A few weeks ago, my friend Melanie gave me a bracelet that says simply, “Choose Joy.”

It came from HERE. Which is most definitely worth reading.

And, it made me think.

I truly think that for the most part, I look at the happy side of my wonderful life. The easy side. The light side.

Are there negatives that I could focus on? Of course.

Could I write an entire post about the broken garage door, postponed doctors appointments, cluttered house, fighting and whining kids?
How about the trips I’d like to take? The money I’d like to have? The people I’d like to see more?

Yes. Yes I could.

But I don’t. Not because of keeping up appearances. Not because I think anyone would believe that every single moment of this is perfect. Or fun. Or even bearable.

But because I choose joy.

I’ve realized over the past however-many years that life is about choices. More than choosing my actions, but choosing my attitude and how I react to things.  And venting? Venting is good. And healthy. (Just ask my in-real-life friends and family. They hear all about it!) But, especially when I write, I focus on the beautiful in my life.

Because there is plenty. There is laughter, and love, and dance parties. To name a few.

And, because I Choose Joy.

I hope you do too.

(excuse the grainy iphone photos… we’re still loving The Smurfs Dance Party for the Wii!)

So, the title of this post may lead you to believe that we attended a festival about hunting.

You would be wrong.

In this title, the word “hunting” is actually a verb. So, the complete sentence may be, “The day we went hunting for a festival.”

Daily grammar lesson complete. Moving on.

~   ~   ~

A few weeks ago, the kids and I took a day trip to Wilcox, a nearby town with, among other things, a huge apple orchard and vegetable farms. We planned on going to the pumpkin patch, and then just exploring and making a great adventure of the day.

The pumpkin patch was great, but there wasn’t as much to do there as I had remembered. We decided to head “into town” to find some food.

I have visions of a quaint little restaurant where the kids will wow the townsfolk with their great behavior and I will discover the most amazing, secret food in Wilcox.

As we are leaving the apple orchard, a friendly local tells us about a huge festival in town. There are RIDES and GAMES and KETTLE CORN. Based on the fact that she said these words so loudly and my children are now literally jumping up and down, I decide that we must go to said festival. Do we need directions? NO, just follow the signs. Mental note to hit the bank, and off we go.

Ok forget the quaint restaurant. I’m “mom of the year” and we will go to a random festival!

We head into town. Look for signs.
Look for signs.
Look for signs.
No. Signs.

We drive and drive and drive.
No signs. No festival.

I explain to Lilly (since Zac is sleeping) that maybe the festival ended yesterday.
She breaks my heart by agreeing, and saying that it is ok… all while tears are welling up and she sniffles.

Oh my goodness the queen of drama is trying to be a Big Girl and be ok with this HUGE disappointment. Go ahead. Tear my heart right out.

I decide to talk up lunch again, and let Lilly decide where we eat.

Dare I dream of the quaint restaurant again?

Lilly: “McDonalds!!!”
Um, not sure if there is a McDon…. shoot. Yep, those golden arches are glowing.

We go to McD’s, where a happy meal toy makes everything better.

Until… until we strike up a conversation with more friendly locals. Who inform us that yes, there is indeed a festival but no, it is not at all easy to find. We get directions. Lilly and Zac are thrilled.

We go. We find it.

I have no money.

Remember that mental note to hit the bank? Well, that note fell right out of my head when I thought we had no festival.

So, we walk up to and see all of the amazing rides, in time for me to remember that I have NO cash.

Back to the car.

Back to the bank.

Back to the festival.

Back to the rides.

Finally. FINALLY we are riding in jeeps.
(Their daddy has a jeep that they can ride in for free. And it’s not on a track. But whatever.)

We ride rides.

We play on playgrounds.

We get ice cream.

We sprint to the car through the rain.

And, finally, we head home.

Thanking God for a beautiful, random, adventurous day.

Exhausted. Happy. Together.

It’s no secret, I love Shutterfly!

