August...September... October...

Now you'd be convinced that next in sequence was November wouldn't you? Yes? Well you are incorrect (well, kind of).

After October, comes Movember, and no, it's not a spelling mistake. Movember is the NZ and Australian replacement for the generic November. Going back to last M(N)ovember, I'd just started work at the new office, and some of the people were already resembling Magnum PI. It turns out however it's a Men's health awareness month, and to raise funds for charities such as the Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand.

Now I've a reasonable amount of charity stuff in the past, raising money for Willie Maddren's Motor Neurone Disease Research Fund and more recently, working in Ghana on a building site, and teaching basic IT skills to some of the local kids.

This however, is a bit more light-hearted, The principal behind Movember is to grow the best moustache, and in 1 month! I think I'm going to have to join on on this one this year. Not only do I get to grow a handlebar moustache and be cool, I also get to raise some money for a good cause.

OK I lied about looking cool, I meant I'll look like a tool. But it's worth it! :-)

An International Hug In A Box

The Grandparents are fantastic at sending us parcels, treats for Bethany and us.

We love getting parcels, and it's not because it may have gifts inside, but because it's come from those we love, packed especially for us with tender loving care, based on the knowledge it will make us smile.

Today we received a parcel from our wonderful friends Michel and Galina, and their gorgeous little girl called Adrianna. This parcel actually made our day, a parcel containing a hug from the other side of the world.

There were so many treats for Bethany she didn't know what to do first! She loved the shower jigsaw, the beautiful bag, the kiwi pencil case, the gorgeous butterfly necklace, the Disney Princess tap ball and the fantastically HUGE doggy lolly!!

She set about playing the jigsaw on the floor, whilst wearing her necklace and bag over her shoulder, she would then run to the tap ball and give that a go before taking just one more bite of the lolly!

However her absolute favourite was putting Ady's gorgeous paintings up on her wall in her bedroom...she calls this the 'England wall' where she has other stuff that has been sent to her.

We also received a stunning statue for our upcoming wedding anniversary and Michael was absolutely beside himself with the fact he was holding a 500g of pure UK Marmite bliss...

Here is the Marmite, it's that big it over powered the goat! (You will notice its already been opened!).

We just want to say thank you, it really made us smile and the hug that jumped out of the box when we opened it was well needed.

International friendships are great!

Bethany The Colour Collector

Bethany is now 43 months old and has now developed a keen interest in gathering colours. It started a few weeks ago where she would study things intensely that matched the clothes she was wearing.

It's developed further now with her gathering anything and everything she can find of the same colour. Its great for me as it keeps her entertained!

Today's colour was blue.

After gathering all of the above Bethany asked me: "Mammy, can I have your eyes please to add to my things?"...erm, well...

Dancing Queen

Erm, yeah I think I remember what it's called, hang on, oh yeah...a night out!! I had one last night!!

It was Susan's birthday on Thursday so we celebrated last night with a meal at Lone Star. Joan, Jo and Jenny all looked lovely, Susan stole the night though being the birthday girl.

I decided to try out a new hair do...what do you think?

We had a lovely meal with Jo eating a whole 'lasso of hog'!

After we took a nice walk down Courtney Place and had a drink outside (yes outside!) and a good old chat. There were some admissions which we cant talk about here!

We finished the night with a good old dance at the 80's club Boogie Wonderland.

Happy Birthday Susan. It was a brilliant night, cant wait for the next one!!

Boys In The Hood

Moving to a new country means not only leaving family, but friends too, and it's hard - very hard. Some of which pretty much were family. I was fortunate to have grown up (I've grown up?) with some of the greatest friends I could have hoped for. Some friends come and go, but these guys deserve a mention for those times they've been there for me.

From school, there developed a group of boys that spent weekends together partying and doing stuff only boys do (and stuff that can't be discussed on a family orientated blog!). I think we are classed as Men now, but only because of hitting the 30 mark, and not due to actually becoming adults!!

So let me introduce you to them:

In the picture, from the right you have: Sinners, Me, Fell, Niel, Moz and the latest member of the team - Mark. I don't think we ever had a normal un-eventful night out when it's been all of us.

After school came work, and through work came some more guys good enough to be brothers. Michel, John and Paul are another set of outstanding friends, and just like the others, are always there if you need anything. In case you wondered what they looked like, here they are:

So the list does actually go on. During my time working in Darlington I made friends with the likes of Baldie and Foz, which were great guys, and it's unfortunate we didn't get to spend more time together, but at least we all made the most of it. BBQ's and beer is what I'd call making the most of it!! Baldie will remember the nights out in Darlo, especially the ones where all drinks were banned apart from Guinness.....mmmmmm.... Guinness......

I'm sure Foz will recall the BBQ's and stumbling upon other peoples unsecured wifi connections. Not something I condone of course...

