My Nomadic Life

Life has been pretty rough. Right now as I write this I'm sitting in front of a fire in Colorado staring out at the mountains on a beautiful sunny day, with not a task to accomplish today. I know, I don't know how i'm surviving :)

A little less than a month ago Sean finally arrived in the US. I couldn't be happier and we are having a blast together. We spent a few days in Houston showing him my life there and a few new touristy things (Battleship USS Texas and NASA's Rocket Park). It was a gorgeous 80 degrees out for the week so it was fun to show him was a Texas "winter" was. I think I also accidentally made him think that all we do in Texas is eat.

We headed up to Dallas only a few days later to be caught in shorts and freezing temperatures. I guess he really did get to experience true Texas weather. We went to Billy Bob's with my sister for some live country music, two stepping, and bull riding. We were going to go to six flags the next day, but it didn't sound too pleasant in the freezing rain we were getting, so we staying inside and played games.

We spent the next few days shopping and packing for our next adventure and stopped off at a trampoline park. Sean LOVES his trampoline so I figured he would be missing it and it would be fun to see his moves. It wasn't exactly what we expected and there were a LOT of screaming children, but we had fun and Sean taught me how to do flips.

If we hadn't vacationed enough, my entire dad's side of the family headed down to Jamaica for thanksgiving and Sean tagged along. We had an absolute blast and the weather was beautiful. We did a bit of lounging by the pool and beach and headed out exploring one day. We went to a waterfall that is formed kind of like stairs. You can climb your way up to the top and it was a blast. Sean and my dad decided to take the hard way and try to climb up all the waterfalls instead of just stepping on the stones and Sean looked pretty abused by the end of it.

Though Sean is even less a fan of customs, he made it back into the US successfully where it was back to winter weather. We had a day to unpack, do laundry and repack and then headed on a road trip of the US. We headed to San Antonio the first day to stay with a friend of mine. We made a stop in Austin on the way to take a tour of the Capitol and were shocked to find the temperature had jumped to 90 degrees. We had only packed cold weather clothes, so we were a bit hot but we survived. We saw the Alamo and Riverwalk in San Antonio, and had an amazing dinner with my friend and his fiancee.

The next morning we headed out to Lost Maples Park. It was still beautiful weather out and the hike we did was gorgeous. We finished the hike, got back to our campsite and set up our tent, very conscience of the fact that we were the only tent among numerous RVs. Fortunately it was still hot out. Unfortunately overnight it dropped to 40 degrees and was quite chilly (more Texas crazy changing weather for Sean). Fortunately we weren't camping the next night, so we packed up our tent and headed out.

We drove the scenic route to New Braunfels and had lunch at the Gristmill. We stayed at my aunt and uncles house and my aunt took us on a driving tour of the city (it was still freezing out). That night we headed to Wassailfest, a local winter festival, but it was so cold we didn't stay too long. A huge ice/snow/wintery mix storm hit most of Texas that night, so we weren't able to leave as planned the next day. New Braunfels was fine, but Dallas was completely iced and closed. Our campsite for the night called to say they were closed too (but we had already decided the idea of camping in freezing rain was not our idea of fun). My uncle took us to Lockhart where the most famous BBQ in Texas is. I don't think Sean spoke the entire meal and just inhaled as much meat as possible. We took at stop to see the world's largest pecan on the way home (it was quite disappointing). Later we went the Gruene Hall (Texas's oldest dancehall) and came home and played some games with my aunt and uncle.

We decided to try and at least see as much as we could so we went to Fredericksburg for the next night. We stopped in Luckenbach (smallest town in Texas? US?), did a wine tasting at one of the area's million wineries and had dinner at a local German restaurant. We were going to try and go see Enchanted Rock the next morning when it warmed up a bit but Dallas was still frozen and was due to expect another ice storm. We decided we had to ditch our hike and get back to Dallas in the small window of time where it was slightly above freezing. Fortunately we had no trouble with the ice until we turned onto my parent's street.

