trashy ducks

this is random and not what I would consider a highlight event to share however, it found me peeking through the window like an old lady and literally giggling in success.

Have you ever had your trash eaten by a duck? I have. For the first time, today.

When I realized that these foul fowl were messing up my expensive city council trash bags, I promptly went out and placed them on the top of my recycling bin...knowing that ducks can't climb.

I mentioned before how today is trash day. When the recycling people came, they removed said trash bags and I ran to the store and when I came back the blue trash bags STILL had not been picked up. The recycling had been emptied about 1 o'clock and here it is 4:05. What to do?

I decided to keep the front looking neat, I would just bring in the wheelie bin and put the trash

bags in the garage until I could ask Jared what was supposed to happen with it.

5 minutes after I put it in the garage, I hear the trash truck coming down the road.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

They look at our house and drive past.

Not to be beaten, I run to the garage...grab my two bags, run with them to the curb. I was going to explain that I had just moved here and wasn't sure when the garbage was picked up. However, seeing they were at the end of the street (which is a dead end) I knew they would have to come back. So I chucked the bags towards the street and ran for dear life with no return glance.

When they pulled back by the house (I saw this because I was old lady peeking out of my front window) they looked at each other like 'how did we miss that?' it was awesome. i jumped with delight. i beat the trash odds. ducks and all.

rasha rasha rasha

It's February here! haha. weird.

Before Jared came home last night, I realized that my arms were itching terribly. By the time I went to bed, it had spread up my arms, my chest, my face and my ears!!!

I am covered in red and terribly itchy bumps. I thought it may be laundry detergent, but I haven't got it on my legs. Yesterday, I went to water the Ian and Suzanne's garden. They told us that while they were gone, we could use the produce from their garden. I saw some amazing squash and decided to steam it up for dinner. I got some weird juice on my hands but didn't think anything of it. I also got into the plant a little bit but it wasn't anything that wouldn't wash off. lol. or so we thought!

The only thing that I can figure out is that it had to be the squash.

So after navigating my way through the Plaza this morning, I got to the pharmacy. I asked for anti itch cream and got the cheapest I could get. lol. We will see if it works.

I feel kind of proud of myself today. The day after you have a rough day is kind of like that. I went back to all of the places that I got frustrated with yesterday just to prove to myself that it would be alright. There was a bakery I went to yesterday literally 5 minutes after it closed. I went in there today to pick up some cookies for when the O'Donnell kids arrive in a little bit.

Today is trash day.

The trash system here confuses me. They give you huge trash bins (wheelie bins...i love that) for your recyclables, and they make you buy special trash bags that are approved by the city council. One truck picks up one load and another truck picks up another. Oh well. I just hope I put out the right bin on the right day. :)

I am looking for something interesting to do above my fireplace...any ideas?

btw in case you need a chuckle...

Need a Sharpie? We don't have 'em.

Need a Skerple? Got it covered!

Oh Chinese discount stores. gotta love them! have a good day!

Wow...it's been a crazy one.

Hello. I did not die or hide, however I did in fact run out of internet. Internet is not unlimited say ye? In fact, it is not.

So here I am sitting in my living room, and trying to think of the things I have done since I last posted. Here is a little catch me up.

Thursday- Jared dropped me off at the house so that I could get my clothes put away and have some semblance of decency and order at our house. Nothing had been done since we threw the furniture in on Tuesday so I was looking forward to 'homemaking'.

I spent all day going through things, setting things up and enjoying the air flowing through my house. We got a text about 6:30 and remembered that we were supposed to be in Foxton for dinner at 6 pm. Oops. Jared's sister came over to bring his aboriginal painting from Australia. She brought some banana cake with chocolate icing which was quite awesome.

Friday- Honestly, I don't remember I did. I'll have to think on that one. lol.

Saturday- We had decided not to go to camp at Porongia (sp?) because we just had too much to do. We spent all day saturday going around town and picking up things that we needed, setting up the house and getting all sorts of paperwork done. Life has finally hit. :)

Jared moved in all of his stuff (we wanted to keep it all together all week because he was working).

