Well in Windy Welly :)

Hi all!! Well, I have made it to the city I plan to live in for the next few months! Wellington, NZ! Better known around here as Welly, and, as we discovered yesterday, they don't call it the windy city for nothing!!! I swore I was going to be blown over! But it's gorgeous and the weather is beautiful despite a few gusts of wind! We hopped on a bus in Auckland and made the 11 hour treck cross country. The drive was amazingly beautiful and it was just a little taste of what this country has to offer! Rolling green hills for as far as you could see, snow covered mountains in the backdrop, volcanoes (some still active....YIKES!), heaps and heaps (that's right, I said heaps!) of sheep, and beautiful lakes, streams, and rivers! When the bus dropped us off, we were left to fend for ourselves and find our way to our hostel. We quickly discovered that the rolling hills that cover this place aren't quite as beautiful when you are trying to walk up them with loads of luggage in tow! It might have been the hardest we had to work for a bed--I found it hilariously challenging!! We spent all of yesterday searching for flats and will probably keep looking until the end of the week. We already looked at 2 places that weren't quite right for us but the people here seem AWESOME. Everyone was so friendly! I can't wait to find a place and settle in for a while! So, the agenda for the next few days is flat and job hunting and exploring our new city! It may sound pretty mundane but us, it's SO exciting!!! Hope this finds everyone well! I'll be in touch in a few days!

Auckland

Hello again!! I was a bit rushed and completely out of it yesderday so I just wanted to take a little more time to fill you in! Getting to Auckland was a bit of a scare at first, Kev, you almost won b/c we nearly missed our flight! Well, not really, but we were sure cutting it close. We got to the airport with plenty of time but when we got to the counter, the woman told us that we HAD to purchase tickets out of NZ otherwise they would not let us through customs. Apparrently there was a misunderstanding somewhere along the line and it got our hearts pumping fast! We had to buy tickets to Australia in order to get checked in---they are refundable so it's not too big of a deal but it was a pretty big "hiccup" (as Molly described it) at the start of our trip! We had to run to our gate--which was just a tad scary!! Then our luggage was the LAST to come out at baggage claim! Fabulous!
We spent all of yesterday walking around Auckland and trying desperately to keep our eyes open. When we were walking to use the internet yesterday, it took a bit longer to get here b/c apparently there was a graduation cermony going on--in the form of a parade!! All these graduates in their robes following men in kilts playing bag pipes, on a busy road that they didn't even bother to close down. When we saw how long the parade went back, we decided to just make a run for it--right through the middle of it! The city reminds us a lot of Australia--which is cool, but we are really anxious to get to Wellington and get to know "our" city! We have a few options for flats and will hopefully find jobs with ease--but time will tell I suppose. We hope to go down to Wellington tomorrow but how we are going to get there is still up in the air. There is talk of renting a camper and making the 10 hour drive ourselves and making stops along the way to sightsee. Can you please take a second to picture that?!?! Me and Molly driving a camper...on the wrong side of the road...most likely stick shift. We want to do it just to say we did---hilarious! Our orientation starts in a little bit and then it's off to explore some more! Can't wait until we are settled and have jobs--once we have the security of an income, we'll start traveling around and taking some fabulous pics for you guys to enjoy :)
All my love :)

Safe and Sound :)

I'm going to keep this short, just wanted to let everyone know that we got here safe and sound!! The flight flew by--I fell asleep and when I woke up, 9 hours had already gone by! Not to mention me and molly had a row to ourselves do we got to spread out a bit. Nice! Flying in was absolutely GORGEOUS!!! So much green...and then so much water...and then more green! haha. We really are in the middle of NOWHERE! We are exhausted and it is only 11:15am Tuesday morning here (16 hours ahead of you FL/NY peeps and 15 hours ahead of you Houston folk!)...we are going to explore so we can try to get our bodies on schedule ASAP! Although, adjusting to Australia's time change last summer took a good week+ so we shall see. I can't believe we're really HERE!!!!

Not...Quite...There!

I've had requests to update my blog so I'm givin' in! I obviously have nothing to report on New Zealand yet but the last few days have been great! I spent a great weekend with Molly and her fam-- Great food, wine (and when I say wine, I mean lots of wine!), a great game of "new zealand" jeopardy courtesy of the creative parentals, an introduction to field hockey, and endless laughs (mostly thanks to Abby...and her friend Kimmy)!!
We then waited in the airport for 4 hours for our flight going to LAX b/c the emergency slide was broken. Wonderful. But, when we finally got to LA, Julie and Jarrod (2 of our bestest buddies that we met in Australia) were waiting with open arms! We spent the next 2 days living the OC life and got the full tour---Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, food hotspots--not to mention delicious home cooked meals and margaritas!! Sucks to have to leave them again---Megs and MB, you were missed like whoa--but we decided that we are all crashing Jarrod's for Christmas. See you there for our Dippity Ditty!
We are now hanging at my friend Christel's who lives in West Hollywood--we'll be here until Sunday looking for famous ppl. She lives in walking distance to just about everything! :) We are currently sharing the apartment with George the cat--he has a sister somewhere but I'm convinced Molly threw her out the window. We spent most of the day looking for flats in Wellington and it seems there are some great deals. We are both getting really anxious--Sunday is only 2 days away! The next time I blog, it will be to tell you a little something about NZ...I promise!!

Tears Galore

Using Ashley to test out adding pics to this thing! Looks like it works! I'm leaving Florida on Thursday and things are starting to REALLY sink in. I said goodbye to my mom, brother and cat on Sunday and I took it a lot harder then I had expected. Saying goodbye for what we intend (my parents and friends are making it clear that if I happen to come home in 3 months, the trip isn't a 'failure'! Nice try guys--but I doubt that's gonna happen!) to be a year is really different then saying goodbye to go to school. I'm taking Ella (my sugar glider) to her new home today, and then saying more goodbye's to friends. As excited as I am to finally start this trip, the goodbye's are killing me. The stress is really starting to set in and as Keri, Maria, and Molly have already discovered--I'm a mess!! I can't make a decision to save my life and have been trying to fit too much into a day! And ironically enough, here I am typing in my blog! Writing is calming though and since I'm driving to pick up my cousin in a little bit, having what will prove to be my daily drink (for the next 3 days) of cocunut rum and pineapple juice isn't really the best "calming" option right now!! So writing is next in line! :) No one is allowed to cry in front of me for the next week---I'm a facuet and just can't handle it!! Love you all.

It's getting real!

Well, I just sold my car! Putting it up for sale was the first reality check, and now that it's sold, it's really starting to sink in that I'm leaving for a long time! The next few days are going to be pretty hectic. My last day of work is on the 9th and I have lots of packing to do (any tips on how to pack for a year are needed!) and little things to take care of before I leave. Not to mention getting in all my 'goodbyes' with friends and family. I know a lot of people don't know the actual date I'm leaving the country--so, the flight to New Zealand is Sept. 25th at 11pm (from LA). My trip starts on the 15th with me going to Philly to spend a weekend with Molly's family (and help her pack!) and then we are flying to LA to spend some time with friends before leaving for good. The days are starting to fly by and my emotions are so mixed. Scared to death, excited as all hell, nevous about going with Molly and so freakin excited to be going with Molly. All we can think about is how we're going to be feeling when we're going to the airport. GULP!