Why I Got A Nose Ring

My husband thought it would look cute. Not your typical reason to get a nose ring, huh? Seriously, one day my innovative husband and I just had a dialogue that went something like this:

"Hey, you should get a nose ring!" 

"Really?" 

"Yeah, nose rings are really pretty."

"Uh, sure." I thought, "Why not? Why pass up a perfectly good opportunity to get a nose ring?" 

Of course, I did have a few more questions . . . . 

Would getting a nose piercing be culturally acceptable? I had two thoughts as far as culture . . . First, was a nose ring going to be socially acceptable in American mainstream culture, i.e. business attire? Second, what would fellow Christians' thoughts be on the matter? Would such a face decoration be socially awkward at church? I googled nose ring and found a very well researched article on Wikipedia. And I quote, "nose piercing is the second most common varieties of piercing after earlobe piercing." The article included many types of professionals that had nose piercings. Besides, I could always let my nose piercing close up if I wanted too. As to what people at church would think . . . I figured they couldn't be too offended since ladies wore nose rings in the Old Testament.

Would a nose ring look right on me personally? I saw a bunch of different styles of nose piercings on Google images. I figured I would just get a classy one.

Where would I go to get my nose pierced? I asked my friends/family on Facebook if anyone knew of a good place in Clemson to get a nose ring. One friend recommended going to a tattoo shop because they are certified in piercings. I ended up going to Artistic Ink in Pendleton, SC. There we waited in an entry way painted burgundy, in a large black leather couch over a massive gray leather shag carpet. A police show could be heard on the TV above us. I felt slightly on edge, like there was going to be an adrenaline rush. Once we were called on, Jason told me his life stories for over half an hour trying to get me to calm down so he could pierce my nose! Shastya and Anthony were both there with me for the event! With all my fidgeting over a little nose piercing, Jason could hardly believe that I had birthed Shastya! He did a great job piercing my nose so Anthony tipped him for doing so, and for putting up with me! Anthony got me a gleaming diamond/ rhinestone nose stud for my 30th birthday present! I was elated. Anthony continuously tells me how much he enjoys looking at my beautiful nose ring.

The Custom Clemson Collection

  

Hey friends, I just made these this evening. Let me know what you think . . . 

(Update: This entire collection has sold.)

I Just Made My Own Earrings!

Baby Shastya and the Baby Tiger

 

 

(Photos: Courtesy of Daddy/Anthony)

Food Writing: Comparing Edibles With Non-edibles

Will Write For Food by Dianne Jacob, Chp. 1, Ex. 2

Objectives:

-"compare the following foods to non-edible objects

-write a long sentence"

(A) "The cheese was as ripe as . . ."

the smelly shoe of a long-distance runner who had trekked sock-less.



(B) "The donut smelled stale, like a . . ."

 used aged set of Dutch Blitz cards shelved in an arid basement.



(C) "The roast beef sandwich tasted as though . . ."

it were a dried-up bath towel, that had been manipulated to clean five rooms of hardwood floors with vinegar and water, and then hung out to dry.

All-American

I'm not sure what got into me, but tonight when I pulled out the ingredients for our evening meal, I reached for butter, cheese, and more cheeses! "This is going to be good," I thought. Although you can hardly go wrong with the taste buds with these All-American artery-cloggin' ingredients, I rarely cook with them, much less all at once. Tonight, I put Mexican cheeses and butter in my fresh cooked spinach. I added yellow American cheese to my rice. I cooked my cod in butter and garlic.

A Writing Exercise

Will Write For Food by Dianne Jacob, Chp. 1 Ex. 1

Objectives:

"-write a long paragraph about eating your favorite fruit

-use the 5 senses, simile, metaphor

-sub generic nouns for concrete nouns

- include both short and long sentences"

A Chocolate Covered Strawberry

Picking out a favorite fruit is a steep order when you're in the throes of cravings and loathings. In the past I have enjoyed apples: crisp honey sweet ones. Since marriage, my husband Anthony has gotten me quite fond of bright navel oranges bursting with flavor which are his favorite fruit. Perhaps, I do not have a favorite fruit at the moment because fruit is not my favorite at this very minute . . . alas, if I must complete this exercise since I do want to . . .what sort of fruit shall I write about? A chocolate covered strawberry because it is chocolaty like a delicious snack I just ate this very afternoon, a Magnum Belgian double chocolate ice cream bar. I rather like a good chocolate covered strawberry, for when I bite into a perfect one, it is altogether sweet, tart, beautiful, and velvety smooth to the touch. However, it does crunch menacingly, precariously, as if it were a mini avalanche planning to explode and plunge onto my outfit beneath my bite. A chocolate covered strawberry is such an experience. If you happen to be an inexperienced chocolate covered strawberry eater, let me give you a few tips. You don't want to eat the strawberry leaves at the top of the chocolate covered strawberry because doing so will leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Further, don't eat a funny looking chocolate covered strawberry. Yes, the chocolate will still look good, but check the top of the strawberry that is sticking out of the chocolate to make sure it is not a discolored pinkish, or grayish color. Also, be sure to smell your chocolate covered strawberry before you bite into it. If it is bad, and you do not realize it, then your mouth will be filled with a horrible rank disgustingly sweet and sour stinging mildewy flavor that is hard to get rid of.

