One True Thing...

Huber's Orchard & Winery

Last Saturday was spent at Huber's Farm & Winery in Starlight, IN.  It was a gorgeous sunny day in June & we were happy to be outside ALL TOGETHER!  Huber's was so beautiful and if you're ever out this way then it's worth stopping by.  They have a restaurant, carriage rides, horseback riding, you can pick your own fruit, petting zoo, games, farmers market, winery & grill, outdoor music in the evening, and so much more!!  Here are a few shots of the area. http://www.huberwinery.com/

 

 

 

  

 

 

I look forward to going back here on a nice summer evening to hear some music & try out the wine!

A tourist in our own town Louisville, KY

Joe and I were able to slip in some adult time last weekend.  I'm ever so thankful for my Mother's Day gift, tickets to Circus de Soleil.  I've always wanted to go!  We rounded off the evening with dinner at Jack Frye's, a hotel stay at The Brown Hotel in downtown Louisville, and an evening out on the town.  The weekend gave me an incredible view into our city, a city I'm proud to call our home!  I'm so excited for friends to come out!  Get your ticket now!

 Checking in

Time at Maker's Mark

 

Dinner at Jack Frye's.  A big YUM!

  Dinner was great!!

 Circus de Soleil

 The best date!  We had so much laughing, talking, & enjoying one another.  Here are some links to go along with our night, in case you're ever in need for a night in Louisville yourself.

http://www.brownhotel.com/

http://www.makerslounge.com/

http://www.jackfrys.com/  Get the shrimp & grits appetizer & the pork chop!

http://www.howlatthemoon.com/locations/location-louisville  Very fun!

Louisville Zoo...swimsuits advised.

Why is it that the zoo never gets old?  We've already been there three times since moving here and now I'm learning why family memberships actually DO save you money!!  We went to the zoo yesterday with Joe's mom, Jan, and it was the best zoo trip I've ever had!  First off, it was the middle of the week. so there were no crowds.  Second, kids are still in school, so there are (again) no crowds.  Third, the weather was in the 80's!  Fourth, they have a water park in the middle of it (which is a big bonus when there are NO crowds).  We didn't think the water park was open until after Memorial Day weekend, but we were wrong.  No problem though...who needs a swimsuit anyway??  Emerson could have stayed there all day long and I could have too.  We will be going back next week (yes in the middle of the week) with lunches and swimsuits ready to tackle a full day at the zoo.  I can't wait!!

 

They had a staring contest...it was crazy to be face to face with this amazing animal!  Then it was on to the water park!  She thought it was pretty cool to get to play in the water without her suit.  To tell you the truth, I think she had more fun because of it!

 
  

She got a new zoo shirt out of it all too!  What a great day!  When you come to visit please plan on a trip to the Louisville Zoo...and bring your swimsuit!

Going, Going,....almost Gone.

 

It’s going to be a new chapter, fresh start, clean slate…for the Carter crew.  The word is out.  Joe got the job!  Boxes are packed, our two weeks notice have been turned in, flights are booked, address change has been sent to the Post Office…it looks like this is all really going to happen.  WE ARE MOVING TO LOUISVILLE, KY!!!!  I feel like I’m on top of a wave and just along for the ride.  Things are moving fast and there are still many unknowns that await us, but I find that amongst the craziness there’s a surprising level of peacefulness hovering over our family.

There are many things I look forward to and many things I will miss.  I look forward to having so many family members nearby, getting to know family better, spending more time with my daughter, how the dynamics of mine and Joe’s relationship will change now that we won’t be working around one anther, exploring an area of the U.S. that I’m not as familiar with, and much more.  What I will miss the most are people!  I will miss friends, my sister, and my mom.  I will miss the beauty of Oregon and the Great Northwest.  The list of what I will miss is surprisingly much shorter than the list of things I’m looking forward to, but the people I will miss hold much more weight.  I believe the relationships we will be moving away from have the chance to be strengthened by distance.  It will take effort, but in this technological driven world we live in I will be sure to text, Skype, call, and check in on FB more often.  Not to mention, I will write (the old fashion way) and send special “I’m thinking of you gifts” from time to time.  I’m so appreciative of the adventures, road trips, friends, and memories that the move to Oregon gave us.  I will treasure it all beyond words.

