My New Home

On the bright side the plane ride from Dubai to India was amazing--mostly because I cant remember any of it. I boarded, put my seat belt on, and the next thing I remember was being poked to get up and eat my dinner, which I head bobbed in and out of consciousness over for a minute until I was poked to get ready for landing. Best. Flight. Ever.

Customs took a bit of time so by the time I exchanged money, got my bags, etc. I didn't make it out to meet my driver (Williams) until 4:00 AM. The first thing he said was "You are very late. A whole hour." He seemed to be driving to make up for the hour delay, with a stop here and there for tea and gas, but apparently he always drives like that. I was still kind of asleepish anyway so whatever. The times I was awake I did have a little bit of an emotional time driving to campus--but good emotional. The smells and sounds and sights and busyness (yes even at 3:00 in the morning) felt so "normal", it instantly was comfortable and reminded me of Africa. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of knowing that this is exactly where I am suppose to be for the time being, it was almost like I was being welcomed "home". Ironic I know, but that is the best way I can describe it.

Since getting here I have been TRYING to adjust to the time--the most common questions I get everyday is, "Ashley, are you tiered?" because apparently even if I don't feel it I look it all the time.
The food isn't exactly Bombay House, but its still good, just VERY spicy. There were a lot of laughs from the locals during my first meal. They were sure to inform me that even though I thought so, the curry really wasn't spicy at all. Awesome. Other then adjusting physically I've been doing a lot of training--medically, technically, doing inventory, getting to know that staff, etc. The first session of volunteers comes this Sunday--the group of BYU nursing students. I am SO grateful for this time I have on campus to get oriented and organized before everything starts. I don't know if I could do it if I didn't have this time.

I LOVED being able to go to church on Sunday. Going to church in a foreign county has become one of my favorite things to do simply because I am away from some of the cultural things are so engrained/mixed into the gospel and church at home. At church on Sunday there were women in pants, people who had nose rings, their belly's showing through the side of their sari's, etc. BUT NO ONE CARED! There were no feminist pant wearers, no rebels with body art, what was important was that they were there and together we had all gathered as brothers and sisters in the gospel to learn about and strengthen our relationship with God. I know not everywhere at home is like that, it is just something that becomes so blatantly obviuos when I experienced church some place else, outside the highly saturated church memberships areas I've always lived in. And there was the cutest little girl in front of me. She was probably only 8 months old or something but she had little bangles on with the dot on her forehead. She melted my heart.

Details on Dubai

But first things first, if you want Namuli Jewelry while I am living away, contact me directly and I will direct you where you need to go. 

That being said, I am going to transition the blog for personal use while here in India. It will just be easier then making a whole new one just for this part of my life. Soooooo...Onto the good stuff!

I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Dubai. It just seemed so enchanting and mysterious--and I felt like every time I turned around there was all this "world best", and "worlds biggest" and "world tallest" and "worlds first" intros to places in Dubai. So I wasn't arguing when I bought my ticket to India and had a 13 hour layover there. Lucky for me I have an Aunt who lives in Saudi Arabia--which is about a hour plane ride distance away--who said yes to my invitation to come spend the day in Dubai with me. It was crazy--there were a few points during the day that I would turn to her and be like "Um...we are hanging out with each other in Dubai. Just spending time in the Middle East together like it is no big deal." It was pretty surreal. Never in my life would I ever of guessed this would have been possible let alone happen. Then again, there are a lot of things in my life that feel that way--like moving to India for example. 

Needless to say, the plane rides leading up to Dubai were a little rough on me. I can usually sleep pretty well on planes but for whatever reason that really wasn't happening for me this go around. I was in the middle seat 2 of my three flights, so I couldn't get out and move around easily and didn't have much water of fluids in general so by the time I got to Dubai, I was totally inflated. Like so swollen that I needed to get another pair of shoes ASAP because my current shoes were cutting into my feet and all my other pairs of shoes were checked. 

Turns out the biggest mall in the world is in Dubai, so I was in luck. But before I could actually get there I needed to meet up with Jen, whose flight was a little later then mine. We had arranged to meet at the car rental office. I was going to go to her terminal, but then she thought she would come to my terminal--so there was a little bit of wait time until we found one another--which I spent chillin with the guys at the car rental office. I am pretty sure that as a women I shouldn't have gone in there and just talked to them, but in my defense I stayed outside for a while until they so graciously invited me in. They kept asking who I was waiting for and kind of teasing me, but all were relieved and excited to see that my Aunt found me in the end. And probably that she really did exist because I think they were starting to wonder.