Saturday night was our first night in the house. I can stay here all day by myself but at night...its a bit scary. The house makes noises that I am not used to and Jared tells me its escaped prisoners and other lovely things. Our house has a ton of windows. Most of these windows have curtains but there are a few that don't and just being in a strange place...creepy.

I didn't think about this before but the sounds that you hear here are so unique. I get nervous when I hear a screeching sound...it's a native bird. but I don't know that! :) Not sure if I posted about this or not but two relatively interesting things happened at the other house we were staying at to hype me up a little.

One night, we woke up about 5 in the morning to a gigantic 'BANG!!' Jared said...oh it's probably nothing. Scared to death, I got up (trembling mind you) and went to the living room. The front door had blown wide open!!! Then one night we woke up and there was something scratching on the glass window...you know...exactly like those serial killer movies. Jared said it was a hedgehog. I sure hope that it was.

Ducks roam through our yard here and so there is always something rustling in the bushes.

I just have to remember that there is nothing here that can kill you, predator wise. However, I have seen a lot of spiders and I have developed a suspicious looking rash on my arm. oh well...now I am just rambling.

Sunday we went to worship with the congregation at Palmy. I love it there. Everyone gives it their all and you know that they are there because they want to be there. It's really a cool environment. After worship, everyone stays and talks. For at least an hour...no joke. I talked with Jeana O'Donnell about some things I had found interesting after having been here two weeks. We (the congregation) was invited to Nathan and Rachel Paki's house for pancakes. We had a great brunch and then went to the orchards to pick fruit. They have lemon trees, apple trees, tangelos, feijoas, grapefruit, peaches and the pears are coming in. We can basically go there and get our fruit from them instead of going to the super market. ROCK ON!

Sunday afternoon, I drove. Yes, I did. and I didn't kill anyone. :)

While Ian is on vacation, he said I could drive his Jimny. It is an automatic. It's really cute.

I felt brave enough to go to the grocery store on my own. That was scarier than the driving. I went to Pak N' Save. Which is a store where you get deals because essentially you have to bring your own bags. It was a madhouse. This town is a university town. There are international students starting this week and they were ALL there getting their groceries.

Monday I drove to get my bloodwork results from the doctor. I took them to the Immigration office which said that now I do not have to have bloodwork. :) That's life. I ran around town and felt accomplished when I scored a desk for 10 dollars! I brought it home, painted it up and love it so far!

Paint is $57 a litre!!!! So spray paint had to do.

After getting this completed, I started mowing the yard (because I accidentally painted part of it black.) I fixed that!

Got all of the laundry done. shirts ironed and supper cooked. 

Today, I did it all over again.

Today has been weird. I haven't been able to talk to my family in a while because of the internet thing. I got frustrated because I couldn't find a few places I needed to go to and it rained on my laundry. :) Such is life I guess.

Occupy Welly

Yesterday, we went into Wellington for a conference Jared was to attend. I got to wander the streets and see what there was to see.

My favorite moment was sitting in a small Cuba Street cafe' by an open window. Out on the 'mall' you could see all sorts of people. To my right, a barefoot rastafarian was playing a didjiridou. Directly in front of me was a Maori man whose face was covered in tribal tattoos. To my left, there were two kiwi boys both about 9 playing guitar and singing 'We All Live In A Yellow Submarine' with hopes of filling their empty guitar case. All of this seemed still in the middle of a bustling street. Watching them carefully, time seems to almost freeze and the noise lessens. Three completely different types of people trying in some way to tell me their story. My concentration was broken by the shop owner shooing birds out of the cafe' with her apron.

After about three hours of walking the streets, I was exhausted. I had gone to the City Gallery, The Wharf (where there was an Occupy Wellington Demonstration) and The City Library. I headed up Victoria Street to the church building which is where we parked. We met Carl and Adeline at 5 and went to eat at the Arulandu's Malaysian restaurant. It was phenomenal. Really.

Today, I am washing...ironing...and doing all of the things I was going to do on my unproductive Tuesday. Have a great day!

BTW I can't upload pictures until the 30th which is when we get our own internet. It takes too much bandwidth. I will catch you up. Promise.

productive unproductiveness

Tuesday morning, I had decided to have a pretty uneventful day. I was going to catch up on laundry, get a few things done over email and skype with my parents. I knew that it was move in day so I was just going to take it easy and enjoy it.

