Keeping My End of the Bargain

I realized after the last post, that I haven't posted about getting my nosed pierced. Sorry for the not great picture, but it is the only one I have... this is my grandmother (Patti- Tamil for Grandma) and me ,at the airport before we left India, with our matching nose piercings.

The story of my nose right goes back to when Drew and I got married, over 4 years ago. We made a deal a few days after we got married that he would not get any more tattoos if I got one. Well, I kept putting it off and putting it off, and about 2 years ago he changed and said that I could get my nose pierced or get a tattoo. Neither really sounded like a great option, so I kept putting it off. :) Then when we went to India, EVERY woman has her nose pierced, and it seemed so normal, and I loved that part of my heritage. So the last day we were there I was out with Micah and my great aunt doing a few last minute shopping errands and I decided just to do it and surprise everyone. So, a friend had told me about a good place to go, so we went to the Tiffany's of India. It was a HUGE 3 story building, filled with glass cased and jewelry. (Indian's wear their wealth, so jewelry is huge, my grandma used to wear a stud with 9 diamonds in her nose, and you can see if you look closely she has ruby bracelets on.) Well, the fact that I wanted white gold narrowed my options considerably (they had 9000 nose studs in gold, and 4 in white gold. :) I picked the smallest one paid my 32 dollars and an additional 75 cents for the piercing and then got directions to the place where they pierce it.

They directed me to this tiny little room under the stairs...

Yes, that is as big as the room was, and that is when I began to chicken out. I almost asked my great aunt to ask him if it was sanitary, but then decided that it was as good as it was going to get, and my entire month in India I had seen literally a million women with their noses pierced, and all of them looked just fine. So I sat down and waited for him to use a hammer and the wood you see to sharpen the tiny little piece of metal he was going to use to pierce my nose. After what seemed like forever he finished and then used the back of the earing (Indian nose rings are more like screws, the back is as long as the post, and the top screws into the hollow back.) So he stuck the sharpened metal into the back and pushed it through my nose, then removed it, pushed the diamond through and then proceeded to screw the bottom in, which was the worst part. But, thankfully my nose was numb and it hurt less than getting my ear pierced.

So, as you can see from the picture, I pierced the right side of my nose, because in southern India where my dad is from and where my grandmother lives, they pierced the right side of their nose and wear their saris over their left shoulder, and in the north they do the opposite.

Having a nose ring has been interesting, people definately notice and treat you differently. I am sure the vast majority of the population things I am horrible, and rebellious but I view it as part of my heritage and I love telling people that I got mine to match my grandma's. :) Yet, in Asheville - city of the wierdos - it seems to earn me instant respect.

I don't know if it is a forever thing, but I like it and love that I did it while I was in India and Andrew LOVES it and my grandma thinks it is cute, so I plan to keep it for the time being. :) So there you go, now you know the whole story... I hope you have enjoyed it. :)

L

The Great Escape

Drew and I were able to "escape" for the weekend, last weekend. We visited Abingdon, VA, home of the VA State Playhouse, and we stayed at the Martha Washington Inn. It was an amazing weekend, time to enjoy each other's company and talk about our goals for 2007. Yes, I know it is the end of March, but it was the first time we had to sit down and talk about all those things. :) We saw two different plays at the Barter Theatre, both of which were excellent one more of a comedy and the other more "real" and thought provoking.

The Martha Washington Inn was great fun. The staff was excellent, didn't treat us like scum because we were young and dressed in jeans and heaven forbid... had a nose ring! They even made our dinner reservations for us before the play on Friday. We had dinner at the oldest building in town, it used to be an Inn and Tavern in the late 1700's. It reminded me of the pub in The Lord of the Rings, with low ceiling, stone walls and dimly lit rooms, it was great fun. And breakfast was served in the formal dining room each morning... it was a huge grand hotel with tons of hallways and corridors and stairs and creaky floors. So, if you ever have a chance to visit Abingdon and the VA State Playhouse, do it!! (If you go in warmer weather they have great biking trails too, this past weekend it was a whopping 30 degrees... but tomorrow the high is supposed to be 77... go figure).

L

Spring Time

Well, spring is right around the corner. It is 75 here today, and absolutely beautiful. So, here is a picture of another thing we have been doing lately. Landscaping... adding plants and mulch. We had been visiting the local plant nursery twice a week, but I think we are done for a little while. Our most recent addition... hanging baskets!! We have added lots of little violas and other plants in hopes of making it more lived in... I will update again once the leaves start blooming and the grass is green.

Orange hanging basket

Pink Hanging basket

Beefy Puppy

Here is another pic of Ivy, as you can see she is growing soo fast and this picture is 2 weeks old! (She is now pushing 30 lbs) They came and staked our yard to bury a phone line, and as you can see Ivy had a hay-day with the flags. 20+ flags... not one left in the ground. :)

COFFEEHOUSE

A word that can sum up what I have been doing with my time for the last few weeks. The youth of our church host a coffeehouse each year, and this year I got to be in charge. :) I love bossing around 40 youth kids. :) It was a great night of coffee (obviously), dessert, live music and conversation. We had 300-400 people and everyone had a great time. If you missed it, you should be here next year. :)

L

Here is a view from the top, the transformation of the sanctuary. :) It was even cooler at night.

