Kitekite Falls

I love waterfalls. For my birthday, he got me a New Zealand waterfall guide book. To help with the honeymoon planning, I looked through the waterfall book and marked the ones that I wanted to see. We then worked as many of those into the trip as possible.

The first of the waterfalls was northwest of Aukland. So, on day two, we got our rental camper van and ventured out of Aukland to see this waterfall. After getting a bit disoriented in Aukland, we found our way there and parked in the park car park. We then had a nice little hike to the waterfall. We knew that New Zealand was a wet country, but we hadn't really thought about what that meant: temperate rain forest. It was fascinating to see ferns and trees and have them be taller than John!

Upon seeing the waterfall, I had a bit of a surprise: kids were swimming at its base! It was a swimming hole!! Eventually, I succumbed to the temptation and had a bit of a dip with my clothes on. Since it was such a nice sunny day, it wasn't too cold hiking back in wet clothes...

Sky Tower

While in Aukland, John had considered doing the a Sky Jump at the Sky Tower but upon seeing the height, decided against it. Well, that and they weren't doing jumps when we were there. Instead, we took the elevator up to the top level and looked out at the city. The windows are tinted or polarized (not sure which) which gave an interesting effect to the pictures. We went in the evening hoping to see a sunset over the city but the clouds came in just before sunset. It was still a beautiful view.

Aukland

We arrived into Aukland about 6:00 AM on the 15th of October. Luckily, the hotel let us check in early and we took a nap until about 11:00 AM, which is still an early start for us. :) We then wandered around the city and did some site seeing.

We had wanted to go to an art museum, but unfortunately, it is under construction and closed at the moment.

Of course we went to visit a couple of churches as well. St. Mary's Church and Holy Trinity Cathedral are next door to each other. St. Mary's is an older, wooden church that used to be on the other side of the street. It was moved in basically one piece and rotated to its present location in 1982. There are pictures of the process in the church and they are quite impressive.

What a month!

So, on the 11th of October, John and I got married. We had a wonderful day. There were a few glitches along the way but nothing major and it appeared that our guests didn't notice. Besides, at the end of the day, all that matters is that we got married.

On Sunday the 12th, we had a brunch for people, very informal affair. It was nice to talk to some people that we really hadn't been able to talk to during the reception and just to hang out with family and friends. Later, John and I opened our gifts together. :)

Monday the 13th of October, we headed off for 25 days in New Zealand!! It was an absolutely amazing. The country is beautiful beyond belief. The people were really friendly. We got to climb part of a volcano, hiked on a glacier, kayaked in the Tasman Sea, cruised two fjords, saw penguins and seals in their natural habitats, and saw a variety of flightless birds, including a flightless parrot!

Yesterday, we ventured on the incredibly long journey back home (with two planes delayed) but finally made it. Today, we transferred all 5330 pictures taken on our honeymoon to the portable hard drive and John rotated them all! And yes, we did take over 5,000 pictures! And yes, that means that there will be a lot of blogging happening...

6 days to go

Somehow, it is only 6 days until our wedding! Where did the time go? It seems like just a few months ago that John proposed and only a couple weeks since we moved. Summer just flew by and now it is definitely autumn. It is so hard to believe that I have been at my current job for 4 months!

Lately, we have been doing a lot of work for the wedding. Well, really John has been doing a lot of work for the wedding. Since he's home more, he has been doing the vast majority of the prep and has taken over corresponding with some of the vendors. We've gotten our attendants' presents (I have 30 rows left on the last shawl, though) and John even wrapped his! He made the card box. He made table name cards and place cards. We've gotten our program mostly done (the church is doing it for us!). He organized the rehearsal dinner. I took my ring to get polished and appraised (I should get it back tomorrow!). We meet with the hotel for a final meeting on Monday. John has gotten a hair cut as wedding prep, too. We also both went to the dentist for a cleaning. :)

I've done lots of beauty prep for the wedding. I've gotten facials. I've gotten my hair highlighted, my eyebrows waxed, and my eyelashes dyed! Last Saturday, I ended up in a spa and hair salon on the same day! I never thought I would say it, but after Friday, I don't want to be in a spa for a while. On Friday, I'm getting a manicure and a massage. After the week we've had, I am so looking forward to that massage.

