passport

heron just got a passport. & we laugh every time we look at her picture, round as a silver dollar. how is this child mine? having my dad's narrow face, friends would jokingly say to me, "why the long face, ramsdale?" i bet she'll grow out of it, but for now, what darling roundness! what gorgeous chub! she's in the 90th percentile for weight & height (meaning she's heavier & taller than 90% of the babies her age), but i find it impossible to believe that she's not in the 90th percentile for head size, as well (she's 75th)... just gaze upon this glory:

: and check out her mama's first passport :

(click image to see me bawling my eyes out)

p.s. make sure you scroll down the page a bit. i just posted (an unheard of!) 3 entries in the past few days...

back to school

i just registered for my first class! in february i will begin taking classes, long-distance, from the chalmers center for economic development. the first course i'll take is a foundational class on principles of holistic ministry. then over the course of the year i'll take:

• Christian Microfinance and Microenterprise Development
• Promoting Church-Centered Savings and Credit Associations
• Partnering with Large-Scale Microfinance Institutions
• Training Low-Income Entrepreneurs in Small Business Principles

for years josh & i have wondered & prayed about how i could continue to be engaged in & work towards the vocation i feel called to when it's been so obvious in our marriage that josh's work (which i partner in) has so much inertia & fulfillment right now. & now that i'm a mother it's felt even more mysterious. strangely, though, at the very same time i felt the Lord speaking about starting a family a year ago, i also heard Him speak new life into my (other, non-motherly) calling. the how certainly didn't make sense if i was going to be simultaneously balancing the new role of mother. we still don't have it all figured out, but for now this little-by-little approach feels manageable & even obedient, though i don't know the end result. the plan is to also begin taking various textiles & fiber arts classes (informally even) little-by-little, & see where (in the world?) it takes us. globally, so many "two-thirds world" artisans are working with cloth through weaving, knitting, sewing, papermaking, etc., & through the years this has been the type of art that i've gravitated towards in my own craftmaking. full-time school (art: fibers) is a possibility, but not unless/until i find the right program.

thankfully, josh & i no longer feel like our callings are at odds with each other. rather, it seems they may be a strange & beautiful complement. & mothering... well i've begun to feel that heron's life would only be enriched by having a mother who is very much engaged in the community & world around her, pursuing her dreams.

since returning from my three year term in peru, working in sustainable development, my passion within that field has become even more specific. i worked there as a generalist following my training (in agriculture, small animal husbandry, appropriate technology, health & nutrition, etc.--stuff i love but i've mostly forgotten!) on the HEART commune in florida, but as i worked in peru, my work with women/artisans was the most fulfilling. working with women in microenterprise, through the sale of their arts/crafts, enabling them to support their families, has become my particular passion, so it's this that i'm working towards... finally! i can't wait to get back into this again!

sunshine, here we come!

last year at this time josh & i were traveling in an RV with 15 other people up the east coast--from florida to new york. we celebrated my 31st birthday in manasquan, new jersey. i was with child. this year we will be in florida again, touring many of the towns, with some of the same people, only this time with a child. we leave north carolina this friday, the day after my birthday, & drive to st. augustine. on the 7th (not listed on the flier, the only non-surf-shop-or-otherwise-surf-related show) he'll be playing at key biscayne, an hour outside of miami (i'm hoping there's time for a visit to little havana...). here's the schedule:

i love these posters jedidiah designed. they definitely drew from josh's website, & i like 'em.

like last time, we will be traveling with surfers, which means even though we'll have a show almost every night, & a few hours of driving each day, we'll hit the beach daily! we can't wait. this is heron's first trip to the ocean, & i bought her a little sun hat for the occasion.

the happiest baby on the block

heron lately has been waking up with laughter. this is usually how she begins her days--squealing, laughing, practicing her sounds (mostly high-pitched happy yells). she keeps herself (& us) entertained for hours this way. this has greatly helped her level of satisfaction in the car (thank God! we have several long roadtrips coming up). she is also fond of practicing during typical quiet times, like prayer meetings & bible studies, when she's sure to command an audience. she's a lively one!

the studio

josh's studio is nearing completion! as you can tell by this photo, he has been sanding.


he hopes to be finished by the end of this week. then, at the end of our next 5 weeks of travel, he will have a studio to begin working out of. at long last!

joshy leaves on thursday for california--san francisco & san bernardino. a quick trip without us, then a few days at home, & then the three of us drive to florida (all the way to key biscayne), pennsylvania (lancaster & philly), & finally fly to seattle/vancouver, all before the end of november. each trip is about a week long, with a few days back home in n.c. in between.

two more nice things

we just discovered two more really big compliments to josh's latest work, jacaranda.

the first, a review at stereo subversion, a hip little online music magazine. it's a shimmering collection of words by jonathan paul scott, a friend of ours from indianapolis.

the second: josh made the mix of andy whitman's best of 2008.

i'm glad other people love this album as much as i (michelle) do!

a day at the races

this saturday josh competed in our neighborhood lawnmower race. or, more specifically, "The Ramsdale Memorial Mower Race & Block Party 2008," where he rode in memory of my dad. this is a much anticipated local annual event--something my dad loved (i believe it's even the reason he had such a snazzy mower). our friends josh & anya & their son mateo even came over to watch the race.

