Songs In Blue

It’s pretty overwhelming when complete strangers take the time to send some love our way.  Thank you, everyone, for your kind words, I’ve really appreciated them.

This is new territory for me so I’m not sure how to handle it.  I think there’s going to be a lot of unwanted change over the next few months that will take some adjusting, but I just want to enjoy NOW and worry about what’s next LATER (much like my Dad).  Matt is the polar opposite and just wants to know what’s going to happen already!  That’s just another way we balance each other out. 
All I know right now is that I’m hoping to get to Vancouver for a visit early March for Spring vacation.

I’m not about to go sit in a corner feeling sorry for myself.  My dad’s not!  He’s planning on going on a Caribbean cruise with his wife (or soon to be, they’re getting married while there) in February! I told him he should go swimming with sharks and he said he would if he could!
That’s not to say that this last week hasn’t had an effect on me (I’m pretty sure I’ve cried more than I have in the last 2 years) but things happen, you deal with it and life goes on.  So we’re still going on our South Island trip, and it’ll be relaxing and fun, DAMMIT! Cause if it isn’t, I might go insane…I also want to do something that gives me a rush, so I’m thinking Bungy jumping. 

Before that, we’ll be spending Christmas at Matt’s Mom’s house.  This year there’s only 6 of us, but I’m sure it’ll be fun – his family is pretty great! Hopefully, the weather stays nice so we can sit on the deck and soak up the sun.

So yeah, that’s where I’m at right now – taking things as they come and hoping it all works out in the end.

Merry Christmas!

Ahh, the much needed update post.  One day I’ll make myself get into a routine of posting, although I wasn’t doing too bad until 3 weeks ago.  Don’t have much of an excuse except that there’s been a lot on my mind that I couldn’t really put into words.  But let’s recap, shall we?

My mom offered to pay for Matt and I to fly up to Canada then take us to Mexico for her birthday NEXT WEEK.  She had good intentions (obviously, it’s her 50th and she wants me there for it) but I just ended up really stressed out about the whole thing.  It was a lot of information to take in over the course of 3 days! 
 I ultimately said no because, a) we’ve had a trip to the South Island (leaving on my mom’s birthday) planned for 6 months and we’d have to cancel everything, and b) it was too last minute and the flight prices were INSANE.  There’s no way I could let my mom (who’s on a solo income as a school bus driver) spend that kind of money.  I would just feel so guilty about it. 
Trust me, it was a really hard decision to make!   It’s my family and I don’t see them often (or at all, with the whole ‘living on the other side of the world’ thing) and I want to make them happy.  I hate disappointing people.  But yeah, after lost sleep and tears (Matt got to witness the Ugly Cry a few times, awesome.) I’m ok with everything.  A trip to Canada might still be in my near future but I’ll talk about that as soon as I get some more info.

Three weeks ago, I went to my first Tweetup. Which I guess, officially makes me a nerd  but  I’m ok with that.  It was quite fun and great to meet new people which was something I felt I needed to do. 
Anyway, a few of the girls there decided we should have a Ladies Night.  So  Wednesday  night about 10 of us met at a bar for a few drinks then headed to a comedy gig!  A lot of conversation, laughter, and maybe a little too much wine was had by all – it was exactly what I needed (minus the hangover/going to work  in the  morning (Hi Mom and Dad!)).
One of the highlights for me was FINALLY meeting Alex who’s blog I’ve been reading for about 2 years now.  She’s originally from the UK (and has a lovely accent) but moved here almost a year ago with her Kiwi boyfriend.  ALL the girls are absolutely amazing and I can’t wait until we get together again!  Next time, I’ll bring my camera.

As I said earlier, Matt and I are going to the South Island for 2 weeks!  We’ve got a pretty awesome trip planned – full of walks, kayaking, and lying on the beach (if the weather gets better)!  One of the places we’re staying has free internet so I’ll make sure to post a few pictures.  I thought I’d see if anyone was interested in Guest Posting while I’m away? I have 6 dates up for grabs so leave a comment or email me if you’re interested!

