Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.

First of all thank you to all the people who bestowed get well wishes on me yesterday. I was sick yesterday, barely able to get out of bed. But I am feeling much better today. Anyway, what a busy weekend in store for me and my family. On Saturday (which is actually the 3rd) I will be riding in the 4th of July parade in Middletown DE. My first official appearance as Mrs. Patriotic United States. I am so excited about this, I have been playing with my hair all last week to figure out what will look best with my crown. If anyone has any suggestions please feel free to give help me out! My husband and my 2 little boys will also be riding in the parade. My work is going to be participating in the parade so my family will be riding with them. Its going to be a fun experience for us all. After that we will be going down to my parents house so I can finally meet my new nephew. I have always enjoyed the 4th of July for many reasons. One of them being the uninhibited family time. This isn't one of those holidays where everyone is running around trying to make sure that everything is perfect. Its a very relaxed holiday where you can just hang out with family and friends. And my family exemplifies this mentality perfectly on this holiday. Often times we all just come and go as we please, but mostly we are either hanging out by the pool or just sitting on lawn chairs on the porch taking in the sweet aroma of the grill. Yes, the 4th of July is a great holiday. Also, being able to walk down the road and being able to find my weakness is always a plus, cotton candy. It isn't everyday that I get to partake in the pure sugary goodness. Anyway, Saturday will be a nice day with family while on Sunday I will be doing another appearance at Liberty Day in Newark, DE. I don't think wearing that crown will ever really get old. And this wouldn't be a complete blog if I didn't tell of the exciting movie coming out this week. Yes, Eclipse from the Twilight series is coming out tomorrow. I am very excited, and just so you all know I am on Team Edward, although I will admit that in the movies Jacob is much nicer to look at. My friend Shana and I intend to drag our hubbies to this movie sometime this week. I would go to the midnight showing of this movie (I guess that shows how much I like) but upon closer consideration I have decided to opt out of going to this showing to avoid all the screaming tweens. But I will be attending at some point.

Happiness is a Choice

So today is my second post, I usually wont post stuff everyday but today I decided I would. I decided to wake up on the right side of the bed. I made a conscious choice that I was going to be happy today. This morning when I woke up next to my loving husband I was determined to have a fantastic day. This saying "Happiness is a Choice" has been in my head all morning. Usually the only time I hear this little saying is after I have had a really miserable day at work and when I come home and my sons are being hard to deal with. While I am telling my mother about the terrible day I had is when she calmly and sweetly tells me "Honey, happiness is a choice". At that point this expression is not really what I want to hear, and I say "yeah mom your totally right" while clenching my teeth and telling myself I will be glad when today is over. So everyone has heard this before but who has really practiced it? And is it really that hard to put this into play? Can I really still choose to be happy after my sons have managed to take the entire container of salt (don't ask me how they got it) and dumped it all over my couch? Can I still manage to maintain a happy countenance after my dog managed to poop all over my beautiful white bermuda shorts I had set out to wear today? I believe it is possible. And choosing to be happy is more then just slapping on a fake smile. It comes from within and it comes from being content with where you are in life. Yes, we all wish we had a little bit more or something a little bit nicer. That stuff will come in time. Cherish the short moments we have, even if they are those moments during hard times. So like I said today I am choosing to be happy. And I am sure it isn't going to be easy because today will inevitably be the day that an unhappy customer calls cursing at me. But I have so much more in my life to be happy about then to get hung up on that stuff. I have an amazing family, a great job, a place to live, fabulous friends and I am healthy. Life is far too short and the time we actually spend on this earth is really only a blink of the eye compared to all eternity. So no matter what you are going through and no matter what you are doing today try to join me in my choice to be happy. I am not saying it will be easy and it will take some effort but do it for yourself.

Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Wow, so much has happened to me lately I figured I needed to share it with you all. I have never been one to write in a journal or "blog" but sharing my experiences with others makes me feel like I could be making a difference to someone or at least bringing a smile to their face. For those of you who don't know, my name is Hilary Thompson. I have a wonderful husband and 2 terrific little boys. I very recently (on June 18, 2010) won my first pageant as a Mrs. I used to participate in pageants as a teen but stopped and never really picked them back up until recently. The title that I am very proud to be holding is Mrs. patriotic United States 2011. This title allows me to go on to compete for Mrs. Delaware 2011 in April. In this blog I hope to take you with me on my wonderful journey. During the pageant I was honored to meet many different people including the fabulous ladies I was competing against. If any of you ladies are reading this, it was truly an honor to meet and compete with you. I know the judges decision was not an easy one. Also, getting to work so closely with my director Siouxzan has already been a pleasure and I haven't even had my title for an entire week yet. I look forward to many good times. In addition, the current Mrs. Delaware Carrie is so beautiful and is really making the way for the rest of us hopefuls. I am hope to get to know you better and possibly have some appearances with you. Well, that is it for now. I will be keeping everyone posted on the different events that I will be attending and volunteer opportunities that I come across.