Just Call Us Kiwis: Part II

May  27

Again we woke up around 7:00. It was our last morning to wake up in Queenstown, which was definitely sad, so we packed up our stuff to be checked out by 10:00. The day before we found the Catholic Church in town, so we’d be ready to go Sunday morning. Unfortunately, we woke to rain. Though we had been very thankful because before we left I checked the weather in Queenstown and Auckland and it said rain every single day! I was a little nervous about this, knowing it was going to also be cold…but this was the first downpour we had seen! While in the lobby we saw someone else ask for an umbrella from the hotel desk. I had no idea they offered this kind of service! So, we followed suit and walk to St Joseph’s in the rain, luckily it was only a 5-10 minute walk. 

The church was super tiny and quaint. But going really made me appreciate the Catholic Church and its traditions. Here we were half was across the world and worshiping the exact way we would in Dallas. There’s no better way to feel connected to the mystical body of Christ. We did notice one difference though. During one part of the Mass where we are used to standing as we say something, they wait until after it’s been said. So there I went, then Husbandy, but no one else. Hahaha, it was slightly embarrassing, but also kind of funny.

After Mass we walked back to the hotel. D&R were sitting in the lobby and had already eaten. Since it was still raining they didn’t want to walk to town, so Husbandy and I ventured out. We walked to a few places that we were hoping would be open, but they weren’t, so we ended up going to Brazz again. Not a bad decision since the food was good, but we would have liked to try something different.

After breakfast, we walked back up “the hill” one last time and passed D&R on their way down because the sun had started to come out. We hung around in the lobby for about an hour, but then decided another walk up the hill was worth going back to town for a little souvenir shopping. J

Pictures don't do "the hill" justice

Around the Copthorne, Queenstown

Before too long though we were at the Queenstown airport on our way to Auckland!  Around 5:30 we reached the Copthorne Hotel. First impressions: these people need to talk to the management in Queenstown, cause their resort was much nicer! The Copthorne in Auckland was concrete everywhere and things needed to be updated, especially the bathrooms!! I felt like I needed to wear shoes any time I got out of bed. Good thing we were in New Zealand and wouldn’t be in our rooms very much.

After some freshening up, we met D&R to walk around the city. Auckland is very pretty, right on the water, but the scenery just couldn’t compare to Queenstown. We walked around for a while looking for a place to eat. We actually went in to a bar type place, sat down, and then left after realizing they didn’t really have what we wanted to eat. It was kinda awkward, but it was bar, we sat ourselves…they should have come to take our order faster. :P R really wanted to go to Britomart for dinner. The entire day he had been talking about it, but I kept hearing “burrito mart” so I was thinking something like Freebirds. Hahah. No. Turns out Britomart is an area in Auckland, and we ate at The Brewery. Husbandy and I shared a pizza, I’m pretty sure it had rabbit on it. This was my first time to eat rabbit. Not bad. After dinner we stopped for some ice cream then went back to the hotel. Husbandy and I needed to figure out what we were going to do on out free day. Our budget was quickly running out, so we had to decide if a day trip out of town was what we wanted to do, even if it meant we would have to break the budget. We ended up deciding we would probably be in New Zealand once in our lives, so we needed to see more than just Queenstown and Auckland. After look at several options we booked the trip D&R had signed up for and headed to bed.

Right to left: Where we ate dinner, the Copthorne, Auckland, and a breathalyzer station (?)

May 28

Husbandy and I woke up around 6 to be at breakfast by 7:00. We had the same 2 for 1 deal as in Queenstown, same breakfast, but $2 more expensive. It was drizzling outside, but luckily we were on our way to a guided bus tour around Auckland. Our tour guide, Ron, was super sarcastic! He kept us laughing the entire time, and I think he really enjoyed the American’s company. We all interacted with him and gave him his sarcasm right back. J One of the most interesting stories he told was about the famous Auckland Harbor Bridge. It was originally built with only four lanes, however, it was quickly discovered that more lanes were needed. So, two young Japanese students designed lanes that were added to the bridged without extra support columns needing to be built. These extra lanes were nicknamed the "nip on clip ons." No lie.

