About Me

I'm a gal with southern roots who moved to Wisconsin in 2007 to marry my then-fiance-now-husband, John, a kinda southern guy who went to college with me in Dallas. It was one of those deals where I met him as a sophomore and he was a senior but he didn't remember, so according to him, we met the summer after I graduated when I was the bridesmaid for my friend Ashley and John was an usher when Ashley married one of John's roommates, Dustin {do I need to repeat that?}. It was at that beautiful and fun wedding that I realized that I wanted to marry a guy that could be friends with the guys in that wedding party, and what do you know? I did.

It was John who got me up to Wisconsin, a place that a southern girl never would have fathomed living. Turns out, I actually like it here. I love how alive everything feels in the summer months; driving by farms though I don't live in a rural area; the fact that people actually care about how they live affects others; and having access to one of the best farmer's markets in the country. Wisconsin is seriously way better than I imagined. I deeply miss my friends down south, though. They are the best.

In God's timing, John and I managed to create a super cute little girl named Lauren Elizabeth, but we refer to her as LE {Ellie}. I now spend my days home with LE, trying to take care of our household and that little girl. We are really blessed!

This blog got started the same way that many blogs do; my southern relatives requested a way to hear musings and photos of the pregnancy with LE and then photos of her growing up. It morphed into a creative outlet for things going on around the home: cooking, crafts, design, art, parenting, lots of LE, gardening, and faith. 

If you're curious about the blog's name, you should take a look at my first post ever. I hope you enjoy poking around the blog and learning with me as I go.

If you want to contact me, you can send a quick email to nicole@wonderfuljoyahead.com. I'd love to hear from you.

There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while... Trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it-- and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold.    1 Peter 1:6-7