1.  I feel like with my aim to be “professional” my blog has taken a turn from it’s original intent: to be a creative outlet outside of “work”, while keeping folks posted on what I was working on.

2. It’s fun to show photos, but I always appreciate getting to know the folks behind the lens.  I used to post more photos of Espen and other daily occurrences, and anticipate that this will progress once again.  My overall goal is to not make this the “Joel Bock” show, but to give some foundation for readers to understand my perspective and approach to what I photograph.

3.  As it’s easier to look at a photo rather than read everything the blogger has written (I confess, I am just as guilty of this as the next reader!), I want to speak things that are important to me via my images, thus alleviating that task to a degree.

Which brings us back to this photo.  My friends and family are important to me.  They make me laugh, think more intentionally about how I live my life, and are an immense support and encouragement.  I love how this photo captures my gratitude for all that.  And thanks, Russ, for working on the house with me – don’t forget to send me the invoice!

Continuing on the journey, we decided to take a hike along the Appalachian Trail in the Delaware Water Gap.  Although it was very cold, it was nice to get out and hike.  It’s a spot we’ve been to before, where I’ve done some fly fishing with a good friend.  The trip mainly consisted of a fairly short hike, in which my dad and I took many pictures and then hustled to catch up with the others, then to turn around and head back to the car due to the cold.

Here is a great shot of where a lot of my photographic inspiration came from as I grew up (above).  We were mainly taking pictures of a small fall in the rocks, which had icicles hanging on the under side of a huge boulder.

As there was a very observant comment in the previous post about the absence of my face from the photos, I have included this shot to affirm that I was indeed present and enjoying the company.

After a good day of hiking it’s best finished off with doing some hammering.  We all sat around very amused, every once in a while dozing off into the cracks of the couch.

The other big trip we made was into NY.  We decided to go up the Rockafeller building for the view, as it was the same price as the Empire State building, but from the Rock you could see and take pictures of the Empire, as well as have a much better view of Central Park.  At the base where the famous ice skating rink used in o-so-many movies is located, we ran into some good friends from Idaho.  Now we’ve experienced it all, having ran into someone we know in the city of millions of people.  Crazy.

The elevator that takes you up the Rock goes dark when it starts up, then these really cool lights shoot up the elevator rails above you through the transparent ceiling, and images and words are displayed in a laser-light show tradition.  It was very entertaining, and Espen smiled the whole way up.

One of the great things about the observation deck is that they have 2 inch plexiglass around the whole area.  This is great when you’re concerned about a rambunctious 2 year old.  They proved more than useful, as the moment we stepped outside he started running around and ran face first into the glass, giving him his best bruise yet!  It really surprised him, but it was great to know they were there as the edge dropped off about a foot past where he had been running full steam!

Upon touchdown we found it necessary to instill within ourselves a sense of food.  We hiked around to the nearest stands and experienced the NY street vendors.

From there we went to time square, where we enjoyed a very friendly horse, and the stimulation of marketing on steroids to the 10th degree.  It’s really hard to grasp the atmosphere until you visit it, and it’s worth visiting to see what they hype is about, and whether you feel it’s truly worth it or not.  After all, this whole area (NY city) is considered by many to be the “heart” of America, so it’s worth taking a trip to see where the blood is being pumped from and decide whether it’s your blood type or not.  Below you can see Espen in his new hat that his grandpa (and life long Yankee fan) bought.  He kept looking at himself in the reflections of the buildings because he somehow knew that wearing it backwards made him cool or something.

We finished off the trip with a walk through Central Park.  We saw some open green areas, got some ice cream, watched some youth climbing around the structures of arches and stairs, and enjoyed a couple of trips to the bathroom when the little one was blowing the whistle.  All in all it was a great trip, and a good balance of touring and resting.  I regret forgetting my circular polarizer at home for our trip to the top of the Rock, but I am grateful for the chance to be with family and explore a bit.

There’s a really good explanation for the long delay on any posts, and that is due to an expected visit from my folks.  They hadn’t been out to Princeton before, so we had a great time showing them not only around the local area, but up in NY and down in Philly, as well as a few other spots in between.  One of the first and most prominent events of the visit was reading books, as pictured below.  Following that was a great week of relaxation and touring the area, which we all agreed was very well balanced.

We went for the historic Philly trip, which was the first time I was able to actually go into Independence Hall.  I like how the above photo really captures the recent changes to the Liberty Bell, in that instead of a piece of metal to ring the bell there are now legs.  Ha!  When we walked outside I saw my first batch of daffodils, so I of course had to snatch a shot.

We then went in reverse order and went to the visitor center, where EP found this big duck and proceeded to knock off the left arm.

One of the highlights was eating in Philly, which consisted of some Mac & Cheese, but more importantly Philly Cheese Steaks!  Mmmm….

We visited one of the older churches, which turned out to be the one that all the older founding fathers and mothers went to.  People like George Washington, etc.

Following this, we took a trip over to the Arch Street meeting house, pictured below.  The pews are over 300 years old, which made the wood really nice and soft to sit on…well, maybe not quite, but it’s cool to think about people gathered and being led to things like anti-slavery, the suffrage movement, etc., in this place.

Above you can see one of the old banks.

We later walked through the park next to Independence Hall, which proved a great place to put ones child to sleep in a stroller when their afternoon nap is long overdue.

To back track a bit, below begins our first full day in which we went to Princeton Friends Meeting.  Somewhere on the side of the building is a mark where a cannonball from the Civil War hit the building.

We then took the usual Princeton University tour, and it didn’t let us down.

There will be more images coming, but I wanted to give an update post to say I’m still around.