Love, Happiness and the lack of Money.

 I have to say that Aaron and I are ridiculously happy together. There is nothing I enjoy more then being with in five feet of my very pretty husband. And when I am not with in five feet of him, I feel a little at a loss... like some thing very important is missing. And I am also ridiculously happy when he comes back into my little bubble of "this is where Aaron should always be". You might even say its a bit extreme how excited i get when he comes home... and he has only been gone an hour.... :)
 It also never really matters what we do, as long as we do it together. We are a cheap date. But a couple of our tops favs are these: Watching movies or shows together snugged on the couch. Going and taking pictures of what ever place has caught our fancy. Going out to eat at new restaurants we have never been to before(very easy to do here as we have been no where before :D) Going and sitting on the beach(this can also include picture taking and or food)
 And there is no one else I would ever want to be with, or any where I would ever go if he wasn't with me. He is my home and my safety. My comforter and my provider.
 Things lately have been... a little rough in terms of money and jobs. We both pretty much lost a job and have been searching to replace them. With out much luck at this point. And though it is hard, and I get beaten down with worry and stress some times, there is absolutely no where I would rather be, then right here, broke as a joke, scrambling for money, learning how to live on nothing, living the dream and spending time on the beach, with my best friend and lover. And I am going to try to always be thankful that God brought us here, to this place of intense joy and intense struggle, just so I could spend so much time with my favorite redhead.
 All though, I am really praying hard, that our move to Nashville will provide just a bit more security and money. So we can up-grade ourselves from cheap/free dates, to cheap/costs-some-money dates. And be able to go back to eating at restaurants we have never been to before. And maybe even see a movie in the theater!! :D

The one year mark

Today is Aaron and my one year wedding anniversary. I keep telling him that now we are legit. Though I hope we never actually stop acting like the crazy newly weds we have been this past year.
 This has been  the most amazing journey, which is actually a good word for our first year... as we journeyed all over the world! haha. For sure we have had little bumps along the way, like our flight to Mongolia, and finding our place here in New Zealand. But over all its been amazing. I can honestly say I adore being married, mostly I am sure, because of WHO I am married too. He is (to sound cliche' and cheesy) so amazing and so far beyond the guy I thought I would get, I can't thank God enough for the man. :)
 Being in New Zealand these past months has been amazing, just for life experience and for growing as a couple. Being able to do our dream of moving over seas in the first year of marriage is some thing we will never forget, and always be thankful for. And I have to say, dealing with the huge stress of that kinda of a move in the first few months, that one, we handled the stress like champs ( well Aaron was the true champ, but I still handled it pretty good. haha) and we came out of with a pretty good perspective on what is worth worrying about in life. We know how to roll with the punches now for sure! :)
 I thought I would share some of the high lights, some of our favorite moments in the past year. Hope you enjoy them. :)
 Well to start, I have to say the wedding was so fantastic! I would get remarried every day if we could duplicate that day! It was so laid back and just fun. I wouldn't have changed a single thing about our wedding.
 Our honey moon was so awesome. But one of the best highlights, we would sit out on the deck of the house we rented at night and look at the stars while listening to the ocean. One night there was a few shooting stars that were so close we could actually see the flames and the smoke trail. Was incredible!
 Mongolia. All of it. So awesome. For me, being able to see where Aaron grew up, amazing. And to see such a cool country, and do it with Mom and Dad G still there was a huge blessing.
 We went on a cruise with my parents before we moved. Had some real crap weather, but so much fun running around a boat and islands with my folks.
 Spending time with Nathan, Jen, and Coen in OK. So grateful for them.
 Getting to know "our kids" here in New Zealand has been great. We love them.
  Out "dates" where we drive around and explore New Zealand together. We live in a gorgeous country.
And over all, for me, its been watching God provide for, literally, our every need. We could actually almost sit back and just watch Him work. I know I have grown so much, Aaron has too. I think we are both are really thankful that God put us in a place early on in our life together where we had to lean completely on God and each other. I think the things we have learned in this first year will benefit us for the rest of our 80 years together. One down.. 79 to go!!!!!!!
 Thank you to every one for being there for us in every thing. You have been blessings to us, and we love you.

Little People.