We stand on the brink of amazing beginning.  Virtually every aspect of our family and our lives are going to change in the coming weeks.  I look forward to what the future brings, even the challenges. To all our friends whom we will miss, I say “WE LOVE YOU AND COME SEE US!!!!”

PS   I'm thinking of shutting down this blog and starting a new one for this new chapter, but we'll see...got to think on it a bit more. ;-)

PSS   Needless to say, Valentines Day projects were put on hold this year (kinda broken hearted about that little fact), but hey...maybe we'll celebrate it in March this year!

A magical night with friends

The Nutcracker was fantastic.  What a magical night!  We were lucky enough to share it with the McAllister family.  Emerson and Elle held up pretty nicely through the entire performance...I will say that it ended just when it needed to though ;-)

A few of my favorite moments...when Emerson leaned over to whisper in my ear "Thank you Mommy for bringing me here" & "Is that wand real!!??"  It was such a wonderful evening to experience with such wonderful company.  I HIGHLY recommend the OBT's production of the Nutcracker to anyone and everyone! 

I look forward to doing this again next year!

 

 

Dancing in the lobby...she slept the whole way home!  The girls were very cute!

Life is good! We give thanks!

What a fantastic weekend FULL of memory making!

 First stop was some family time in Bend for Thanksgiving dinner.  After that we headed to Hood River to hop onto the “Polar Express” that would take us full steam ahead to the North Pole…and of course you know who we saw once we got there!  After the train ride it was time to head up to Timberline Lodge.  It was so beautiful and covered with snow.  Sledding and time with wonderful friends was a terrific way to usher in this holiday season!! The kids had a blast and were absolutely exhausted by the end of it all…to me that always signals a SUCCESSful trip!

 One of my fav people!

 

 

  

Sunday was the last day of our four day weekend and we put it to great use as well.  We found a Christmas tree, tied it to the Jeep, and got to work decorating back home.  It was like opening up a toy box for Emerson, once we got all the decorations down!!  The girl went crazy!  She peaked inside one of the boxes and exclaimed, “Mom!  I think I saw something beautiful in there!!!”  She played with ornaments that used to be my favorite as I was growing up.  It was wonderful to see her dancing around to the Christmas music, in her own little world.  The candles were lit all over the house and from every room you could smell the amazing Christmas tree.  So we have plenty of snow outside, the Christmas decorations up, and the playlist ready for some festive music….bring on December!  We are ready!!  We are so thankful for one another and all the people we get to share our lives with!

The Best of Summer '10 ~ Thank you to all our loved ones!!

Summer 2010 sure has been a memorable one…one full of dresses, trips, concerts, photog, family, friends, ice cream, projects, and our dog Feta joined the family.  We’ve been everywhere from San Fran, to Bend, to S.C., to Sunriver, to Portland, The Gorge and Berkley.  Music and road trips were the name of the game this summer.  I caught Natalie Merchant, Mat Kearney, David Gray, Ray LaMontagne, & the Dave Mathews Band (Sara Bareilles and Jack Johnson are coming up soon!).  Not too shabby eh?!  I will miss this summer and frankly…I’m NOT ONE BIT ready for cold weather to come in and lock us up in our house, as it always seems to do.  I’m not ready to be going into work when it’s dark and then getting off of work when it’s dark.  I will have to get more creative with dinner (no more simply “throw it on grill”).  I will have to come up with Em projects to do INSIDE.  No more easy dresses thrown over Emerson and out the door we go.  Soon we’ll have to layer up, zip up boots, throw on hats, and muster our way through nasty weather.  Let me not get ahead of myself though…we do still have fall before winter and I will admit that I’m quite the fan of fall!!  And I know what you’re thinking…she just loves fall because of all the cute coats, scarves, and boots that we get to wear?  You are partially right!  But what I love most about fall are the leaves, nature’s colors, the smell of a new box of crayons for school, preparing for Halloween and Thanksgiving, the Crockpot, the amazing skies, and more time to read!  I’ve learned that summer reading lists are a joke!  The only real time reading gets done is during fall and winter.  Fall really is a beautiful season and should probably get a bit more credit than it does. So instead of thinking about winter and becoming immensely bummed….I will settle my thoughts on the wonders and beauty of fall!  I will be thankful for this amazing summer of travel and memories.  As far as I’m concerned…we knocked summer 2010 right out of the park and I wouldn’t go back and change one thing!  So goodbye summer, we bid adieu to you on a high note and we’ll see you next year!  Here is a little slideshow of our 2010 summer memories.  Thank you to all who were a part of them.  We count our blessings!