I’ve been in a weird head space this week. 

I had my end of year review meeting with my manager today and the first thing she said to me was, “You look numb.”

Funny, I feel numb. 

I got some not-so-great news about work earlier this week and in my normal fashion, I completely shut off and made myself not care.  Without going into too much detail, I was told that because I’m on a contract I don’t qualify for any sort of reward (salary increase, bonus, nothing).  It would’ve been really nice to know this before I worked my ass off for the last year.  Not that it would’ve changed my work ethic AT ALL, but it’s the shock of only finding out now that’s really got me bummed out.  I was doing everything I could to prove that I deserved a raise and even started running a fund all by myself – which isn’t what I was hired to do. 
My manager told me that they wanted to make me permanent for next year and that I’m in a good position to take over a more challenging role but that doesn’t really make me feel any better.  Normally, I could care less about the money and just want to advance my career, but I can’t do that right now.  Plus, it’s like being told you’re worthless – it hurts, yo!

More than anything, I’m ready for a change.  When that doesn’t happen, I feel like I’m not accomplishing anything and my life is pointless.  I get angsty, claustrophobic, and end up really annoying myself (and I’m sure, others). 

But yeah, I’m starting to get over it now and who knows what will happen.  I do love my job and the people I work with so it’s not all bad!

On a brighter note, this weekend is Toast Martinborough.  The actual event isn’t until Sunday, but we’re leaving tonight!  There’s a group of about 12 of us going and we’re staying at this really flash house on a golf course!  There isn’t much planned besides a BBQ and the soccer game Saturday night so it should be a nice relaxing weekend away.  Which will be great after this last week!

What are your weekend plans?

We arrived at our lakeside hotel Friday evening and were immediately impressed!  The room was HUGE and had so many perks we wondered how they got away with charging us so little!  The best part?  This massive spa bath:

We made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up the necessities (wine, chocolate, strawberries, grapes, crackers, brie…) then spent the rest of our night chillin’ in the spa bath.  We took a few photos of the sunset too.

It was pretty awesome.

On Saturday, we walked into town and had a go at the mini golf.  Matt won, by a lot, but it was good fun!

Why yes, that is me wearing shorts and jandals!  The weather was so nice and warm all weekend – I even got a bit of a sunburn.  Hello, Summer!  (at least in Taupo, not so much in Wellington.)

After lunch, we walked to Huka Falls and took some photos.  I still can’t get over the colour of the water here – it’s so blue and pure looking.

Didn’t end up doing much with the rest of the day – ate some ice cream, went out to dinner, and watched a movie in our room.  It was nice to be able to take our time to do things and have a relaxing weekend.

Sunday was awesome.  We went to the hot pools and soaked in the hot water for a few hours with a couple waterslide breaks!  Look how pretty:

To top it all off, we had massages.  I’m addicted now – pretty sure I can justify getting one once a month from now on.  Why did I not have one before???

The only kinda bad thing that happened on our weekend was Sunday night’s dinner.  We went to a new Indian place and they were still getting used to running a restaurant.  We ordered our food and waited.  And waited.  And noticed EVERY table was waiting for some part of their meal.  After over an hour, I went up to ask when the food was coming as we hadn’t even been served entrees yet.  Apparently, they thought we had already had our entrees – at least the food came pretty quickly after I asked!  At the end of it all, we finished eating at 10pm.  Luckily, we were able to laugh at the whole thing.  We felt pretty bad for the staff cause they were just run off their feet.  One couple wasn’t so understanding though – they ate their entrees then did a runner!  It was pretty funny watching them run down the street.

I could definitely get used to weekends away!  Our next trip isn’t for a couple of weeks but I want to go NOW!