We caught a cab to the Dubai Mall (which PS if you are ever in Dubai know that they charge extra for the Lexus cabs). I really wanted a certain pair of shoes and I figured that the biggest mall in the world would be bound to have them, but it turns out they didn't so I ended up with some new Adidas instead. They were a good price, and red but none of that matters simple because I have never been so happy for tennis shoes in my life. We decided to branch out as far as food goes and went with--The Cheesecake Factory.  :) It tasted exactly the same as home so we were both pretty happy camper. 

After lunch we started seeing the sights. I loved the architecture, and that the city was so clean. I told someone on the flight over that I was going to spend the day in Dubai and they called it the Las Vegas of the Middle East. I would say that is true, because it has the same extravagant and artistic buildings and water fountain shows, etc. except for Dubai is way cleaner. Both in physical appearance and activity wise. I am sure there is still some shady things that go on in Dubai, but they are not shoved in your face like they are in Las Vegas. We were not able to get tickets to do a lot of things since it was Friday, and Friday is the holy day for Islamic nations, but there was still plenty to see and do. We drove out onto the man made palm tree island, visited a more traditional arabian market place, sweat a WHOLE LOT and still made it back to the airport in plenty of time.

And the airport. When I was going back through customs the man asked me for my passport. He was taking a while with it though, and kept looking at it and then looking back at me, looking at it and looking at me. Im starting to get a little nervous thinking there is a problem or that someone had switched my passport for theirs or something. Finally he asks:

"When did you have this picture taken? Was it a long time ago?"

Me: "Well yeah, it was about six years ago."

"Oh yes I can see that, your face is very skinny in it. Now you look very different. You have put on some pounds."

Me (Ahem): "Yes, yes I have." (What I actually said)

What I really wanted to say: "And you, my friend, are a man wearing a dress with a veil on your head so back off!!!!"

I refrained though. 

The worse part of that story is that as I was going to board the plane, I noticed that I had some toilet  paper stuck to the bottom of my shoe. I have no idea how long it had been there--but the idea of holding my head up high and walking away from the man who said my face is fat enough that I actually look different with even the slight possibility that I was dragging toilet paper after me along the way makes it that much more NOT awesome. Sometimes I forget how cool I can be.

 

 

No pics but LOTS of good INFO

Over a year......well I don't know what to say for myself. I guess I really don't have time for two full time jobs huh?

Regardless of the lack of posts, lots of jewelry has been made and sold! AND--I recently found out I am moving to India for a bit of time. Like six months but possibly up to a year bit of time. Why? I have accepted a position with Rising Star Outreach. They are an amazing company that does development work in India. You can learn more about them by checking out their website, risingstaroutreach.org. If all continues to go well with my visa (fingers crossed) I should head out about mid May. 

OF COURSE Namuli Jewelry will be available before I leave, and a plan to have a friend continue to sell to all who are interested while I'm living half way around the world is in the works as well. I will get more info on here about that as soon as it is available. I hear there are some awesome stones in India.....so we will see what goods I can collect and bring back to sparkle all ya all with.

To those of you who are reading this via being directed here by Chalese Howell, she will be hosting a party in Spanish Fork the first weekend of May. Take a look at the pics through out the blog to get a nibble of the jewelry that will be at the party! I hope to see many of you there!

Now back to processing my latests creations......

Namuli

OH YEAH---ALL JEWELRY THAT IS CURRENTLY ON THE BLOG IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE OVER THE BLOG--BUT IS AVAILABLE FROM ME WHILE SUPPLIES LAST.

What's With All the Earrings?

I am about to tell you something that comes as a bit of a shock to some people--I don't only make earrings. I mostly make earrings, because I am an earring kind of girl, but I also make bracelets, necklaces, and other things of the like (ahem....Katelynn). I do not make rings yet--I am still working on that one. One day.

So since I have pretty much only posted earrings on the blog, I thought I would do a few posts earring free. So here we are.

Peach Stone With Turquoise Necklace $14

Remember my obsession with turquoise? 

Yeah well here it is being used in another variation! 

The main peach pendent is octagon shaped with facets--but has very smooth and rounded edges. Paired with slightly different hued round and oval turquoise accents, this necklace is both bold and dainty.

The bronze snake chain measures about 20 inches in length, total pendent length 

is 1 & 1/8 inch making the total necklace length a little over 21 inches.  

Pendent measures 7/8 of an inch at its widest point.

Light Blue Translucent Stone Necklace $18

I LOVE this stone. Besides the fact that it is simply beautiful, it has a lot of different little details. I have tried to capture them all in the pictures, but I'm willing to bet you will still be pleasantly surprised when you see it in real life. I decided to call it light blue. That was a hard decision because it could very easily be called light gray and light purple as well. Even slightly cream/pale yellow when you hold it up to the light. The left side of the stone is rough and dark with brown specks, which gradually smooths and fades out through several little lines into the rest of the stone. Pendent hangs from a 35 inch silver ball chain with a distressed 1/2 inch circle dangle as an accent. Pendent is 1 and 3/16 inches long, 5/8 inches across at its widest.  