Right to left: The Auckland bridge, Sky Tower, and driving on the nip on clip ons

Around Auckland

More of Auckland

After seeing a lot of the city, Ron took us to his favorite souvenir shop in Auckland, called The Elephant House. As we were walking down the path to the shop, Husbandy saw a sign that said “Elephant Walk.” Being the good Aggies that we are, we took pictures, while D&R just looked at us like we were crazy! If you are ever in Auckland, you have to go to this shop. Everything is authentic and hand made. We could have spent a whole bunch of money in there, but we decided to get a serving plate for us and an angel for mom.

Elephant House!

Ron also took the bus through the expensive neighborhood in Auckland. He told us about an "old dragon" who fought to get a law passed that didn't allow tours to come through the neighborhood anymore. He also told us the main reason for the law was that a certain group of tourist used to put their "tosie wosie posies" in people's pool and pick their flowers.

Million dollar houses

Our favorite tour guide

After the bus tour, we took a ferry with D&R across the harbor to Davenport. We walked around the small island for a bit and then stopped at The Patriot for lunch. Husbandy and I stuck to appetizers and beer, though I did try some of R’s mussels. I was a little skeptical about the texture, but I ended up liking it! It may have been the sauce that was with the mussels that I really liked, but I thought they just kinda tasted like… seafood.

On our way to Davenport - most expensive hotel in Auckland, The Hilton, is built right on the water

In Davenport

After more pics and walking around Davenport, we headed back to Auckland where we just kind of hung near the hotel until 6:00 which meant it was time for our dinner cruise. Before the cruise we were blessed with an amazing sunset. It was absolutely beautiful, so we tried to capture it on camera the best we could. By this time the weather had cleared up, a little cloudy and cool, but not raining! The dinner cruise was nice, our guides, Pablo and Michaela, were so much fun. They were both young and got along great with us.  For dinner we were served bread, shrimp with a hazelnut sauce, salmon, potatoes and artichoke, cream brulee, and coffee or hot chocolate. Husbandy and I were unaware that entrée in New Zealand doesn't mean main course….so when we got one shrimp as our entrée we were a little surprised. Luckily entrée is just the course before the main course, so we were excited to see salmon. J  Unfortunately there was zero wind that night, as in we never reach 1 knot, so we just kinda sat in the harbor. But the night was pretty and the company was nice, so we had a good time.  I was a little skeptical about the nip on clip on story Ron told us earlier in the day, so I asked Pablo what people around the city called the bridge. He didn’t immediately say nip in clip on, but once I mentioned he was like oh yeah, we call it that. I guess it’s true!

Beautiful sunset!

Dinner cruise

We started to head back to land around 8:00 and literally as soon as we got off the boat it started raining. It was the weirdest thing!! Since it was raining we all decided to go to bed cause we had to wake up eearrrly to go on our day trip!! I’m pretty sure we were in bed by 9:00.

May 29

Husbandy and I woke up at 5:30 to get ready for the day trip which had a prompt 6:30am pick up time. While at the bus station getting ready to go, we saw our tour guide from yesterday, Ron. He of course recognized us, cause he loved us (J), so he warned our bus driver about the crazy Americans. Our tour guide was named Kenny, though Ron told us to call him Brad Pitt.

We had quite a drive to our first stop, so we tried to sleep on the bus, but the mic was up super loud and Kenny talked for 1.5 hours straight about New Zealand and its history. I mean, wow, it was A LOT of info. We later asked him to turn the sound down just a bit. Our first stop was the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves. Basically there were these little worms that hung from the ceiling of the cave and glow. They were pretty cool to see. We actually got in a boat and our tour guide rowed us around the cave for about 10-15 minutes. You had to stay quite because the worms stop glowing when they hear noise as a defense mechanism. Luckily, everyone stayed quiet and we saw the worms glow the whole time. Husbandy and I really enjoyed our tour guide, he had a very interesting voice, we still mimic him today.

A small dose of New Zealand countryside

After the worms it was back to the bus for lunch….premade sandwiches, an apple, and a cookie. I actually kind of like the sandwich, but I don’t know that Husbandy was impressed. We drove for another while and stopped at the Rotorua Agridome. This was a large farm where we drove around and saw cows (they literally came RIGHT up to us….I think D may have been kissed by one :P), fed sheep, watched a sheep dog do his thing, and watched a sheep shearing. We learned a lot about New Zealand agriculture. I was also really impressed with the sheep shearing, our guide, Shane, made it look really easy.