After talking with my mom, I heard Jared's boss calling my name through the house. He was seeing if I needed anything before he went to mow lawns. I said 'I know how to mow lawns!' and his eyes lit up. Bye bye unproductive day.

I mowed two lawns, one being ours while he did the weed whacking. Then he took me up to the practice and I cleaned one of the dental surgeon's rooms so that she can move in soon. The moving help was coming to the house at 3:30 so around 1:30, I decided I should walk to the grocery store and then home so that I would have 1) food 2) time to shower before our help arrived.

I went to get my things from the car and I an needed me to put together 2 rolling chairs for the dental therapist and her assistant. Once I finished that, it was 2:30 and time for me to go to the grocery. I would have just enough time because it is around a mile and a half walk to our new house from Jared's office and I would definitely need to freshen up. Also, I hadn't eaten all day so I needed a moment to do that once I got home.

Leaving the grocery store with four lightish bags, I turned right down Albert street and headed home. When I got about 7 minutes into the walk, the road ended. I went the wrong way down our street. Luckily, I died laughing instead of crying :)

Turning around, I was barely going to make it on time. I hustled home (should have remembered to head TOWARDS the mountain range) , got a shower, at lunch and was ready by 3:30. BOOM!

We had awesome help getting our furniture in and it seems more and more like a home.

ahhhh...a sale.

Today was just the kind of day I needed. Jared calls them 'chicken without a head' days. Its the kind of day where you run around but the catch is that you get to do whatever you want! I mentioned previously that we got a late start. Bliss. Today is a regional holiday so no one is working except for retailers.

I got to see the dental bus where Jared works on his day 'off'. It is super neat and they do a really good service to the community of Foxton which is without a dentist. After dropping the boss off, we headed into town for some lunch. Cafe Cuba and 30 minutes later, we were ready to seize the day. We walked around the square looking into shops and trying to find some interesting art or furniture. We spent a little time in Harvey Norman where we saw our lounge suite (living room furniture) at full price and gasped that we got such a good deal.

Jared and I have figured out how to give our honest opinion on things without having to worry about foot in mouth syndrome. I hold something up and he tells me what percent out of 100 he thinks it deserves. As we went through the furniture section of the store, he pointed out several duvets that he liked. They weren't overly masculine or even feminine for that matter. He has very good taste. We realized that we both liked a gray color for our bedroom. I pulled out some swatches from the design center to show Jared what colors I had in mind for the lounge. He was in agreement on them so needless to say, I was pumped. The salesman came up and asked if there was anything he could help with. I said 'We're just looking.' and he looked at me strangely. More than likely it was because Jared and I were making a design presentation in the middle of the store. :)

After purchasing a correctly plugged hair straightener at a killer price, Jared wanted to show me something cool.

We walked across the street to Te Manawa. Its the art gallery in town. They had a very cool exhibition on Lynley Dodd who is the kiwi born creator of 'Hairy MacClary from Donaldson's Dairy'. They had most of her original art down to the first shopping pad sketch of an unkempt dog that would later be known as Hairy. They also had a video exhibit of ballerinas with paint on their pointe shoes and showed what type of patterns wold evolve. One of the most interesting exhibits that I saw was one based on the Greek Hero Heracles. He was portrayed in the Ancient Greek black vase style painting but he was posed as a settler in New Zealand. There was one portrait of Heracles fights at Gallipolli where he is pictured with Maori and Pakeha (white) soldiers. This one was moving because the battle of Gallipolli is where Jared's grandfather died in battle during World War 1.

Realizing that we had been parked in our spot for over the allotted hour, we walked back over to Briscoe's Homeware which is where our adventure actually started in the first place. When we walked in, we found that they had previously expensive duvet covers (in our chosen gray) on sale for $24. We spent about 2 hours going through the store and raking over the sales. It was awesome.

When we left Briscoe's, we went to the house to unload our treasures and put some things in their places. The man who used to live in our house was a potter.There are several vases left in the garden that I washed off to bring inside. They are really neat with a fabulous patina. I also found 3 eggs next to house but I don't know what type of eggs they are.