     Hey everyone! Aaron here! I apologize that its been so long since there has been blogging action here, but sometimes its easy to forget that you have things worth writing about!
     Recently due to a bout of warm weather and a beautiful cloudless night, my marvelous wife and I decided to take a drive and take some pictures of the stars. Since we both love photography, and both love a good bit of nature, our dates usually consist of us driving until we find something we deem 'photo worthy'.
     This night was particularly beautiful, no clouds, warm weather..the only deterrence was the occasional car driving by and a swarm of terrifying sheep (welcome to New Zealand). All this to say, you could see a million stars. Enough to make you feel fairly insignificant anyways. I would submit that we could all use the occasional dose of starry nights. A little blow to the pride, a giant picture that for once doesn't paint us as the center of the universe. Every day society tells us that we are amazing, we're something special, that we can accomplish amazing things. While this is nice and all, and it gives us the highly coveted 'warm fuzzies', its a complete lie. Now before you start searching for the largest and sharpest cyber-rock to cyber-stone me with, hear me out! All of those things, while a complete lie from hell, are also true.

      The difference is the source from which those warm fuzzy things flow. While I am actually something quite special, and have every intention of doing some pretty amazing jazz, that is only because of Christ in me. On my own I'm actually fairly corrupt and capable of innumerable atrocities! You can see why I really appreciate the fact that the crazy awesome God who bothered to make a universe that can make you feel like an amoeba in the ocean did what had to be done to free me from that depraved self and be amazing through me. Also you should be able to see why I actually get surprisingly angry when I see people trying to steal the credit for anything that is actually good and worthwhile. Most of us have heard it said that every good and perfect gift comes from above. That means that if it is legitimately good, and worthwhile, that we didn't do it! If this doesn't make sense, don't worry. I'm not the best at explaining things as deep and wonderful as this. However, do feel free to flick me and e-mail and I'll try again, because it will change the way you see everything once it sinks in! Also I love the stars...and photography..and my wife. But in a completely different order.

My Bathroom Blog

I have a love/ hate relationship going with my bathroom. So now.. my bathroom shall have its own blog!! :)

Love- We have an open shower (no curtain, with a wetfloor), which gives the bathroom a really neat look.
Hate- This means every time you take a shower.. the whole bathroom takes a shower.

Love- The bathroom is on the cold side of the house, which means cheaper heating bills.
Hate- This means every time you turn on the hot water, the climates clashing creates a tropical storm while you attempt to shower.

Love-The window is frosted over so no one can see in or out.
Hate- The bathroom has decided it misses seeing the out of doors and has started to grow wild thing in the shower, like mushrooms and mold.

Love- .... Ok, I have run out of things I love so this one is a hate hate :)
Hate- That the floor never actually dries
Hate- That the ceiling never dries either, and hence the whole room thinks its part of the shower and drips on you as you try to do your hair and make up.

 And thus concludes my bathroom blog. :)
 Also.. this is not a great picture.. but its my bathroom window... sooooo... now it's in the blog.

Unity, and How its Not Practiced.

Alright folks. I've been letting my lovely wife do the majority of the recent bloggage, but its time for me to step up and type! I recently took a trip up to Wellington with Ed Masters (my fellow youth worker from Leith Valley Church) to a conference type gathering called "Connect". The purpose of this gathering was for youth workers to get all motivated and whatnot via inspirational speakers and practical workshops. Unfortunately, I typically go into situations as such with a moderately cynical attitude that causes me to pick apart everything said and search for flaws in the messages that can then allow me to write off the speaker. This is one of my greater flaws as a person, a listener, and a christian.  Despite my attempts and success at doing so, I did manage to learn something. We as believers SUCK at one of the most basic principles of following Christ. Unity. My very desire to find a way to discredit the words of my fellow believers is living proof of this fact. Am I saying that everyone who believes in some form of a "god" should hold hands and sing kum by ya?? Absolutely not! But those who have a living active relationship with the God of the Bible, who share the core beliefs that makes true Christianity unlike any other form of worship in the world really need to learn how to get along and live as a single body. Maybe instead of listening to a sermon and picking out the bad parts to mock, we should be intentionally searching for the things that we can find encouragement in. Perhaps instead of looking down on the weaker brother and wondering why they aren't as spiritually educated with retarded christianeese and condescending terminology, we should be inspired by their passion to serve a God that they've just come to know. To be in awe of God's glory without the need to analyze and categorize it.  Anyways, you've suffered through enough of my rants. The bottom line? God is teaching me to be humble (never fun) and to love the body of Christ no matter how much I disagree with what some of the parts say. If its part of the body, then I can learn something or be encouraged by it!!!
-On a side note, the cross-eyed donkey that I found in Wellington made me laugh, so I took a picture...nay, like 50 pictures :)

The things you don't think about when moving over seas...

