branching out

i've always been called picky. i don't like a lot of things. i've had to learn to temper my gag reflex on my international travels as i've been asked to ingest rancid goat milk and millet, fish with literally thousands of bones, parts of chickens I never knew were considered food, turkey heart, marmite, and ox tail. surely, all these things are considered edible, if not delicacies where they are natively served, but to me, they were just weird. however, in an effort not to offend my hosts, i have tasted. it hasn't always been good; i haven't always been able to swallow/not gag; i have tasted almost everything put in front of me (i drew the line at the chinese soup that included every part of the chicken, and i couldn't be sure which partswere in my bowl).

but here in america, i've been a little more stubborn about the foods i don't like. these are usually foods that i wished i liked, because life would be easier if i did (I wouldn't have to make special orders or wonder about the fare at a dinner party). because i'm not allergic to any foods, i think it would be rude of me to say to someone, "oh, please don't serve that dish, i really hate tomatoes." i mean, come on... my friends and family know i don't like certain things, and aren't offended when i pick something out, at least, they've never told me it bothers them (sorry if it does...). i don't make a fuss about it, i just don't like certain foods. these, for example:i've never liked tomatoes, mushrooms are a fungus for goodness sake, watermelon is weird and doesn't really taste like much more than water, and avocados are exotic and buttery-ish. these have been my excuses. until this year, that is. i decided i would grow up this year. it's been a slow process, i know. i'm 24 and i'm finally getting there.

anyway, it started in China when there was pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, and i was going the miss out on dessert because i don't like pumpkin pie. it's a texture thing. i love pumpkin bread, and pumpkin butter when the season is right. but, i have an extreme sweet n' salty tooth, which basically means i crave everything, sadly. so i decided that dessert is not something you just pass up, took and big honkin' (okay, half a slice) of pumpkin pie, and proceede

d cautiously. and, it was delicious! amazing! i can't believe i never liked it before i was 22 years old. oh, what those 22 years were missing!

so i came home and slowly started to try foods i'd never liked before. my mom's squash casserole. avocados, and by extension, guacamole (i had a horrific reason for never liking guacamole), salsa, spinach dip, hummus. all of these endeavors proved at least moderately successful: i no longer didn't like any of these things, and would eat them if served, although, they wouldn't necessarily be craved by me.

the past few months, i've been trying to keep the trend going. i tried watermelon in may. it was alright, but still, it was mostly water. i'd really rather drink my water and not worry about spitting out the seeds. but i could eat it.

the big step, however, came tonight. i was served a sandwich for dinner. a sandwich with a big, gargantuan, thick slice of tomato on it. it was so juicy that pulling it off would have still left the taste behind, not to mention would have been rude, i think. so i held my breath and took a bite. it was a little rough at first. the taste was hard to get past. but i didn't gag. i filled my mouth with delicious garden salsa sun chips (amazing that i love things with a tomato flavor, but not actual tomatoes...) once my palette was mollified, i took another bite. it was better than the first. then, i kept taking bites until the whole sandwich was gone. and you know what, not only did i not gag, but i think i actually liked it. a little. maybe.

so i'm going to keep branching out. i'm not going to order things without tomatoes for a while, and who knows, but this time next year, i could be chowing down on this:

okay, that may be a little crazy, but you never know...

sassacraft #18 and preview

wow. it has been a while. i really miss blogging. a lot has been happening in my life that has deterred my semi-frequent craft and life updates, the main event being the complete demise of my previous computer. i say this wishing i could tell you some awesome story about how my computer burst into flames while using it, or how it blue-screened on me and i went office space on it, but i don't have an awesome story. it just got too old and too full of all my digital stuff that it became, for all intents and purposes, useless. it took about half an hour to turn on and boot; the battery fried completely, so it only ran on ac power; the programs frequently encountered problems and had to be shut down; error reports failed to send. In the end, my pc showed itself to be of less than enviable lineage. so i scrimped and saved and blew my savings on clothes and vacations and borrowed cash from Old Moneybags, a.k.a Dad, and forked out one and a half k for this brand spankin' new beauty, stickers not included:

and i received it in the mail a few weeks ago, ready to go right out of the box. i'm not interested in a big debate about the perks and pitfalls of macs versus pcs. i'm only interested in what will work best for me at this point in my life. which brings me to the next big event delaying my crafting, and therefore blogging about crafting: school. i enrolled in a local school to pursue a second Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts in Graphic Design. my first degree will remain a mystery, as you may begin to critique my grammar and point out any dangling modifiers in my posts if you knew. (mostly, i forget to spellcheck...) anyways, the computers in the art department are all macs, so i figure this is best.

but as the fall draws nearer, i am caught scurrying around making appointments with advisors and trying to get into full classes because i am registering so late. i transferred 122 credit hours from my first degree, and only need classes in Spanish and Graphic Design to complete this second degree. but i am super excited about both and can't wait until the semester begins.

while i wait, i'm looking for a job that can support me while in school. i love my babies at the daycare, but need to make more money, and would like to live on my own. or with my yet-to-be-realized-husband, whichever becomes achievable first. personally, i'd prefer option two.

with all this going on, i haven't found a lot of time to craft. but, i did make something several weeks ago that i didn't blog. i made another imitation piece from emily's blog.

i used some gray linen and foam letter stamps for the "dwell," and free-handed the bird. i cut out the matte and painted it the same color as the lettering, and framed it in a cheap Hobby Lobby frame. but why did i make it? when i saw it, all i could think of was Psalm 91 where it says "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty....He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge." i don't know if that's how emily meant it when she made it, or if i took it for what i wanted, but i knew i couldn't afford her price for the piece. so i made one myself. i had the paints and stencils and linen at home, bought some card stock for the matte, and got the frame during a half off sale. it worked out great, and i love the piece. and it's a good reminder to me to dwell i God's presence, and rest in His shadow, instead of trying to figure out this life thing on my own.

lastly, i wanted to show this preview of a piece i'm making for a friend. and i'm going to be honest. it will either look pretty good and a little funky, or it will look like a third grade art project. i'm leaning towards funky right now, but it isn't finished, and i'll never know until the recipient sees it and lets me know. i told her if i came over and found it hanging in her closet, i would know how she felt, and i wouldn't be offended. it's a first attempt at this kind of thing, and i've struggled with it a lot. we'll all just have to wait and see how it turns out.