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Thread: 1 year today

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    UK->Whangarei->Auckland
    Posts
    1,016

    Default 1 year today

    We are having some family time so this post will be coming tomorrow.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Lower Hutt, NZ
    Posts
    251

    Default

    Make it a wonderful day, I'm looking forward to read your experencies during this last year.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Wellington, originally USA
    Posts
    915

    Default

    That's great news!! Congratulations for making it to the milestone!!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    at the bottom of the top bit
    Posts
    3,405

    Default

    revenge!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    UK->Whangarei->Auckland
    Posts
    1,016

    Default

    Ok so after 1 year we have gone from owning nothing except 6 boxes and half a dozen bags of belongings to owning a van and a car, renting the biggest house we have ever lived in, and a little sailing boat.
    It has been a tough year and some weeks we ate noting better than noodles beans and toast.
    We have pretty much furnished the house with a combination of cheap trademe auctions hand me downs from friends and family and a few bits from freecycle although it wasn't until recently that i finally moved my clothes out of the suitcase and into a drawer.
    The summer was every bit as expected and more, we went to concerts on the beach and in the park, we watched movies in the park and went to many free events with activities for all, we went camping and swimming and sailing, on christmas day we went fishing and then to a beach to play in the tide, it was truely awesome.
    The winter has had many many days that i could not differentiate from those lovely summer days but when night falls it gets cold and in a big house that means either you need a really good heavy duty heater or you are cold and huddle under blankets, on a lower wage we opted for blankets and at times i was miserable with the cold, but a quick soak up of the winter sunshine usually upped the spirits.
    After we arrived it took somewhere between 1 and 2 months for my partner to land a job and at the time he said this job will only be temporary i probably wont last more than 3 months, so we continued to throw the CV's out there and find ways to enhance the CV and he made it to 8 months in that job before asking for holiday leave where he had intended to spend that time dropping in CV's and finding a new job, things got a bit complicated at this point and the leave came sooner than expected and just 3 weeks after that he walked into a really great job only problem is it was as agency driver so we are still on a quest to find a reliable permanent enjoyable job, i know that one will come in time and i know that we will make things work in the mean time as we always do even if it means putting out things in storage and living in the van.

    Speaking of the van, we bought this little beauty from trademe before we arrived in the country and have poured her with love ever since, we stripped her out and fitted her with 3 beds and a kitchen unit, added a porta potti and a little fridge, we replaced the front seats recently and have done a lot of work on the engine and body and she just passed another WOF, shes a continueing project as now we need to find and add a rear seat and figure out where to put another bed to make room for our expanding family

    do i have any regrets? yes i regret not packing more of our things and leaving behind some things with much sentimental value, i regret throwing all my artwork in the tip as now i have none of it to show my little girl when she grows up, most things can be and have been replaced, but we still have regret for those that cannot or will not be replaced and those things that hold no physical value and were simple not worth bringing.
    was it all worth it? yes definitely, all the hard times, family hassles, living on top of each other of which we are sure there will be more, but its all worth it for the opportunity to be close to family here (some of whom are unwell and may not be around for much longer) for the beaches, the outdoor lifestyle, to see DP happy, the new friends, the growth we have seen in our daughter etc etc.

    do i miss anything or anyone? yes i miss my friends, chatting to them online is not the same and seeing photos from the most recent clubweek did make me sad that i was not there, i don't miss my family, i have spoken to my mum on the phone only twice in the last year and didn't really care much for it (i'm not keen on phone calls generally) i think i've had more contact with her by messages and stuff than i've had in the past and what i haven't had i didn't miss, much of the rest of the family has sought me out on Facebook and after not seeing most of them since i was a kid again its more contact than ever before and i'm not in any rush to go visiting. I also miss a few foodie items that i haven't found yet here but as my partner keeps pointing out the bakery would probably make them if i asked and the other things can be collected from the local "british shop"

    so all in all its been an exciting, stressful, beautiful, adventure of a year, and with many more to come, we are looking forward to LO starting school, friends visiting and a new baby in the next 6 months, there are also some things that we are not looking forward to as well but that is all part of life!
    heres to next year! (mines a lemonade)

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    in my own little world...
    Posts
    532

    Default

    congrats on the journey so far & to the next chapter.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Melbourne-Wellington 2011
    Posts
    115

    Default

    Great post. good luck with your plans for the future!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    NZ
    Posts
    550

    Default

    Nice to hear!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Christchurch from Scotland
    Posts
    2,226

    Default

    Great to hear!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Poole, UK to Chch, NZ
    Posts
    2,064

    Default

    Hooray!

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