I had a GREAT trip to Gatlinburg, TN. with my husband’s family–16 of us total.  I asked all of you for advice before we left and loved the responses you gave me!  Thanks!  I gathered from all of the advice that I should spend half of the time drinking and half of the time praying.  I’m still not sure what order I was supposed to do that in.  The advice I was the most tickled over was, “Bite your tongue and bribe your kids.”

There were several fun highlights from the trip I would like to share with you eventually, but for today, I wanted to be sure to tell you about a great store my husband spotted right in the heart of Gatlinburg.  Fourteen of us were weaving in and out of stores rather slowly, constantly counting children’s heads to make sure none were lost when my husband said, “Ah, there’s the perfect bag for you Sarah.”  In the window of a store called Maples’ Tree http://shop.maplestree.net/ was a bag that said Think Happy Be Happy!  I thought it was super sweet that Jason saw that and thought of me, but the bag was not really my style.  I got the nerve up to tell him that after we walked in the store to get a better look at the purse.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!  Maples Tree was chock full of positive home decor, t-shirts, and jewelry.  I would have been content to spend the rest of our vacation and possibly my life in that store.  It was like stepping into the positive pages I spend time in on facebook.  Everywhere I looked there was something telling me to believe in myself, be happy, or love someone.

What I couldn’t pass up was this cute two sided charm from a company called Pick Up Sticks http://www.pickupsticks.net/, that not only reminds me to dream but also to be present!  LOVE IT!!!  I am happy to be home.  We had such a nice time, but our bed–even though our mattress is too old, is 10 times better than the broken fold out couch my husband and I got stuck with.  The frame was in such bad shape that we moved the mattress to the floor.  BIG IMPOROVEMENT!  We are already talking about where to go next year for our big family vacation.  My sister in law and I are thinking a trip to a beach is in order!  What is your favorite beach destination on the East Coast that has lots of other things to do in addition to hanging out at the beach?  The farther south, the better for us travel wise.  Please comment below.

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