After all of our adventuring, it was time for dinner. We decided to grab some fish and chips and eat it while walking down by the river. As we drove home. we passed an Aston Marten!!!! This is a car that I have wanted ever since seeing the Italian Job. I didn't see it at first because I was doing a sudoku puzzle. haha. Jared pulled a U turn and tried to follow it. You can imagine that a Nissan Bluebird can't really keep up with an Aston Marten. As we had given up the chase down Centennial, we turned onto a side street and...there it was. Jared and I were laughing because we were giddy like little kids! (Okay, it was me...I was like a little kid).

My life really is grand, my husband really is my best friend and my God is really amazing to say the least.

full stop.

Yesterday, (Sunday) was a weird day. The stress of the moving process and still not being settled, matched with the tiredness from constant going hit me. It's all been fun and there hasn't been one thing that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed but I haven't taken time to just chill.

All of the new experiences, challenges and new people have made my short time here phenomenal. I can't wait to begin our life here and it seems that Tuesday is the day. Tuesday is when our furniture is being brought over and when our stuff comes down from the container in Foxton. We went yesterday to load it into the trailer and the second that we got it loaded, the bottom fell out of the sky. We were dripping wet and going back home without our stuff. I think for me, I was exhausted, cold and just moody really. Not sure if I have mentioned this but I am pretty certain that my husband is the best. We went for Thai last night and then went to the house to get the stuff that we do have situated. He made sure that I got to sleep in this morning and we have taken our time getting ready to go out.

We are headed to look at the dental bus Jared is taking to Foxton tomorrow and then for a day of picking up all of the little things needed to make our house functional. I am blessed, having fun but looking forward to being in our house soon.

tired just typing it ;)

Jared picked me up after he got off work and we went to watch Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy...great movie. He wanted to see it so badly and I think it was a great idea to finish off his first day back. After the movie, we were headed back to camp and decided to eat Thai in town. I had never tried Thai curry before, I had always played it safe with Pad Thai. I bravely ordered (MILD) yellow thai curry. It was fantastic. At first all that went through my head was...um...this tastes like potpourri. :) But once the flavors all melted together it was bliss.

We went out to Camp Kilsby to listen to Mike King give us a lesson on Arresting the Drift. Mike King and Richard Jennings are from a congregation in New Albany, Mississippi. Afterward, we had some tea and played a quiz game before leaving to come home around 10:30.

Suzanne woke us up Saturday morning with the promise of eggs, toast and potatoes...it was good as well. Once we (I) got ready we hung our washing out and headed into town. We picked up Jared's new shoes and found some towels on a huge sale. Normally, towels that I have seen here are around 20 dollars a piece but I found these for 5! Mind you, they are not the most plush items I have ever purchased but a towel is meant to keep you dry,yes? These will do the job.

After we hit up the Plaza, we went over to the house to take our tour before bringing furniture in. I love it there. I love my huge wall of cabinets and have nothing to put in them...totally okay with that!

It is my goal to make sure that there is not a lot of clutter around the house. After moving and going through all of our stuff, there is so much that could be put to use by other people. Jared took me to find the urban charm second hand store for later shopping and then we picked up a meat pie and headed to camp.

On the way, Jared decided to show me his old mountain biking track. We went through miles and miles of beautiful country and finally made it to the Kuhuterawa Reserve. It was total New Zealand rainforest. I was in jandals (flip flops) but we hiked up the backtrack anyway. The path took you through dense forest and then would open up into hills. I will have to post some pictures soon. Breathtaking.

We went out to camp again to hear another lesson and have some fun with the brethren there. After much talking, catching up and laughing we had dinner and a lesson...followed by Toy Story 3 and Tip Top Ice cream. As I write this, I am supposed to be getting ready to go back out to camp for worship. We have a full day of work ahead of us after that. Hope that your weekend is lovely!

TODAY!

It's Friday!! This is meant to be an exciting day. Jared's first day of work was today and he is starting with four root canals on one person. Ouch. Everyone (especially me) has full confidence that he will do a great job. Also, we get the keys to our house tonight. We will be out at camp later on but at least we will have keys!

Due to it being Jared's first day back, this morning found us waking up earlier than normal, me ironing shirts [who would have thought] and heading off to work together. Jared dropped me at the MedLab by his office so that I could get my immigration blood work done.

