A Story in Pictues

Chris and I went out with his best friends Justin and Julia. We went to an area called Takapuna and had a beer at a bar then went to dinner at a nice restaurant. The food was great. I hate some duck and pate which are too things I secretly love but never get. It was weird because we were really the only ones in the restaurant. I guess everyone here travels for the holidays.
I think we discovered that Chris is filling a void left by Justin by being with me since I LOVE cheese and hate bench presses.
I could tell Chris and Justin were both very happy to catch up with each other. After dinner went to 3 clubs! That isn't as good as it sounds because it only took 5 minutes to go to all of them. Two were dead and one was crowded but too loud to talk. So we ended up going back to the same bar we had our pre-dinner drink at. By the end of the evening Chris had 5 beers which is a lot for Chris and these were high alcohol beers which I think is 8% alcohol. Anyway, we wanted to take pictures.

This is me doing that "hold the camera out and take a picture of yourself." I don't know what is wrong with Chris.

Take two he did better.

Now all of us!

Here is where I start trying to get a picture of Chris and Justin. Again Chris is being less than helpful.

Why is his picture face that of an evil clown?

What is in his lap?

Finally!

Justin, Julia and Chris

Hopefully, Josh and Emma are being nice to daddy today because he was out late and now he is sad that his Chrissy is going back to America.

We had a great time even though we are old at 11pm is late too us.

The Last Week

We only have two more days left here in NZ (pronounced enzed). We have been taking it easy. I have read The Time-Traveler's Wife, The Lovely Bones and Mister Pip. All were good books. I have played a lot of Nintendo DS. I getting worn out on "Safari Island". I need my character to fish but fishing is boring so mostly I annoy the other animals.
Chris and I went and met his school friend for lunch today. It was really nice. We are getting ready to go out with Justin and Julia for dinner and drinks.
Tomorrow we are going out to lunch with is parents and having our last tea (dinner) together.
I have started getting us packed to come home. We have a lot of fragile items and heavy things so it takes strategery to pack. I have 2 1/2 of the four bags done and if I can manage to get our two large ceramic pieces into the last bag, we will be good to go.

We leave here at 8:30 pm on 12/30 and arrive in Knoxville at 11:30 pm on 12/30. It boggles the mind.
I only hope I can sleep when we get home. I know I will want to drag everything out and show my mom. I will also probably beg Chris to let Snoopy in the bed with us. She will snuggle me or try to choke me one. And we have to keep her away from the luggage because she loves to damage suite cases. I think in her mind if we have no luggage then we just won't ever leave.

I am ready to get back to work but dread the first day. I know I will want to see everyone but I bet I will have a lot to do. Will you all be mad if I close my door and ignore everyone until lunch?
Also, I think everyone needs to bring there walking shoes because if we are still doing that weight loss thing, we have to hit the lunch walking again. I am trying to convince myself to get up at 5:30 am so I can do two miles before work. I know that would really drop the pounds.

I haven't weighed myself since I got here. My clothes feel the same but I look softer. I don't think we have eaten that bad - not compared to what I eat at my family's. But I haven't had all my dancing. We have tried to walk for about an hour the last few days since we have been back in Auckland.

Anyway, I will be seeing everyone back in Kville real soon.

Happy Christmas! (Days 22-25)

That's what they say in NZ!
It's Boxing Day here which is not celebrated. They just call all the sales Boxing Day sales instead of after Christmas Sales.
We spent Christmas Eve relaxing and preparing our Christmas Feast. I sat outside and read with my legs in the sun. I managed to get burned on my shoulders and my legs are still white. Go figure.

We took a drive to see the street with all the lit up houses. So lame! If Chris and I ever move here we have to live on that street only to show them how it is done. I am sad we waiting in traffic for that.
One Christmas Day, Chris and I took a walk on Takapuna Beach. It was warm but windy. My my hat is almost blowing off.
The tree I am standing next to is Pohutacawa which is the New Zealand Christmas Tree. It blooms this time of year. People still use evergreens in their houses.

We opened presents in the morning. Chris and I both got some nice things and I think his parents liked all the gifts we got for them.

Here we are at Christmas Dinner. We had turkey with stuffing (pesto and pine nut stuffing), cranberry sauce, broccoli salad, zucchini quiche, garden salad, bread and jell-o salad. For dessert we had Pavlova and fruit.
It was a lovely meal and we were all stuffed. We are still eating leftovers today.
I did miss my grandmother's cooking. As much as Christmas in the middle of summer didn't feel like Christmas to me, I realize how odd it is for Chris to have Christmas in the middle of winter.

Today is Wednesday and we are leaving Sunday night so we really only have 4 more days until we come home. I love it here but my limit for being away from home has hit. I miss Boogas, my mom, my bed, the couch, my kitchen, dance class, work.

Days 20 & 21

Here are a couple photos from Hawke's Bay.

We had a great visit with Chris's Auntie Heather, his Grandpa and Nana and all of his cousins.

Day 19: Grandpa's House

All grandparents houses are the same, even in other countries. All grandpas are the same. They tell you about the war, give you random things they have lying around the house and seem to have stashes of sweets hidden all over. There is something very nice about knowing that Grandpas have this in common.
It was nice for Chris to share his Grandpa and Nana Peg with me and it was very nice to meet them.

Day 18: EARTHQUAKE!

So today started out uneventful. We drove to Chris's Aunt's in Hastings which is in the Hawke's Bay Region.
We had a nice dinner with his Aunt and Uncle Eric. Auntie Heather had to go babysit for her son and Chris, his mom, Uncle Eric and I were sitting around talking. The light in the lounge (living room) flickered. That prompted Eric to ask if we had earthquakes in Knoxville because it made him think of them. Then it happened!
It felt like the house was on jelly. Like being on a rocking boat. It was unreal. You can't imagine something as solid as the ground and house being so wobbly. It wasn't at all like what I expected. It felt like it last several minutes even though it was really twenty seconds. I was shocked and grabbed Chris. After it was over I almost wished it happened again so instead of being scared I could really take in what an Earthquake feels like.
They have said that CNN and the news channels made it sound worse than it really was. No one was hurt and there was mostly minor damage. Things falling off shelves and walls and breaking.
Use this link for a map.
It was a 6.8 50 km off the coast of Gisborne. We were down in Hastings.

PICTURES

Pictures are up on all posts for our South Island Adventure!