Lots of farm animals

Sheep dog showing us his tricks

Sheering sheep

Our next stop on the day trip was a Maori village at Te Puia. The Maori people are the New Zealand natives. This stop was definitely my favorite of the day! Right when we got there we sat in on a traditional Maori dance/welcoming ceremony. We took a really cool video during part of the ceremony. After the ceremony was over, we took a guided tour, with Carla, around the village. Our first stop on the tour was to see a couple of geysers. We were lucky enough to see both geysers go off which was pretty neat. We also saw a hot springs pool which had been nicknamed the “conception pool.” Don’t think I’ll be sitting in there any time soon. J It was pretty chilly out so Carla took us of to some concrete slabs which were geothermally heated. The slabs were built over hot steam, and they certainly worked! In some areas it got so hot I could feel my skin getting burned (that word may be too strong) through my clothes. We sat there while Carla told us a lot about the Maori people and her childhood growing up in the village. It was all very interesting. Our next stop was a mud pool, so we learned about mud baths and such. Because our bus had to leave, we had to cut the tour short, but not before we got to see a kiwi bird! Kiwi’s are the national bird of NZ and are nocturnal, so they are hard to catch. But, we went into controlled environment where it was dark and we spotted one all curled up in the corner. Cute little puff balls.

Rotorua, NZ

Maori village

Welcome Ceremony

Geysers

Right to left: Carla, natural warming, mud bath, Maori art

At about 5:00 we were back in the bus heading back to Auckland. Husbandy and I were glad we made the trip to see and learn more about NZ. We’re not quite sure when we’ll be back on the other side of the world again. J

Once back, we decided to eat dinner with D&R at an Irish pub called Danny-Doolans. The atmosphere was really fun, great music. Husbandy was really craving wings so I consented. They definitely weren’t Wings Stop, but they were pretty good. We also caved for some fries and beer. Around 10:00 we headed back to the hotel. It had been a long day with lots of traveling so we quickly fell asleep.

May 30

For our last day of the trip we decided to take it easy and sleep in. We woke up with no alarm and leisurely packed up our things for check out. We had missed breakfast, so we decided to try a coffee shop that was all over Auckland, Esquires. The muffin we split was alright, but the coffee was really good. Probably cause the put lots of caramel in it. J After breakfast we walked around Auckland and made our way to Sky Tower, the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. We didn’t want to pay to go in it, but we did get to see some people jump off of it and walk around the perimeter. Crazy Kiwis (ok the people who were doing it were most likely tourists…).

Financial District

Sky Tower

After we were finished sightseeing we met D&R for lunch at the fresh fish market. Ron had original told us about it on our bus tour around the city, so we had to try it. Husbandy ended up getting fish and chips, and I got the captain’s feast which consisted of an assortment of seafood. Maybe it was a little risky with a 13 hour flight in my near future, but I just had to. One of the things on the plate was oysters. I figured since I liked the mussels I tried a few days ago, I’d like oysters, so I gave it a try. Wrong. It was not the same. Don’t think I’ll be springing for any of those here in The States.

Fisherman's Wharf

After a short walk around Fisherman’s Wharf we headed back to the hotel. We still had a while until we were going to be picked up for the airport, but we had really done all we could around the city. We ended up playing spades in the lobby with D&R and getting ready for the flight. Our ride to the airport was filled with laughs as we remembered all the funny things that had happened throughout the trip. I’m pretty sure Husbandy and Rich had everyone in the car laughing, even those who weren’t on the trip with us, including the driver.

Random pictures I wanted to add. Right to left: I think our trashcans should say this is The States, my swollen feet, the Starbucks of Auckland (don't worry, Starbucks was there too), view from our room in Auckland, this pattern was everywhere in NZ, speed limit sign, and a random billboard. Clearly these people aren't partying with my friends. :)

We made it through security without any random compliance checks! Yea us!! We had slightly better seats for the flight home because D&R let us in on their traveling tricks and we contacted the travel agency that booked our flight and asked for a change of seats. We again watched movies, played some games, and tried to sleep.

