Joe and I have been home alone for the past several days while Chris traveled to… Virginia! Yes, we were just in the States but Chris headed back over there for work-related travels. We really missed him! Having him gone made me realize a few things, probably the least-important of which was this: Chris is… Read More Chris is Back!
I’d like to vacation here: Queenstown (image via) Fjordland National Park (image via) Fox National Glacier (image via) Arrowtown (image via) Dunedin (image via) Stewart Island (image via) Marlborough Wine Region (image via) Abel Tasman National Park (image via) In other words, I want to visit the South Island (of New Zealand)! Now, all I… Read More The South Island
For the next 2 weeks, the 3 of us will be hanging out at Chris’ childhood home in St. Simons Island, GA. At the moment, I’m currently seated at probably one of my favorite spots in the guest house: Overlooking the marsh on the downstairs porch I have a pork loin roast in the slow-cooker. … Read More St. Simons Island
Part of our reason for staying in the States so long is for Chris to do a bit of work at some different universities, the primary one being Notre Dame. He’s already been here and to Purdue in the 2 1/2 weeks we’ve been in the USA. South Bend is about 2.5 hours north of… Read More Michigan, and now South Bend
I’m so excited! We leave for the States in less than 24 hours and Joe will be able to meet so many of our lovely family members and friends. Packing for such a long trip requires a good amount of planning. Anyone who examined my luggage would be able to tell a few things about… Read More Trials and Travelations? Not with my Flying Pharmacy
We have about a month now before we head over to the States. To be honest, I’m a bit nervous about it. What will it be like? Will I experience some reverse culture shock? Will I drive my parents and in-laws crazy when we stay with them?! The answer to the last two questions is… Read More Nervous
Do you see that? I’m not referring to the Sky Tower. I’m referring to the other thing. Do you see it? No? Here – let me point it out to you: You still don’t see it?! Ugh. Fine – I’ll zoom in: Do you see it now?! That, my lovely readers, is a human being… Read More SkyJump
Hello, my lovely readers! I’ve recently found out about an inspiring project that’s in the works: the iLatch for iPad. The iLatch is a Kickstarter project that was created by mom Laura Graham. I love the idea of a mom seeing a problem and then coming up with a creative solution! I know that many… Read More iLatch for iPad: A Mom’s Creative Solution
Chris came home early today in order to make-up for the fact that he’ll be out late for the rest of the week. What to do with this rare moment of spare time? I knew what I wanted to do! We went to the Auckland Art Gallery: We have wanted to visit for awhile now,… Read More Auckland Art Gallery
Hello, my lovely readers! I’ll be taking a bit of a blogging break for the next week while we are on holiday in Paihia and the Bay of Islands. I’m looking forward to exploring yet another area of New Zealand and spending time with my boys 🙂 In the meantime, you guys can amuse yourselves… Read More On Holiday
Chris, Joe, and I headed down south for an extended weekend in Wellington. Chris was invited to give a paper at a local uni, and it seemed like a great opportunity for us to see New Zealand’s capitol city while also getting in a practice-run vacation with Joe. I was worried about how he’d do… Read More Weekend in Wellington
Living in New Zealand and experiencing a warm Christmas has meant changing up our traditions. Instead of spending Christmas Eve day looking at snowfall and drinking hot cocoa, we decided to hike a volcano. Rangitoto is part of Auckland’s volcanic field and is some of “newest ground on earth”. It’s only about 600 or 700… Read More Hiking Rangitoto While Pregnant? No Problem.
In 6 weeks, my younger sister Valerie will be making the long flight from Indiana to New Zealand! Just how long? Her total flight time {not including layovers} is 18 hours, 45 minutes. She’s the first of our families to make the trip, and we couldn’t be happier 🙂 I can remember when she… Read More Only 6 weeks…
Chris and I finally took our trip to Waiheke Island. Rather than making an overnight of it, we decided to just go for the day and save the extended trip for another time. We started out by walking to the Auckland Ferry Building. We purchased our tickets and waited for the ferry to arrive. We… Read More Waiheke Island
We’ve been in New Zealand for over 3 months. A lot has changed since then, and I’m not just talking about the weather. I’ve realized that I can live and make a home in a foreign country. That some things will always be the same. That there are friends who keep in touch with you… Read More A 3 Month Retrospective
I’m glad that you guys enjoyed seeing the photos from yesterday’s post! Sometimes, I wonder if people are all that interested in knowing what life is like in Auckland, New Zealand. Posting pictures of my shopping excursion in the rain seems a little silly, but I know that a big reason why I read other… Read More Continuing with our Rainy Day Shopping…
I have an irrational fear of public transportation. I don’t have any qualms about riding trains or subways – I’ve done that before in Boston, in NYC, in Chicago… it’s just buses that freak me out. I haven’t regularly ridden a bus since the early days of grade school when I had to trudge down… Read More On Public Transportation
Check out this National Graphic video clip about “adventure tourism” in New Zealand. In case you didn’t know, New Zealand is where bungy-jumping was invented, and they have all sorts of crazy, adrenaline filled activities out here. Considering the fact that I’m scared to death of heights and don’t even like to go down some… Read More New Zealand – Adventure Tourism
I’ve got my work schedule for the next few weeks, and the great news is that I have a couple of days off during Chris’ university’s mid-semester break. Soooooo… I decided to plan a mini-vacation! It’s time we did a bit more exploring in our new country, don’t you think? I do! So, where are… Read More Mini Vacation to Waiheke Island
Before we moved to New Zealand, I wrangled a promise out of Chris that he would take me to Australia. I even videotaped it so that he couldn’t renege, and I was very specific. And then I lost the video. Darn it. So, guess who’s going to Australia?! Not me 🙁 That would be my… Read More Australia!