We’re going to Taupo this weekend!  There will be walks, and hot pools, and massages, and you’ve heard all this before…Can you tell I’m excited?  And also, a little nervous?  This weekend will be the first time I’ve driven IN A YEAR!  I have no need to where I live and, more importantly, no car to drive even if I wanted.  I know as soon as I get behind the wheel I’ll be fine – just need to remember to drive on the right (left) side of the road.

We actually have quite a few trips planned for summer. So many that we should really come up with a name for the collective group – I’ll leave that to someone else as I’m not very creative in the name department…

Anyway, 3 weeks after our Taupo trip we’re going to Toast Martinborough.  It’s a one day wine festival that we’re turning into a weekend with a few people from Matt’s work.  We booked our house way back in April and it was one of the last places available.  It looks awesome, and I can’t wait to go!  I bought a dress to wear on the actual day – it’s up on Flickr and I’d really love your opinion so leave a comment!  I don’t mind brutal honesty so be sure to say EXACTLY what you think.  I still have a few weeks to buy a new dress if need be…

The trip after that is a big one!  We leave Dec.27 (Happy Birthday Mom!) and will be road trippin’ for 2 weeks in the South Island.  We’ll be in Golden Bay for the longest amount of time – hanging out on the beach, doing some walking tracks, kayaking, and I want to go horseback riding along the beach.  Matt’s not too keen on the last one (fair enough) but I’ll go by myself if I have to cause it looks like so much fun!

After that, we’ll go to Westport for a couple nights, Franz Josef (Glacier and Hot springs) for one, Wanaka for 2 more, then spend a few days visiting Matt’s Dad in Timaru.  We’ll finish the trip with a night in Christchurch (apparently Chinese food and the Casino are on the menu) and fly home the next morning!

But wait, there’s more!  Three days after all that we’re flying up to Auckland for a few days and going to Big Day Out – a one day music festival being headlined by Muse!  We’re staying at the SkyCity hotel which has a heated rooftop pool (that you won’t get me out of) and the Casino (that you won’t get Matt out of) downstairs!

There’s also a few ideas for camping trips and visiting Matt’s older brother and nephews sometime in February, but nothing’s been booked yet.

I’m excited (and little bit tired) just from writing all that out but we want to make the most of this summer, especially since there will be little to no travel next year.  Matt starts accounting school in April so he’ll have his head buried in books for the majority of 7 months and I want to use that time to save as much money as I can.

We’ll have to plan a big trip when he’s finished to celebrate!

Which will forever be known as the weekend I peed 247 times.  Seriously.
I ended up sleeping on the picnic tables by the bathroom because I was so fed up with having to get out of my tent and walk all the way over there every. single. time. I woke up.
I have no idea what’s wrong with me, but thankfully, my bladder seems to have calmed down.

Other than my bathroom escapades, the weekend was pretty sweet.  We were up with the sun and spent most of our time at the beach.  The waves were pretty big and the current was really strong so I didn’t last as long in the water as I would’ve liked.  I did try boogie boarding for the first time! I sucked, but it was fun and hopefully I’ll be better next time.  I also tried playing cricket…the result was about the same.

Even though we came home a day early, the weekend seemed to go on forever.  It was awesome!

There are a TON of other photos up on Flickr…so check them out!

Wouldn’t you know the first full day we were there…it rained. Hard and ALL DAY.  Probably karma for my bragging about how I’d be on a beach and NOT drowning in snow like people are back home.  We ended up spending most of that day indoors reading, until we decided it would be fun to walk an hour in the rain to get groceries and Trivial Pursuit!

Although it pains me to say it, I still haven’t won a game.  I think the score is Matt-10, Dayna-0.  I blame it on all the  sports questions being about rugby and cricket.  I’m from Canada!  Me like Hockey!

The rest of the week was hot, sunny and so awesome!  We walked around the Mount one day, up it (an hour…all uphill) the next, and got some sweet photos from the top.  Other than that, days were spent on the beach and at night we’d go out for dinner then watch a movie or play thegameIcannotforthelifeofmewin.