Once we landed in LA, Husbandy and I raced to get our luggage and then through customs. We knew there was an earlier flight we wanted to catch, so we quickly said our goodbyes and ran to the domestic terminal…not an easy feat with all our luggage! When we originally booked our tickets we knew there was an earlier flight, but without knowing how long customs would take, it was a risk to book. Plus, we decided we could just try standby if we could. Once we finally reached the correct terminal we went to customer service counter, but we were told the airline did not do standby. Dang! The only way to get on the earlier flight was to pay some outrageous price! Normally it wouldn't matter too much, and it didn't for Husbandy because he didn't start work until the next week, but I had a meeting at work at 8:30 the next morning, so I wanted to get to bed asap. (PS when I heard there was a meeting scheduled at that time the day I got back I just kinda laughed…) With no flight change we would have been getting into Dallas around 11:45pm (again, my gracious mom had agreed to pick us up). Dallas was also having bad weather, so there was a chance the flight would be delayed. Despite these two things I decided I wanted to just suck it up and not spend the money. Husbandy had a better idea and decided to call the airline and try to get them to change our ticket. He was very nice on the phone and had zero trouble getting our flight switched! Yea Husbandy!! Somehow in the mix our baggage fee was also waived! We were excited about this.

Once on the plane we finally relaxed and started to watch a movie. About half way through our flight we had some terrible turbulence. I. Mean. Terrible. I had never been through turbulence like this and hope I’m never there again. It was the kind where you are flying out of your seat and you’re sure the airplane is just going to fall right out of the sky. Luckily, I had Husbandy to grab onto…but the poor girl sitting next to me was alone and just curled up in her seat and put a blanket over her. It last for what I thought was too long, but eventually the pilots got above the storm. I knew we were just going to have to go back through it to land though. I said a lot of prayers, and thankfully it wasn't as bad when we landed. I was so happy to be on land! We got our luggage and met my mom. On the way home we told her lots of stories about the trip. J At this point May 30^th had officially been the longest day of our lives…literally…we kind of lived it twice with the time change, so we were super tired.

I don’t know that I ever thought I would actually go to New Zealand. It was such a wonderful trip with Husbandy. Though it was a little short, we were happy to be home, in our new home (!) and start our lives….as a married couple….living in the same city.

Just in case you were wondering, I treated myself to Starbucks on the way to work in the morning and tried to stay alert as best as I could during the meeting. I actually think I did pretty well, surprisingly.

There you have it! Our entire trip to NZ. I hope we continue to get to travel together, seeing the world is so fun!

Just Call Us Kiwis!

I think it’s about time I write a little about our trip to New Zealand! Readers may get a little bored, but it will be good for me to have all this written down somewhere. I may have already said something about this but, Husbandy and I wanted to go on a big trip after his graduation. We were originally planning on going to the Czech Republic, but after looking into it we realized flights were incredibly expensive! I started to keep my eyes open for good deals, and finally saw one to New Zealand on livingsocial. We did a little research on where we would be going and staying and decided the deal couldn’t be beat! The deal (flights, hotels, and a few excursions) was about $200 more expensive than just the flights to the Czech Republic.

May 22 - 24

As I said before, May was a really busy month for us, but we were ready to go on May 22^nd. Luckily, our flight to LA didn’t leave until 3:30 so we had the morning to do final packing and locking up our new house. My mom was gracious enough to take us to the airport so we didn’t have to pay for parking, we are incredibly thankful for this.

The flight to LA was great, nothing to special. When we got there we had a 5 hour layover! What to do, what to do. We first found a place to eat. Trying to find a restaurant with reasonable prices in an airport is impossible! I think we paid $30 for two burgers and fries…maybe a drink. Uhh. We then staked out a spot by some plugs and began watching Lord of the Rings. I had never seen the movies *insert gasps* and since I was going to NZ, I figured I should.

Our flight to Auckland, NZ left at 9:45PM. Our airplane was huge! It was one of those with 3 seats, aisle, 4 seats, aisle, 3 seats. We were lucky (nope) enough to get the inside set of seats. I love sitting by the window so I have somewhere to lean, but this time I was either leaning on Husbandy or random girl to my left (we later found out she and her husband had bought the same deal as we did and spent the next week with them, kinda - they liked doing things by themselves). Even though I wasn’t loving our seat situation, I did love the movie/tv/game selection! Husbandy and I first watch Mission Impossible, then I watched The Vow and he watched The Hangover. We also tried to sleep and I played PacMan and Tetris. 