I went in and showed my paperwork only to turn around and see literally 60 people in the waiting room. NZ must know what they are doing because I was out the door sans 3 vials of blood in 45 minutes. I walked down to Espresso 101 and picked up a date scone and small hot chocolate. I had been fasting for my tests so I deserved that right?

The walk home along Victoria Avenue took about 30 minutes. It would have taken less had I not poked my head into a neat cloth shop, gawked at sewing machines through the window and made a touristy stop to take photos of tree lined Elmira Avenue (coincidentally a house alarm went off as I took a picture of it so I keep trying to find an escaping criminal in my photo).

Yesterday was a busy one. I had an immigration doctor's appointment quickly followed by an insurance appointment for Jared downtown. We are constantly finding ourselves with no coins to put into the parking machine! While he went into his meeting, I walked to the library and got some change to feed the meter. I accidentally put in enough for two hours so when Jared got out, we walked across the square and had Indian food for lunch. Trying indian food was number 18 on my bucket list.

After finishing lunch, we had an appointment to meet with a couple that is selling a house of furniture. They were very interesting people. The moved here in March of last year and they are moving to Australia in 2 weeks with future plans to assist the Jews in Israel. They told us that they had prayed to God to send a couple just starting out and they knew we were the ones (no pressure...) The furniture really was lovely and would give us a great deal on almost everything we need. We took plenty of pictures, came up with an offer and waited for them to return our call. It was a successful meeting because their furniture is now our furniture and we pick it up Tuesday!

We found out that we got the furniture while we were at a farewell party for one of the DAs at Jared's office. There was great food and good times. The final event of the day was to head out to Camp Kilsby for a singing. The area out there is just gorgeous and the singing was as well. It was so cool to see and area that means a lot to Jared. Maybe this weekend, we will be tenting out there. Of course, that would be in between moving into a new house and a million other little things!

light at the end of the catching up tunnel!

  Day 5 (Sunday January 15)

This morning we woke up when a cat jumped through the window and onto my pillow. That is how to get up laughing in the morning. For breakfast, we had homemade bread and jam. We headed to the church building (after removing previously mentioned cat from the backseat) and Jared showed me his surgery building and other neat places. Worship at Palmy was great. Everyone sings and Jared's lesson hit it out of the park, even though he would never tell you that.

We had a shared meal following church and the members there already feel like family. It doesn't hurt that we topped the meal off with Rod's Pear Crumble and a delicious pavlova.

We went to try and find the key at Ian and Suzanne's but couldn't so we headed into town and spent some time on the square. Parking is free on Sunday so that may be the time we go if anyone visits us.

The Public library is quite the spot. It is fancy. I will spend a lot of time there I am sure.

We stopped in for another hot chocolate at Caper Cafe (you will begin to notice a hot chocolate pattern...trust me) and then went to see TinTin at the movie theater. We liked the movie a lot even though Jared is so ready to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy I think he might bust.

We returned to Ian and Suzanne's and they had just gotten back. After loading our things into our room, we headed off to tour the practice and get groceries. On the way there, they drove us past our house and I almost fainted. There were no words for how giddy I was. Pak N' Save was a good introduction to NZ supermarkets. It isn't as different as I thought but I feel that there is more variety as far as the types of produce and international food that you have to choose from.

 

Tea that night was delectable. We had steak, potatoes (from the garden), corn on the cob (raw. It is so good), beans (raw), carrots, tomato and avocado.

Favorite meal yet.

After enjoying dinnertime conversations and catching up, I helped Suzanne with dishes and then headed off to bed.

Day 6 (Monday January 16)

This morning we had fruit for breakfast and headed up to the surgery to meet and greet. Jared was hoping to set some previously extracted teeth in stone so that he could get his hand back in as he says.

We went dowtown for lunch at Cafe Cuba...bacon panini. wow. We went to the Plaza to check out cell phone information and then went to an appointment with our accountant.  It was good to just come home to rest. We had chicken salad with roast chicken,celery, onions, kumara, beets and asparagus for tea. It just keeps getting better! After dinner, we took a walk around the block and down by the lagoon. It was nice to chat about nothing for a change.

