Thoughts and musings of life at the moment

 Check out my Picasa albums:

https://picasaweb.google.com/101068086910679384837/TheBeginningAndCalifornia2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ21jtupot_SpQE&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/101068086910679384837/DunedinOtagoUniversityButterflyWorldAndOtagoMuseum?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ_v2_Xa2o670wE&feat=directlink


https://picasaweb.google.com/101068086910679384837/MyNZBirthday?authkey=Gv1sRgCOOA2cHNgd6Qdg&feat=directlink

 Right now they are locked so you need the individual links to view the albums...I'm trying to figure out how I can keep them locked and private but still give you access to all of them with only one link. Maybe its not possible with Picasa, and maybe if anyone knows anything more about photosharing they can share their info with me:) I'm kind of done with Facebook for the moment as far as being "the answer to all information sharing and online photo storage needs"...because its just not. And for those of you that think that posting on my facebook feed about this blog in which I posted links to my photos is THE SAME THING as posting the photos directly onto facebook, well, you're wrong. And that's all I have to say about that.

 Anyway, my point wasn't really to start a conversation about facebook or my love/hate relationship with it. I just wanted to share my photos with you:) I'll try to remember to add links here on my blog to new uploaded albums. And HOPEFULLY I have most of your email addresses so I can share that way as well.
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Steven left for Canada on Wednesday. Yep. He just moved me to a foreign country and left me here. Away from all of my friends and family, with loads of work to do and no end in sight and no promised date of return. I  could make it sound pretty nasty of him, it wouldn't be too hard.

But it would be lies. Because the truth is he worked every day of the last 4 weeks helping me to get set up, doing paper work, buying a car, organizing cell phone plans, bank accounts, visa and school applications, etc etc etc. The list goes on and the list isn't really the point. The point is that he used a years worth of vacation time to do all of that and then flew back to Canada within a day of his leave running out to return to work. He's applying for his visa while he's home working so when he comes back he can immediately (hopefully) find work here and continue to support me in accomplishing my goals.

Ummmm.....Maybe I just have a selective memory, but I really don't remember what I did to deserve that. Never mind the fact that he was the number one motivator (besides God doing what He does very well within my little heart and mind) in getting me to actually get my butt out of my comfort zone and make this move.

Pretty freaking fantastic, that's what he is.

..Just sayin'.

In other news....
MY STUDENT VISA APPLICATION WAS APPROVED TODAY.
 That's right. Every one of you still holding onto that last straw of hope that I would be returning home dashed with despair and yet ridiculously happy to see you (and my dog) this April, it's time to let it go. (oh. maybe I'm just saying that to myself for the first time. Turns out I *might* have been holding onto one of those last straws myself..Time to give that to God with every other aspect of my life I've had to hand over during the last 4 months, apparently.)
I will be here, for better or worse, until December 8th.

The earthquake in Christchurch happened on my birthday. We did not feel it, although almost everyone else I've talked to did. We were touring a fort built for WWI way out on the end of Otago Penninsula when it struck, and were actually in a sort of underground bunker at the time. We didn't feel it. But the rest of the country sure did, in one way or another.
 I don't think I've ever been so close to such a large-scale natural disaster. Let me tell you, it's pretty different from being across the ocean from it. There isn't an afternoon that goes by that you don't hear something new about it, or people comforting each other. The entire country of New Zealand feels like one harmonious community. Everyone knows everyone, and if they dont then they know someone who does. It's incredible to see a country pull together the way it has. Christchurch looks like it has gone through a bombing raid, but there are thousands upon thousands of volunteers down there, and even more people sending money, food, blankets, toilet paper, and flashlights. It won't fix it, but it will support those who were hurt by it.
 They are saying that this earthquake is actually an aftershock of the big one last September. I was speaking to a student from the University doing his PhD in Geology today, and although his specialty is volcanoes he has a few good friends working on studying the earthquakes in and around ChCh. This one didn't actually surprise everyone. I guess after every major quake there is at least 1 aftershock that is only 1 magnitude less in strength. ChCh hadn't seen one that strong yet since September, and I guess everyone was just hoping they'd get away without it. Unfortunately basically the worst case scenario happened instead. I've heard many people say that they have friends or family who are just leaving, and not going back. It will take years and years for the city and the country to get over this. We continue to pray that God can take this situation and turn it into something that can one day be looked back upon as a stepping stone to something bigger, something good.

Anyway, it's very very late and although it is Saturday tomorrow I do have several modules of Professional Calculations to work through (can't you hear the joy in my voice?:). Thanks for bearing with me as I processed the last couple of days...Good thing this writing stuff is as therapeutic for me as it is informative for you! Double win.

Love and blessings!


P.S. Just in case any of you are super worried about my husband-less state in a far away country, let me assure you that God is definitely holding up his end of the bargain as far as taking care of me goes. He has blessed me with some really amazing new friendships. The kind that are just exactly what you need right when you need it. The kind that offer not only hugs of encouragement, peppermint tea and chocolate, but the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice to watch when some real comfort is needed (I kid you not, I didn't even bring it up). Our God is a great big God, who incredibly can care about the smallest details of our lives even while sustaining His people through war, His children through starvation, and His countries through natural disasters..
Wow, what?! Thank you, Jesus.
 

Theives Alley Street Market, and the silly little dog that barks

This is Alex. Our upstairs neighbours are dog-sitting it. I say it because I have a hard time admitting it is a dog. It's smaller than our cat. And sounds like its dying whenever they leave it at home, which is why we let it into our space. (we let it bark for over 2 hours the first morning...it did not stop.)

Bustop...