After the 12 hour flight we were finally in NZ! Our first stop, customs. Oh customs. During the flight we filled out the form saying where we were going, how long we would be in NZ, why we were there…. One thing we forgot to put was where we would be staying (really the form made it sound like if you were a resident, put your address, so we didn’t fill in the blank). This was a problem. To escalate the problem Husbandy handed his form the customs lady first. Now, before the trip Husbandy was super busy with graduating, so he really didn’t read up on details of the trip. So, when he was asked where we were staying he had no idea and looked at me. I told him and the lady and she asked us to write it on the form. Things we very confusing, Husbandy was not on his A-game, and I’m sure we looked suspicious. We eventually got through the line, but we were directed to go right while EVERYONE else went left. Huh, odd. We quickly found out we had been chosen for a “random compliance check.” Riiiiight. Either way, there we sat for a good 50 minutes while EVERYTHING was taken out of EVERY bag we had. We were also wiped down for drugs. While sitting there I noticed my feet were incredible swollen. It was freaky. I had no idea why, so I was really hoping they would go back down. Anyways, nothing was found (shocker) so we went on our way to wait for our next flight to Queenstown.

While waiting, we met another couple from DC (Danielle and Rich - not the same couple we sat next to in the plane - who had also purchased the livingsocial deal. We started talking and realized this trip just got better!  Soon we were on our way to Queenstown. My first perceptions of NZ were this: people are nice, especially the flight crew, they have fun accents, and I really need a shower!

Due to the time change, we had actually skipped a day. So weird to think about, even more weird when I think I lived a day twice on the way back. Anyway, once in Queenstown, we checked into the Copthorne Lakefront Hotel and were upgraded to a lake front view. OMG it was beautiful, gorgeous! We were loving it already. 

Views from our room!

We immediately made plans to meet D&R later and went to our room. First thing to do…take a shower! Oh wow, it felt so good. At this point it had been about 30 hours since I had last seen a shower.

Soon we met up with D&R and walked down to the Queenstown Gardens and continued on to Lake Wakatipu then over to downtown Queenstown. It rained for a little bit, which made things even more chilly than they already were, but really nothing could stop us at that point. We were in NZ! We got several suggestions for where to eat, but ended up at Brazz. The service there was great! We even met someone from Mesquite. For dinner we had local beers, I got the South Island Blue Cod and Husbandy had ribs. I know that having ribs in NZ might sound weird, but several people had told us there were great, so he just had to compare to Texas Ribs. All the meat in NZ comes from grass fed animals, so it tasted great! Husbandy did have an issue with the BBQ sauce; it had a sort of Asian flare which wasn’t acceptable to his Texan taste buds. J It was at that dinner where we also found out just how expensive NZ is! Our dinner was 85 NZD! Eeek, the plans for our meals quickly changed. After dinner we walked around a bit more then headed to bed. This was also when we discovered the HUGE hill we got to walk up every time we wanted to go back to the hotel. What a joy.

Our first hours in NZ we perfect! We met friends, saw amazing scenery, and ate wonderful food.

May 25

Husbandy and I woke up a little after 7am to be ready for 8:00 breakfast. Our livingsocial deal allowed both of us to eat breakfast every morning while only having to pay for one of us. Granted the breakfast was priced a little high at the hotel, but we figured we’d pay just as much for both of us somewhere in town.

After breakfast we walked across Queenstown to a gondola ride up the side of a mountain. Once there Husbandy and I realized we didn’t have our voucher number! I figured they could look us up by name, buuut no such luck. D&R went on up to look around while Husbandy and I trucked across town to the hotel. It ended up being about 30 minutes round trip – not tooo bad.

While on top of the mountain we took some great pics of Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu, and the Remarkables. We also rode a luge. Husbandy and Rich did the luge twice, so they could do the advanced course, but I didn’t think it was worth it. J

Once back down the mountain we spent time seeing more of the town and bought some souvenirs. We also found gelato and stopped immediately. While we were getting up from eating, Husbandy banged his head on a metal fence which left a pretty big gash in his head and a gave him a headache, so we went back to the hotel for some medicine and rest. I wanted to fight out jet-lag, but Husbandy was out. Around 3:40 I ended up falling asleep too, it was about 10:40pm in Dallas after all.

At 6:00 we met up with D&R for dinner. We walked into town to eat at Furgburger, which was recommended to us earlier in the day when the word “converter” was mistaken for the word “burger.” We were sure glad it was too, cause the burger was gigantic and tasty. After dinner and a stop at a minibar for some drinks, we headed to bed. It was only 8:30, but with the sun going down around 5:45-6:00 and the jet- lag we were ready for sleep.