I use Shutterfly a lot. At a minimum, I make “yearbooks” annually (duh, it’s called a YEARbook) and make holiday cards to send to family and friends. I also store my photos on their site (always free). There is something so comforting about knowing that if, God forbid, my photobooks burn up in a fire or something, copies of the books as well as the raw photos are there, safe and sound.

Holiday Cards are one of my favorite parts of the holiday season. I love receiving them, and have my kitchen window covered in them by Christmas! I also love sending them – picking the perfect pictures, adding the perfect captions, ensuring the perfect borders.

Here was our holiday card for Lilly’s first Christmas:

Here is a “just because” I ordered after a Mexico weekend that resulted in beautiful tans and even better photos.

And here is last year’s photo card, one of my favorites!

At Shutterfly, you have TONS of options for cards. You can choose to start with Christmas Cards, Holiday Cards, or even Greeting Cards.

If you haven’t checked them out, you really should. Now is the time, as the holidays will be here soon!

~ ~ The Giveaway ~ ~

I’m excited to be able to give THREE of my readers coupon codes, each good for 25 FREE cards of your choice!
To enter, simply leave me a comment telling me about a cute pose you’ve seen (or imagined) in a photo holiday card. Something either super creative (Babies wrapped up like presents), just plain adorable (toothless grins), or even really embarrassing (80’s hair and matching holiday sweaters).
Enter now! I’ll draw the winners on Monday, October 31 to give plenty of time to order those cards by Christmas!

*Shutterfly provided me coupon codes for myself and three winners of my choice. The opinions expressed are most definitely my own.*

Winners Update:

According to Random.Org, the three winners are #2, 8, and 5. Congrats to Melissa, Kim & Natalie! I’ll be emailing you shortly!

Yesterday was my sister’s birthday.

She was born three years after me. Amazingly, we’re both now 29. I don’t get it, but then again, I’ve never been that great at math.

Anyhow, our day started out at the CatWalk run, where we ran 5K’s and 10K’s to benefit cancer research. We ran in memory of Kendra’s mother-in-law, and in support of our friend Mario, among others. It was a great, heartfelt race.
One of which I have no pictures. Go figure.

Then, off to my parent’s house for brunch, fruit pizza, and presents.

Have you ever attempted to get a picture of 4 children looking in the same direction? Yeah, I made it especially difficult by asking them to look AWAY from the fruit pizza and towards my own sweaty self. It worked out really well, as you can tell.

Sidenote? Lilly took one bite of the fruit pizza and said it was too sweet. I commented that she is more of a savory girl. Stevie asked if “savory” was a synonym for “dramatic.”

Oh that Stevie. Always bustin’ out the funnies.

Oh, but back to my sister. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the woman, mom, educator, and person I look up to the most. Love you sis!

UPDATE:

Ya’ll know I love jewelry, right?

And you know I love ICE.com. I’ve written about them a couple of times. What can I say? I like what I like.

Guess what? ICE.com has a new look. In fact, their NEW WEBSITE launches TODAY!

You should really check it out. In addition to getting a facelift and offering new styles and varieties of jewelry, they now offer free shipping and returns.

My eye got drawn HERE, HERE, and HERE.
You know, to name a few.

~   ~   ~

CONTEST/GIVEAWAY!

Now, for the most exciting part… ICE.com is offering one of my readers a gift code worth $100 to spend at ICE.com!

How do you enter? Leave a comment on this post answering the following question:
Question: Which actress is on the Ice homepage?

Yep, that’s it. Check out the site, answer the question in the comment section of this post, and begin daydreaming about all of that beautiful, high quality jewelry!

The Fine Print: ICE.com did not compensate me for this post. They are providing one $100 gift code for one of my readers. This contest will end on August 26, 2011, and a winner will be chosen via Random.com. Not applicable on sale or clearance items, watches, engagement rings or The Persona Charms Collection. Not applicable on taxes or shipping costs, and cannot be combined with any other offer.