Auckland Marathon

Brandon ran in the Auckland Marathon today!!!! He ran it in 4 hours 39 minutes 41 seconds.
I have some pictures attached. So proud of him for doing so well... now just to work through the sore muscles :) The last picture is of him in his yellow marathon shirt and his medal... he definitely earned it!

Rangitoto

We decided to get out of the house after Brandon was gone for work this past week. So we took a ferry over to Rangitoto from Auckland. It was such a pretty day out, why not climb a volcano?!
It took awhile to climb since I was breaking every time there was a place to sit, but we made it to the top, and the views were great. We could see 360 views with all of the islands, the skyline, and the peninsula where we live! The pictures show the island, Brandon pointing at the crater on top (filled with trees since it has been 600 years since it came about), us in front of the views on top, and me with the volcanic rock along the path (The whole path was not a boardwalk... I was enjoying the break from walking across rocks).

Long time no post

Wow, a little embarrassing how long it has been since my last post. Tons has happened! The pictures show a day at Shakespeare Park with the puppies and the picnic spread we had. It was the first nice day of the year. We are in spring now, and I am sooo happy! It rains most days in winter here.
The biggest of happenings is we are expecting a baby in February. This has led to all sorts of new discoveries! First is the dramatic difference in prices of baby gear. Strollers, carseats, cribs, bottles, monitors... and the list goes on! We stopped comparing the money we would have saved if we could buy things from the states after the stroller. We are having family members bring over somethings and we are already getting the care packages.
The last picture is of the sushi Brandon made for me at home... it is preggo safe sushi :) It was sooo good! Now that I know he is so good at making sushi I want it all the time. He found a local Japanese food shop owner that got us all set up with the supplies so it should not be a problem.
That is all for now. Miss you all back home!

New Place, Milford Sound, and New Job

Hey all! Been a bit busy with the new job and all, but I have some time, so I guess I should catch y'all up :) I have a job with a consulting agency here in New Zealand, it is really perfect for me. I use my degree and work for all sorts of different companies, so I am always going!
We are moving into a new house down the street that has heat and ac... finally got too cold for me :) It is really pretty, and it has a garage, so Brandon is happy! There is no yard, so we will have to walk the puppies again like in Suwanee, but they shouldn't mind that. Pictures will have to wait a week or two for the new place.
I am also adding in pictures of Queenstown and Milford Sound below.... they are so beautiful. We went there during the same trip as the Christchurch pictures in June, but I have been terrible about updating this thing, so here they are.

Christchurch

Hey everyone! Made it down to christchurch today. We arrived in the early afternoon, and made our way to the hotel first. Brandon had to turn in our immigration papers so I endedup napping for the first few hours of our trip :) (we had gotten up early to pack and let Brandon do some work) Luckily Brandon was also able to get some work done while I was sleeping, so when I woke up at that afternoon... he was ready to go to the willowbank nature reserve.

We had a tour of the New Zealand animals. We touched some eels (very slimy) and were told about their sharp teeth after we had our hands right next to them. Supposedly they can stay on land for 10 hours before they need to go into the water again. They had blue eyes and long fins. (See the Picture) Then we saw some ducks and Weka which is like a kiwi but not as dumb and not as shy and not nocturnal... so it just looks similar. Then we met some mountain parrots, called Keas, that are only found in the South Island. They were very friendly as you can see in the pictures :)We were feeding them honey, and they would scoop it off of the spoon! Next we saw the Kunekune pigs. They are so ugly and cute at the same time. Similar to dogs in the fact that you can teach them tricks and the make a bark-sounding grunt, but they graze in fields and have pretty funky teeth. We saw our first Kiwi birds and learned all about the programs to keep them around since 95% of eggs laid don't make it to be adult kiwi birds. They have a ton of predators, and the parents just leave the eggs as soon as it hatches (way to go.. right). But there are some pictures to show how big the eggs are (third largest in the world, and pretty good for the size of the little guys). Unfortunately there was no flashes allowed for pictures and it was night so our kiwi picture is the really dark one with some lit feathers from a flash light :(

When we were done there, we headed back to our hotel to get dinner, then went for a walk around the city.. enjoy the pictures below from our day!!!!

Heat, food, and immigration

So, for all of you out there that enjoyed seeing our makeshift AC.... Here is a picture of our heating unit. We turn on the heater and it glows bright orange, and then we blow the fan across the heat so it can heat up new air. It has really worked, but it is only good in the living room. Mainly a lack of outlets and the fact that you cant sleep with the brightness of the heater kept it out of the bedroom:)
We also went back to the American restaurant that just opened down the street. They have a mix of southern American dishes, and we have gotten to chat with the owners about Atlanta a bit (since they are from there, too). They have recommended an American grocery store downtown where we can get those many things we miss, like true ranch dressing and root beer :) We are going to check it out on Saturday after another one of our puppy visits.
In the last week we have also gone to the doctors for immigration physicals. We are working on getting our 5 year work visas. Brandon did really well despite his fear of needles. He was ghost white though afterward, but we went to "maccas" after the doctors appointment and all was good!
Well, I am off to have some wine with my hubby :) Love you all!

Puppies

Hi everyone :) Just back from our US trip and now these newly weds need to update the blog!
We had a fantastic trip back to Atl. We ate all of the foods we missed and ate at the restaurants they dont have anything close to here. We started with Taco Bell and Waffle House, and ended with a trip to our favorite greek place in Atlanta, Al's cafe Agora. We stayed up North of Georgia in the Blue Ridge Mountains for our honeymoon.. just beautiful! We rented a boat, went to a drive in double feature, and went to walmart at least 4 times in a week. Funny that we missed the burritos from the frozen aisle that are 10 for $3.
When we arrived back in New Zealand we were very tired and it was just before 9 in the morning. Our neighbors who had been watching our rabbit Polo had come over and made the adorable scene in the picture for us. There was two pictures and a bottle of wine waiting for us. And in the backyard they had made a similar set up for Brandon's Birthday~ a big banner saying happy birthday and some beer glasses. We felt very loved coming back. They came over for cake the next night, and we celebrated Brandon turning the big 26.




Our puppies arrived from the states this last Sunday morning. We have been waiting for them for way too long, and now that all the paperwork is done, and they are here, we went for our first visit. I am attaching pictures of our visit. They seem very happy to be here. They are in a quarantine facility in the middle of farmland. We will be getting them to bring back to the house mid June.
Other than those big events, we have been trying to get back into our routine.