meet me in St. Louis

Last week Noah and I had an extra special treat: our first vacation just the two of us in almost three years! (Thank you shout out to my Mom & Dad who partially funded the trip as our birthday gifts!!)

First stop: St. Louis, Missouri

I had never been to St. Louis until last week, but now I hope get a chance to visit again soon. What first drew me to visiting St. Louis this summer was the Opera Theatre of St. Louis's production of the powerful John Adams opera The Death of Klinghoffer. This is an astounding work of the late 20th century that has rarely been fully staged but deserves attention and critical consideration. I heard about this production because a dear friend of mine from my beloved Wake Forest days sang one of the main roles - I had this gut feeling that this was a show I shouldn't let pass by without being there, and I was right. Wow! I have yet to find sufficient words describing the depth of this music or how significant this work seems in our post-9/11 society. Everyone should experience this astounding composition and contemplate the many issues it presents.

Check out this link for a review of the production in the New York Times!

After spending my birthday at the opera and catching up with Chris, while eating the most delicious chocolate mousse EVER, we spend our second full day in the city being all touristy. We went up the arch (which is an amazing feat of engineering!) explored the riverside, and spent the evening at Busch stadium watching the Cardinals take on the Phillies. Cliff Lee pitched a fantastic game! And it was fun watching Noah take in his first major league baseball game (I guess that's a good start to turning 30, huh?) :-)

Here are a few photos from fabulous STL!

After a few days in St. Louis, we headed further north to Long Prairie, Minnesota to visit some of Noah's family. It was my first trip to MN also! What a beautiful state - and all those lakes. We certainly saw our fair share of them! Noah played some golf, we learned a super fun new game, and enjoyed multiple boat rides. But most of all, it was great spending time with family who we don't see enough of and think of often. We love you!!

And now, we're back to the real world. Vacations never last long enough, do they? This one will be remembered for a long time!!

Next up: Summer Music Camp! *shudder* I'm not quite ready yet...

Spring Cleaning Giveaway - Part 1

Ok, I know it is almost summer and that in a large portion of the country it already feels like summer... but I am just now getting to my "spring" cleaning. I'm a graduate student, don't judge. And so, in the thorough cleaning of each room in the house that has now commenced, I will periodically post lists and photos of items that I wish to part with. (note that I said that "I" want to part with... sorry, Noah.) In other words, ya'll can have any of this stuff you want!

In this photo, starting in the back from left to right, we have:

- a wooden bathroom wall shelf/towel rod (used, but in great condition)

- two portable CD/DVD cases (used, in excellent condition)

- complete set of the Twilight books (again, please don't judge!)

front row:

- pink, 15" incase brand laptop sleeve (used for only a few months before getting a new, smaller computer - this is worth much more than the price of $0.00 that it is offered at!) *wink*

- glow in the dark marker board (this thing is cool! you write on it in highlighter, turn on the build in black light, and everything glows. I really like this thing, but it no longer has a place in my house).

- 4 piece set of ivory suede place mats, gray-ish brown cloth napkins, and wood napkin rings (also slightly used, but mostly just for decoration - in very good shape)

- set of four metallic gray/brown striped decorative accents

If you're interested in claiming any of these objects as yours - sent me an email/facebook message and it's yours! :-)

Next cleaning adventure: our closets. Stay tuned - who knows what is going to come out of those hiding places!

they say, "time flies when you're having fun"...

...and apparently they are right! How has it possibly been almost two years since we posted anything?! You must all think we've fallen off the face of the Earth (not yet... they say the rapture isn't until 6pm today. HA!), but trust us - we're still here! Same house, same cars, same kitty cat... different us. :-)

Noah's still working full time at UNCG in addition to playing in the local symphonies and everywhere else, it seems. I'm a graduate student again - and by this time next year (keep your fingers crossed!) you'll all have to call me "Doctor Cat." That's right. :-)

It would take me all morning to recount all the things we've been up to since we left you all in the dark... so I'll just post some pictures, and you'll get the idea. We love you! I promise there will be more exciting things to write about - and I'll try to spare you from constantly hearing about my dissertation. Note that I said "try." ;-)

picture 1: snow in Four Oaks, Christmas 2010

picture 2: in Savannah GA, Summer 2010

picture 3: new walkway!! July 2010

picture 4: meeting our beautiful niece, Aly, Summer 2010

picture 5: with Leslie & Brent after Cat's first DMA recital, March 2010

everything is bigger in Texas...

...except the trees!

And it's true.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of their teeny little trees - but take my word, they look like taller than normal bushes.  Definitely not trees.  Which leads to the more important news...

...last month I visited Texas for the first time EVER.  It was grand.  Austin is a GREAT city.  Our Wind Ensemble at UNCG was invited to perform at the CBDNA (that's college band directors national association, for you non-music folks) National Convention held at UT. Hook 'em Horns.

It totally rocked!  All the big name band directors were there, along with some big name bands and big name composers for band too.  We performed new pieces by no less than Carter Pann, David Dzubay, and Joel Puckett.  (Who are all wonderful - if you've got time, Google search them - you'll find sound clips of their works. Working with them over the past few years was a real treat. Awesomeness!)  The concert was by the far the most exciting and rewarding performance I have ever been a part of - oh yeah, and we played really well too. :-)  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip... (and no, I didn't get one of the Bikini's sign. *wink*)

SNOW DAY IN NC

it's almost that special time of the year...

...spring cleaning!

And I've been doing a lot of self analysis as to my cleaning habits....

this swiffer sweeper that I am in LOVE with - really isn't so eco-friendly since every time I use it I end up throwing away a couple of non-biodegradable cloths.

And you know, good old Tide laundry detergent must have some horrible chemicals in it, since its been around long before "being green" was even a recognized phrase!

What ever happened to those good old fashioned things called brooms? and mops? and making your own cleaning products out of natural products like vinegar?

Sometimes I think that our grandmothers really knew the truth about everything afterall....

So... in my online research, I came across this article on one of my favorite eco-how-to websites (www.grist.org)... maybe it will help you have a greener spring clean too!

CLEAN GREEN!!  happy cleaning!

MOUSE WARS - EPISODE II

The battle has now ended.

After discovering yet another destructive reminder that I had a little friend in my house, things took a turn for the worst.  I had no option left, than to set death traps.  We found ones that look like a little cave... where the mouse crawls in, eats the bait and gets whacked - hidden from outsiders view.  The real question, however, was what to use as bait.

Peanut butter: failed.

Cheese: failed.

Chocolate: SUCCESS.

We caught our guy, red handed, going for the sweet stuff.  I thought we had reined victorious!  But no.... there was another mouse. We had MICE! AAHHHH!!!!!

After catching mouse #2, we have yet to find another one.  It was a tandem team assault - two against two.  And we managed to regain control of our house.  The Jedi Hocks have suppressed evil Darth Mouse!!!  VICTORY!!

p.s. - if any other mouses out there happen to stubble upon this post..... please stay away from my house!  I don't want to kill you... but I will if I am provoked!  Bwahahaha!!!