About Me

Hey there, and Welcome!

I’m Joy.  And I believe that JOY is my calling. Mom & Dad named me on purpose and prayed from the time I was tiny that joy would be evident in me and in the character I presented to the world.

That doesn’t mean that my life has been an easy ride. And it doesn’t mean I have flown through life riding above the clouds instead of slogging it out in the muck. Let’s face it, most times it’s really hard to be joyful. Life gets in the way. And that line between depth of joy and fluffy happiness is so very fine. Or is it?

I was born and raised on the Canadian Prairies. As a child I traveled this extraordinarily beautiful country with my parents and three brothers, from the windswept shores of Prince Edward Island to Vancouver Island’s rocky Pacific coastline. I’ve been from Montana to Mexico and places in between. As an adult I’ve had the privilege of traveling to Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and France. I’ve basked on beaches in the Caribbean sun and explored the islands of the South Pacific. I love to travel, but more than that, I love to come home. I will always be a prairie girl at heart.

When I was 16 I met The Cowboy I would eventually marry, and our 39 years side by side have been an adventure I wouldn’t trade.

Raising our three girls (known as Sweetie, Peaches, and Babe on this blog) has been my life’s work. Now the raising has changed into mentoring and encouraging, and I am able to spend more time creating: story, music, and quilts. I’m learning to be a mother-in-law to The Lion and The Producer.  And I love being Grandma to Little Man, Sweet Thing, Sunny and Bright, and little Munch.

Finding joy in everyday life inspires me and keeps me going. From my earliest memory I have been aware of those little sparks God put in my ordinary day that set the joy bubbles bobbing in my soul. This has extended into my grown up life, though it is sometimes harder to pick out. Not because God doesn’t put them there for me, but because I don’t make the conscious effort to look past the cares of life and notice them. That’s where the choice comes in.

If I can inspire you to take a second look at your life and see those sparks God puts in your path, then I have been true to my calling.

So welcome to my world, where I choose to focus on joy.

I look forward to your company.