Like vacuums. I can honestly say I didn't give the type of vacuum I would have here a single thought. Why would I right? Well.. I am surely giving it thought now. Up-right power heads are pretty much the most popular in the states now.. I am sure there are still some with the body and the long hose to the brush head.. but for the most part all vacuums have a powerhead. Which I won't lie to you folks, makes vacuuming a thousand times easier. Here, I can't find a powerhead vacuum anywhere. Well.. I did find one, but its look a little scary. It was cordless.... how much life can a vacuum have running on battery power?? 

 Every one always asks me what do you miss most about the States? And I always draw a blank. Because over all things aren't that different here. Till I do some thing, like try to vacuum my house. And then I realize I really miss American vacuums. Or when I go to the grocery store to buy chicken noodle soup, cause my tummy is being off, and there is NO canned chicken noodle soup. Now I must admit.. I did NOT see that one coming. I stood in front of the soup section for a good 15 mins, reading and re-reading, swearing I had to be missing it some where. I wasn't.( though what they have stocked can change so it might be there next time.. I am going to look again) Or hot dogs. There is no hot dogs here. Not that I need a hot dog... it's just really strange not to have hot dogs in the grocery store. 

 I really missed Western dressing.. I made my momma ship me some, cause the salad dressing here, while they have some of the same kinds, they don't taste the same. The ranch all tastes like extremely light ranch, and the french looks like a green italian dressing.... I am thinking it't not the same kind of dressing, as ours french is red. 

 Or deodorant. I actually couldn't find it at first. It looks nothing like our deodorant. It's a strange shape I can't actually describe... works just fine.. just looks so different I couldn't find it!!! 

 So these are a few of the things I miss about the States. Nothing important. Just the little every day things that every now and then pop out at you and scream, "You are not in the States anymore hunny!!" And you shake your head, say "Huh, didn't think of that one." And keep on walking through the store. 

The Job, and the Faithful Stranger.

So I, Lisa, finally got a job. I started on Friday at a salon called Clip Joint. It's a nice step up from Cost Cutters, and while  no one tips in New Zealand, the up side of that is that I am making a flat hourly rate, no matter how many heads of hair I do a day. So while I am building a clientele, I am still making good money. Thank God. Takes alot of the stress off. And I am pretty excited about being able to slow down and just do hair, no more rushing about... it's an amazing idea and I am really starting to like it.
 I will only be working two days a week, Fridays and Saturdays, so Aaron and I will still have time to hang out and go bum about and explore the island :). It's wonderful to be working and still have time to just hang out with my man. I do so like hanging out with him, after all.
 And as if God blessing me with this job wasn't enough, Today I was helping out one of the other girls with her color, and through chatting with this woman, it turns out she is a christian. So she was asking me all about how we came to be in New Zealand, and said she was impressed with us moving over here. She was just a really nice lady. But as she was leaving, she calls me over, pulls a small envelope out of her purse saying, "I don't usually carry this with me, but that just proves every thing happens for a reason." Hands me the envelope and leaves. I opened it after work, she had given me her tithe for her church, and it wasn't a small sum. I couldn't believe it. Things were getting tight with out me working, and that little envelope just gave us a really nice bonus, to easy the strain till my checks start coming in... God bless her tender heart. We would have been ok with out the money, but I can't thank this lady enough just simply for blessing me by her faithfulness. Almost brought me to tears, this kindness of a stranger.

