Settling In

Just a few photos of our new place and of our first rugby game experience. I recorded a video of the house but I had the camera turned the wrong way and didn't think everyone would want to watch it sideways. I will redo when I get a chance and post it because we have lots of furniture now.

Blaine's parents and grandmother made it here safely from Mississippi/Tennessee yesterday. We are so thrilled to have family in our new house!!! They will be here for 2 1/2 weeks. We start our journey around the South Island on Saturday morning in a minivan we rented. Should be lots of pictures and fun stories to share when we return. I made a traditional Kiwi roast dinner last night...roast leg of lamb, potatoes and pavlova (a meriange type dessert) for their first meal.
We will keep everyone updated on all the fun we're having! Blaine and I are excited to be off work for the next 10 days!

Birthday Celebration






A lot has happened since our last post. #1--we moved into a new townhouse up in the Cashmere Hills! We love it! Very different from our last apartment. It is much more like a home, situated down a cobblestone drive with a view of the valley and mountains. We moved from a furnished apartment to an unfurnished, so we have had to get all the furniture (minus a bed we already had) plus all the little things like kitchen pots/pans, cleaning supplies, an iron, vacuum, etc. But it has been fun. Blaine's parents and grandmother arrive in 1 week!!!! So we are trying to get everything "homey" before they arrive. We hit up quite a few garage sales last weekend and scored a $25 dresser! Blaine and I both really got into searching for deals and bargaining people down from $1 ice trays! The problem is that we will be living here for 2 years but when we leave we will just give everything away; so why buy new/nice things just for a few years. #2--We went to our first rugby game (will post pictures later) with a few friends from work...it was lots of fun and my learning curve was very steep since I virtually know nothing about rugby. One of the strange things that happened was that the crowd cheered as the opposing team ran out onto the field. I think Blaine and I were the only ones who let a boo slip out of our mouth and then realized that Our team was cheering for them. Oh well. #3 I had a birthday, turning 26...so close to 30! I actually worked night shift the eve of my birthday, so we partied at midnight!! We had cake and ice cream, chips/dip, and wore party hats! I called my parents too because it was like 5 a.m. and they are very early risers. Good thing all of our patients were sleeping and feeling pretty well because we had a birthday party to tend to. Ha. I slept on the actual day of my birthday until Blaine came home for lunch with flowers as a suprise. We went to dinner at a restaurant named Indochine that was a fusion of Indonesian and Chinese food and afterwards met our friends from Australia, NZ, England and new US friends. Our new US friends are from California, Tyler and Amber, who came to look at our old apt. and ended up living with us for a few days until we had moved out. They are a lot of fun and we can talk Americanize to them.
Hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day! Most people know it is one of my favorite holidays, wonder why?

Symphony in the Park






We had a great night listening to the Chistchurch Symphony, a NZ singer Dave Dobbins, and watching a great fireworks show all to celebrate Waitangi Day! You might be asking, "what is Waitangi Day?". Just think of it as New Zealand's 4th of July. Also, if you had looked closely at the picture of Blaine and me you would have noticed that we have fleece jackets on...and we are currently in the hottest month of the summer! Have we ever had an Independence Day where we needed jackets at home...I doubt it!