Day 7 (Tuesday January 17)

This morning we drove down to Foxton. Jared's office runs a dental bus down there that he will be in charge of for the next two weeks. We went to check on that but to look in their container as well. All of Jared's things from before he moved to the States are in there. We wanted to see what we had before we bought anything for the house. The container is on Wally and Maureen O'Donnell's land and spending time with them is where the real fun was. We had lunch with them and then around 4 we walked down to Todd and Jeana's and talked with them for a while. We had fish with Ian and Suzanne for dinner and then went to the surgery to move an xray machine from one wall to the other. When we got back, Jared took me on a walk down to the Esplanade. If anyone ever comes to visit (hint) we will definitely go there. This playground is to die for and the gardens are as well.

Day 8 (Wednesday January 18)

We spent most of today trying to get our cell phones. Vodafone was the best option and we had a wonderful girl helping us get our stuff situated. Once we were successful at that, we went to see the house and fell in love instantly. This house has amazing storage and when I look at it, I expect Peter Rabbit to hop around the garden at any moment. Jared decided that we should cut those teeth tonight at the practice and needed a nurse (a.k.a me). I even got a free teeth clean in the deal!

Cliffs Notes!

I have been trying to think for days about how I could possibly tell everything that has happened since I have been here without making you read for endless hours. Here are the cliffs notes for what I have in my journal for the past week.

Day 2 (Thursday January 12)

I had a skype call with Jim this morning and had a good laugh about how many faux pas I had committed in the short time of being here. I helped Gaye take in the laundry and then Jared and I headed off to town. We had some errands to run but Jared had some special things in store for us.

While we were waiting on dry cleaning, we went down to the foreshore. They were having a stone carving symposium. Stone carvers from all over the world were carving away...so intricate. Next, we went to the Puke Ariki museum. Apparently Puke Ariki means 'place of the dead', it is a museum about the history of the Taranaki area. Very cool.

We went back to the house and rested a while before we left for a study in Rohotu. Along the way, we stopped and had fish and chips at Oakura Beach. There were kite surfers and women riding horses down the volcanic sand shore of the Tasman Sea. Mind Blown.

It was neat to see people with such open and honest hearts during our study. I hope that we don't forget that moments like that are what make the other moments worth it.

Day 3 (Friday January 13)

I woke up late this morning and wasn't feeling too great. Jared had been sick on the plane and I think I got it from him. Around 1, we went to town to meet one of Jared's friends at a cafe' called Elixir. This was my first experience with NZ hot chocolate and it was the right place to start. The frothed milk was at least two inches thick and it was topped with strawberry marshmallows. Jared had me try lollie cake which is hard to explain but it is interesting to say the least. We spent a lot of time in town. Window shopping and exploring is a lot of fun when you are beginning a life together. You get to see where the other person is and what they like.

Heading back home, we stopped into the bank and got an account so that I can spend all of Jared's money. JUST KIDDING...If you know me, you know I am not a money spender. That night for tea we had roast, zucchini, broccoli and potatoes. Every meal I have had here has been delicious. Rod and Gaye want to teach me Gimme Five tonight. I hope that goes well!

Day 4 (Saturday January 14)

Learning Gimme Five went better for Gaye and I than for Rod and Jared. We beat them 3 out of 4. Gaye was so funny...she is very competitive and I love that about her. This morning we loaded up and got ready to head into Palmy. We weren't going to be able to stay at Ian and Suzanne's until Sunday because they were hunting in Taupo. Jared practiced his lesson for Sunday while I had a skype chat with mom and dad. I did my first load of laundry in NZ and hung everything (even undies) out on the line for all to see. It definitely pays to have cute ones I guess. Nothing like hanging your unmentionables out on the line at your in-laws house. :)

We had awesome sandwiches for lunch; avocado, salami, hummus and sprouts. Inventive is the word over here and it is a good one!

On the way to Palmy we stopped at three different beaches. The first was Opunake. We climbed up on an overlook to see the ocean that Rod used to play in as a child. Have I mentioned that I love my in-laws? They really are the bees knees. Jared and I were laughing about how he has such a big head in pictures sometimes. His reaction is to lean forward for a photo and mine is to lean back, therefore his head tends to look HUGE. His mom took us all by surprise when she said, 'I know he has a big head! I birthed him!'. That is the abridged version. Ha!