"The girl who loved books". written by: Lisa Glemboski

I (Lisa) love to read books. And when I say love, I mean love,adore, and cherish reading a good book. I might actually be a little addicted to it. I spend more money on books then anything else, because I can read a book in about a day and a half. So I pretty much just blow through them. There is nothing better then getting lost in a story, and enjoying a book to the point where I can not stop reading till I know the ending, and then having reached the end, wishing it wasn't over. Hence why I love series so much. There is always more!! Series though, is also why I can buy so many books! In for one, in for all! Books, they are just strangely one of my passions in life. One of the things I just don't want to live with out. And also why Aaron, wonderful man that he is, bought me a kindle. Love that thing! I can buy a book online at Amazon, and start reading it in about 30 seconds. Awesome, no more waiting for my books to come in the mail!(and also I will never have to leave my books behind again. That was one of the hardest things for me to leave in the States when we moved, all my books.) The only down side is that I miss books, the texture of the pages, the way they feel in your hands, and even the way they smell.... Yeah I just really love books that much. Every thing about them is wonderful, and comforting to me. Also, they feed my imagination, which needs to be fed. It craves being fed, and it seems it is always on the hunt for the next good story.
 Now that we are here though, till I get a job, I have to behave. I have to stop buying books at such a rapid pace, or our saving will go far to fast. So I think it might be off the the library with me! I will do some research online, write down the authors I am interested in, and then instead of buying them, I will go rent them! Lord knows I read books fast enough that I will never get a late fee! The up side of this is that I will be able to hold the books in my hands, the down side is that I can't keep them to read again, and again. I just don't think I can give up my books all together. That would be like giving up a best friend, or your favorite comfort food in the midst of an emotional break down. It just is not done!
 Also, my reading is good for Aaron. Gets me out of his hair long enough for him to play his games, and have some free time. As my much as I love reading, I love hanging out with him way more! So my reading sets him free from me, but allows me to still be on the couch near him, which keeps me happy. Lucky boy that he is, every one needs time to themselves, and to veg out doing some thing they enjoy. So maybe Thursday I can go to the library and get some more of what I enjoy. Books!!!!! oodles and oodles of books!!! :)

A monsoon, an umbrella, and a battle scene

Today was my chosen day to go job hunting. Today was also the day the skies decided to flood Dunedin with a monsoon. It's raining really hard, and while the water pouring down the streets in waves, and charging down the river banks is really cool to watch, it is not so cool to walk in. But I decided to go job hunting anyway. I simply would go to the grocery and buy an umbrella. Right. Well I went to the grocery, I bought my trusty new umbrella and I set out walking. About five minutes in the umbrella caved to the wind and flipped inside out. I hate when umbrellas do this. It's a pet peeve of mine. So I glare at the offending umbrella, sharply shove it into the wind and pop it back around the right way. All fixed. I keep walking.. and the umbrella flips around again.. and again.. and again.. During this time period I have only put in one resume at a salon, every where else I went was either closed or, at one book store I walked in, wandered around for a couple mins, and still no one had shown. So I left, figuring if they weren't busy enough to have one person on staff, they probably didn't need me. I walked around the whole of the Octagon. Fighting the rain, wind, and my now un-trusty umbrella the whole way. I was getting discouraged by the lack of places to go, and not really being certain where TO go... When the rain really picked up and wind flipped my umbrella around inside out so fast, it smacked me in the face and bent the arms around the wrong way. So now my trusty umbrella is not only un-trusty, it is also broken. So I walked back to the car in the pouring rain... I now look like a drowned rat and am freezing. So I decided to come home and dry off, cause no one will hire me looking the way I do now anyway. Hopefully I will warm up, fix my hair up, I am thinking I might just wear a hat, and head out again later. Which might be problematic as I no longer have an umbrella, as it throughly kicked my tush earlier. It's a sad day when an umbrella can beat you up. Maybe the rain will let up, and I can go hunting with no fear of drowning. Either way.. this morning was a bust. Mostly I am angry I spent money on an umbrella that couldn't withstand one rainy day before breaking. That is a truly sad umbrella.