YUM

May 26

Again we woke up for an 8:00 breakfast at the hotel. Today was the day we were most excited about because we were off to the Nevis Swing! We got to the check in point early, which ended up being nice because they had free Internet. Our hotel advertised free Internet, but what they meant to say was free Internet for 20 minutes or so many megabytes, whiiiich ended up being about 5 minutes of Internet a day.

Anyway, after a 45 min bus ride out to the site, we were harnessed and ready to go! We first watched people bungy, which was nerve racking, but looked so fun! They all made it look so easy! We were actually  tempted to go, but decided we couldn’t spend the money. Soon after we were hooked together in the “honeymoon position” and swinging over the Nevis canyon! So. Much. Fun. I really wanted to go again! So glad we ended up buying the video and pictures of us swinging so we could watch it over and over and show friends and family. :)

Here we go!

Once back in Queenstown we ate a quick fish and chips at PJs then headed back to the hotel for a 1:30 pick up for a LOTR tour. Yup. We are those people. But seriously, it’s pretty cool getting to know behind the scenes info, seeing where scenes were shot, and how the directors manipulated things to make the movie work. For the tour we rode around in a car with 4 other people. It was pretty cool, one lady was from Canada, and  two from France. I’m not sure where the other girl was from. We weaved our way through mountains stopping every now and then for juicy info and pics. We also saw where scenes from The Hobit, Willow, Vertical Limit, America’s Next Top Model, Narnia, Wolverine, and several commercials were shot. NZ is very popular with directors because it has everything from mountains, to lakes, to forests right by each other. 

Not sure why we weren't cast for Frodo and Sam

Scenes from the tour

On the way back there was zero stopping, but just as much weaving in and around the mountain. My stomach was NOT ok with this. For some reason I was just fine with the swing earlier in the day, but while on the tour, most of the car ride back to Queenstown I was focused on not getting sick. Our tour guide, Adrienne, was super fun so it was hard not to talk with him, but it was important not to break concentration. When we were almost back in town he asked Husbandy and I if we wanted to be dropped off in town or at the hotel. I was very thankful when Husbandy said the hotel. There was no walking for me at that time. I later found out Husbandy’s stomach also started to feel weird, but his defense was to talk to keep his mind off it. I literally could not stand without feeling nauseous,so we went straight to our room. Husbandy ended up falling asleep and I watched some TV. Later we got up and ordered more fish and chips (Husbandy had another craving) from the hotel restaurant. The rest of the night was spent relaxing around the hotel. We even watched a little rugby, which is HUGE in NZ. The All Blacks, the national team, had just won the rugby world cup, so rugby was everywhere!

I'd really like to finish up Queenstown, but I think this is getting long. So...stayed tuned for our last day in Queenstown and Auckland!

What a Month!

I know it's been a while since I posted (again), but May was SUCH a busy month! But everything that made it busy was so wonderful that it would be a shame to not write it all down. :)

We started the month off celebrating our three year anniversary! I cannot believe we've already been married for three years. Honestly, I thought my life would be a lot different three years into my marriage than it actually turned out to be. But that's just the thing, it was my plan. I could write more about that, but it's really not what I sat down to write about. I convinced Husbandy to stay in Dallas to celebrate our anniversary. He met me for lunch and brought me chocolate covered strawberries. Later that night we went to Houstons for dinner. A few girls at work were always talking about how good this place is, so we just had to try it out. Husbandy took their advice and got ribs and fries, and I got pecan crusted fish. Turns out they weren't lying! Both of us loved our dinner and Husbandy even found a way to convince our waitress we were "low on fries," so she brought us more. When we got back to the house, my mom surprised us with Sprinkles cupcakes! It was a wonderful night, I just wish he didn't have to leave in the morning.

Not to worry though! One short week later, Husbandy was FINISHED with grad school!!! He did it! We did it! Knowing that is behind us is such a relief. The rest of the month happened at light speed. On May 10th Husbandy's family flew in from Florida to see him graduate. We were so happy they we able to make it! May 12th, 2012 Husbandy graduated from Texas A&M University! WHOOP! It was a goal he had set for himself and he did it. I was so proud of him that day, I had tears streaming down my face. I'm of course still proud of him today, but the day he graduated was filled with so much emotion. We are so blessed to have wonderful family in our life. Several of them gave up their weekend to come sit in a 4 hour graduation to see Husbandy. Thank you so much for everyone who came. It made us incredibly happy to have family around us, and to know how much you all support us. I understand College Station is just a fun town to be in, but who really wants to be sitting in Reed Arena for that long? After the ceremony we all went and ate at Coppe Bridge. It was nice and relaxing; just family and fun. After lunch everyone split to go their separate ways. Husbandy, his family, and I all went back to his apartment to move out the last bit of stuff in there. We then headed to the newly renovated MSC! WOW! I love how they made it look updated, but still kept the integrity of the building. I think they did a wonderful job.


