trace + becca come to town!

it's now been a couple of weeks since the bundies came through town, but we have been so busy packing & traveling that i'm behind in this guest book + travel log by several posts... trace was doing a concert tour in north carolina, and we had the pleasure of seeing trace + becca twice during their inner-state travels.

we first met up with them at one of my favorite places in the charlotte area: lupie's cafe. lupie's was a favorite high school hang-out of mine, and it's since become a ramsdale family tradition. to celebrate big occasions like birthdays, graduations, marriages, (& friends coming to town!) we don't go out to a fancy restaurant, we go to lupie's, a real dive! what an honor to share those greasy thrown down nachos + chili with our colorado friends!



following our dinner, they toured around the state for a week, then stopped through waxhaw for a night near the end of their tour. we enjoyed a long evening on the porch, and a lingering sunday breakfast. visits with trace + becca are always a delight, always encouraging & invigorating. thanks for visiting us, friends!

staycation!

before we begin the long trek west, i'll take a little pause from our packing to do a little post on our family's recent life... (more updates to come in the next few days, i hope)

josh, mom, and i had been planning to take a mini-vacation this summer. but as our moving date quickly approached, and was even moved up a month by the decision to drive out west for the tour, options became limited. at long last, we decided on a mini-mini-vacation--a STAYCATION! not charleston for a night or two as we'd planned, but a day at the local amusement park, Carowinds!

we chose this partly because we thought heron would enjoy the waterpark. she didn't. but she still had the time of her life! people-watching, climbing everything (& everyone--there are no strangers in heron's world) in sight, shouting "WOW!" at the roller coasters as they swooped over our heads, the music blasting from every direction... she was in heaven!

: heron + nana watching the carousel :

apparently on this day in particular i was walking around with the "i'm pregnant and proud of it" strut. josh says he watched people staring at my belly all day, wondering, "is she or isn't she?" & here's some evidence: click on the photo below to see the woman behind me shamelessly gawking...

: trying (unsuccessfully) to win a little blue guitar for little blue heron :

: the staycationers :

joshy even had a good time, even after reminiscing for hours about cedar point the night before. how he had a "countdown to cedar point" calendar every year along with a "countdown until i see my cousin steven" calendar. every year he'd anxiously await the arrival of the cedar point book in the mail, with coupons, write-ups on the latest, biggest rides, etc. after all the talk of magnum xl-200, dragster, and millennium force, i was sure he'd be disappointed. but the afterburn at carowinds made his day, and since it was so hot there was no line, and he rode it twice in a row!

and here was the highlight... heron jammin to the reggae tunes after a long, hot day at the park...

heron feeling ALRIGHT from michelle garrels on Vimeo.

lost animals :: sneak preview

josh has finished his new EP, lost animals, and it is currently in production (release date: early august?). technically a full-length album of 10 songs, it feels like an EP to us due to the varied origin of these songs. it is a collection of b-sides, soundtrack work, and collaborations created during the same time period as jacaranda, in addition to a few newer songs added to round it out (and make it full-length!). the gorgeous cover art is by josh's sister gala bent (who drew the animals for jacaranda, thus further blood brothering these two albums), and design/layout is by our brother-in-law zack bent.

here's a preview of one of my favorite songs (charity, i believe this is you on accordion?). we simply ask that you not download this file, do not link to this file or our blog, do not direct people to our blog to hear it. if you feel like sharing this song, please direct your friends to josh's myspace page, where he just posted this song + 2 others. thank you. now, enjoy!

soon to be four...

so, here is our missing father's day portrait. remember how i said i made beards for all of us, but then only posted a picture of josh & heron? okay, maybe no one besides greg christman noticed this. but anyway, here's why:

look very closely.
(click on photo to enlarge, if needed)

look in the vicinity of josh's left hand. yes, i made four beards that day, and in this portrait you can see the fourth beard around my belly.

we're having another baby!

father's day was a little early for us to tell everyone (we'd only known for a week by then). but now it is time. we know very little about the littlest garrels, but we can't wait to meet mini-G! he or she is somewhere in the range of 11 to 15 weeks old right now, making the due date february 1st (or january 1st). we will have a better idea on july 21, when i have my first ultrasound.

i am already showing, and have been for awhile. either i started showing quickly because this is my 2nd baby, soon after the first, or i'm further along than we thought, or we're having twins (no, twins don't run in either family, but people keep telling us it's still possible, which honestly scares us a little bit right now).

watching heron play with other kids this past week, and being around families with several children, made me especially excited about our growing family. we were a little suprised by this guy, but we welcome this child into our family with open arms!

cornerstone + indiana

: my midwestern man, returning to his homeland :

: "how many hours to go?" :


: en route to cornerstone :

: we arrived just two hours before josh's big show on the gallery stage, after two long days of driving :

(he also played two more shows at cornerstone)

: heron rushing the stage, dancing, and shouting "dada!" :


: our friend lisa :

: my friend dawn joined us at cornerstone :

: ergos save the day! heron would only nap on dad's back at the festival :
(walking with charity & her daughter lively juniper)

: heron attempts to play "cornhole" :

: joel & lively :

: heron & her friend lively taking a lunch break at camp :

: cornerstone mamas :
(me + heron, charity + lively, amy + hosanna)

: charity & amy :

we all had a blast at cornerstone, including heron! she's a social girl, so she couldn't get enough of the crowd of 20,000 people that surrounded her at all times. these were wild days of running & playing & dancing & meeting new people all day, so at the end of each day, 4 hours past her usual bedtime, she would crash in the tent. she seemed to love camping.

this was the first time josh has played all of his sets at cornerstone solo, but it all sounded awesome. (when we tour he plays solo, but these were bigger venues, so to cornerstone he usually brings a band). cornerstone this year was mostly about connecting with friends, and we were both able to get significant one-on-one & small group time with friends. we have felt a little isolated this year in NC, so seeing so many friends again, and having such meaningful connections, was a balm for our souls!

we camped with dear muncie friends sam & kristie koch & their kids, lisa, and the rest of the muncie/AWC folks. & my friend dawn from college joined us, too, & helped out with heron & merch as needed during the shows. many mornings heron & i would head to the coffee tent at 6:30 for breakfast, then end up over at charity, joel, & lively's camp (along with john & amy jessup, new friends) for the morning. josh was also able to have long talks with his jpusa friend scott, joel, and the troxels visiting from norway during the festival.

after cornerstone we started the trek back east, stopping in indianapolis for an evening with our friends jay & jess kirkpatrick. they are hoping to join us for part of our southern california tour in august. yes!

: jay & josh :

: heron & her friend kian watchman kirkpatrick :

one more indianapolis stop the next day, machu picchu peruvian restaurant with megan & tim!

then on to upland, home of taylor university, my alma mater, and temporary home to our friends kari & jason & their amazing kids, preparing to move to southeast asia next year.

: kari and liya :

: the guys and their daughters :

last stop MUNCIE, for one brief hour. just long enough for josh to take a nap before our 12-hour drive home (in one day!), and for me & heron to catch up with our friend erin.




we had hoped & planned to spend more time in muncie, but we were so feeling the pressure to return to north carolina to begin our insane 3 weeks of preparation for our move. we are sad that we were not able to see a few more muncie friends, but we love you dearly & hope to see you again soon!