When in Berkeley...

 Room with a view 

We made our escape!  There would be no little voice in the backseat saying, “Mom I’m hungry.” or “Mom will you play with me?”  Oh how I love that little voice though.  Especially when she is back there singing her little heart out…but that’s for another post!  This post is about the two of us escaping to California for the weekend!  Man did we need this trip!  No talking about work.  No talking about Emy (only occasionally did we break this rule).  It was us, the open road, a hotel looking over the bay, a concert, wine, and plenty of exploring to be had!  The destination:  Berkeley, CA.

 

There was a mixture of feeling young and old in a place like Berkeley.  As you roam the UC campus, you can’t help but be shuttled back to your college days and all the wonderful unknowns, the diverse crowds of people, and learning that waited around every corner (& I’m not just talking about the textbook kind of learning).  It was kind of rejuvenating to be walking around so much youth and optimism under the blue California sky.  At the same time, boy does it make you feel OLD!  Feeling old isn’t always a bad thing either!  Being old means you have your OWN place, no homework, and a reliable car!  Seriously though, the kids walking around looked like they belonged in high school!  At times I would have flashes of Emerson being college bound and I would panic, but luckily we were on an adult vacation and there was always a glass of wine or two to ease my panic stricken mind.

The UC Berkeley campus was quite lovely though.  There were wonderful bookstores!  Great places to eat.  There was plenty of art and architecture to take in as well.  Interesting enough, I learned that in 2010 US News and World Report ranked Berkeley as the top public university among the “National Universities” in the U.S.  35 of the 36 Berkeley graduate programs rank within the top 10 in their fields.  Not only that, but Berkeley is the only university in the nation to achieve top 5 rankings for all of its PhD programs.  Not too shabby for a “hippie” school.  In all sincerity, walking around the UC campus was no different than walking through any other college campus these days.  You had people of every type, ethnic background, age, and creed.  It was wonderful and lively!

The best part of the trip was the Greek Theatre (see my review of the David Gray & Ray LaMontagne concert).  The place was amazing!  The venue plays host to an array of events from music to graduation ceremonies.  Past speakers in the venue include President Theodore Roosevelt and the Dalai Lama.  The theatre design was taken from the ancient Greek theater Epidaurus and is perfect for music events.  The acoustics were amazing there!  I will surely be looking to that venue for more concerts in the future.

It was a great little getaway and we loved every minute of it!

 Alborz
If you ever head to Berkeley then check out a few of these places:

· Avant Card – A great paper and card shop

· Alborz – A delic Persian restaurant

· Berkeley Art Museum  http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

· Pegasus Books (we stopped here twice!)  http://www.pegasusbookstore.com

· The Greek Theatre

 · Jelly Belly Factory – about 30 minutes north of Berkeley http://www.jellybelly.com/visit_jelly_belly/california_factory_tours.aspx

Thank you Joe!  It was the best time I've had in a long time!  You make me lucky!

David Gray & Ray LaMontagne - The Greek Theatre, Berkeley-CA

 

Of all the concerts I was most excited about attending this year it was David Gray.  I’ve been a huge fan for years.  It’s been 5 years, since I saw him up in Seattle promoting his New Day At Midnight album.  He is at his very best live and in action.  That concert has stuck with me since then.  If you haven’t seen him then I highly recommend that you view some of his live videos on YouTube.  I truly believe that you’ll be drawn into his sound and lyrics.  He is far from your typical American musician and the sounds you hear coming from the radio these days….maybe that’s because he’s from the U.K.

 

I love his lyrics more than any other’s and the music that accompanies it only accentuates his writing and his voice even more.  He is very passionate about his songwriting craft and it comes through crystal clear in the sounds he presents.  It’s very refreshing!  I think he is GREAT Fall music!!