Puss and puss

The Puss being Atlas, and puss being his eye infection. And this is the story of the puss has returned. Atlas, the poor thing, now has herpies in his other eye. We had finally gotten his right eye cleared, and he was calming down and trusting us not to put thick, goopy drops in his eye any more. He had stopped charging across the house, like his life depended on reaching the other side, every time we walked towards him, and had started cuddling again. He no longer looked at me (Lisa) like I was evil and ugly(I am pretty sure he was picturing me with warts on my face :p), and had stopped attacking me when I got close to his head. And now... sigh.. It all begins again, thanks to his now disgusting, and painful looking left eye. His poor face is swollen again, green goo is growing in leaps and bounds in his eye, and he just looks positively miserable. Again. Already he is hiding from us and we have only put drops in twice. I think he might be scarred for life. To make matters worse, we had been waiting on his eye to clear up so we could start clipping his toe nails, as his favorite thing to do is it charge around the house, gleefully bouncing on the leather couches as he goes.. actually I think he might believe they are alive and need to DIE! Which means his long, lethally sharp (trust me on that), claws are doing some decent damage to the couches, that are leather, and not ours! So now it seems we might have to just pin the poor thing down and do horrid things to him, all in the name of love. Which of course... he doesn't understand. I feel so bad for him. He finally finds a home, with people that adore him, and he keeps getting sick. Thus by making us, the people that love him, torture him. I really hope this is the last time it flares. I think we all want a break. And I really want Atlas to feel at home, safe and loved. Cause he is, the darling, cuddly, sweet, talkative, gooey eyed, little man that he is. :D We wouldn't trade him for anything.

Turned it down.

So I (Lisa) turned down the job I was offered at the salon on George St. I struggled this whole week, with just strongly not wanting to work there, praying for peace, and trying to convince myself that I was being foolish and there was no good reason for me to not accept this job, no matter how much I did not want to work there, or felt I wasn't up for the job. It finally came down to the day of my second interview. I had Rachael come in with me, and we had a good time, when I could hear her anyway, that salon was terribly loud! And then... the hair cut was done... Janine checked Rach's hair, Rach left.. and it had come to the moment where you either get the job or don't. I wasn't sure at all what I wanted to hear come out of Janine's mouth. It was a job offer. And I sat there, chatted, smiled, said I would think it over, but more then likely I would call tomorrow to go over the contract. Said goodbye.. walked to my car, in turmoil the whole way. I get in the car and the panic hit. I was just trying to hang on till I got home and Aaron could fix me haha. He does have a way of making anything wrong with me better :). I get home, Aaron looks at me, says "You don't look happy. Did you not get the job?"
I flop down on the couch, "yeah I got the job (sobs erupt), but i really don't want it!!" Poor Aaron. He handles me so well. He tells me he doesn't want me to take the job if I don't have peace. I tell him I feel it would be foolish to not take it, as we need the money. Sobbing I tell him," I really don't want to work there, but I will and it will be fine." He tells me, "No. Just think about it for tonight." It didn't take a whole night. I decided pretty quick I was going to pass, I just needed to hear my husband say it was ok for me to pass on it.
 So I called this morning and politely turned the job down. I told her I couldn't be the hairdresser that her salon needs right now. And have felt great ever since! Haven't second guessed it at all. I got that peace I had been praying for.
 This all goes back to the whole blessings thing of my last blog. And me believing God wants to bless me. I was pretty sure that God had given me this job and I had to take it. I was almost certain He was trying to get me to take a job I just... couldn't stand the thought of working, and that He would give me peace later, or it was another lesson I had to go through.(See my self esteem has been shaky lately, and I thought this job would be God's way of making me face that, and to make me see just how capable I am)  And yet again.. I was wrong. Shocking. It was a lesson yes, but not the lesson I had thought it to be. I had to let go of this job that I literally feared, and got panic attacks at the thought of, even though I thought we needed me to take it. We needed the money. This job had come up so easy it must be God's will.. right?? No. I had to let it go, and trust God when He said "No, you need to trust Me that I will give you a job. And that until I do, I will provide for you. Just relax. I got this one."

 So I am back on the hunt. But I am not worried. We will find the job for me when we are supposed to find it. And till then I am going to continue to enjoy this time of peacefulness, of being a house wife(which I love!!) and of being able to spend so much time with my man. He is my favorite person to be around after all :). And I am so thankful I do not have to work there!!!!!!! I can't even tell  you how incredibly thankful I am!! I don't have to do hair competitions!! Not a one!!!! This my friends, is a great, great, great day!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoo. Relief is so sweet. :)

Be there deserts or be there valleys.