: here's josh on dad's husqvarna :

(this is actually the moment when he lost his lead & was unable to recover)

all the race photos can be found here.

it was a fun event, & we are enjoying getting to know our neighbors here. josh says he already knows more people on our block than he ever knew growing up in his neighborhood in granger, indiana. part of this may be due to his younger years as a self-described "delinquent", but i also think this neighborhood here is pretty special. i like living in a place again where i can take a walk at the end of the day & always run into someone we know.

this week we even attended a sunday night small group just down the road from us (i thought living rurally would mean driving everywhere). it was so nostalgic for me, growing up on the mission field, to walk through the woods with flashlights to meet at someone's house for prayer & fellowship & stovetop percolator coffee. this is a good place to live, this waxhaw, & i think we'll make it through the year.

muncie, drywall, & cheese

it's time for an update. this might become habit--blog silence for weeks, then a lengthy update that only skims the surface of each missed event. but this is the life of a new(-ish) mother, who was never very efficient in the use of her time to begin with (i'm also helping my own mother out with various things these days, to be fair). often i find myself with only an hour and a half of free time each day (heron's first nap; i am usually making dinner during the 2nd nap). if our blog is neglected or you have not received a return phone call or email or thank you note from me in awhile (greg & julie! thank you for the babyLegs! heron loves them!), this is why. but i am not complaining. i love spending my days with little heron, my extroverted daughter. i was never even really into kids until i had one of my own. now i cherish these days that i wake up with this little bird next to us, so sweet & joyful, greeting the day with giggles & songs. we have started to build a rhythm into our days--a rhythm that includes playtime, singing, walks in the woods, stroller walks, learning, errands, books, naps, baths, & even a contemplative podcast (thanks for telling us about this, becca!) that josh joins us for.

so. let's catch up. a few weeks ago we had the pleasure of hosting jason & jada andre, our friends from the outer banks who now live in wilmington, 3 hours from here. they came for a weekend to help josh drywall his studio. before my dad passed away, he & josh had planned to convert an unfinished room in the outbuilding into a studio. now josh is completing this project with the help of visiting & neighboring friends. with the help of jason & jada, josh was able to get all the drywall hung. now he is mudding, & hopes to be done with the painting & flooring before we begin touring (pennsylvania, florida, & seattle/vancouver) in november. once he moves into the studio i plan to move some art & craft supplies into the office space he's been using so that i can begin making things once again... (my supplies are still in boxes for lack of workspace)

: jason andre :

: josh's future studio :

last week we returned to muncie, indiana, for a release show of josh's new album, jacaranda. the show was at muncie alliance church, & josh was happy to have friends accompany him on stage. jason brewer came from elkhart to play upright bass, and jay kirkpatrick & joseph lehner came from indy to play slide guitar, accordion, bass, melodica, & percussion. lisa lachapelle decorated the stage with love, & dear friends erin & megan graciously & creatively helped me with merch (while i mostly clung to heron in her tutu, & caught up with merch table passersby). we stayed with pat & lezlie mccrory (where we celebrated josh's 28th birthday with lezlie's delicious, exotic balsamic cake!), then with bill & robin lett. mostly it seemed that our trip was not so much about the show as about closure with that place, & time with beautiful friends--we miss our muncie/anderson/indy friends so much! we were glad to have the excuse to be there again.

: happy birthday, josh! :

: our chubby ballerina :

: erin at the merch table :

: josh's album release show :

i have enjoyed getting reacquainted with waxhaw, land of my middle school & high school years. i actually appreciate the small-town aspects of it now; in high school i was always prancing off to "the big city" of charlotte to hear new bands. my latest discovery is the weekly farmer's market in waxhaw. it is small, but diverse for its size. this is farm country, & all the vendors live within twenty miles of us. there was an alpaca herder spinning wool (with an angora rabbit on her lap from which she pulled hair to blend with the alpaca yarn she was spinning--fascinating!), goat cheese, goat milk soap (from farmer rhonda who raises goats, rabbits, chickens, & grows all her own food; we're going to visit her farm this week), honey, plus local kale + 15 varieties of squash. josh & i are getting so inspired to begin raising some of our own food & provisions. i found a local raw milk dairy, so i hope to begin making my own cheese. & i want to raise bees! all in good time. we need to know where we're settling down before we begin accumulating bees, alpacas, and goats, i suppose. but the cheese... i can cheesemake right here, right now! josh & i have the biggest weakness for cheese. i think i could save us some money & have fun doing it!

um, on that abrupt note, i have to go. it's heron's bathtime!

friday morning

i'll have a blog catch-up day soon, but for now: a picture from this morning.

mornings with heron are happy.