Driving along the cape, we came to Patea. It used to be a town with a great meat works industry. Once they started shipping things via train, the meat works failed and the town fell apart. Most of the people there are on assistance. It is such a shame to have such hard lives but at least the beautiful scenery may help.

We hiked up the sand dunes and over to the beach. We were shocked to see that an old ship wreck has washed up onto the shore. I am sure that the wreckage wasn't as neat to the former crew as it was to us.

I walked up the beach a bit and just stood in the sun. Stretching out my arms into the salty wind and taking a deep breath, all I could think about was my favorite quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

Live in the Sunshine

Swim in the Sea

Drink the Wild Air

love.

Back in the car we headed to Kai Iwi Beach. I have been here once before but I looked forward to being there with the love of my life. We dominated the flying fox (zipline) which checked number 56 off of the bucket list. I was afraid at first because it looked like it was going to pull me off before I could get on all the way, but my manly husband helped me out by holding it steady. ;) We got into Wanganui, where the four of us would part ways after eating dinner. We popped into Jabie's Doner Kebabs. I remember this place and it was just as good as the first time I had it! Lamb with Tahini sauce and all salads except onion. Yummo.

We stayed with Kent and Rachael O'Donnell(y) and stayed up talking and laughing until late.

The Plane and Day 1

I forgot what the Exclusive seats on the Air New Zealand planes are like. When you first walk in, wach looks like a pod from Alien and you are looking for Sigourney Weaver everywhere hoping that she can protect you!

Our seats were in the middle of four. Jared says these aren't good seats technically but I have some funny stories to tell because of them.

The guy in front of Jared leaned back his seat before takeoff it seems and Mr. Long Legs (Jared) wasn't all too comfortable. The girl next to me was quite nice. She asked me if I wanted my aura cleansed...to which I politely declined. She kept me entertained most of the trip due to the fact that she would periodically do yoga stretches in the aisle and bust out singing to the song filtering through her ipod at any given moment.

I watched a lot of HOUSE, movies and played Tetris...I am an expert at that in case you were wondering.

The food on the plane was lovely. Chicken and Macaroni for dinner with Haagen Daz Icecream and Fruit and Yogurt for breakfast.

I highly recommend Air New Zealand, especially if it means that you are coming to see me!

We left L.A. at 9:15 p.m. January 9th and landed in Auckland at 7:15 a.m. January 11th.

Making it through customs and biosecurity isn't as threatening when you have a kiwi for a husband. He has been awesome at guiding us through the process. I love him.

Moving on...

After checking our bags, we walked outside and it hit me that I was in NZ. I could smell the ocean!

Once we arrived at the domestic terminal, we realized just how gross traveling over night is and knowing I was going to be seeing my in-laws for the...third time, I tried to freshen up. no luck there...my hair is just a fighter.

We went to board our plane and walked out onto the tarmack, climbed up the steps and took off for New Plymouth.

When we landed in New Plymouth; Rod, Gaye, Alicia and Ryan were waiting for us. It was so great to see family when you arrive!

We went for a tour around New Plymouth, went down to Fitzroy beach and then back to the house for Christmas lunch!

We had pork, roasted vegetables, L&P, sparkling grape juice and well...it was just awesome.

That night we went to worship with the New Plymouth congregation. Jared said that we were to have a special date after church.

When we got home, the four of us went to Pukekara Park for a concert and to see the festival of lights. It was quite...romantic. :)

Giddy Up Pardner...

  Feels like I haven't had a second in the week that I have been in New Zealand to stop and give an update of what we have been doing. I have kept a journal of funny things and days events but until now it hasn't made its way to the internet.

I am actually typing this into a word document as we return from Foxton so that I can post it without using too much internet.

To say that we have been blessed beyond measure is quite an understatement. Everyone here has already gone out of their way to make sure that we are in a good position to start our work here.

I guess I can start with the trip over and give the funny things and highlights of our life so far down under.