We all know God is faithful. We grow up hearing constantly about how faithful He is. But most of the time we don't actually BELIEVE God is faithful.. or maybe we just think He won't be faithful in the things that we WANT Him to be faithful in. I (Lisa) have always felt that just because God can give me some thing, by no means does that mean that He will. So many times I have struggled with if I should even expect certain things from God. It wasn't that I didn't think He wanted to take care of me, I was just pretty sure He was always going to be trying to teach me some thing that I would be to dense to get, and there for not be ready or worthy of His faithfulness. Living here has been Gods time to show me His faithfulness and it's been life changing. The things I grew up knowing, I now see Him doing in every aspect of our lives and I am humbled by His grace and faithfulness.
 Take for example our house. I really wanted a house out of town, with enough rooms for people to come and stay with us, with a deck, and I really wanted a house with a view of the water.. though I figured the last one would be a fat chance indeed. Instead of getting the little hole of a house I figured we would get, we got a house with all things I wanted and more. We have a house with three bedrooms, plenty of room for people to come stay and the perfect little room for Aaron to have as a music room, which he wanted so very badly. We have a dryer, which is not totally common here, and some thing that I really wanted, for I do so love fluffy towels!!! I have been wanting to relearn piano, but in the States, where I had a keyboard, I simply didn't have time. So God gave me a furnished house, with a piano! Come on now! What house COMES WITH A PIANO?? Mine does! Simply because God loves me, and cares that I want to learn the piano again. I have a friend who is willing to give me the piano books she has so that I can start reteaching myself with out having to go out and buy them, as I had to leave all the books I had boughten in the States. And while I haven't confirmed it, I think God actually might have worked out a way for me to actually be able to take lessons on the piano. (more on that later if it comes through!)
 The house even came with a T.V. and DVD player. Which we thought wouldn't be able to play our DVDs, as the regional codes are not usually compatible in other countries. But we decided to pop a movie in just check, and it played! Some times it skips or freezes but the thing plays all of our movies! We don't have to watch them on the computer!! It was amazing!!!
 Aaron had two jobs before we even got here. One teaching guitar, in which he already has 9 students and a few more possibles. In three weeks! And he is able to learn recording and actually do it for his job sometimes. Which is the career we had been praying about for him. God is just lining things up for Aaron in his work, quickly. And it's been so cool to watch God just hustle on our behalf in this.
 I went job hunting for only two days. I already have a job, as long as I do well on the practical interview. A job that is only two days a week, days that Aaron doesn't work, so we don't have to worry about the car. And is close enough to Aaron's work that if we do end up working same days we can walk to the other work and get the car.
 We got a car for a steal, about a grand less then it was worth, the day before we moved into our house. So that we wouldn't be stranded out of town, thus forcing people to still have to cart us around. And the car is perfect for us. Aaron loves little cars, and I love cars that you sit up higher in to see the road better. This car is both, cute little red car, with high set seats. How often does that happen? We both love the car.
 We thought the car had some mechanical problems. And they were things that could have cost us hundreds of dollars. Instead they either turned out to be completely easy fixes or not even a problem.

 Really, the fact that we are even HERE, and with in a month in a half have a house, a car, a cat (who is wonderful and cuddly and darling!), two jobs for Aaron and more then likely a job for me, blows my mind. As we had both struggled for so long, knowing we were supposed to be over seas, but not able to get there yet, for God's timing wasn't ours. He brought us here, He fulfilled the calling that He had given us both, long before we even know each other existed, and proved His faithfulness in amazing ways just in the bringing of us to this place. And then He had to go above and beyond any and all of our expectations, and bless us so completely and so fully that there could be no doubt that it was all His doing, that I now KNOW just how completely faithful and wonderful my God is. And that life isn't always a desert, a time of soul searching and hard lessons, but also there are times when God brings us to the lush valley, where we can rest and be restored. Probably to prepare us for the next desert! But knowing that there will be another lush valley on the other side of that big old desert, and that He holds our dreams and dreams them with us and for us, humbles me. And makes me so thankful, and so proud to call  Him MY GOD. And I will thank Him the next time He brings to me that desert, and praise Him for the work He is doing in me. For while He might have me in a desert, it is only so I can be worthy of the blessings He is waiting to give me.

