better than ever, and I'm not just saying that. It has been SO good for me to be off of there and focusing on other things in my life. I truly believe that leaving Instagram has opened up the gates to allow other great things into my life. Let me break it down for you.

1. Instead of socializing on Instagram I now am socializing more with my friends and family. Which is what I needed all along. I didn't need thousands of smaller connections, I needed a fewer BIGGER connections to get me through this time. I needed a fewer DEEPER connections to get me through this time. Leaving Instagram has given me that additional capacity to really strengthen those relationships that I needed to and be a better friend to those connections I already had.

2. I've met some great people. Now that I'm no longer focusing on connecting through Instagram I think it's broadened my horizons to connect with new people outside of that Instagram realm that I had previously been putting so much focus into. I've met some amazing guys and amazing friends! Just last night I went out on a double date with a guy I've been hanging out with, his friend, and my cousin and I was in tears laughing so hard. TEARS. We went to a movie and then played Cards Against Humanity (Which, I'm surprisingly good at. Apparently having a dirty mind pays off at this game. Aren't you proud of me mom! Hahaha.) I don't remember the last time I was in tears laughing.

Ok wait, I just remembered. I was actually in teats laughing just the night before when I was telling my mom about my little boy's kindergarten round up when they were testing his vision. They were pointing to the shapes and asking him what they were (square, house, circle). There was a line of 10 parents behind us watching and waiting their turn. So they start testing my little boy and anytime they pointed to the circle my little boy would call it an "ovaline". AN OVALINE. An ovaline?!? What the hell is an ovaline?! How does my little boy know all of his letters and sounds but not the name of a circle?!? And why am I just realizing this now when 10 parents are behind us and intently watching? So yeah, I was crying laughing telling my mom this story. Update, my little boy can now distinguish between a circle and an ovaline. Which, for the record, is just a name he made up. Hahaha. You have to laugh so you don't cry... or if you're going to cry make sure it's because you're laughing so hard haha!

3. I live life based on what makes ME happy. I thought I was pretty good at doing this anyway, but after fully leaving Instagram it helps you realize that no matter how hard you try to just be yourself you are still trying to  please others in one way or another. I liked to tell myself that in the world of Insta bloggers I was pretty down to earth... my feed wasn't necessarily cohesive, esthetically pleasing, or picture perfect... but I did still spent a lot of my time and emotional capacity trying to please other people. Not trying to please others by MY image on there necessarily, but by trying to connect with others in one way or another. I liked to tell myself I was on there to share my vulnerabilities and offer encouragement to give other women the strength they might need. My Meyer-Brigg's personality type is the "healer" (INFJ) so I do tend to center my life around trying to help other people in one way or another and I find it hard to be selfish and focus on myself... but at this raw stage in my life I did need to only focus on myself. I needed to secure my oxygen mask before securing anyone else's... and leaving Instagram has helped focus that emotional capacity into my own self healing before anyone else's.

This week I had a date with an awesome guy and we went up to the SLC capitol to sit on the grass and enjoy the trees that were in bloom. Sitting there I realized that while we were there enjoying it just to enjoy the moment, the warmth, the beauty, and have good conversation... most of the people were there to get pictures with the trees in bloom. Wrestling their toddlers who just wanted to be running around, forcing smiles, and trying to get that perfect shot without anyone else in the background. Sure, I get it. It's nice to get those family pictures and it is a beautiful scene, but sometimes I feel like we need to take a step back and enjoy the moment for ourselves instead of what perfect of a picture it's going to be. Ya know? No judgement from me, I love a pretty picture as much as the next person, but if that's all we are focusing on we need to do some reevaluating of our life.

Anyway, I'm now focusing on what makes me happy instead of directing any attention into what would make my 13k followers happy (which, for the record is now 12.4k since I've announced my departure lol). I focus on what makes me feel good. What makes my life feel worthwhile. What I want. Which is such a simple concept, but really life changing if you're used to consistently directing energy to please others. I'm rebuilding my life and cementing that foundation with people and opportunities that bring me happiness, and no one else. I'm no longer thinking about "likes" on my post, but my own likes in my own life. Which is what we all should be doing.

4. It's nice to fly under the radar. I always say to live your life like you're in a fish bowl, and I do. I'm the same person with my best friend as I am to someone on the streets. I have no secrets that I would care if they got out. I make every decision like every single person I know is watching, maybe that's a virgo thing? I mean, we are the sign of pure intentions. I'm not a perfect person by any means, but I'm also not a secretive person.

However, in such a vulnerable time in my life where people could criticize every single decision I make, it's nice to fly under the radar. It's nice not to have those soured relationships watching ever single thing I do. It's nice not to have people picking apart posts and words to try and figure things out. I've learned that people are so bored in their own lives they love talking about the misfortune of others. And good heck they love talking about divorces. "So what do you think happened?! She posted this and he posted this. I saw them at blah blah blah the other night". I feel like for the most part all of my connections on Instagram were incredibly loyal and positive connections, but I can't weed out every dandelion among the flowers. It's been nice to take that step back and not really add anything to that narrative.

5. I'm indifferent. I care. I care a lot. I'm super loyal and when I invest into someone I invest into them for a lifetime. Divorce is HARD. It's hard to lose the person you've spent the last six years with, it's hard to lose those connections that you centered your life around. It's even harder when you're seeing their every move on Instagram. I don't know why people feel like they have to take sides in a divorce. Unless you were a fly on a wall you can never possibly know what someones marriage was like, you don't have to take sides and you can still be there for both people. In fact, any decent divorcee wouldn't want you to take sides. I actually encourage our "best friend" couple to still stay in contact with my ex, I don't want them to cut him off. What kind of person would that make me? Just because our personal relationship couldn't work out doesn't mean that I need them to hate him for me. I wish more people would be like that but it's not the case. At first having people side against me was really hard, because I care. And I care about them. And they actually had no idea what that broken marriage was like because I never felt the need to tear down my ex to gain support for my side of the story. It was agonizing to be going through the most painful time in my life with not only the loss of my spouse but also the loss of nearly my whole "support system" for the past 6 years. I now realize that that support system I thought I had wasn't the same as what I thought, and I'm grateful to find that out now rather than 20 more years down the road. But it hurt at first. It hurt like hell! Those were my people, the people I loved. It was agonizing. I had to stop following them but then I was still getting screenshots of things they did or questions about them... it was so hard to heal from that heartache when I was seeing them all the time through social media. Now that I'm off, I've finally been able to heal from that. I'm more independent than ever and have strengthened my new support system. I'm indifferent to those people and the things they now do, which I'm grateful for. It's a blessing to not feel the heartache of that and be reminded of it through social media. I'm creating my own life now and it feels better than ever.

Anyway, life is good guys! Real good. If you're struggling in one aspect or another I'd really suggest taking a step back from social media. It's a hard adjustment the first week but then you don't even miss it! It's amazing. I miss being connected to you guys so easily through there but I'm glad we still can stay connected through my blog because I feel like it's a healthier option for me. I love to hear from you guys so make sure you comment (comment with your IG name because that's what I recognize first!). Thanks for reading and thanks so much for your continual love and support!

Love ya guys!

Britney Munday