I am starting to get nervous. I'm not nervous about how the day will go, I know that it will be beautiful. Even if things go wrong (which I'm sure they will), it doesn't matter. What matters is that John and I will be married. What I am nervous about is that we have 115 people coming to see us get married. That's a lot of people coming to see us. We have events planned all weekend and it will be good to see people. I'm excited, I just wish that the butterflies in my stomach would go away and that my brain would focus on work things since I have a lot to get done this week!

Bachelorette night

Saturday a week ago, John had his bachelor party and I had my bachelorette/hen night. We had dinner at a lovely restaurant that my friend A knows. It was a lovely meal with lovely ladies. A had chosen the menu and tried to pick things that I would like (and she did quite well I must say). She even had the menus printed and a personal cake. I was quite happy that it was all in good taste. :)

After dinner, four of us when to a karaoke bar and tried to sing some karaoke. We stayed a couple hours but our name didn't get called. While waiting, J took some random guy's hat and cigarette and sported them for a picture. Luckily, the guy was a good sport about it. As we were leaving, we ran into some guys going in and chatted with them for a while before going for breakfast food a couple blocks away. After breakfast, we took the train back up to A's car and then headed home. We got home about 3:30 AM!! We were home about 1 1/2 hours later than the bachelor night. :)

The next morning, J, A, and I were up for an 11:00 AM manicure and pedicure. It was lovely pampering. and I'm headed back to the spa on Friday for a manicure and massage.

Roller Derby

This spring, one of my dear friends told me that she has was interested in Roller Derby. This summer, she told me that she was going to try out for the team and that she made the "you get to practice with us" "team." She seemed to really enjoy it and invited people out to watch a match last Saturday.

Since I had no idea what this Roller Derby was, we decided to go and check out what our friend was so interested in. So, in Roller Derby, the women skated around a track. There was one person who could get points by passing members of the other team. Another person set the pace for the rest of the skaters. Basically, it was contact roller skating around a track. It was really fast moving and has a lot of rules about how you can block and such and at any given time, there were usually at least 2 people in the penalty area. I didn't really understand all the nuances but it was quite impressive to see these women's skating abilities. It is something that we'll definitely be doing again and maybe we'll even get to see our friend out on the track...

Seasons Changing

Lately, I have noticed many subtle signs that autumn is upon us and summer is a mere memory (although a good one). The mornings and evenings are cool and crisp even though the days have still been warm. I left work at 7:00 PM yesterday and it was dark! Part of that was a storm coming but it is definitely getting dark sooner and the light is fading. Earlier this week, I was looking around at the trees as I drove home and some of them are changing. I really enjoy this part of the year because it is so pretty. I just hope that the leaves are changing more and are pretty 2 week from Saturday. :)

T minus 1 and counting

Thursday was one month before the wedding! We are now less than one month out. People keep asking me if I'm excited and I really don't know. I don't like that every spare/down minute, I am thinking about what needs to be done. We have a long "to do" list that is getting managed but it is still longer than I would like. I am really glad that we are here to do these things because it would be hard to do some of this stuff from a few thousand miles away.

Recently, we have gotten a lot done. I have tried on my dress and had a fitting (hopefully the only one), one of my bridesmaids got fit at the same time and the others have appointments for fittings. We have booked the rehearsal dinner location. Today we did a few reception decorations. I also finished one of the bridesmaids' shawls and am about 1/4 the way done with the second. I still need to weave in ends and block the third one that is done but that shouldn't take long...

Anyway, soon, we will be married and off to New Zealand! I'm so glad that John is researching and planning the honeymoon! Actually, he has been amazing through the whole process and has been doing more work that I have been for the wedding planning/tasks.

So, am I excited? I guess so. I am more in awe that we are getting married in less than a month! I don't think it will really sink in until I walk down the isle and see all the people in the church there for us.

So far behind...

So 2 weeks ago today was my birthday. To honor the day, a group of friends went to a beer garden for dinner and drinks and just enjoying the nice summery weather. On Sunday, I got many presents from John. He took me to a lovely dinner at an Italian restaurant that I had always wanted to try but thought was too expensive. We had a lovely dinner and a lovely bottle of champagne.

This year, I got some wonderful presents. John got me two knitting books, a couple of New Zealand books, and wine from our favorite winery in Italy. The wine took some research because it is not easily available here. We got it easily in Dublin, but here, not available because it is a small cooperative of growers. Anyway, he did his research and found a place in the area that could order it and made it happen. It also just so happened that the wine was from the year that we went to the Italian Alps and saw the winery! The day after my birthday, I made a nice dinner and we enjoyed some wine in the Waterford wine glasses my parents gave us as a wedding present.