Since Dallas was still mostly shut down we stayed home most of the next few days. My mom's side of the family came over to meet Sean and we spent the rest of the time doing laundry, watching TV, playing games and convincing Sean how atypical this weather was for Texas, especially this early in the year. I don't think he's convinced.

Two days ago we headed to Breckenridge, Colorado so Sean can go snowboarding. My sister and a friend of mine joined us. The weather is absolutely beautiful and there is plenty of snow on the ground for them. Because of my knee I can't go, hence me sitting at our condo by the fire. But I'm enjoying relaxing and they are enjoying having a ride to and from the slopes. We plan to do some snowshoeing at some point and walk around town a bit.

Once we get back from Colorado Sean heads home a few days later :(. I'm still on my last lesson of my homework, but I don't plan to start up again until I get to New Zealand. Time has flown and will continue to fly and while I'm loving the traveling unemployed lifestyle, I am looking forward to being somewhat settled again. I'm starting to get sick of packing and unpacking.

Well that's a lot so I'll stop there. I need to add some pictures, but I didn't bring my computer so you will have to wait for me to add them. In the meantime if we are facebook friends you can look at my pictures there.

Wrapping Up Houston

Wow. I forgot I hadn't updated anyone in awhile. Sorry. Fortunately you didn't miss out on anything too exciting.

Shortly after my last post I quit my job at the restaurant. The owner decided he had a problem with me for some reason and started overscheduling me and being rude to me. One Wednesday he started yelling at me in front of customers and I decided that was it. I've never not been liked by an employer so it was a really weird experience for me. Having to quit on bad terms was not something I was too excited to have to do.

I worked one more shift (I knew it would make money and I had to get my money from that Wednesday) and on the way to work my car broke down. Even better I seemed to manage to forget my phone at home. Fortunately I had been able to pull into a parking spot and was only about a block from work, so I just walked. They made me get straight to work and I got a good 12 hour shift in. I took a short break to try and fix my car (of course it started downpouring) and we thought we had it taken care of. I went to drive home later and I got about a third of the way and it broke down again. Fortunately I was able to pull into a restaurant that was closing down. The only number I had was the restaurant but seeing as I had just quit, I didn't anticipate too much help coming from that end. The number wouldn't work anyway, but fortunately the restaurant closed and helped get me home (my car was drivable but wouldn't go far. Fortunately I only worked a few miles from home). They were so helpful and generous and I got really lucky. For as bad as the day could have been, it could have been a whole lot worse. I got it fixed and it wasn't as expensive as it could have been so I was happy.

Work at my drafting job continued to go great. Having a normal schedule again was amazing and I got to spend a lot more time with my friends. They started having less and less work for me, so I got a few days off a week (and still got paid) so I was able to get a lot of other stuff done.

As of now I have most of my stuff sold, I submitted my preliminary designs for my last assignment, so I'm at a good stopping point (which is good since I'm about to sell my desk), and I'm in my last week of work.

Sean finished his last exam yesterday so he is officially done with school (I'm jealous). He gets here in 5 days and I couldn't be more excited. It's homecoming this weekend so it should be fun and busy and time will fly by.

When Sean gets here we plan to spend a few days here in Houston, then up to Dallas with the family. We head out to Jamaica for Thanksgiving (extended family trip) and then come back and go camping in the Hill Country. We then go skiing in Colorado and return just in time for Sean to fly back home. I highly anticipate getting a cold with all the temperature changes but I can't wait! Time is going to fly and before you know it I'm going to be back in New Zealand.

I'm losing my mind

I have a newfound respect for people who work crazy hours. I started my new job last Wednesday and its going great. The guy i'm working for is really cool and I'm really enjoying the work I am doing. The problem is that I work too fast for them, so they have trouble finding enough for me to do. The positive side is that since I had nothing to do and my boss was taking the day off, I got the day off too and I'm still getting paid. Its the first day I have had off in a few weeks and its really nice.