The youth kids sign up to decorate their own table. This was one of the high school girl's tables. See below for an example of a boy table. :)

There was a distinct difference between girls tables and boys tables. :)

And the food... which was incredible. As you can tell, there was a St. Patty's Day theme. :)

An example of the amazing music that filled the Coffeehouse. :)

DAY 8 - 12.17.2006

The pastor came at 8:30am to pick us up for church. It took two auto rickshaws and the pastor’s car to get us all there. The service was in Tamil, the singing was “circusy” music that lasts a very long time and the men sit on one side and the women on the other, with their heads covered. It was a Calvary Baptist Church. The service began at 9am, only about 6 people were there besides us (we all sat together along the back wall). By 10:15 when my dad started preaching it was completely full (150ish people). He preached in English with the pastor translating. After he was done the pastor preached again, in Tamil. Church lasted until about 11:30.

Alex, the pastor’s nephew who lives with him because the boy’s mother is Hindu, is 5. He is a very sweet boy, and sang us a song in English. He has told us that he wants to come to America. Mom wants to trade Alex for Nate for a few years so Nate can win over Joy Jennifer, the pastor’s daughter who is 17.

We had lunch at dad’s cousin’s house. It was an amazing meal. There bathroom had no TP, so we all snuck paper napkins from lunch. J Mom, Micah & Sarah did more shopping at Pondy Bazaar, and we came home and packed for Delhi. We have to leave at 3:45am.

P.S. We (mom, nate, sarah, mers, ryan & I) sang Come Thou Fount and Mers, Ryan & I sang Away in a Manger, all without instruments this morning in church.

DAY 7 - 12.16.2006

Notice the contrast between the beautiful ocean and the dirty beach.

***

Journal Entry:

We were up at 4am, planning to take an early (5am) bus to the beach to watch the sun rise. However, the driver didn’t show up until 6:30, so we missed the sunrise, but spent time on the beach & in the ocean, got a few great pictures. Walked down the beach with Micah & Sarah, saw men pooping on the beach - - - walked back quickly.

Drove through fishing huts and went to church where legend says St. Thomas was martyred. Drove through Indian Institute for Technology (IIT) where dad did his undergrad. The school was a partnership with the Germans. Everything was in English, and it was mandatory to live on campus (students and staff).

Visited the snake park, saw some of the ugliest ever “long-snout” crocs. Snakes were gross, but turtles were cute.

On the way home we stopped at Pondy Bazaar & walked through stainless steel shops, clothing, jewelry shops & street vendor booths. I bought more fabric for one more dress, a bright blue with gold border & dark blue pants.

Spent the afternoon reading, playing games and singing. :) Practiced for songs to sing in church tomorrow.

It doesn't get much more beautiful that this.

Thank you Canon XTi for your quick shutter speed.

A catamaran on the Indian Ocean.

This is my primary photo for my "Marrying off my brother Nate" marketing scheme. J/K Nate... :) I just think it is an awesome picture.

You can't see it from this picture, but this amazing church was in the middle of the slums, surroundid by dirt, and garbage and huts.

Inside the Church of St. Thomas.

Here is a picture from the Snake Park. Gotta Love those long-snouted crocs. Yes, his eyes are open.

In The News

I have been meaning to post this for a while. It was the cover of time magazine on their 2/16 issue. Two of our pastors and another lady that I sing in choir with are part of the Blue Moon Group.

TIME Magazine Article

My Plate Is So Full - It Feels Like Thanksgiving!

To my dear neglected readers:

Life has been crazy lately. I am not sure where all the times goes, but it is always gone. We still do not have internet access at home, so sadly finding time to blog has become nearly impossible. Here are a few of the things that have filled up my days:

• My Puppy - playing with her, walking her, training her. We took her for her third round of shots Tuesday and she weighed in a a whopping 20.8 lbs at 13 weeks. She is going to be our little monster. She has tripled her weight in the 7 weeks we have had her. But we love her to death... so it is all worth it. :)
• Puppy Class - Monday nights are puppy night, thankfully another lab has joined the class, because before it was Ivy and a miniature dachshund, and a shitzu (both under 8 lbs), they just about fit in her mouth. :)
• Bible Study - I run from puppy class, home, feed Ivy and then head out and am not usually home until 11. Drew goes his separate way too, now that he is a Deacon at church, he usually has a deacon meeting or a missions committee meeting on Mondays.
• Choir - I sing in the church choir and practices are going from 1 1/2 hours to 2 in preparation for Easter... I love every minute.
• Moving - three of our friends have moved in the last week, so we spend Friday night, all day Saturday helping them move, and most of yesterday I spent helping one friend unpack. But now we have friends that live just a few minutes away!
• Coffeehouse - each year the youth in our church put on a coffeehouse as a ministry to the church and to unbelievers in the area. It is a night of live music, we clean out the sanctuary and bring in tables (each decorated by a high school student) couches, lamps, rugs, coffee tables etc. and we have coffee and tons of desserts... and I am organizing the whole thing this year. Fun, but time consuming.
• Not to mention the keeping the house clean, cooking, laundry, ironing, paying bills, filing papers part of it all.
• AND - as Sarah blogged about - Sarah, Dave & Jennifer came down for the weekend, which was an incredible time of doing nothing. :) Meredith is coming next week, and Drew and I are hoping to escape for a weekend in March AND we have a friend getting married in a few weeks in Raleigh and we are going to see Drew's grandma. Not to mention Ryan & Meredith's wedding a few weeks after that!
• And Friendships - forming friendships takes time! It was hard to move away from VA, and the amazing friends we had there, and it has been harder that I ever imagined making friends in a new place, but we are finally getting to the point where we have friends to call when life is hard, or when we have something to celebrate. What a blessing true friendships are!

So, all that to say, life is busy, but good. And again I leave with a promise to post more pictures soon.

L