tired after opening all his toys

merry christmas

The Patient

Toby after a long hike, exhausted and sleeping, next to his Daddy's favorite seat.

They hired an Elvis impersonator for my cousins surprise birthday party!

Winter Hiking

Watchung Reservation - Obscure Trail

Ladybug

The lavender plant in my greenhouse has a ladybug.

happy halloween!

Fall Poconos trip 2008! The weather was perfect the entire time and we actually had plenty of wood to burn. Toby loved the freedom also.

Weekend in Vernon, NJ riding some ATV's

puppy eyes

great swamp adventure

lazy saturday with my puppy

shower time!

my two legged dog

Great Swamp

On a bike ride I found a section of the Great Swamp I have never seen before. Unfortunately my camera phone was unable to pick up how beautiful it was (I think it may have been too sunny).

Toby's Camelback

Toby is learning to carry his own water now with his brand new "Outward Hound" camelback and backpack.

Round Valley State Park

If you've never visited Round Valley I highly recommend it. It's just a 30 minute drive west on Route 22. It is a huge state park with boating, swimming, and camping. Toby and I visited the site and I took him on a nice hike (a lot of single track and steeps at times). I advise against bringing a dog in the future, because of the single track he had a lot of ticks and it's a pretty exhaustive walk for dogs or humans that may not be used to this type of hiking.

Final Philly Party

Toby learning how to drive

Toby takes a bath!

Toby loves playing in fields

Took Tobias for a walk in the city!

My new puppy Toby!

9 week old Golden Retriever, Tobias Johnston =)

Best Burger Recipe #1

What is the best burger recipe? I'm trying to find out. This is my first attempt and it went excellent. This burger is chopped red onion, chopped Vermont Sharp Cheddar, fresh cilantro, pepper, and ground turkey. On top I have grilled leaks in a dijon honey sauce and ketchup. I'm not gonna lie this burger was amazing.

Jersey Shore Relay Race

I ran from Point Pleasant to Mannasquan, NJ .

My bunny Jake

Mets 4, Phillies 3

Let's go Mets! Attended my first game of the season today to witness a 12 inning awesome ending game. Great seats upper deck right behind home plate.

Crab cakes

I came upon an amazing crab cake recipe! They were awesome.

Coloring Easter Eggs

Every year my sisters and I color Easter eggs the day before Easter.

Parking Ticket

This is a little dated but I've been waiting to vent until I found out how much this stupid ticket cost. So here's the story.

I received a ticket at 4:56am on 2/22/08 during a snow storm that the forecasters did not predict to start until after 7am. For the first time since the beginning of time the Westfield police decided to enforce the "no parking on snow covered roads", as all their residents peacefully slept knowing that the storm wouldn't start until mid-morning.

Once again the weathermen were wrong but this time because the storm actually appeared and developed a couple hours earlier than expected. Because the Westfield police felt like writing tickets that day they went ahead and wrote tickets for everyone on my street. Funny enough I was in my car by 6am on the road, long before the storm was allegedly going to start.

My lessons learned, courtesy of the Westfield Police Department and NYC area weathermen are:

1. Not to trust the weathermen (that's a given)
   
2. Expect the unexpected, the Westfield police do work when you least expect it
3. Don't expect logic or fairness to be used lightly
   

The ticket cost $40 but at least I know that I moved my car well before the storm was supposed to start; too bad that's not good enough for the police this time.

Happy Feet

Just some local feet attending a local party.

Two Weeks In

It has been two weeks since I planted a large amount of seeds. The chives are growing so quickly, they are about 3 inches tall now. My thyme, oregano, and cilantro are doing well also. I've had 3 out of 9 sage plants sprout, I'm a little bit disappointed with that. Yesterday I noticed my first rosemary sprout and I'm still waiting on the lavender to start.

One week ago I planted large (6) and small (10) sunflower seeds. Yesterday they all sprouted at the same time! I imagine in 2 weeks I will be transplanting many of these sprouts into larger containers prepping them for the spring. =)

Spring is just around the corner!

It's time to start getting your plants ready for spring. I have a small grow room in my house that I use to grow my plants from seeds. I start the last two weeks of February and continue through March and into parts of April before I bring them outside. Currently I have chives, thyme, and oregano under the lamps. I planted chives, thyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, lavender, and cilantro last week on Feb. 20. The thyme and chives sprouted within two days. I keep them in a warm box without light until they sprout. Once they're up I keep them under the lamp 16 hours a day. The oregano I found to sprout slowly in the dark (I only have two right now) so I have placed them under the lamp to see if they prefer to bask in the light and then rise. At this point I have 72 herb plants that I'm hoping will grow strong.

Yesterday I picked up my flower seeds and are starting to work with them. I planted 6 large sunflower seeds, they'll hopefully grow up to 12 feet tall. I also planted 10 mini sunflowers (hull), I'm going to plant them in window boxes that I have hang from my porch.

As you can see in the picture the thyme is in the center and really started strong. The chives are on the far right with their string stalks. I use foil around the inside of my grow room to reflect all possible light towards the plants. Heat is not an issue the lamps are fluorescent grow lights and I keep my house anywhere between 68-71 degrees.

I'll post more pictures soon!

Ski Trip to Smuggler's Notch, VT

View from top of Stirling Mountain.

Mummer's Parade - Philadelphia

The Mummer's Parade is crazy and everyone should go to it at least once or twice during their lifetime. It's such a great way to celebrate the New Year!