Starting again in a new country is hard, especially with not knowing anyone. I've been lucky so far and have made some new friends, but can never and will never forget the guys back in the UK.

The Botanical Gardens

3 days in a row of gorgeous weather, reaching a perfect 17 today. I knew it was going to be a lovely day when I saw the outdoor thermometer (which is in the shade) reading 13 degrees at 9am.

I love the fact I can grab the map and be overwhelmed with destinations. Its so exciting to have a beautiful day and just scour the map for ideas. As it had been ages since we visited The Botanical Gardens, and Bethany always loves to feed the ducks when we go AND with the glorious day upon us we decided that this was the location for today.

As always its just beautiful, stunningly beautiful. 26 hectares of unique landscape, protected native forest, conifers, specialised plant collections, colourful floral displays, and views over Wellington city.

Even in winter there are the most gorgeous array of ferns, palm trees and plants in abundance, soaking up the sunlight.

We first walked down to the duck pond, this area is really lovely. The ducks are all very happy, especially when Bethany shows up and treats them to some bread. She loved throwing the bread whilst also dodging the huge amount of pigeons that also wanted to be in on the action!

We then took a beautiful stroll through the a forest path that went past some of the most lovely flowers and plants. All very boring for Bethany, but she did feel better when we arrived at the end of the path and found the play area!!

After having a go on everything including multiple goes on the slide (I think a possible 20 times!), we headed back down as we had Kindergarten on the afternoon.

The walk back to the car took longer than usual with Bethany insistent on smelling every flower that we passed. So cute!

Such a fantastic morning together, I love the fact there are so many beautiful places on our doorstep. The interest and appreciation from Bethany grows with each day, I am so glad she will always have these amazing memories.

Heza & Maza

Helen is my best friend - she always will be. I cant even describe how much I miss her. We met wayyyyy back when I started Hamsterley Primary School, I think I must have been 8 when I joined, and Helen and I hit it off straight away. Adopting nick names for ourselves as Heza and Maza.

Throughout the years we became inseparable, probably because of our crazy hair and fashion sense! The bond we shared was an amazing one and we have such beautiful memories.

Going on holiday together, swimming in the ocean whilst the rain poured, playing 'Goonies', having a space ship made from a fallen tree, going horse riding together, dancing to Dannii Minogue songs and (close your eyes mam!) smoking rolled up newspaper in the shed!!!

I cherish absolutely every memory, we really honestly had the best childhood together.

Before we left for NZ Heza surprised me with a weekend in Newquay together. We had the most amazing time, one which we absolutely never ever forget.

She makes me laugh in so many ways its crazy.

Heza has a gorgeous little boy called Joseph, she is an amazing mother. For so long she has sadly been a single mother, she has however been doing the most wonderful (yet stressful) job of working full time, running a house and looking after her little boy all on her own. She is someone you can really truly admire.

Heza is now getting married!!
I am so happy for her... so absolutely happy for her. For so long she has deserved that special someone to cherish her and treat her the way she should be, and finally she has found him.

Raivo proposed to Heza whilst she was dangling upside down on a bungee in Latvia - she really has found her perfect soul mate!!

I have so many mixed emotions, I miss her so much, I miss our chats, cuddles and late nights drinking together whilst putting the world to rights. I miss her friendship, love and face to face support. It upsets me deeply that I will miss her wedding and that I wont be able to see her on her special day, the day I have been waiting for her for so long.

But in this post I just wanted to say congratulations to them both, they are a beautiful couple who I cherish so much. I want my best friend to know that despite the distance we will always be together no matter what.

Always and forever.

The NZ Health Service

Today I needed to make my first trip to the doctors, and I will in fact tell you why. I have ran out of contraceptive pill that I brought from the UK and needed my next 'dose'.

The doctors surgery is lovely, clean, tidy and with friendly staff and best of all - no waiting times! Appointment was straight in and out within 5 minutes, Bethany was annoyed that she didn't get time to play with the toys however, and I also didn't get chance to read any trashy magazines!!

The health services are not free here, I knew I would need to pay for my appointment and the prescription...but I wasn't prepared when I found out how much!

My appointment was $52 and my prescription is $40. That wouldn't be so bad but because its a contraceptive pill I have to go back every 3 months for a check up and to have a repeat prescription. Its a bit of a shocker as all these services are free in the UK, it means we now need to look into getting some type of health insurance going.

I get asked all the time if we are thinking of having another baby, to be honest, noooooo - I think we would both agree this is money well spent!

For Sale!

So by popular demand, we've finally gone into e-business! In our new online store, you can buy a variety of products with some of our favourite photos on.

Check out our store: Click me!

We'll be adding both products and photos to this online store, so if there is a product you want with a specific picture, let us know and we'll set it up.

And don't worry, we ship internationally of course! :-)