Our wonderful family that came to graduation!



Renovated MSC!



Officially both Mays Business School Grads!

The rest of the weekend was spent in Dallas getting to spend time with Husbandy's family. They got the see our new house (we hadn't closed on it yet, but we were so close!), eat at some of our favorite restaurants, take tours in the Cowboy's stadium, and just hang out. Lucky for us, Mother's Day was that Sunday so we both got to be with our moms! This obviously never happens, so that was really special.

Husbandy's family left on Monday and on Wednesday we got a call from his sister telling us we are going to be a tio y tia! We are super excited to get another niece or our first nephew! Congrats to Amanda and Weo. :)

Thursday May 17th, 2012, will always be known as the day we spent the most money we've ever spent, and promised to pay the most money we've ever had to promise. Ok, so it was more than that.....we bought a house!!! That weekend we convinced people to help us move in. We even had my brother helping on his birthday! :) Thank you to everyone for helping us, we promise not to move again for a VERY long time.



We've had a lot of first's in the house already. Most of them have been captured on camera, so I'll have to share those soon. :D

After moving we immediately had to unpack luggage, so we could repack them...for NEW ZEALAND! We left the Tuesday after moving in. Talk about a quick turn around. The trip was absolutely amazing, but I'm going to make it's own post.

May was a big big month for us...can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds!

There's Always Room for You!

So, last Friday was not my favorite. First of all work was really stressing me out. The first week of every month is the busiest time for me because we have to close our books for the previous month. What I don't get is why WHY the company schedules trainings/meetings/presentations for this time. And even better, more than one during the week. I know they can't schedule it around all the different groups, but I would think a lot of groups would be busy at this time. In addition to company wide meetings, I also had a day and a half of meetings for a new project I was put on. I'm really excited I was put on the project cause I'll learn a lot, but all these meetings pushed me way back. Also, things that usually take me 30 minutes were not working and had me and four other people looking at it. We didn't even get it resolved until Tuesday morning. All of this added up = stressed out Kim.

On top of the work stuff, our *hopeful* house finally had electricity which meant we could finally get an inspection. Because we want to close on the house asap, we wanted to schedule an inspection before Husbandy would be back home (which was Wednesday the following week....our option period ended Thursday). Obviously that wouldn't work which meant I was going to have to be at the inspection by myself. I did NOT want this cause Husbandy knows probably 100% more than what I do about anything and everything the inspector would be talking about. How was I ever going to remember all that stuff in order to relay it to Husbandy so we could make decisions?! No idea. We are also getting a new roof on the house and the roofer wanted to meet us on Sunday to pick a color (never knew there were so many different shades of shingles). Great, another big decision with no Husbandy. :-/

With work and the house on my mind I was a little upset. Sooo I called Husbandy on my way home and vented. I also went home and had a beer. :) Unfortunately, I still had to figure out who the best person would be to take with me to my inspection on Sunday.

That night when I was just about to fall asleep I decided to call Husbandy to tell him goodnight and to have a fun weekend of studying. He didn't answer, so I started to pray that they Lord would help me get through the weekend. As I was finishing up, Husbandy called! He asked me what I was doing so I told him I was about to go asleep. He then asked if my mom was asleep. Hmm, that a weird question. Then he said he was just getting home from the business school and was getting ready for bed, so he needed to call me back. We hung up and I began conjuring up this grand scheme in my head that Husbandy had driven from CS to surprise me. I started to get really excited...but the dog hadn't barked...which she would have if Husbandy had entered the house...so I started to forget about it. Two minutes later I hear Katey let out one bark and I perk up. But just one bark? She usually goes crazy. Then Husbandy calls me back and is like so you're going to bed? ...Yes... Alright, well, is there room in the bed for me??? *door busting open*  He did it! He drove all the way to Dallas to surprise me!! And surprise me he did. :)

I later found out when he told me he had to get ready for bed, he was calling my mom to let Katey outside so she wouldn't bark. Sneaky sneaky.