Me, apparently looking like a medieval hippy..I was told this afternoon that I looked the part to join the Medieval club and was invited to a feast on March 13..which apparently includes archery and leather book making....fun? I think so.

ASHLEY! This one's for you...Aren't you proud, I'm using a glass jar :) My husband thinks I'm genuinely insane, btw....

The Theives Alley Street Market Waffle Hut...kind of like Beaver Tails (if you've ever been to Mt. Washington), but waffles instead.

Wooden furniture for sale at the market that I think Dad and Jonny should make: Because its amazing. AND is just wood, rope, and copper. Very classy and very cool.

Market fun

OH the candy floss: amazingly, sweetly delicious and plentiful

Steven preferred the Samosas...We're different like that:)

Picture-licious

Just a few photos of the last couple of days. We went on a Speights brewery tour courtesy of our Cameron family (they gave us a gift certif. for christmas). It was nice to get out and do something fun after a week of paperwork, schoolwork, and other such things. 

We spent Sunday afternoon with the young adults group from the Dunedin city Baptist Church that we've attended for the past two Sundays. It was nice to hang out with some people our own age, and to see the beach! I've missed it. I couldn't stop thinking about my puppy dog and how much he'd love it!

On our walk this afternoon we ventured into McNZ's, in search of the kiwi burger we've heard stories of..We didn't find it, but we did find more fat and carbohydrates packed into one meal than we usually eat in a whole day... I think it's been almost 5 years since I've eaten a McDonalds meal, and now thankfully I've had my fill for another 5. Good times:)

This is Andersons Bay, a 15 minute walk down the hill from where we live. It's another 30 minutes to walk from here to get downtown, or a 10 minute bus ride.

And because so many of you have asked so many times, here's a few of our new little home. It's getting cozier daily with the addition of unpacked pictures being hung and personal belongings being scattered about.

And finally this is me, So Happy that you're here reading my blog!

xo!

It's alll new...

Well…

…

…I’m puffed. (aka: exhausted)

First week is almost over. I’m not sure if I’m more emotionally, mentally, or physically tired, but what I do know is that I’m terrified of feeling this way before the “real” work has even begun.

The constant processing of new sights, sounds, information, and accents has turned my brain into a mushy pound of incoherent thoughts by the time I return home every evening. This isn’t an inherently a negative experience, though. In fact I’ve been almost enjoying the daily bombardment of school-related information to process, and new peoples names to remember, and kiwi words to decipher. It’s such an intense change from my little cocoon of Ucluelet. I’m doing my best to embrace it, and have been doing a fairly good job, if you ask me. (If you ask Steven you may get a different answer. Unfortunately the old adage that those we love the most get the worst of us has proven true over the last few days. With my “happy kait” face plastered on all day at school I have to admit I’m tired of smiling by the time I get home). Speaking of Steven, though, he has been nothing but supportive and helpful as I’ve surfed through this first week. He’s even done the dishes every day, and made the bed in the mornings. What a fantastic stay-at-home husband he is!! I am blessed, and do work to not take it for granted. I love being able to save up funny stories of kiwi slang and other new things I’m experiencing to share with him…I almost laughed out loud the first time I heard someone call flipflop sandals “jandles”, until I realized that if I did the joke would soon become about the Canadian who doesn’t understand kiwi, so I kept my mouth shut and laughed later with my oh-so-lovely Canadian husband.

As far as the course itself goes, it’s so varied and involves so much, and we’ve had such a brief overview of it all, that its really hard to comment. There are 60-odd of us ladies from all over New Zealand (and beyond in my case), ranging in ages from 16 to mid-50’s, all here in Dunedin for this first orientation week. After tomorrow all but 20 are leaving the city and going back to their various hometowns to complete the rest of the course. It’s set up in a way that most of it is done online through live tutorials with instructors and other students. We will also meet once a week with our Student Practice Facilitators in a small group to go over the more hands-on aspects of learning and to debrief about our casework. It’s really a nice design for those who want to study full-time without committing to physically going to class every day.

 Tomorrow we will get detailed course descriptions and a better overview of the specifics, so I’ll know more about what day-to-day life will look like after that.

The most interesting part of this week was an overnight camp we all went on for Tuesday and Wednesday. We were bused 20 minutes outside of town and stayed in a cute little scouts camp with cabins and huge beautiful lawns and forest all around. It was a great way to get to know the other girls and staff of the program, and we spent the days doing various team-building and communication-enhancing activities and games…All interspersed with plenty of “tea times” (a kiwis excuse for eating cake any time of day, I’ve decided) and visiting. It really felt like being at summer camp again! We went on a “bush tromp” on Wednesday afternoon, 5km up a hill and through the forest surrounding the camp. It was beautiful, and I was surprised at how similar much of the foliage was to what we have in Canada. Besides the various types of brightly colored mushrooms, some weirdly huge fern-type plants, and the lack of giant trees, things pretty much looked the same. I appreciated the familiarity, and the fact that you can tromp through any bush or wilderness here without the fear of anything poisonous or dangerous. No undomesticated land-mammals around here, and you have to go as far as Aussie to find any poisonous spiders or snakes.

Stevens making me supper now, and I’m sitting here sipping my cup of wine (we have yet to invest in proper wine glasses) and contemplating what I’ve gotten myself into. Oh, and now that I’m thinking about it, I do recommend a trip to NZ if for no other reason than to drink the wine. It’s FANTASTIC, and cheap. Double plus;)

Love you all, and miss your smiling faces. Kiss my dog for me when you see him! xo

Purple Potatoes!! Delicious.

Scout camp!

Slathering the sunscreen

Games..

New friends! Sarah, Neice, and Jackie

Giant monster ferns..

No jandals for me..