Hey everyone.

So first of let me apologize for my neglect of this blog. I know I promised you all I would keep you updated on my NZ going’s on and I have not been keeping my end of that bargain. In my defense, I am busier than I have ever been in my life, but I am loving it. I will try to be bit more regular about it from here on out.

To start from the beginning, when I arrived in Wellington I was welcomed by my fabulous boyfriend and his wonderful friend Morgan. I got settled into a room that Toby and I subleased from my fellow American Lindsey (she was off teaching English in Japan for the summer). I got lucky that my fellow flatmates happened to be amazing people. The only other girl was Amber, and she is incredibly  artsy, down to earth, and just an all around great friend.

We had a bit of fun on New Year’s and I got to meet a few more interesting people. After that Toby and I and quite a few of our friends roadtripped out to Masterton and Toby’s Grandmother’s farm. It was sunny and so relaxing. We swam in mountain streams, stayed up late, went on spontaneous midnight treks in the dark, and some of us even slept under the stars. It was a surreal, sundrenched holiday away from it all. And probably one of the happiest times I have ever had.

When we got back, the whole rest of January was spent searching for jobs, flats, and getting everything settled before starting classes on the 28th of February.

Toby and I got incredibly lucky with finding an amazing apartment that is very “New York” in it’s style and makes us feel like a pretty hip couple. It’s literally across the road from Toby’s university and just up the way from mine, so it really is the most amazing location.

I was lucky enough to find a job fairly quickly and actually got offered two different ones on the same day. I chose to accept the job as an optometrists assistant. It’s really fun and interesting…..and way better than most of the jobs I have done before.

Also, I tried out for a club football (soccer) team here and made the first team. Which is a massive accomplishment, and makes me feel as though I have improved quite a bit more since my high school days. I can’t wait to get back into seriously competitive soccer and legitimate training again. I’m hoping it helps me get back into being fit as well.

I will post some photos as soon as I can….and I will try to update more regularly.

Sorry for the lack of detail….but i figured I would just give you a quick summary update.

Love you guys…. see ya soon!

Sorry everyone! I have been so lax on the update since things have been full on since I arrived in New Zealand.

After a bit of a rough start I finally made it to Wellington. My parents and best friend Becca dropped me off at the Indianapolis airport, and of course, we made a scene with everyone bawling. I was not expecting such a massive wave of emotions because I generally hold that kind of thing in, but I ended up crying the entire flight from Indianapolis to Chicago. I’m sure other passengers around me were rather concerned.

I made it to San Francisco with very little issue and the time flew by a bit because all of my layovers were fairly tight. Unfortunately in San Fran the weather was HORRIBLE. They boarded us onto the plane on time, and after sitting on the tarmac for a long time the pilot finally came over the intercom and told us that the crosswinds were to high for take off and it did not look like it would clear up soon. We ended up sitting on the plane for an extra 4.5 hours and they even served us a meal before we had taken off. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. Aside from the fact that they wouldn’t let us get off the plane to wait in the terminal, and I had no way of telling my friends that were meeting me in Auckland, and my boyfriend in Wellington that I was going to be late. And of course….that bothered me more than actually being late. I didn’t want them to have to wait on me.

I finally got to Auckland and was not expecting anyone to be there. I was just thinking, “it would be nice if Mariah and Jeorgi are here….but don’t be upset if they gave up waiting”. Luckily, they are the most wonderful girls and stuck it out and were there to meet me. I had so many cumbersome bags and boxes with me, and it was really great to have an extra set of hands (@ the auckland airport you have to make quite a bit of a walk outside to get to the domestic terminal). Because our flight was so late in arriving they put me on the next flight to Wellington…..which left 35 mins after I landed. So, I unfortunately only got to see my friends for a brief moment and we were practically running through the airport trying to get to my gate on time.

I made it and spent the entire hour flight to Wellington being a bundle of nerves and excitement. This absolutely adorable older gentleman was seated next to me and he was like “ah love, you look a little nervous, just calm down. I’m sure he’ll love you and be so happy”. It was very sweet of him. 

Toby was waiting for me as soon as I got off the plane, and it was so sweet and such a great feeling to finally see him again. I have never felt so full of love, and it is just so comforting when he is around.

I got settled into my flat fairly easily and my flatmates are wonderful. Everyone is nice and helpful. I will fill you in more on my New Year’s festivities and what we got up to in Masterton and Castle Point in my next post.

Until then…. Much love!