At the shingle picking and inspection on Sunday, I was soooo happy he was there. Thank you Lord for encouraging him to come! I know he's sick of that drive, but it made me one happy wife. :)

Well April Came and Went...

So, it has been a while. Ok, a month. A lot has happened this month though!

Where to start, where to start. In my last post I mentioned Husbandy had an interview. He ended up liking the company's atmosphere and people a lot; to top it off, he thought the interview went well. This was confirmed when he got a call from one of the guys he interviewed with saying "Congrats, you are going to be working under me, all we need to do is a background check." Yea, woohoo, yippie! Not. The next week he received a call saying they were no longer creating the position they had interviewed him for. * Screeching halt* Huuh?? Needless to say, that was a bummer. The day he heard this news was later topped off by a call from the College Station Fire Department telling me Husband's apartment was on fire. Awesome. Don't worry, it ended up not being too too bad, really just a burned door and water damage. (Husbandy may correct me on that).

God's plan is always better than our own, however. The top dude at the company that turned Husbandy down did really like him and ended up giving him a contact at another commercial valuation firm. Without wasting time, Husbandy was on the phone and had an interview for the following Friday! The interview went really well and Husbandy was offered a position!! He took some time looking over the offer, and accepted it. I'm so proud of him, he's worked so hard for this, and now get to do exactly what he wants. He'll be starting on June 4. What makes it even more perfect is his office is 3.2 miles away from our *hopeful* house!

Oh, yeah, we put an offer on a house. :) During Husbandy's spring break we met with a Realtor and started our search. It has definitely had its ups and downs. The fifth house we looked at, on the second day of looking, was absolutely gorgeous. It was incredibly updated with a to die for kitchen and master bath. I mean, wow. We knew the house was going to go quick, so that night we had my family come and take a look. They didn't seems to have any real major concerns, so the next morning we decided we wanted to put in an offer! I really couldn't believe we found a house that quick. Before going to speak with our Realtor, Husbandy went to drive around the house/neighborhood one more time. I soon got a call that he just wasn't feeling it. He couldn't see us raising our family there. We talked it over, and decided that even though it was super nice, it wasn't for us. Wamp, wamp. Soo we kept looking, not a big deal, I didn't expect it to be that quick anyways. We then found a house in an awesome location. Loooooved the neighborhood. But, of course the house was a foreclosure, and needed some work. We put in offer knowing it was kinda low and that there were three others, and ended up not getting it. Finally, on house 40, we found one that fit almost everything we wanted! Great neighborhood, updated, move in ready, lots of room to grow, parks nearby, right in the middle of all my family...you get the idea. After going back and looking at it a second time and bringing family to take a look, we put in an offer! One counter offer later, we're under contract!!!

Being under contract is really when all the madness starts. I'm kinda sick of all the paper work and decision making. :)We had our inspection today and there are things that definitely need to be fixed before we say we'll take it, but we're still hopeful. Every time I go to the house I love it more, but I can't become too emotionally attached knowing that it's not ours yet, and that things could still fall through. If you don't mind saying some prayers that things go well, Husbandy and I would appreciate it.

House hunting has been a challenge with Husbandy not living in Dallas, but he's done so wonderful handling it all. In between that and school work, we celebrated our three year anniversary. I cannot believe it's already been three years. It sure hasn't felt like it. Thankfully it fell during Husbandy's dead week and we were able to have a wonderful dinner together at Houston's. We came home fat and happy. :P People have asked me what we got each other and to that I respond....a house? A trip to New Zealand? Take your pick.

That's right, on May 22 we will be on our way to God Zone...apparently that's its nickname. We got a really good deal from LivingSocial that we couldn't pass up. More on that trip later......

There were lots of other fun fun things that happened during April 2012, like two of my close friend at work telling me they are pregnant, and our annul Wagner/Fry day-o-fun in Ennis. We first go and take pictures in the bluebonnets and then go to the drive-in! It's been a tradition for three years now. I honestly can't wait until we throw little Wagners and Vrly Fries to the mix. Maybe the movie going will suffer, but the pictures will probably be cuter (no offense).

Did I mention Husbandy has THREE DAYS and ONE FINAL left!?!?! I am so excited. It will probably be a very long three days, but I cannot wait until Wednesday night.

Congrats if you made it this far....I think I'm done. God Bless!

Niece's first Easter! I love her.