John's sisters were also good to me. One sister got me a chocolate cookbook. Another got me a gift basket of fruit English Muffins, coffee, and and jam. We are enjoying it a lot.

So, all in all, it was a lovely day. :)

Just what I needed

Since we moved back, J and I have been trying to schedule a weekend together. Well, yesterday, I took the train up to see her. I decided to take the train because it was only an hour (versus an hour and a half drive) and it was close to the price of driving, and I could knit on the train, so it was an easy decision for me.

Anyway, I got up to where J lives yesterday afternoon and neither of us had eaten, so we settled in, J walked her dog, and then walked to get some late lunch/early dinner. We headed a restaurant on the river, didn't get service, and headed inside. We had good food, a bit of conversation and then back to her house. We were both exhausted so she made cookies and we just hung out the rest of the night and went to bed early.

Today, we got up, went swimming and relaxed in the hot tub, and then went to brunch. After brunch, we hung out on the roof top terrace of the building until it was time for me to head back home. All in all, it was a very relaxing girly weekend, just what I think we both needed.

Pineapple Downside Up Cakes

John's favorite cake is Pineapple Upside Down cake. When looking for things to register for the wedding, I saw a pan that makes mini cakes in the shapes of pineapples and immediately registered for it (as well as a cast iron skillet to make the cake in). Well, at the shower, I was very happy to unwrap the pan and it was given to us by one of John's siblings. His brother then gave us a tin of pineapple to facilitate making the cake. :)

John was so happy to get this pan that one day while I was at work and he was cleaning and putting the presents away, he decided to try out the pan. Below is the making of the cake, as taken by John.

The left over pineapple turned into his dinner.








His trusty beer was his baking assistant.













Then he waited patiently for dessert to be ready.








And finally his efforts were rewarded. :)

And the cakes were tasty. We think we can find a better cake recipe (we used the one that came with the pan) but I think that we are definitely up for the challenge.

Warning: political post

This is an election year but we will be on our honeymoon during the election. It will be quite interesting to hear the results and election coverage from half a world away. For the first time that I can remember, I really care about a candidate. Now, I have always had a preference and hoped that the "other candidate" didn't win but I was more voting against someone than for someone.

This year, I care. I care deeply. I care enough to want to donate to a campaign for the first time. I respect the candidate even though he is a politian. I am also watching the political rhetoric and choices for VP from the candidates. Obama chose Biden, who has been in politics for ages (too long, I think) but balances any perceived in-experience on his part. Today McCain announced his choice, Palin. She is a young candidate who has been governor for two years. Therefore, she also balances him in the opposite way. No matter who wins, history will be made with this election and I find that really exciting.

Lately, I have started reading Ravelry's political message boards. I checked out the McCain supporters group to see what they were saying about Palin and if they thought she could help McCain get former Hillary supporters to vote for him. What I found most interesting, though, was an idea to make her a community blanket. One of the supporters is going to sew all the squares together that other supporters have knit or crocheted. In contrast, the Obama supporters are knitting and crocheting things to donate to homeless veterans. While I like the idea of cooperative knitting, I don't think that supporters would be making a male VP (or presidential) candidate a blanket.

If women want to be treated equally, we should treat each other equally. By immediately doing something nurturing for a candidate and not doing this for other candidates, these people are saying that the woman is different. That does not help the cause of equal rights for women. Now, don't get me wrong, I think it is great that these supporters want to show their support. I just question if it really helps the bigger cause of equal rights/perceptions of women. Or maybe that isn't really the goal here...

Showered

A couple weeks ago, my sister generously hosted a bridal shower for me. For readers not familiar with this tradition, the guests to the bridal shower bring presents for the bride, aka shower her with guests. The tradition started when trying to build up a woman's dowry before getting married. Sometimes women have multiple showers. The relatives of the couple may have showers, work, friends. John's mom, niece, and sister-in-law came to my shower in addition to some of my aunts and cousins. J also came (remember her?). I felt so bad for J because she got a speeding ticket on the way!

The shower started off with a few bridal shower games. We played a word unscramble game, got points for various items being in our purses, and my sister asked me questions to see if I answered them the same way that John answered the same questions. We then ate a light lunch and I opened presents! Most of the pictures were taken by J.

ETA: the KitchenAid box contains an ice cream maker. :) I already had a KitchenAid (John was very nice to me one year for my birthday)