Happy Sweet Valentines Day!

My official valentines day was yesterday, but I wanted to celebrate today, with my

 best friend/cuddle buddy/romantic interest person. 

Why is he not my boyfriend? 

We live across the world from each other. 

You amaze me everyday, Jason Thompson :)

Happy love day, everybody. 

Shoes :)

Everything in NZ is so so expensive but leave it to me to find the steals and deals! 

Since being here I've bought 6 pairs of shoes. haha 

Don't ask me how I'm going to get everything home. 

I have no idea. 

But guess how much I've spent on those 6 pairs? 

$63 NZD 

That's a whoppin' $48 USD :)

These are the hotties I got today for $10 a pop. 

And here is the whole collection!

This is probably the most superficial post I have ever done and will ever do.  When I read it when I'm old, I'm not going to care in the least bit but right now I just like my shoes ok? I'm twenty, I'm allowed:)

Saturday!

Today I went for a walk. 

I went to Browns Bay which is about 2 miles away and wandered around all the little shops by the ocean. 

I went into a bunch of shops that just had the most random junk I've ever seen in them. 

That's always fun right? 

Found this gem in the back corner. haha

I was going to go here for lunch but decided to try something new. 

So i got a Kebab! It's Turkish. 

Also delicious :)

Windy day at the beach! 

:)

Essential.

I've been getting really upset with myself the last, oh um, 3 weeks because I haven't done a post about my initial feelings of arriving here in New Zealand and all that good stuff. This is my journal after all. 


As I thought about writing down all the deep, dark, inner thoughts of freedom and awe I knew I would experience, I thought it would take a long time to get it all down.  


But it's a lot more simple and less dramatic than expected. 


On the plane ride over, and upon arrival, I was certainly giddy, excited, and awe inspired, but I wouldn't describe it as surreal. And believe me, planning for and getting ready to leave was the pure definition of surreal. 


It's just struck me so many times since being here that of course I'm here. Me being here was never not going to happen. 


And that's all folks!

See you later, America!

Made it to the hostel! 

In this above picture I'm standing under a roof outside someone else's dorm because the bell hop dude didn't know where my room was so he had to go back and check! It's pitch black because I got to Fiji at approximately 450 AM. Also, it was raining, hence needing the roof. 

But I was so incredibly happy at this moment. 

Partly because I survived my first taxi ride. There were a few times when I honestly thought I wasn't going to see the Fijian sun rise that morning. 

Crazy Fijian taxi drivers! 

(I have proof of these crazy drivers in this story.)

One last thing I need to mention is how old it made me feel to be dropped off at the Las Vegas airport and have to make it all the way to Auckland, New Zealand by myself. This included navigating airports that I've never been to by myself, layovers, customs, finding a taxi when I got to Fiji, checking in at the hostel, planning my days out while in Fiji, and then making it to the airport on time for my flight to NZ. I so vividly remember thinking, "Really? Am I that old that this is o.k? Life is soooo weird!". I'll never forget that feeling. :)

It's one of those nights.

You know, one of these nights. 

I don't want to talk to anyone. 

I don't care if I gain 5 pounds eating some NZ candy and ghetto looking Doritos.

I just wanna lay down, be anti-social, watch 3 movies in a row, with breaks in between filled with reading books, magazines, and planning my trip to Australia.  

Lovely    :)

And then it was all better.

Watching after 5 kids is a huge responsibility and pretty rough at times but then moments like this happen to make it all better:

I drop off the 4 year-old little boy at his kindy every day and he always wants a hug and kiss before I leave, even if we've had a rough morning. 

Today we had said good-bye and gave each other a hug and as I was walking away he said, "Rhianna, (yes he calls me that, can't say I mind) wait, I wanna tell you somethin".

"What is it?"

"I love you all day long". 

Then he gave me a kiss on both my cheeks. 

Safe to say, it melted my heart. 

I wish everyone, including myself, could learn to say what was on our mind all the time and to remember to tell people things like that every day. 

What do you say we give it a go?

The top ten reasons why I love New Zealand.

1. Bare feet.

People will go all sorts of places with no shoes. I'm 97% sure the

"No shirt

 No shoes

No service"

 signs do not exist here.

Which is awesome because I love buying shoes but I don't always love to wear them.

Also there is no law that says you have to wear shoes while driving, which I always thought was a really stupid law anyway.

Side note: I hate my feet because my older brother, Chance, always says I have stubby toes. Which is true, but I don't need to hear it!

2. Water

It's everywhere I turn.

And it is gorgeous! Also, it provides a steady, refreshing breeze in these hot summer months.

3. Fish 'N chips. 

I won't elaborate except to say I'm going to need a gym membership here pretty quick. 

4. "Damn" is not a swear word. This makes me very happy because it's one of my favorite words ever. I like it because you can use it in every single sentence. But I don't do that because it'd be very annoying and it'd wear out. Like when you LOVE that new Rhianna song so you put it on repeat on your ipod and in 1-3 weeks time you're about to side with Chris Brown. Just kidding. That was a horrible thing to say. I do not like him one bit and Rhianna is one of my faves.

The funny thing, though, is that I made a goal to stop "swearing" completely a few months back and finally succeeded and then I get here and everyone is like "damnit!" "hell!" and I'm like, "oh no, can I say that now or would that be ruining my progress?"

The question is still being considered.

5. The words: "Oi! Eh? Ya man" and the accents in general.

Seriously, it's so much cooler than American slang. "That's sick!" Really? That's the best we can come up with? The sad part is, I say it. I'm switching.

6. Approximately 99% of the people I have met know where little 'ol St. George, Utah is. About 54% of those ask me if I know so-and-so, and about 42% have been to Utah personally. It's quite strange, but makes me feel not so far away from home.  When I first got here the conversation went something like this:

Person: "So where are you from?"

Me: "The states".

Person: "Cool, where in the states?"

Me: "Utah..." (You probably don't know where that is).

Person: "Oh ya, where in Utah?"

Me: "St. George..." (How could you possibly know where that is!)

Then they would say one of these sentences:

1. Awesome, do you know so-and-so?

2. Oh, right on, I went there a few years ago.

3. Ok, I've been to the Salt Lake, but never St. George.

4. I used to live in Bountiful.

5. Cool, I went to BYU.

So now when people ask where I'm from I just reply with "St. George, Utah". It cuts down on my oxygen usage.

7. Um, I live on an island.

8. Mail -or should i say postal- carriers ride bikes to deliver the post!

9. The simple fact that everything is new, exciting, and ridiculously different to me.

Just looking around here is even an event for me!

10. Ice cream. Best in the world!

11. The simplicity.

Coming here has made me realize how over the top Americans do everything.

12. The people. I saved the best for last.

(And yes, I know this is #12 and the title said 10 but really, I could go up to 100).

The people are amazing.

Genuine.

Accepting.

Funny.

Caring.

Exciting.

So so so nice.
I can't get over it.

In conclusion, I love it here. It's gorgeous, fun, new and exciting.

I have no idea where my life will take me next, and I have a few astounding options I really need to think over.

For right now, I am just breathing in the New Zealand air.