 

One of his latest albums, Draw the Line, is simply perfection.  This album is my favorite of the year, hands down!  Each song has its own unique sound.  It almost seems like a greatest hits album, in that every song stands on its own, something you don’t typically get in a non-greatest hits kind of release.  He did a wonderful job on this album!  There are a string of videos on YouTube that follow the development and creation of Draw the Line.  Whether you’re a David Gray fan or just now starting to learn of him then you should check these video snippets out.  It has some wonderful behind the scenes footage and shows David in the creative process.

 

Here is some footage of him creating the song Jackdaw, a song that almost didn’t make the cut for this album…and man how disappointing that would have been, since it’s one of THE best songs on the album. 

Words can’t express the talent this man brings to the music scene and to watch him perform some of his best song, live, and in the flesh is something I won’t forget and I can’t wait to do again!  Below is the setlist from the Berkeley show on September 10^th, 2010.  It’s a setlist that I would have personally hand picked myself, so I was thrilled at the sound of the first note in each of these songs!  Go download this list, if you don’t have these songs already.

 

The Berkeley show was without a doubt the best show I’ve been to in years (and I’ve been to my fare share).  The venue was small, our seats were 5^th row, and Ray LaMontagne opened for him.  Ray was remarkable as well!!  Dave was interactive with the crowd and you could tell that everyone was very pleased with the setlist.  It was a great mix of his old stuff and his newer creations.  What an amazing performance!!

Setlist: Berkeley, CA – The Greek Theatre, September 10^th, 2010:

• Draw the Line
• Fugitive
• Sail Away
• The One I Love
• Now and Always
• Say Hello Wave Goodbye
• This Year’s Love
• Jackdaw
• Babylon
• Meet Me In The Morning
• Other side
• Please Forgive Me

Encore:

· Flame

· Nemesis

· Shine

· Dig A Pony (Beattle’s Cover) w/Ray LaMontagne

Dave Matthews Band & Emerson's First Concert!

Em doing a slow jam to Ben Harper, before DMB hit the stage.  She is waving her drum stick, incase you're wondering. 

It was an amazing show!  Got to love those boys!

This was a very memorable show because it was not only Emerson’s first Dave concert, but it was her first concert EVER.  To top it off, Ben Harper opened up for the boys.  It was phenomenal to say the least.  Emerson LOVED it.  I was prepared for any kind of behavior that might come from her and was prepared to just go with the flow…I should never have worried though.  She loved the instruments, the crowd, the open space of the Gorge, and all the wonderful music.  She really got into it and it was magical to watch my little girl thoroughly enjoying the music that I find so meaningful in my life.

Best Venue! 

 

I’ve been a fan forever, seen more shows than I can count, and I NEVER get tired of them!  The band is pure talent.  The Gorge Amphitheatre is THE best place to see them and many many a Dave Matthews Band fan come from all over the country to see them play at that venue.  It’s generally a three night event that takes place on Labor Day weekend.  You camp, go to all the shows, play in volleyball tournaments, and simply enjoy your time under the wide open sky, sitting above the Columbia River.  I can’t think of a better way to spend the last long weekend of the summer. Each of the boys had amazing solo's and I felt like I could stay there all night and watch them go on and on.

 

 

The band will be taking a much needed hiatus from the road next summer (they’ve been going strong without stop for years and years), so we will prepare ourselves for the next Gorge show…I see us camping out under the stars for that one!

 

Hope you enjoy some pictures from the show, the setlist (as what’s more important than that!), and a mini video of my girl doing a slow jam to the sounds of Ben Harper’s Waiting On An Angel.

The Gorge Amphitheatre – Sept. 4^th 2010 setlist

Squirm

Granny

Big Eyed Fish

The Stone

Funny The Way It Is

Stay or Leave

Fool To Think

Warehouse

Rye Whiskey

#41 (I felt like I waited on pins and needles to hear this song!)

So Right

Lie In Our Graves

Digging a Ditch

Don’t Drink the Water

So Damn Lucky

Why I Am

All Along the Watchtower

Encore:
Two Step (There’s NO other way to end a show better than to wrap it up with Two Step!) 

 
Coming next: David Gray and Ray Lamontagne Concert