There truly is no place like home. Last week I had my first opportunity to spend a long 4 day weekend with the family in TN. It was great, and loved just hanging out with everyone. Laura and I got to celebrate Valentine’s day with a nice dinner in Chattanooga. The humorous highlight of the weekend came from Cassie. For a few days, her hands would turn a bluish gray, especially in the evening. We were all worried, wondering what mysterious illness she might have contracted (anemia, circulatory problems, etc.). I finally did what we all do in this day and age….sought the advice and council of the Internet. After sifting through all of the dire diagnosis, and seeing just how many people were affected by this, there was one blog that caught my eye. It basically started like this: “I know what the problem is and it’s easy to fix”. The diagnosis……new blue jeans. I looked at Cassie and her blue hands and sure enough, she had on a brand new pair of jeans. I told her to go scrub her hands and sure enough….no more blue. So thankful we didn’t make a trip to the emergency room. Granted, it would have made this post funnier, but could have made for a long, embarrassing day. After seeing everyone, it was difficult heading to the airport to come back to NY. But here I am, sitting in a little coffee shop on 86th and Amsterdam writing about my adventures. I’m really thankful the temperature has started to rise (a little). Days are now peaking in the high 30’s which is my cue to get back out and run. I’ve packed on 7 lbs since 1/1, all due to the amazing quality and range of food here and it being way to cold to run. That has to stop now! I ran Saturday and plan to run 4 days this week in the mornings. You can see below my a pic of Riverside park, my favorite venue to run. If that ever gets old, there is always Central Park. The last thing I want to mention this week is that I continue to learn new things every day. This adventure has been a great education so far. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s a lot easier to move from the South to NY than vice versa, but only if you love diversity, change and new adventures. Everywhere I go, there are new people to meet, most with completely different backgrounds.  I don’t need to travel to see new cultures…they’re all here. If I want French food, there are french communities, where the primary language is French. Creole, no problem. Romanian, check and it goes on and on and on. In fact, our pastor today said there are over 800 languages spoken in NYC alone. There is actually a dialect of Croatian only spoken in Queens (it’s a dead language in Croatia). So virtually everyone is from somewhere else. It can be disorienting if you can’t adjust. With the right attitude though, it’s the recipe for adventure. God is truly amazing and He is such a creative God. I see that every day in the distinct faces and voices of the people of NY. Well, until next time…