Being Human

     So...I (Aaron) am trying to figure out exactly how this all works...and I figured writing a blog about it, would be the easiest way to get my thoughts straight. After living here in Dunedin just a short month, I have realized that I feel completely different than I did when living in the states. This is not a product of location, but of lifestyle. I now feel Human. And I must admit, it feels cool...
     Life is different now, in that it is slower. And its not just slower because the pace of life is inevitably slower in New Zealand (I believe this is because there are more sheep than people so we therefore take after the sheep who are by default the more influential species), but also because we have very little that we have to do. Though I have 2 jobs, this at the moment takes up only about 15 hours a week, and all financial stress aside, thats wonderful! The strange thing is, the free time isn't what made me feel suddenly human. It was keeping the house warm. A simple chore that involves relocating firewood, chopping it, relocating some more, building the fire, burning your hand occasionally, and watching the cosiness commence!! This act gave me the natural feeling that I was somehow responsible for our collective survival and comfort. In the states, I turned a nob for this effect, but it yielded far less satisfaction. The work done to gain the nob turning ability, was in no way related to our survival, except that I was payed to survive to work some more. If none of this is making sense, I understand. But what I'm saying is this, I am Human, and I actually feel like it now. As much as I enjoy modern conveniences on a regular basis, its really good to get away from some of it and just exist for a while.

Live a Life of Growth.... Right...

So I (Lisa) am beginning to understand that living in New Zealand is going to be a time of personal growth for me. And I am also realizing that the comforts of the States are great, and might not be matched any where else in the world. That is not to say that this isn't a great country with many comforts, and a wonderful place to live. It is that in the States we have SO MANY comforts.. and think them all our due. Which is a blessing and a curse I think. Here... we have to think about being warm.. and what we are going to do to achieve that warmth. In the States I just turned up the temperature.. I was also spoiled when I lived in my apartments by myself cause the heat was part of the rent. So I can't lie.. I cranked that sucker up!!! I was  COZY!!! I did not have to be frugal like we are going to have to be here. Electricity, I think is going to cost more, so we are going to try to compensate by burning as much as we can. Which for me has been slightly eye opening. I now never throw away anything that can be burned. Recycle? Not this lady!! If it is paper or cardboard its going in the fire! There is also a constant draft in the house. Which in the States now is almost unheard of now. Here insulation is almost unheard of.  So the wind blows right through and takes my hard earned warmth right with it some times!
 I am getting creative about being warm, as I want to keep our bills as low as possible. So some time soon I will be going to the store in search of the fluffiest bath rob and thickest slippers I can find! I might look ridiculous on a daily basis but I WILL BE WARM!
 I am also learning how to cook, finally. I simply didn't have the time in the States. Now my mind is constantly thinking of things I can make, what I need to buy at the grocery store to last us a week, and how I can keep that cheap and healthy.

 Now I do want to clear some thing up. This is not a blog about whining. This is a blog about how ashamed I am of being so lax and taking advantage of  the comforts of home and not really being thankful for them. Of not fully realizing how blessed we are. And also I want to say that I am enjoying this time of growth immensely. Learning to take care of my own home, husband and warmth :) has been truly enjoyable and I am thankful that God has brought us here. To our own land of Growth. 

The Hunt Begins

So we are settled into our house quite nicely. I (Lisa, yes this is my first blog... ever...) love the house and am so thankful for having a house that I do love, and feel completely at home in. It's a gorgeous little place with tons of personality and rosy red windows that make me smile every time I walk into the room. The kitchen is a bit unhandy, and the house is often really cold... but it's home. And I like it!
 Atlas has added a wonderful feeling of home and family as well. Cuddly little man that he is. We adore him for all his crazy quirks and sicknesses combined ha.

 And since we have settled in so nicely into our little home, and we got our ird numbers in the mail, Aaron can now start getting paid for working!! Yay! And I can now start the job hunt. I have no idea what kind of  job I will end up with... I am hoping to not do hair.. but will if I can't find anything else. I must admit the thought of looking for a job in a country I am unfamiliar with scares me a little. But regardless of that, a hunting I will go :D.

Sharing Shires Without Sheering Sheep.

     Well we are settling well here. We are living in a suburb of Dunedin, Ravensbourne, which is honestly just as cool as the name. Looking out our kitchen and living room we have wonderful views of the harbor and the peninsula on the other side. We have a spacious 3 bedrooms which means I can dominate the smallest of these for my guitar room / mini recording studio. This brings much joy. The other bedroom will be for family and friends who decide that we're cool enough to fly to the most beautiful country in the world to visit.

     I began work last week, and had my first Sunday teaching the kids this morning! So far, all is well in KiwiLand. The youthgroup went wonderfully, and I am up to 4 and 1/2 students teaching guitar, 2 and 1/2 of which are in the youthgroup. We finally broke out the cameras and went for a drive, but the lighting was not up to our high standards, and neither of us were overly pleased with the results, though this is not for a lack of scenery. Our best results have been pictures of our cat, Atlas, who we just got last week. It makes things feel much more "homey" when there is a cute furry thing meandering about. Alas, I tire of typing. Until next time, or when I show Lisa how to get on here,
Cheers mate.