Fortunately my new job isn't too demanding because the hours of having two jobs alone has taken its toll. Almost every day so far has been working at my new job and driving straight to the restaurant to continue working until 10pm. This week has been better, but last week with having to adjust to my new sleep schedule and all the work I was completely exhausted. I worked 14 hour days both Thursday and Friday and 10 BUSY hours on Saturday. I got home Friday night and went to put shorts on and had a serious debate with myself on whether or not the tag went in the front or the back.I was so exhausted the owner actually expected me not to show up for my shift Sunday.

I have gotten my shifts sorted out so I don't work as much, but apparently my brain still hasn't recovered. I just went to the bank and the teller confirmed my last name because apparently I wrote it as Kristen Here. I must have been reading here somewhere on the deposit slip when I was writing. Anyway, I'm excited to have not just one, but two days in a row off to give my brain a break. Unfortunately I need to get some homework done and get more stuff sold, but I should have enough time to turn my brain off too.

Tonight I am going to the dynamo game with some of my old soccer teammates and tomorrow I am going to a wedding for a girl on my old women's team. I've had a hard time making schedules match up with the girls, so I'm excited to actually get to see all of them.

I've decided to go to Colorado with Sean when he comes to visit and a old friend of mine that now lives in Florida is going to join us as well. Hopefully all the long hours will be worth it so I can do all of the fun things with him when he comes to visit. His arrival is getting closer and closer and I am just counting down the days.

Oh and in more good news, we finally sold my car in New Zealand! And I got my NZ tax return, but filing my US return has proven WAY more complicated than I could ever imagine. Its been rejected 5 times so far because the forms aren't properly filled out, so hopefully the sixth time is a charm.

More good news!

I couldn't be having a better week. Yesterday I got the good news! My visa got approved. Even better, I got a whole year (the max they could have issued to me). So now I'm off to start selling all my stuff. (If you need anything, let me know). I booked my flight from Hawaii to NZ today (with a nice 4 day vacation in Hawaii) and will be back in Auckland on January 15th!

I start my new job tomorrow and hopefully will get re-motivated soon to keep getting my homework done.

New Job... again

Just when I think I have my life sorted out for a bit it decides to throw me another curveball. Makes things interesting at least. On Tuesday I got a message from one of the recruiters I had talked to when I first got back. She had a temp position for 4-6 weeks she wanted to know if I was interested in. It is a drafting position with an attractive hourly pay. I said yes, and we got the interview set up. It wasn't until an hour before my interview, when I found out the details of where I was going, that I learned that its actually a marine technology company. I could not be getting any luckier.

My interview went great and I really liked the company and the guy I will be working with. The job seems perfect for my skills and will hopefully help me in the future. Friday it was confirmed I got the job and I start sometime mid next week. An added bonus is apparently when it is slow, I don't have to come in and they will still pay me. I am not looking forward to start having to wake up early again. I was getting used to sleeping in.

I let the restaurant know tonight and they are understanding. I will continue to work there for the next few weeks that I am already scheduled and depending on how it goes, I will probably keep a few of my shifts.

Homework comes and goes in phases. I am almost finished with all of the short lessons and then will be down to the final massive lesson. It will probably take me at least two months to finish. It will be such a good relief when I finally get that done.

As if all that excitement wasn't enough, the house across the street got demolished this week and it has provided endless entertainment and satisfaction. I think I have found my new career path! I also found my phone charger that I have been missing since I moved back to Houston.

Employment

Well, it wasn't easy, but I finally found a job.... two actually. Apparently no one wants to hire someone for only three months, even in the restaurant world. I apparently took for granted how much New Zealand accommodates to travelers. I was starting to worry because the more time passed, the smaller my time frame of being able to work was. People were telling me I needed to lie about my timeframe, but I didn't feel comfortable with that. I had no idea how I would be able to talk about me without anyone knowing I was leaving.