Round White & Coral Pendent Necklace $14

Made by yours truly, this pendent is definitely not something your fifteen closest girlfriends are going to have too. ( I could make some similar, but they wouldn't all have the exact same patterns anyway.) 

Hanging from an 18 inch small bronze ball chain, the pendent is a 6/8 of an inch circle. This piece is just simple and fun-two things I personally enjoy quiet a bit. :)

Hope all is well!

Namuli

P.S. I know this has nothing to do with necklaces but I love daylight savings time in the Fall. I HATE that it gets darker earlier, but I love having an extra hour to my day AND still being able to get the sleep I need. Random thought, just needed to share it somewhere.

Take Two

I know you are probably dying of shock right now-3 posts in a matter of 9 days!?!? Wow, she must be serious about this whole blog thing. 

Well I am. :)


So, these two designs are not new per say, but they are some of my all time favorites. Nothing to out there with these earrings, but the simple designs and neutral colors make them safe for everything!

Silver Circle Patterned Sphere with Brown Crystal $10 

Just under 2 inches long (total length is 1& 3/4 inches) these earring are 

what I consider "just enough" earrings. 

They are big enough to be noticed but not overpowering. 

The lever back clasps are also a nice touch, as they tend to 

 be (and feel) more secure compared to other ear wire options.

The sphere is 5/8 of an inch in diameter, medium weight.       

Crystal Dangle in Bronze Circle Cradle $10

I love making these earrings. I hand pound and shape each copper disc

 in order to create a little bowl for the single crystal to dangle/lay in. 

I've discovered that there is something therapeutic in 

pounding metal on an anvil. Weird right? 

(I promise I don't have anger issues--for reals I don't). 

Anyways, back to the earrings.....

There is a tiny tiny bit of jingle factor (nothing huge-no one is 

going to hear you coming from down the hall or across the office) 

that adds a little bit of personality to these already unique earrings. 

VERY lightweight, total length measures 1 & 5/8 inches 

with the copper disc measuring 9/16 of an inch in diameter. 

Phew, it posted this time.

Namuli

Grrrrr

Sometimes you have a new post all ready, buttons created and pasted, measurements, the whole deal. You push save so you don't lose it, yet somehow you do.

Well that sucks.
Sorry! I will try again tomorrow.

Namuli

The Great Dilemma

So about the blog........

It has been a source of constant internal battle for a while now. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the idea of it but I keep running into what I am seeing/feel like are un-conquerable barriers to making it be what I want it to be.

Here's the deal. As I have looked at different avenues to selling online, it all seems to boil down to me having to significantly increase my prices in order to cover my costs for the listings, charges, maintenance of different websites, etc. In addition to that, I am also finding that pretty much the only way to make online selling doable for me without quitting my full time job is to mass produce. Since uniqueness and affordability are 2 of the 3 main concepts at the heart of Namuli Jewelry...well can you see the barriers? Because of this, I can't bring myself to go ahead with full fledge internet selling. But then I feel guilty and I feel like I am failing my customers. Because despite my long absence from the blog, I do recognize that many of my customers have requested internet buying and I understand why you have done so. In short, your comments and requests have not fallen on deaf ears, I have just needed to figure out some way to make it doable for all three of us; you, me and Namuli Jewelry as a whole. 

So here is my solution:

I am going to keep selling off this blog (still using the ever trusty and secure PayPal method) and I am  just gonna have to do it to the best of my ability and see what happens. Due to the large variety of pieces I make, there is no feasible way for me to sell everything I have from the blog. There will be pieces that may appear just on the blog or not on the blog at all. There will for sure be more product to choose from by coming to or hosting a Namuli Jewelry party or contacting me directly. I will be the first to admit that I have not been good about putting new pieces on the blog regularly-or even updating the blog regularly for that matter. While I am not making excuses, 99% of that was because I was trying to figure out how to make it work (like literally-how to add a cart and buy buttons and link things to PayPal) and then once I figured that out, The Great Dilemma started. BUT-by writing this I feel like I've turned a page. Confessed my struggles and declared what I think will be the solution. I really hope this will be something that works for everyone. If not, I can always go back to the drawing board.

Thank you for your continued support!

Namuli

P.S. While things may have been silent here on the blog, there has actually been a lot going on with Namuli Jewelry-most importantly with raising money for Rheumatic Rescue, a group that fights childhood heart disease around the world. I will do a longer post on this later on, but here is pic expressing my sincere thanks to supporting this project. The kids say thanks too, even though the boy and girl on the lower left front row look like they are not very happy. :)