We're Home!

Hi Bloggy Friends!

We're back! Are you still here? I hope so. I missed chatting with you while we were away. We had a great time back home for the holidays. We spent about eight days with a ton of family and friends that we don't have the chance to see on a regular basis. Christmas felt a lot different to me this year. It didn't quite feel like "Christmas," but the good thing about it was that it felt a lot more laid back. I divided my time between Lancaster with my Mom, and Louisville with my Dad. Alan and Galileo spent a few days with me in Kentucky, but the majority of their time was spent in Knoxville with Alan's parents. They had a nice time too. Alan's parents have three dogs, so Galileo had a busy social calendar of his own. He's so cute.

It felt so good to be back home with my parents and my brother and sister. I love them so much. I spent most of my time with my brother, Derek. We ran around seeing friends, and attending traditional family gatherings. We don't always get along perfectly, but he remains my very best friend in the whole world. Everyone else seems to be doing really well. It feels strange to be considered a visitor in a world that was once my own. When it came time to leave I felt really sad. I think leaving your family is the hardest thing in the world to do. I've had to do it several times. It doesn't feel right, but I know my place is here.

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas/Holiday/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah. You can check out some photos of my trip by clicking HERE and HERE. I divided them up between Lexington and Louisville to make for easier viewing. I'd love to hear how your Christmas went. Do you feel that Christmas seemed a lot different this year? Is it the economy? The state of the world? Or is Christmas just changing altogether? I happened to enjoy it more this year than I have in a while. In the past few years Christmas has just seemed like a major hassle. This year, however, people didn't seem to get too hot and bothered by it. We all gave thoughtful, cost-conscious gifts and didn't have to sweat spending a ton of money to make people happy. This year we seemed to focus more on the togetherness of family. I think that's just what Christmas should be about. Don't you?

Have a great time celebrating the new year tonight! I'm not sure how our night will unfold. We have dinner reservations with a few friends, but what happens after that is up in the air. We both have the whole rest of the week off. I'm so thankful for that! I'll chat with you guys soon. Have a fun, safe, fulfilling evening.

Love, Josh

A Break In The Storm.

Good afternoon, Bloggy Friends!

I hope you're having a good one. Today is my one day off in the week, so I'm taking it easy. I still have a final on Friday morning, and a recital Friday night. It'll all be over soon! I think I've done well on the finals I've taken so far. I'll be anxious to get my final grades in the next few weeks. That's the fun part!

Below I am attaching the third, and final, installment of my 2007 Holiday Series. I hope you've enjoyed them as much as I've enjoyed making them. Looking at the videos makes me so excited to be home for Christmas this year. I can't wait.

I hope you have a lover-ly day!

Love, Josh

Kentucky Road Trip, Pt. 3 (Back to Philly!)

Hello.Hey, Bloggy Friends!

I hope you are having a fantastic night. This has been a great weekend for us. It's been super hot in Philadephia - with temperatures reaching far into the 90's both Saturday and Sunday. I love the hot weather, but it's getting a little stuffy in our apartment, since we have no central air. We do have a window unit downstairs, which keeps most of the first floor cool. We may have to breakdown and get a unit for the upstairs, too. I don't mind the humidity so much, until I go to bed at night. Icky, Sticky! I also have an array of guests coming over the next few months, and I want to make sure they are comfy.

Anyways, here is the third and final video of my Kentucky Road Trip series. I know it was a long time a comin', but work and raising a new puppy has been keeping my hands full. It is all about our return trip back to Philly, bringing the puppy into his new home and introducing him to Abigail and Mary Todd. Enjoy!

I hope you guys have a fabulous, cool evening. I wanna send a shout-out to Mimi, who is on a fabulous trip to Manchester, UK! Check his blog for possible updates on what he's up to over there - it's a bunch of no good if I know that Mimi!

Love you all,

Joshua

Kentucky Road Trip, Pt. 2 (Louisville)

Hello.Hey, Bloggy Friends!

I hope you are all having a terribly terrific Tuesday! Everything is sunny here in Philadelphia. Here is part two of my Kentucky Road Trip series. In it we drive from Lancaster to Louisville, to pick up Galileo and spend time with family and friends. We had such a great time. I hope Puss doesn't mind that I show off his apartment to everyone! I envy his eye for decoration. My brother has it, but I just didn't get that gene.

Love you all. Have a great day!

Love, Josh

Kentucky Road Trip, Pt. 1 (Lancaster)

Hello.Hey, Bloggy Friends!

Enjoy part one of my recent Kentucky road trip series. This video covers much of our first day - arriving in Kentucky and spending time with my Mom and family in Lancaster. We had such an amazing time. It was so good to see everyone. Visiting home in the spring/summer is 100x better than being there at Christmas, when everyone is too rushed to even scratch their butts. We were blessed with wonderful weather and my mom made a fantastic dinner. It's one of my favorites - Grease Salad! I know it may sound strange, and rather unhealthy, but it's an entree you can only enjoy about twice a summer - when the garden lettuce grows and is ready to be be cut. This is how it works: You make a salad out of fresh garden lettuce, add some radishes, bacon (if you prefer), and eggs and then drizzle piping hot grease over top of it! I love the way it sizzles. It really is so delicious and it brings back a ton of childhood memories. Mmmmmm.

I hope you guys are having a great extra day off. Are you doing anything special to celebrate or commemorate? I believe we are just going to chill, maybe take a walk, play with the puppy and make tofu hot dogs tonight for dinner! We thought it sounded good and American.

Enjoy today's video. Stay tuned for part two within the coming week!

Love you all,

Josh

Back Together Again!

Hello.Hey, Bloggy Friends!!!

We are back from our weekend trip to Kentucky! I had so much fun. It was a quick visit, but I was able to see so many people that I love. I adore Kentucky in the springtime. The trees are so full, the grass is blue and the air is so warm and sweet. It was so good to get home to see my family. I love them all so much. I burst with pride whenever I think about how blessed I am to have them.

We spent Saturday in Lancaster, where my Mom fixed a delicious dinner for a bunch of people. She had a house full of my aunts, cousins, grandparents and friends of the family. It was great fun. Alan had a chance to meet a lot of people he hasn't had a chance to meet before.

On Sunday we got up and headed to Louisville to pick up Galileo! It was cute to see him running around with his sister, mother and aunts. From there we headed to my Dad's ex-wife, Dawn's, house. We had another delicious meal and hung out for a while with them.

Galileo is so well-behaved. He is tiny, at only two lbs! He was the runt of the litter. He has acclimated so well to being away from them. I'm guessing, since he was the smallest, he had a hard time competing with all the other dogs. Now, he has all the attention and I'm guessing he loves it. He hasn't so much as whimpered to be back with is family. He sleeps all through the night and he hardly made a peep on the way home! We definitely have ourselves a gem! He's precious and I love him to pieces. This is a picture we took of him in his crate at my Dad's apartment.



Below is another slideshow of pictures I took throughout the weekend. As you'll see, I didn't take too many. Stay tuned for videos that will chronicle our whole journey! You can click HERE for a closer look!

I sure missed you guys while I was away. It was nice, however, to close my computer and be free from it for a few days. I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. It did feel so good to be home. I think visiting in the summer is loads better than being there at Christmas - when everyone is too busy to stop and breath.

Have a great day, Bloggy Friends. We are trying to socialize our Mary Todd and Abigail with our newest addition. So far so good! At the moment they seem to be overwhelmed with curiosity. They mostly perch themselves in a place where he can't reach them, and watch as he barks and jumps around. It's so cute!

Love you all!

Josh