We arrived at the airport in Nashville a little earlier than expected (Greg Donnelly's perfect timing). We hauled our bags into the ticket counter and they weighed perfectly for our southwest flight. Mom was concerned that there wouldn't be a way to get a picture of all four of us and woudldn't you know it, a friend from Freed happened to be in line behind us and took our picture. We spent about an hour in the arrivals Starbucks laughing and talking with mom and dad. When it came time to finally say goodbye, we hugged and went on our way. It wasn't that I wasn't sad, I was just ready. Mom and Dad taught me to love the Lord, in turn teaching me how to love Jared and I know that this is His plan for us.

We found our gate and sat for a moment to catch our breath. About 30 minutes later, I got tired of listening to the guy behind me talk about Chinese Astrology and its effects on dogs(no joke), so we went to Hudson News to look around and when we returned they were already boarding our flight. We got seats together after a nice stewardess (who was hopping on last second) said she couldn't stand to break up young love and gave up her seat. :) The flight to Houston was a bumpy one. They had torrential rains and tornado warnings in Houston and had actually closed. When we landing, many planes were trying to get into the area. The only problem I had with that is that many of them were blocking the gate that we had to get to in order to connect to our LA flight. While we waited on the tarmack, we decided to have some fun.

The crew told us that more than likely the outgoing planes would be delayed so we should be fine. Not so Joe.

As we departed from our plane, Jared heard them calling our names over the intercom as a last minute boarding call. We went to the nearest info desk where they were able to hold the plane for us as we ran through the terminal. Pretty sure that is the first time in my life I feel justified using the term 'willy nilly'. So much for our A group boarding passes. I placed myself in a middle seat towards the front next to a lady who loudly said 'I am glad you sat there! That man beside you is grumpy!'

As we landed in L.A. I spotted Randy's Donuts sign and thought of the movie 'My Girl', I tried to make every hill I saw say 'HOLLYWOOD' but I just didn't see it.

We hadn't eaten lunch at this point and it was 7 pm so we were delighted to get our bags and head to the NZ terminal. We loaded up our gargantuan bags (that must have grown since we checked them in Nashville) and scouted out the NZ check in. The checkin process was interesting within itself, but I refuse to give that ticket lady one more ounce of my life. :)

After going through security and the lady in front of me getting searched (whew), we finally sat down to pizza at Wolfgang Puck's and watched what was left of the SEC Championship game. By the time we were done there, we sat for about 30 minutes and then boarded the plane.

can't take it with you

Walking through a sporting goods store and Target with my sister-in-law last week, I saw all of these awesome things. Things that I have wanted for my 'grown-up and married' home. Beautiful lamps, glass vases...even hiking and camping equipment!

I knew I was only there to pick up my last essentials before leaving the country. I had mousse, shampoo, and wrapping paper for my friends wedding present but as i looked at all of those beautiful things...i wanted to go bankrupt!

In my head, there was a resounding...'Rachel, your bags are already too full.', 'Rachel, you have to pay if you go over your limit.', 'Rachel you have special things coming in a container on February 10th.' ,'You can't take it with you.'

The last thought was the one that ended up coming out of my mouth. 'These things are so pretty but I can't take it with me.'

What a thought. Why is it only when I move to a new continent does this occur to me? It seems like if I lived my life being aware that Heaven is my home, 'You can't take it with you' would cross my mind more often.

Just a thought!

RULES.

I must have been born a rule breaker. I, in most ways, despise them.

I appreciate rules when:

-they keep myself and others safe.

-they allow me to know what is expected of my performance so that I can rise to those expectations.

This week... I am only liking first rules I mentioned.

There are so many different ways to move to a new country. There are no expectations that they are going to tell you about until you mess one of them up. Moving countries has proven to me that some people are playing a game to which I will never know the rules.

It is frustrating to chase your tail trying to figure out exactly which application you need and what other applications you have to have filled out in order to make the first application relevant.

I didn't know that no untreated wood products weren't ALLOWED into New Zealand until I had packed half of my things at school which happen to be wood.

I don't know how to pack so that I can live out of a suitcase for a few weeks, how to make sure to ship winter clothes and pack summer clothes when it is still winter where I am.

Today I am thankful for rules that keep us safe.

I am thankful for a husband who tries to figure out the rules for me and is patient with me.

Mostly, I am thankful that God doesn't play games. He even gives us the rule book.