JP Livin!: Holidays

Well... the past few weeks has been a blur! Paige and I had a great trip to Ohio for Christmas with friends and family, many of them new to Paige. Every familiar face I made reacquaintance with had a great smile and it genuinely seemed that everyone is in a great space with their current lives. It is a great feeling to see the ones you love doing so well and emitting a positive energy. I had been thinking of the day I would get to introduce Paige, and her moody, noninfectious personality to my family and friends. Needless to say, she was a hit.

We touched down in Ohio(actually northern Kentucky) around 11pm EST. Mom and Dad were there, braving the late hour to deliver us the one hour drive home. When we arrived at the homestead Amanda and Nick were there to greet us and after some catching up we decided to open presents! It was technically now Christmas. The gift giving and receiving went on for quiet awhile and by the time we laid head to bed it was well past 2 AM. The next day was a family fest and we spent the entire day eating, introducing, and filling in the details of 2 1/2, vacuumed years away. Long day, early to bed, right? Not so fast. News spread of a late night rendezvous at a downtown watering hole consisting of a raucous group old friends. Saying goodbye to the last lingering family we headed down and mingled for a short time before yawning home and concluding Christmas DAY!

The final days of the trip included such highlights as dinner with the Merrill's, Randy Ryberg's Basement Bike Shop, not winning one game of 21 against Brian and Chris, hiking with Mom, Dad, and Randy along the Little Miami River, Chipotle, a plethora of holiday ales, highlighted by Great Lakes Brewing Christmas Ale, breakfast casserole, 7 layer bars, buckeyes(evidence of Paige's love below), playing with Ali, late night sports talk with Dad, driving tour of Wright State, seeing Nick and Amanda's very good looking house, and many many other smile inducing moments. Thank you everyone for such an amazing trip home and for giving us your love, especially to the Oregon contingency for being understanding of Paige's absence! How were the cinnamon rolls??

So now we are back, in the grind, enjoying an unseasonably dry and warm winter, riding that wave of energy and hope that comes from seeing smiles, nudging shoulders, hearing the voices of the people that make our lives what they are, near and far. This winter hasn't bore its teeth yet but when it does we will be ready, kept warm by love and the anticipation of the smell of Spring.