Immigration is still not done and we have run out of time. Cleo will not be able to attend another day of school until it is done too! Travis just found out from the school that he will not be allowed to finish the semester unless he pays the 8000 dollars owing because of him still being an international student and not a permanent resident as of yet! We do finally have a car!….well when it works at least!
we are working at super speed to get all the immigration in now though....wish us luck!!...eeekkk!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
June 24th 2011
I have since my last post gotten a little more used to life here in new Zealand. Things are starting to get into routine one of my neighbours from church mentioned it could take as long as six months to get over the blues of moving to a new country and she was right. I am getting excited about our future here though. It is going to sound stupid but just recently I have been looking at NZ trees (one of the first things I noticed after leaving the airport) and have realised how unique and gorgeous they are! I look at the photos of them and can instantly remember the smell of them and remember fondly the memories I have of me being a child playing around them. Thinking of someday having a home of my own here makes me excited to hopefully have them all in my back yard for my kids to enjoy too. One of the other small joys of living here is hearing my children come home and sing the same songs I did in school and sing along with them as if I was a kid too. Leaving windows and doors open to feel the cool breeze is a nice feeling too. Knowing my kids can run out in the forest and not worry about snakes or spiders is a nice safe reward too. Owen never wants to come inside any more! My kids know how close the beaches are here and can see them often including times the school goes. My husbands education is off to a good start too. Getting straight As! Two of our daughters have had accidents already and been to the emergency room which works so well here and what’s even better is that we don’t have to pay a cent for it either!
Things to get used to so far in New Zealand....
Ok call me lazy or plain spoiled rotten but there are a couple of things that are hard to live with out! …for example…
we have no dishwasher. All dishes are done by hand.
No garbage disposal in the sink!….which yes means scraping all the crap out by hand!
No air conditioning or heating….which in summer means sweating within two steps and freezing your you know what off in the winter
Humidity! …. Need I say more???….. Mould in winter and hog like sweat in summer
Drying clothes on the line! …. Ok I know this is old fashion but I have to say I kind of like this one! Why waste good (and expensive) electricity right! Plus they smell fantastic and dry fast!
Kids school… they no longer can go by bus, eat at the school cafeteria, wear what they like and have to spend hundreds on supplies!… we have to buy uniforms, pack lunches and buy school books plus get them there ourselves….man life was cushy in America!
we have no dishwasher. All dishes are done by hand.
No garbage disposal in the sink!….which yes means scraping all the crap out by hand!
No air conditioning or heating….which in summer means sweating within two steps and freezing your you know what off in the winter
Humidity! …. Need I say more???….. Mould in winter and hog like sweat in summer
Drying clothes on the line! …. Ok I know this is old fashion but I have to say I kind of like this one! Why waste good (and expensive) electricity right! Plus they smell fantastic and dry fast!
Kids school… they no longer can go by bus, eat at the school cafeteria, wear what they like and have to spend hundreds on supplies!… we have to buy uniforms, pack lunches and buy school books plus get them there ourselves….man life was cushy in America!
Monday 4th april 2011
We have almost entirely given up on living here in new Zealand. One report said that living in new Zealand was like living in new York city only more expensive! I can’t believe how much it costs to rent or buy a house here. Cars are twice as much and furniture is three times as much. Food, toys and clothes are about twice as much too. For example milk is around 5 dollars for 2 litres which is about half a gallon which is around 2 dollars in the usa. Suddenly California doesn’t seem so expensive to me! The kids are loving it here. They enjoy swimming at the school pool and taking there lunch to school with them, they even like wearing uniforms! I think more then anything they like the attention they are getting for being the only American kids at the school. Travis loves school too. Being a full time student has been his dream for years now and so he thinks it is great. However we have run out of money and have no jobs as of yet. We have run out of options and without a car can’t do much about getting a job. Since Travis is an international student we can not get any help from the government! Which I think is ridiculous because they have completely disregarded the fact that all the kids and I are new Zealand citizens! The whole family has to pay for my decision to marry an American and for him to have the mordacity to want to further his education here in new Zealand. I can’t believe we are being punished for him going to school! Of all things to be punished for this has to be the most ridiculous!
To make things worse. After travis finished his test tonight he realised he had no way home so my poor dad had to drive all the way into the city to get him. They got home about 11pm!
