Arriving back in Auckland was odd. I kept having memories play across my mind and I felt like a rolling mixture of happiness, exhaustion, and bittersweet melancholy as certain things would trigger reminders. A billboard advertisement. The familiar accent. The style of the houses and size of the yards.

We flew for 15 1/2 hours from O’Hare to Auckland. We were in a middle row and I was in the middle. Since Chris was on the aisle seat and more readily positioned to get up and move around, I asked if he would please check the other rows to see if there were any with only a single passenger. I had seen that the row in front of us had only 1 passenger, leaving 2 empty seats. I had pointed this out to Chris earlier and whispered “I think it’s just that one guy in that row” to which he nodded his head sagely in response.

So, imagine my perturbation when another guy popped up and snagged one of the empty 2 seats. My jaw dropped and I gestured to him and looked at Chris in disbelief. Chris had just told me he’d checked and there were no empty seats – everything was reserved. He later told me that when he’d nodded his head as described above, he actually hadn’t understood what I’d said. He’d just nodded his head in his agreement because apparently that’s what husbands do when they don’t understand their wives. Nod and look thoughtful in the hopes it will make their wife happy.

Actually, that’s not what he said. He just said he hadn’t understood me. No explanation as to why he nodded in agreement. But I’m getting lost in the weeds here. Lets get back on track.

We made it through our long flight and, suprisingly, I was able to sleep for a little while. That brief rest is probably why I was feeling so perky and chipper after we made it through customs. Chris was in a good mood, too.

We hopped into the shuttle that I’d pre-booked and we were off to our friend Priscilla’s. She had graciously offered her place as a spot to stow our luggage until our AirBnB check-in time arrived, and this would give us more time to spend with her. Friends offering floor space, a cup of something hot and caffeinated, a shower, and a ride are worth far more than their weight in gold. To pay her back, Chris put together her hammock and promptly sprawled out in it.

A short while later we went to the newest itiration of City Pres. This was the church plant that Chris and I were a part of when we lived in NZ. It’s where both Joe and Jack were baptized. Full of ups and downs, highs and lows, and plenty of in-betweens… my memories of New Zealand are forever tied to that church. More importantly, to the people in it. It was so lovely to see how the church is growing and to look out on familiar faces while meeting some new ones.

After, we had lunch in Cornwall Park with Priscilla and her lovely mum, Anne. Turns out that we arrived on a 3-day weekend in NZ. Quite a few other families had the same idea to visit the park as us, and it was very full. While it made for crazy traffic, I kind of loved it. Seeing so many New Zealanders out enjoying barbecues and sunshine. The weather was gorgeous and our lunch company was even better.

After, we drove back to Priscilla’s to get our luggage and to drop off Anne so that she could head home. Anne is such a special person, and I’m really glad that she went out of her way to spend some time with us. Priscilla graciously brought us back into the heart of the city and we said our good-byes (for the moment) and checked into our new place, whereupon we dumped our luggage again and headed out the door. There were groceries to be bought and old, familiar streets to be walked on! Although I quickly got over the walking part and was ready to just grab some food, get back to our apartment, and sleep. Which is exactly what I did. Day #1 was complete.