Fortunately my grandpa invited me to a happy hour down the street last week. I was introduced to the owner and the next day I was working there. I worked as a hostess the first day, had a training day on Tuesday and had my first real shift yesterday. The people are really nice and helpful, and I'm quite excited about it. Its a million times easier than the restaurant I worked at in New Zealand which is refreshing.

My other job is teaching in an apartment complex after school one night a week. The complex is a unique community and they offer this service to their residents for them as an opportunity for them to learn. I can teach whatever I feel I know about and write my own curriculum. It hasn't started yet but we have discussed the possibility of soccer or art. It should be a lot of fun and an experience at the least.

Sean booked his flight to the US so I am just counting down the days until he gets here. I'm waiting on a few documents to come in for my visa, which will hopefully only be another week or so, and then I will get my visa application submitted. It will be nice to finally have everything set in stone.

Moving.... again

I have finally got over my jet lag and am sleeping at night. (Horray!) A few weeks ago I moved back down to Houston and am living with a friend of mine from Rice. I had a storage unit of my stuff that I had to empty out, so I hired movers. A whole apartment of stuff in one bedroom was going to be entertaining, but fortunately I didn't have much and I'm a good organizer. Here is the room right after the movers left:

And here is it about an hour later (I was quite proud):

Once I got a desk, the room got completely organized and actually looks like a room. Fortunately there is a spare room that I've been able to throw some stuff into.

Once that was sorted I started working on finding a temp job. The house doesn't have internet yet (it will tomorrow!!) so its made things a bit challenging, but its making procrastinating harder to do as well. We don't really have TV either (and won't be getting it) so unemployment has been pretty slow. Fortunately I've got quite a bit of homework done and its looking easier than I expected. Hopefully I will be done sooner than I expected as well. I've also demolished two books in the past week. I'm starting to feel like my sister. If you are looking for a good read, Stone Cold by David Baldacci was one of the best books I've read. Also made me somewhat terrified to be alone in the house, but I got over it.

I'm at the point in my visa application process where I'm just waiting for everything to come in. I'm anxious to get it in and see how it turns out so I can put some plans into action. I managed to use miles to get a flight to Hawaii on January 9th, so unless something goes terribly wrong, that's when I will be heading back out.

While I love being back and seeing everyone, one of our 4 channels had an educational show on yesterday. It happened to be on New Zealand and seeing all of the scenery (and not even the really pretty stuff) killed me having to watch. I'm enjoying my time here, but can't wait to get back.

Oh and a fun picture of my favorite welcome home gift, complete with Texas shaped chips!

I'm Home!

It still feels a bit surreal, but I'm home. I managed to stay up until 11pm last night, despite having flown for over 24 hours.

The last few days were great. I tried selling my car which was an interesting experience and packed up my stuff. Sean was sick, so I tried to spend as much time as possible with him, but he was a bit boring. We had dinner on Mt. Eden (where we had our first date) as my last meal in NZ.

Sunday night I had a potluck with all my friends. We had so much food I felt like I was going to burst and almost couldn't fit in dessert. Somehow I managed and we had a great time. I was really glad I got to see everyone before I left.

To throw in a surprise for my mom when I landed, I decided to die the ends of my hair pink before leaving. Sadly it faded a lot quicker than I expected, but it was still enough to surprise her.

I got a phone number today, so if you want it, let me know. Can't wait to see everyone and catch up.

My Final Days: South Island

The trip to Queenstown started off amazing. We were hoping that my weather luck would stay with us and it sure did. Not a cloud in the sky when we arrived. I'm not normally a fan of taking pictures out the window, but the mountains were too cool not to.

