Happy Places

I have a few places that I consider my happy place. When I think back on these happy places, I wonder, why did I ever leave? Why didn't I stay there all day? Besides the ever present and wonderful happy place of Bryce's yummy bear hugs, my happy places are:

• Sailing in the middle of Union Bay, alone or with a friend, relaxing in the sun.
• Drifting off to sleep on the beach in Rio; the matronly, confident women lounging around me making me comfortable to wear a bikini in public for the first time since I was 12.
• Laying on a warm, flat rock in the sun in the middle of Denny Creek.
• Standing at the alter, watching the waves crashing and being married.
• Watching the sea turtles swimming near me on the beach at Kealakeua Bay.
  
• Sitting in the thermal wonderfulness of Kerosene Creek in Rotorua.
• Relaxing in the waves in Coromandel Bay and Cathedral Cove, thinking how much my mom would love this!

Didn't realize that the list would all have to do with water! Should have known.

Just had the Rotorua and Coromandel experience during this last road trip. That means that that was a high scoring trip! Just think that we weren't going to do the trip because of budget constraints. Bryce and I remembered that when we had more money, time was what we wanted the most.

Nice warm creek-- about 95 degrees F

Merry Christmas!

People at work have asked me if I'm missing home around the holidays; and although yes I wish we could hang out with the people we love; Christmas isn't necessarily making me feel all wistful. It doesn't feel like Christmas at all here, and frankly I feel like it was coming 'round a bit too often. I don't think I mind this Christmas-every-other-year type of thing. Our goal for the holiday-- find a nice beach to relax on. That may be a difficult goal as the weather hasn't been too nice lately. But we're heading north to warmer temperatures so we're doing all the right things.





Hope everyone is doing well; have some nog and grogg for me! ~jx





NOTE: this picture is actually in full colour. eek huh?

Another month gone by

I need to try to post a bit more regularly I think.
Well since our last post was Halloween I've got a lot to catch up on.

The weekend after Halloween we went sking/snowboarding. Our newest 'home' mountain of Turoa had the last closing day of the season November 7th. We went and took part in their "Snovember", not much snow left, but we still had a good time of it. I think they had to truck this snow down to the base area for people to put their gear on before they loaded the lifts.
We got the clearest views yet of Mt Ruapehu, the large active volcano we ski on.






The following week contained my Birthday and one of our new friends, Dervla, as well. We celebrated at our new favorite haunt, The Southern Cross. It's large, has outdoors(including fireplaces) and almost always busy). Our group included 4 Americans, 1 Irish(wo)man, 2 Spaniards, and 1 Kiwi. Plenty of beer was enjoyed and we took advantage of the public transportation of greater Wellington.

The next weekend(11/22-23) we went to go walk down to the nearest lighthouses. There are two of them, one on the short line and one about 300ft above it on a bluff. It's about a 2 hour walk each way, but when we got there I noticed the bike stand and jokingly said, 'we should rent bikes'. Julie took me serious and I'm glad. It was a windy day(like most), the bikes made it much more fun despite occasionally feeling like we were standing still. You haven't experienced NZ until you've seen Sheep on the Beach. Man do they scamper when they see me barrelling down the dirt road trying to bunny hop mud puddles. (can you tell someone likes biking?).

Finally Thanksgiving. We decided to celebrate on Friday so we could share the day with you Americans who are a day behind us. Turkeys weren't too hard to find, but at 5-7$ a pound, they weren't cheap. We decided to enjoy the day just the two us partially due to space limitations but partially just to have it to ourselves.
I whipped up the following while Julie worked:

• 6lb Turkey
• Mashed potatoes
• Mixed Mushroom and Brioche stuffing
• Real Turkey gravy
• Hand whipped cream to go on

The real Pumpkin Pie made from real whole pumpkin which Julie made the night before

It was quite a feast. I think we managed to stretch if for barely three days though(my voracious appetite certainly helped.)

Since then it's been a bit more low key, we've gone a few short walks on the beaches. Attended our first Net-ball game(like basketball, but completely different) to support a friend.
I'm prepping up for our first 'tramping' trip, which is like backpacking, but you stay in enclosed huts(imagine a super rudimentary cabin in the woods). Not carrying a tent and the sleep pads(leaving 10lbs of ... stuff... behind), sounds like an activity we can both get behind.