Shastya Discovers Magnets

I heard a slight commotion. Looking up, I saw Shastya playing with something under the table . . . I walked over to investigate. She had discovered a stack of magnets stuck to the hardware under the table! They were pretty strong magnets. It didn't take long though before Shastya had pulled the magnets off the table frame and was re-sticking them on the table legs. She went back and forth between these locations with the magnets. She had so much fun. A few minutes later, I saw her trying to get our car keys to "stick" to our wooden rocking chair!

The Second Anniversary

After my husband left for the day to go study for his mechanical engineering qualifying exams, I discovered a text on my phone from my step mother-in-law. The text read, "Happy Anniversary, you two!" I thought, "Oh, it must be July 28th," because that is our wedding anniversary. I went about finding a cool picture to post on Facebook to post with congrats to my husband on our 2 years together. When I got on Facebook I saw congrats from my Aunt and my Mom! I remembered that Anthony had turned off his Facebook and Twitter apps on his phone recently so that he could actually get some good studying done. I also figured as late as it was in the day, that somehow, his phone had messed up and not alerted him that it was our anniversary. His calendar on his phone in the past had alerted him to such anniversaries as 1 month, or 6 months!

I decided to make spaghetti and meatballs for something kind of celebratory for our second year anniversary dinner. Growing up, my Mom always made the best spaghetti and meatballs! She made hearty, chunky, huge meatballs. Spaghetti and meatballs was one of those meals us kids would always request for birthdays. Our other two favorite requests were stromboli and lasagna. I searched online for a meatball recipe to get a list of ingredients before I headed out to the store. I went with a Betty Crocker recipe thinking perhaps it was the one my Mom used since I know she had a good orange Betty Crocker cookbook that was a staple in our kitchen growing up. The online recipe called for bread crumbs. I thought I had some in the cabinet. The recipe also called for Worcestershire sauce. I thought I could probably substitute soy sauce.

Upon returning from the store and starting supper, I discovered that I did not have bread crumbs. I did have . . . cream of wheat, grits, and oats. I went with the cream of wheat and soy sauce. Just before I started making the meatballs, Anthony came home early from studying! Baby Shastya and I hugged and kissed Daddy, then I told Daddy he should check Facebook, and that I had shared a post about him. When he got online to check, he immediately noticed that it was our anniversary, because Facebook notified him!

I made the spaghetti and meatballs. Dinner turned out delicious, but the meatballs seemed a little too refined and sweet. I'm just going to have to get my Mom's recipe!

Anthony and I are both okay with the fact that we both forgot our anniversary. We both had a great day, and enjoyed each other just like we do all the other days of the year!

Enjoying The Water At Riley Moore Falls

Bone-In Barbecued Chicken Curry Corny Chili

This is a grand fusion of Asian and American cuisines! I did use Garam Masala, Tumeric, Red Chili Powder, fresh minced ginger, minced garlic, chopped onion, chicken pieces with bones, light red kidney beans, and yellow sweet corn. The dish did have amazing flavor, and no, I am not giving the recipe out!!!

How I Made Oven-Roasted Vegetables!

Anthony requested salads for supper for this evening after we had pizza and ice cream last night. I wanted to make some oven-roasted vegetables to go with our tuna salad and lettuce. I found All Recipe's Roasted Vegetables Recipe online. The only vegetable that I used that they used was an onion. Other than that one, I used all my own vegetables. They used squash, sweet potatoes etc. I used french green beans, baby tomatoes, mushrooms, and carrots. Further, I used dried herbs instead of fresh, but used the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, and the oven temp and time from the recipe. I thought the lettuce, tuna and oven-roasted veggies ensemble turned out great. I thoroughly enjoyed my hot and cold plate. Anthony said he probably would have liked rice with the vegetables better than salad. I blended some of the vegetables in a mini blender for baby Shastya. I smelled my freshly blended baby's food, and said I could blend the rest of tonight's vegetables to make a terrific pizza sauce. Anthony said maybe I could do that, tomorrow night!