WHO IS JOSH?

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I'm the one WITHOUT the blue nose and orange hair.

My name is Josh. I'm thirty-something year old man who writes a blog, plays with puppet named Moganko, sings a little bit, and likes to make people happy. I'm lucky to have lots of family and friends, including a wonderful wife who loves me and tolerates my goofy nature. Oh yeah, and I have a genetic disease called cystic fibrosis that affects the respiratory and digestive system.

I like to think of Welcome to Joshland as a place where a regular guy shares stories and thoughts about his life. It started as a gift for myself, my family, and my friends, but now it's turned into so much more. My stories and thoughts are honest, sad, funny, and most importantly...they are real. The content on my blog is not meant for kids because sometimes I cover adult topics. I also enjoy the occasional curse word or two...sometimes for fun, but mostly for extreme emotional expression. :-)

I've been sharing my CF story since I was five years old and have always done my best to have a positive and humorous outlook while dealing with the realities of a very serious illness. I work together with CF non-profits - Blooming Rose Foundation, Breathe 4 Tomorrow Foundation, Rock CF Foundation, CysticLife, CF Foundation, etc - as an advocate promoting cystic fibrosis awareness whenever I can.

I was also a part of the "Breathe Song Event" with my fellow CF warriors Rose and Tess. The event paid tribute to Matt Scales - a 27 year old singer/songwriter with CF who passed away in 2007. He wrote a song about his life with CF that speaks to everyone affected by this disease. I'm so grateful that I was asked to participate this tremendous project. Thank you to the crew CFvoice.com, as well as Rose, Tess, Trevor, Oz, the Scales family, and of course, Matt Scales.

You can read my personal account of "Breathe" here:

The Breathe Event: A Tribute To Matt Scales

I can't forget about my YouTube site! W2J on YouTube is a place where I create videos that help me teach people - especially kids - about cystic fibrosis through humor, love, and honesty. More often than not, I have a little help from Moganko, my Muppet Whatnot. They're not always CF focused, though. Sometimes it's just me having fun and being...well...ME.

Here is a story Minnesota FOX affiliate FOX 9 News aired about me and my puppet:

Maplewood Puppeteer Cheers Children with Cystic Fibrosis

Check out W2J on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/user/welcometojoshland 

FYI - Occasionally, my YouTube videos will interact with my blog. If a video has what I would consider to be grown up content - i.e. medical stuff, cursing -  I will warn you with a note before the video begins so that parents can decide whether it's appropriate for their children.


DESPITE ALL THE CYSTIC FIBROSIS ADVOCACY TALK ABOVE, I HAVE TO POINT OUT...

Welcome to Joshland is NOT just a CF blog. My life with cystic fibrosis is an important piece of who I am, but it's only a piece.

I am first and foremost a devoted husband, son, step-son, grandson, nephew, brother-in-law, cousin, friend, godfather, etc... I like music, sports, movies, and karaoke. I volunteer for organizations like Big Brothers, Big Sisters and any other places that will have me. These are the major pieces of my life that make me much more than just "Josh with CF". If you really want to know about me, then take a look around at my entire blog and you'll see a few of the things that I'm passionate about. Plus, you'll find that quite a few stories on here that have very little to do with cystic fibrosis and much more to do with living life...just like everyone else does.

Finally, I'm proud to say that I'm an adult who can be both serious when he needs to be AND a big kid who loves life and isn't afraid to be silly. Once you grow up its hard to remember how to be young again.

Some people read my blog because they've known me all of my life. Some people read it because we've connected through the interweb thingy. Some people read it because they know me as a proud part of the cystic fibrosis community. Regardless of why you read my words...thank you. It means a lot to me.

Peaceful Things & Lots of Love,

Josh