Hello Hello

HELLO BLOGGERS! :)

So it's been a while since my last blog... and after reading some of my old ones I felt it was necessary to start blogging again. Fingers crossed I keep to it.

It will be a little difficult due to my laptop being broken so I am currently at work while writing this... sneaky sneaky!

2011 was not one of my best years... and it didn't end all fantastically either. A summary...

• Ben and I broke up
• I started another tourism season and the i-Site
• My mum and dad came to Dunedin to spend Christmas with me
• My love life is all over the show
• Melissa and I are moving into a new flat together (it happens to be Stacey and Tereinamu's old flat)
• A close friend passed away :(
• I've gained and lost friends all over silly reasons
• I got my learners drivers license!!!

So everything is happening and at the same time not so much... It's an odd situation.

Hopefully more comes up in the coming weeks for me to elaborate on.

Much love :)
xox

SYDNEY SYDNEY SYDNEY

On Wednesday 29th June 2011 Ben and I will be venturing outside of our shell and exploring the 'land down under'...
I'm so excited, it will be a first for the both of us - travelling outside of the country.
It's been a little hectic trying to sort things out, but I feel we are still unorganised. It's CRAZY!

We will arrive in Sydney about 5pm on Wednesday where Tanya (my Aunty) will pick us up.
We will then head out to Wangi Wangi (which is where she lives) and we will spent most of our trip here.
Tanya has planned for us to go to the races which will be so much fun!!! I can't wait. I use to go to the Chatham Island Races all the time and I loved seeing the horses, so it will be cool to see the real deal.
She has also organised a family lunch/get together so we can meet everyone. Apparently we know how to draw a crowd and a lot of people will be turning up. She even sent out special invites to everyone!!!

It's a little nerve racking meeting the family for the first time, but I'm sure we will be fine!

On our last weekend in Sydney (2 days before we fly back to NZ) we will all head into Sydney and stay at a hotel called Sebel Surry Hills (click the name to visit the website). It looks so flash and I can't wait to get there!!!

There is a glass floor with an aquarium underneath in the main lobby!

We're making an effort to go to Luna Park, along with a wildlife park somewhere in Sydney. All arranged by Tanya!!! =]

So fingers crossed everything goes as planned!!!!!!

Catch Up!!!

Alright Bloggers/Readers!!!

Catch up time!!! (short and simple)

• I have a job - House Keeping @ LivingSpace Apartments and Hotels
• Ben and I - still shakey
• Going to Sydney with Ben in 2 WEEKS!
• Enrolled into Aoraki Polytech with Stacey to study Makeup Artistry - Waiting to see if we're in
• Potentially enrolling into Teachers College next year
• Ben moved to a new farm - BIGGER HOUSE!!!!
• Jack and Stacey are (almost/kinda/working towards being) together!

Anything else??? Most likely but that can come up in later blogs!!

So I know I said this in my last blog, but I'm going to write more blogs more often!!!! Soooorrry!!!!

For the past week Stacey (Ben's older sister) has been staying at my place. She's going through a rough patch at the moment and she's one of my BEST FRIENDS so I have no problem with her being here. We have had an epic time together!!!!!! Stacey is unemployed and as for myself - I'm getting 2 days a fortnight at work so need more of an income!!! So we enrolled into a makeup artistry course!!!!! It's only short term and starts on July 18th, so at the moment we are waiting to hear if we get in.

Next on the list is to get my drivers license - I've been putting it off for so long, but it needs to be done, especially since Ben said I have to have it before I move in with him!

In 2 weeks Ben and I are off to Sydney together for 2 weeks. We'll be staying with my Aunty Tanya while we're there. I've never met her, if you go back to an earlier blog I talk about how I found some long lost family. I'm so excited to go, however...... I have NO money saved!!! This has made Ben really angry at me, and so he should be!!!!

Worst of all, we only sent our passport applications away 3 days ago!!!!! Don't ask me why I've been so slack... Is it ok  to use the excuse of how stressed out I've been, not to mention broke???

IN OTHER NEWS: My old friend from TGHS, Melissa and I are friends again. Something happened between us in 2009 and we stopped being friends, I think it was mostly due to the friendship I had with her ex-boyfriend Leon. She was one of my best friends, so for us to make up and forget everything that has happened; is a pretty big deal for me.

