Surprised by Joy!

Over the last few years several of us have been helping our friend Martha reinvent her main floor.  It all started with a bathroom makeover...then moved to the living room, kitchen, family room, guest room, and hallway. The master bedroom is the current project.

My main role has been to make suggestions, help pick paint colors and offer moral support...but all of us, including family members, have scraped wallpaper and helped with the some of the prep work and painting. It has been fun watching Martha's home be transformed....but even more fun watching how much joy it's bringing to the family.

Much of the work has been done while Martha's husband, Rob, has been deployed overseas as a doctor in the Army Reserves. These big projects have not only provided good distraction for Martha but have also been very gratifying.  Rob is currently on his very last deployment and our thoughts and prayers are with him and the whole family.

Several months ago Rob hand carved and painted this "Surprised by...Joy" for me out of wood as a thank you. In case you missed it...the "surprised by...." is written in small black letters on the "J."  It's an absolute treasure...and will always have a special spot in my home.

"Joy" lives on this happy shelf in my breakfast room.  

There will be more on the three pieces of artwork at the bottom right sometime soon.  They were done by my friend Laura Meddaugh from Madison, WI.  The rainbow near the right is actually a wooden puzzle I found on Etsy and can be found here. The framed poster is by Ron Burns...called "I Wanna Go!" The three little running chickens is a cross stitch I did a while back.