5 Things You Didn't Know About . . .

Welcome to our weekly Wednesday feature, 5 Things You Didn't Know About . . . .

This week it's Joy from Joys of Home.

Favorite music---I have three young adult sons in my home who are constantly playing guitar/drum hero, so most days I'm enjoying whatever music they're playing and singing. On the rare occasion that I get the chance to choose the tunes in our home, I usually choose calm and soothing music. You'll find me listening to spiritual music or to artists like Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Michael Buble, Josh Groben, Harry Connick Jr. and Jane Monheit.

Where would you live---I love living where I do. We are very fortunate to live close to most of our family and good friends. Although our house is a real fixer-upper, we love it. And as a bonus, we live in an area with mountains, lakes, beautiful scenery and all four seasons. But my husband and I do have a dream of living on several acres of wooded property, with a stream, in a cottage with a lot of character. And we'd love to have several out buildings; one for his motorcycles, one as a big workshop to build things like furniture, one as my artist studio, I think I'd like to learn to weld so I'd need a building for that, and then we'd need a huge barn for big family gatherings on the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yes, that would be a perfect dream place to live!

Favorite cocktail---I'd have to say shrimp cocktail. I don't drink alcohol, so the only cocktails I can think of are shrimp or fruit---I would definitely pick shrimp!

Best advice---Wow, this is a wonderful question! For as long as I can remember I've collected good quotes and advice. I'm always taping up post-it notes with great quotes from all sources like "You are who you choose to be" from the movie The Iron Giant, and "Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, but with great and strong purpose in you heart" from a church leader.But I really think the best advice is the advice that I needed to hear at that specific point in my life. When I was pregnant with our first child a fellow school teacher advised me to make the sacrifice to be a stay-at-home mom because she wished she had done that. I took her advice and am so glad I did. Then there was the time when I was struggling with my only daughter and a younger friend of mine said that she hoped that I would be as close to my daughter as she was with her mother. I realized that I needed to take the time to enjoy my daughter and look for her good qualities instead of being so caught up in what frustrated me. I'm so thankful that I took her advice because as my daughter (and my sons) grew I found that often the very characteristics in our children that drive us crazy when they're young are the very same ones we want them to have as adults. When I was sad and mourning the fact that the dynamics of our family were beginning to change with my oldest getting married and the second and third leaving for far away countries, I really tried hard to heed the advice to "enjoy the moment." And right now, posted above my computer is the advice "Be today what you wish to be tomorrow."

Person you admire most---I have so many heroes, both dead and living. There is so much I can learn from everyone I come in contact with. But one of the people I admire most is my daughter. She makes a point of being happy. In fact, when people ask, "How are you?" her reply is always, "I'm happy, thank you!" And she has a confidence and determination that I could only dream of having! Those qualities have helped her to serve people in far away countries, Africa and Argentina to name a few. She is spiritual, faithful, kind, strong, adventurous, goal-oriented, and beautiful---inside and out, I am so blessed to be her mother.

Thank you so much for joining us! We have another blogger lined up for next week ~ you'll have to come back then to see who it is that we find out 5 Things You Didn't Know About . . .

Don't forget to enter our giveaway for a Thomas Paul Brocade Pillow ~ ends Friday, October 30th!