I'm finding the phase of growing up a mission. I have to pay rent and my own bills, and for the first time ever, living with friends instead of family or randoms. It was a rough start between us in the house, but I think everything is great now! As long as we keep eachother in the loop and talk to one another we should be fine!!!

That's all for now people, so til then! xoxox

It's Been A While!

Hi readers!!

It's been a WHILE since my last decent blog.

So to fill you in on my so called LIFE....

• I am still unemployed and considering moving back to the Chatham Islands for a month or 2 to work
• I am going on holiday to Sydney at the end of June for 2 weeks... But I only have a ONE-WAY ticket
• Ben and I are.... coping
• I've decided TOURISM isn't the line of work I want to be in
• I am wanting a CHANGE in my life but unsure of what
• I'm loving my new flat and flatmates

Overall.... I'm undecided.

After putting it in a list like that - I feel like I'm way UNORGANISED
Everything will play out eventually... till then - I'm gonna keep trucking along!!

One Step At A Time

My life has taken another turn towards darkness - a turn towards the unknown.

I finished out my contract at my previous job. I got a new flat with friends and am paying my own bills - BARELY!

Now 4 days after my last day at work, I am still unemployed. God knows I've been trying. I have handed in my CV everywhere and had interviews in places I thought I wouldn't. Nothing seems to be working.

Somehow I need to change myself to be the person employers want - but who is that exactly???

Something better come up - otherwise it's back to the Chatham's for me =S

One Day

One day I will blog again...

Home Time (part 3)

DAY FOUR

Day four, I woke up reasonably early... Excited to get a move on with my holiday... Which was more than I could say for Ben (who had finally got into holiday mode and wanted to sleep a little longer). Somehow, I had convinced mum and dad to let us have the ute for the day. So as soon as breakfast and showers were out of the way, we were off to visit the family.

First stop, was my cousin Erica's. We caught her just before she had left to the lake, so it was a quick hello then off to show Ben a bit of the island. We drove out to Owenga, a small village in the lower part of the island.

It was a good drive... pointing out everyone/everything I saw and knew. We finally got to the end of the road (literally) where the statue of Tommy Soloman was. Tommy was the last full-blooded moriori (the indigenous people of the island) so it was only right he had some form of a memorial. I remember being little and always being scared of the statue. It was huge! and of a man for crying out loud!!! .... and there's no eyes!!!! It also never helped that some crazy person told me his body was inside the statue!!!

After a quick look around it was time to drive home. This time I let Ben do the driving, considering there was no way he could get lost! (and I despise driving manuals).We decided we had a couple of hours until I had to pick dad up, so instead of home, we were of to town to go have a cuppa with my Aunty Liz and catch up on the local gossip. At 4.45pm I called home to see if I should pick dad up from work, turns out he had finished earlier and wasn't even expecting us to pick him up. Incase he was angry I suggested it was time to go home.

DAY FIVE

The next day, was the day of the Chatham Island Horse Races AND New Years Eve!!!!

Unfortunately, there was a bit of rain which caused the races to be cancelled. So my Aunty Irene (one of my favorites) picked us up and took us to the lake where my cousins Erica and Trish were camping with their partners and kids.

Trish's kids Reese (2) and Leighton (5) took a liking to Ben and nicknamed him Ben 10. They spent the whole day playing, while I caught up with everyone and munched on the bbq food!!!



At the lake



The whanau




Leighton waving goodbye

 Later that afternoon it was time to go home and get ready to go to the local pub with mum and dad, while my brother Kerry (16) went off to a friends house.

Unfortunately I didn't take my camera with me, so I have no photos of the night... But it was so much fun!!!
I didn't have to buy a single drink, I had family and friends pulling them out left, right and centre. There was a live band (who were GREAT). I mended old friendships, chatted with other friends, caught up with family, had a very short 5 minute dance with Ben before passing him off to my Aunty Irene (who by now, was as drunk as a skunk!) and even met a few new faces.

However the highlights of the night... Getting a laugh out of everyone telling Ben not hurt me, otherwise the family would be on him (hehehe so funny!). Also, getting a feeling for home again. I saw so many people I had missed more than anything. The final thing, was seeing how much my parents trust me. In their eyes, I left home an immature, young girl who didn't know how to fend for herself. I wasn't exactly trusted by them. But being home, they saw how much I had grown up, I could do things I wasn't allowed to do beforehand, and everything was simply just..... BETTER.