home life

It's nice to be home. I hadn't really gotten to chill here like this since last spring. I've been traveling a lot, and when I'm not traveling, I'm studying hard-core. Last summer I went out of the US for the first time.
I went to Tokyo for two weeks, came home, and then left to teach at an English summer camp in China for 5 weeks. A week and a half after that classes started. Then, for the whole winter break, I was in Japan again. [each time I went, I volunteered--helping missionaries and encouraging Christian churches] In the Spring, I took 18 hours, got a 4-day weekend, and started a 3-hour May minni-term. NOW, I am home with my family.
I feel like I'm already losing some of my Japanese skills. At the university, I hung out with Japanese people all the time. We'd speak in Japanese and English. At home, everybody speaks English, and ONLY English. Not many opportunities for practice...
Any way, I still get some exposure to the language a few times a week. If I focus and study each day, I should maintain or maybe even improve my Japanese.
I'm hoping to find an effective way to study Japanese grammar this fall. I really want to get a good grasp on it. Presently, I feel like I've got lots of phrases and vocabulary memorized, but no firm grasp on how to connect and implement them. I've been introduced to the various particles and whatnot, but still don't feel very comfortable using that knowledge. I guess it's because I am not confident I HAVE that knowledge in actuality.
Is this an online journal or what?!?!?!