We have almost entirely given up on living here in new Zealand. One report said that living in new Zealand was like living in new York city only more expensive! I can’t believe how much it costs to rent or buy a house here. Cars are twice as much and furniture is three times as much. Food, toys and clothes are about twice as much too. For example milk is around 5 dollars for 2 litres which is about half a gallon which is around 2 dollars in the usa. Suddenly California doesn’t seem so expensive to me! The kids are loving it here. They enjoy swimming at the school pool and taking there lunch to school with them, they even like wearing uniforms! I think more then anything they like the attention they are getting for being the only American kids at the school. Travis loves school too. Being a full time student has been his dream for years now and so he thinks it is great. However we have run out of money and have no jobs as of yet. We have run out of options and without a car can’t do much about getting a job. Since Travis is an international student we can not get any help from the government! Which I think is ridiculous because they have completely disregarded the fact that all the kids and I are new Zealand citizens! The whole family has to pay for my decision to marry an American and for him to have the mordacity to want to further his education here in new Zealand. I can’t believe we are being punished for him going to school! Of all things to be punished for this has to be the most ridiculous!
To make things worse. After travis finished his test tonight he realised he had no way home so my poor dad had to drive all the way into the city to get him. They got home about 11pm!
The moving overseas blues!!!
We have been in new Zealand for almost four weeks now and things are looking grim. Travis was unable to get a student loan for living and we are still not getting any type of income at the moment. We just used our last bit of money on school supplies for the girls and don’t even have enough for their uniforms. I honestly don’t know what we are going to do. The kids are loving it here which is not what I was expecting at all. I am so glad it wasn’t though. They are good kids and I am so lucky to have them! It is hard to live without the conveniences of home. I would like to have my home back, my furniture and things, a car would be nice and an income even nicer! I love the schools there and how easy and close everything was, I loved the 24 hour shopping and the cheapness of living and food....
hoping things will workout soon!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Moving Back To Good Old New Zealand!
Big News We are moving home to New Zealand! (Well home for me at least. My husband and kids have never known another home really other then in Utah.) My Husband has wanted to head back to New Zealand for years now.... apparently he never wanted to leave!
So to let you know how this big (Huge) decision came about I will take you back to November.... In November Travis decided to apply to several different schools and one of them was the university of Auckland in New Zealand. After two months of waiting we just assumed that he was not chosen to get into there Med program. However on the 10th of February we where told he did get in!!! (thanks for the heads up NZ!) ...and after much discussion we decided this would be a good move for the family to make at this time in our lives.
However today i am begining to wonder if it can all be done in time. there is a lot to do and so much cost involved..... lets hope it all goes through....deep breaths!!! We will probably book the tickets tomorrow for the 27th?
So to let you know how this big (Huge) decision came about I will take you back to November.... In November Travis decided to apply to several different schools and one of them was the university of Auckland in New Zealand. After two months of waiting we just assumed that he was not chosen to get into there Med program. However on the 10th of February we where told he did get in!!! (thanks for the heads up NZ!) ...and after much discussion we decided this would be a good move for the family to make at this time in our lives.
However today i am begining to wonder if it can all be done in time. there is a lot to do and so much cost involved..... lets hope it all goes through....deep breaths!!! We will probably book the tickets tomorrow for the 27th?
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Getting My American Drivers Licence.....Woohoo!
So as i keep saying I have been in this country a full seven years now! surprisingly though I haven't ever had an American license in all of that time. This is mostly because we have only had one car and because my husband has been in full time school and work. So the first week that my parents where here they offered to watch the kids while i went in to get my written test done. which i would have done almost perfectly had they not had the alcohol limit questions (I don't drink) or the insurance ones in there. otherwise i did fine (don't know why i was so nervous).
Thankfully my parents where here to take care of the kids while i practiced. Then three weeks later took the final driven test, which by the way is WAY EASIER THEN IN NEW ZEALAND!!! (again don't know why i was so nervous) ... then today i got my drivers licence in the mail! WOOHOO it is so liberating. now the kids can finally go to after school classes if they want and i can go out to see family and friends and do errands on my own!..... well after we buy that second car...LOL!
PS so thankful to my parents for helping me out with all the babysitting!
Thankfully my parents where here to take care of the kids while i practiced. Then three weeks later took the final driven test, which by the way is WAY EASIER THEN IN NEW ZEALAND!!! (again don't know why i was so nervous) ... then today i got my drivers licence in the mail! WOOHOO it is so liberating. now the kids can finally go to after school classes if they want and i can go out to see family and friends and do errands on my own!..... well after we buy that second car...LOL!
PS so thankful to my parents for helping me out with all the babysitting!
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