We picked up our beautiful rental car and went for a drive along the devil's staircase. It was beautiful, but the sun was starting to go behind the mountains, so its still not on par with the beauty I first saw it in. There was so much snow around that I didn't really expect, but it was cool to see the city in a different light since this was my 4th trip. The next day we woke up and did the gondola and luge, followed up by some frisbee golf, despite the temperature hanging right around freezing all day. Spenser stayed in Queenstown for a few more days and Sean and I headed off to Dunedin.

On our way to luge with the city in the background

The luge track!

The roads were quite icy and we left in the midst of it snowing, but we made it safe and sound, though a bit behind schedule. There were some beautiful towns along the way and we took some photo stops to get a break from driving.

Its snowing on us!

We arrived in Dunedin just in time to sneak in a Speights brewery tour. I mistakenly thought the time was an hour later than it was, so we ended up walking around the city for a bit first. Even though I had done the tour before, I learned some new things and it was fun to do again.

The next day we did the Cadbury tour, walked around town again, went to the art museum and then headed out to the peninsula. We did some really neat walks, despite almost being blown over and then headed to a beach where we watched a few penguins come in for the day and some sea lions laying about. One of them almost tried to chase me down.

Wouldn't you want to be one of these sheep?

Its so windy that the trees are just permanently at an angle.

Sandfly bay

This was fun to walk down, and not as much back up!

Penguin!!

Dunedin at night!

Baldwin Street, the steepest residential street in the world

Tuesday we spent the day driving to Mt Cook. We stopped at the Moeraki Boulders, naturally rounded boulders that have come ashore. We also stopped at the Elephant rocks, the natural landscape used as Aslan's camp in the Narnia movies. We accidentally drove past it first and stumbled upon another trail with a really neat landscape. We finally got to our room for the night set right on Lake Pukaki right near the base of the mountains with a perfect view of Mt. Cook. We got extremely lucky with the weather again and got some wonderful views of the mountain, which was good because it was clouded in the rest of the time we were there. The lake has a natural bright blue hue due to the glacier rock sediment.

Moeraki Boulders

Elephant Rocks - Where Narnia was filmed

Lake Pukaki with Mt. Cook in the background

We woke up early the next morning and tried to do a hike in the mountains to the base of a glacier. We made it about halfway into the 4 hour return hike and decided to turn around, but we had seen everything we wanted to. The trail was quite icy and the rain was coming in, so we decided it would be best to turn back around instead of hiking an additional two hours in the rain. It was incredible how the mountains were in a giant cloud and overcast, but just as the mountains ended there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The mountains were too pretty, so I took WAY too many pictures, but I have tried to narrow them down.

We did another short walk to the base of the tasman glacier and then headed off to Lake Tekapo for the afternoon.

Tasman Glacier

Blue lake - Frozen over

Lake Tekapo was absolutely stunning. The lake is known for its blue color and the pictures I took don't do it justice. We were really lucky it was a sunny day out (my weather luck was still with us). I thought the view by the water's edge was as pretty as it could get, but then we drove up to the top of Mt. John and had even more stunning views. It was the only pictures Sean took the entire trip (other than a few of the sea lions fighting). I could have stayed up there all day (minus the wind and cold).
 

There was a chapel on the waterfront and this was the view from inside

This is the chapel from the previous picture

The view from Mt. John

We drove the next day to Christchurch to fly home. We stopped at Peel Forest along the way. The trail we wanted was closed, but we were able to do a short trail to a massive tree. We got into Christchurch early and walked around a bit. A lot more of the city is accessible from the last time I was there, so it was interesting to see the progress (and a lot more of the destruction). It was interesting how much effort they have put into making the construction sites of the city center pretty. Most of the fences have decorative patterns on them and construction walls have been painted. Even shipping containers on the side of the road put in place to protect drivers from potential landslides have been covered with different artistic displays. Despite many road closures and extremely confusing maps, we managed to make it to the airport on time and catch our flight home safe and sound.

It's going to be a busy few days, but hopefully it will keep me from being sad about having to leave. I'm excited to get to see everyone and can't wait for some good Texas heat.