Residential Recap

     Sorry for the lack of updates for a time here, due to a of lack of structure in our current lives, blogging has sunk low in the priorities list. We are in Dunedin, New Zealand, home to the world's steepest street, and roughly 20 sheep per person. We have found a home which we are very excited to move into on friday, which is not only fully furnished right down to the cutlery, towels, and a piano, but also a very roomy 3 bedrooms with a view. We have no complaints!
    We are now looking for a car, being as my Youth Pastor job starts sunday, and my guitar teaching job starts monday, we are running short on time. We are staying with Richard and Fran Dawson. Richard is the pastor at our church, and they have been wonderful hosts, driving us about and helping us figure out how things work here! Well..off to bed we go. Goodbye bored souls.

Retired From Flying For A While!!!

Well the bottom line is that we have finally arrived at our destination!! It has taken me (Aaron) 3 years, a wedding, and getting stuck in too many airports to get here, but me and Lisa couldn't be happier! We got in last night and Rachael (Who I've known for years) and Fiona (Her Roommate) have been showing us around town and have been absolutely wonderful!!! They are letting us stay with them at their house because most of their "flatmates" are off on vacation which is a HUGE blessing!! So today we ran around the town to get  a feel for it and are in the process of getting fancy phones! What tomorrow holds, noone knows!!! Thats not true. I know. We're gonna go look at houses!! We really hope to find something we can call home very quickly so we can start settling in!!! I'll write again later!

Logorrhea

Well, Through the last few days we've partially climbed a large hill/mountain through large amounts of snow, driven through many a ger district (gers are their tent houses, making ger districts the poor districts) and searched for a number of religious locations, all in the name of good photography. Though many of our trips didn't end as intended due to the size of mountains and the broken 4 wheel drive, we've had a blast and gotten some good pics in the process!! We've got one more full day here, which will involve a lot of packing, and hanging with mom and dad. Monday we're off to the big New Zealand!! next on the list? find a house that we like and can afford! We don't usually have the greatest of luck, so the next week or two WILL be interesting!!

For those who want more pictures cause you're tired of reading, here are me and Lisa's flickr pages!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theartofaaron/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29989318@N02/

Further Frivolous Frolics.

   Today we traversed to the Natural History Museum, mostly because they have dinosaur bones, which apparently are practically as common as camels in the gobi...gold star for Mongolia.
   We then jaunted down to a buddhist temple partially for the experience, mostly for the pictures (which I am in the process of going through). There were two sects of buddhism represented in the temple complex we visited, the red and the yellow, and it was truely sad to see the fear the red sect lived in. Most pictures, statues, and wall hangings portrayed people being killed by these deities, with gore in abundance, and entrails strewn about. Not something I would want to be the guiding factor in my life.
   Next we went to a traditional mongolian show, which was also ended by a shamanistic/buddhist dance with many of the characters portrayed in the temple, which was quite spiritually disturbing.
   Despite my moderately depressing description, we had a wonderful day, and enjoyed hanging out with my parents. Keep keeping on!

Blizzards Rather than Blue Skies

    So today we embarked on a journey with the initial intent to enjoy the Mongolian scenery and photographic fun. Instead of our notoriously blue Mongolian skies, we were greeted by a notoriously rare Mongolian blizzard, mild, but a blizzard non the less. Despite the setback, it was a rather enjoyable experience which yielded some promising photos as well..though we have yet to go through them. As soon as we do, I promise at least one scenic scene of the day. Enjoy life!  

Scenic scene of the Day




Enjoy.

The Begining

     I have little time to begin this blog, but to get things going, we have arrived in mongolia! Due to a blizzard in Denver, we slept on the floor there and proceeded to miss every flight after! We therefore lost 2 days that we would have spent in Mongolia...but we got here!!! and that is all that matters.
     Today is Lisa's b-day, and I watched her and my mom make birthday e-clairs as I set up this blog! Today we will do some sight seeing, maybe some birthday shopping, and most definitely some birthday eating!!!
     Pictures of our Escapades to follow!