Clutch.

I have had no excuse for not catching you up on whats happening here in the good ole' New of Zealand!

Doesn't quite have the same ring to it as U S of A.

It's been a crazy week...it seems to stay that way these days.

Sunday, Jared and I went to the Square. We were walking to the Library to get our new cards (we are geeks) and noticed a big group of people playing the bagpipes. 

Right in the middle of the square. We went a spent a little time watching them and trying to figure out how in the world they play them. After that, we checked out a few books. One of mine was a cookbook and so while we ate lunch at the small cafe' inside of the Library, I found some awesome recipes and started our list of meals for the week. We went grocery shopping (with a car!!!!) so we could get the weeks worth of groceries in one go.

Monday, Gaye and I stayed at the house and fixed lunch for Rod and Kent after they went door knocking. It was surreal to me that I was the one hosting door knockers after their hard work. Surreal and kind of cool. All of these years, I had listened to Kent preach about the work in NZ and now I am doing my own little part. Soon, I will be knocking doors as well but the men need nourishment!

Jared found some lamb chops on special at the grocery so we had those for dinner monday night. Wow.

Tuesday it was extremely rainy. I had made plans to go into town and walk home but two miles in torrential rains didn't sound appealing that morning. I decided to stay in and get my house work done until it fined up later on in the week. We had apricot stuffed pork loin for dinner. It was delectable. I know you are probably getting tired of hearing what we eat...but that is a big thing for me here. It is so interesting and different. There are seriously LIVE MUSSELS at the grocery store...

                                     and if I wanted, I could serve weird stuff like cuttlefish balls. 

So be thankful I am eating pork and fish and simple things. :) I realized the reason that I never wanted to cook is because I was so intimidated by those 'Julia Child' recipes...well girl...bring it on. I'll match you step for step. :)

 

Tuesday was also Valentine's Day and Jared had prepared a panna cotta for dessert that night after Bible study. He asked me to stir it and watch it until it boiled so he could go take care of something. I was watching it but I turned around for a second and then I heard...'SPLOOSH!' That joker had exploded onto the range. I salvaged what I could and it did actually come out quite lovely. We celebrated Valentine's Day with dessert while we watched the premiere episode of 'Walking Dead'. That is love. :)

Wednesday was apparently the day to get things done. We were supposed to paint the church building but the weather wasn't going to be great. Jared dropped me off at Capers. I sat and had a muffin and hot chocolate, listening to Adele and waiting on the radiologist to open at 8 am. I had to go to the radiologist so they could read my chest xray from the States for my work visa.

I went to the radiologist and dropped that paperwork off and headed to find someone to tame my mane. This hair had not been cut since the very end of December. It was going up in a pony tail every chance I got because it was being so unruly! I found an awesome places that charges you to breathe apparently. She trimmed my hair and stole 60 bucks from me. Unfortunately here, that is quite a good deal I hear.

I got a call while I was being robbed for my hair, that my xray wasn't readable because it was done on a portable xray machine. I had to go in and have another xray done later that day. My only reason to stay in town was to take the paperwork to the immigration office. Now, it wouldn't be done until after the office closed so I headed home.

Thursday I woke up feeling poorly after not getting good sleep for the third night in a row. I had Jared drop me off downtown because I had to pick up those results. I actually did accomplish my work visa that day! After having breakfast at Cafe' Cuba, I started to feel even worse and couldn't wait to start my two mile journey home...but they needed some time to check my visa paperwork. While waiting for them to approve my paperwork, I found a furniture store that will be a dangerous place to go. 

 

love.

 

 They even let you borrow items and try them out in your home. It is extremely expensive so I don't think I will be going there. I had to wait for a long time so I went to Uncle Bills. It is a wholesale store that I am expecting to be my friend.

I found a set of 3 lanterns and snatched them up for 9.98 on sale. Then I realized I had to carry them home. :)

I ended up purchasing a shopping bag cart that I can use for groceries and everything when I am walking. More about the humor of that later. I felt so rotten by the time I got home that I laid down. When Jared got home, I fixed a roast chicken salad and went back to bed.

Friday, Jared dropped me off at the market with my new troller, which he refers to as my old woman bag. What he doesn't know is that my next purchase may be one of these...

When I got home, I did the laundry and mowed the lawn. I got to Skype with MG, my parents and Sheridan, Ethan and Jody. It was much needed catch up time. I walked back downtown that afternoon to meet a friend for a 'cuppa and a catch up' as they call it. After that, I walked to Jared's office so I could assist him in more dental work for his parents. The procedure took a while as expected and so we went out for Thai afterwords so we didn't have to wait on me to cook.

Saturday Gaye and I worked in the gardens while the boys worked on their lessons and in the garage. I made a pinterest recipe for dinner and a coca cola cake for a get together on Sunday.

I also conquered one of my greatest fears. Learning to drive a manual vehicle.

Rod took me out and showed me how. I asked a million questions and stalled the vehicle once before I got it going. I am nowhere near ready to navigate round a bouts and such but at least it is a start. That clutch, gear, accelerator, handbrake thing makes me want an automatic car even more!

Today was a glorious Sunday. Jared conveyed a passionate lesson on 2 Thessalonians 1 and the need to live worthy lives. I was so proud. Helping in class was fun too as we taught about Jesus in the Temple. We went to the Paki's for a BBQ following the baptism of one of our own in their swimming pool. It is such a big event and I like celebrating it the way that we did.

I have a few blog posts rolling around in my brain, I just want to get them right before I send them into cyberspace. I hope that all is well with all of you. Miss you dearly and love you all mighty much!

Rach