Surprise

For most of November I told my parents and all my family that I would be arriving on the 26th of December like last year as flights before Christmas were expensive and hard to come by. In truth I had booked December 22 in June and had been planing this surprise a long time.

In preparation I looked up a complete phony itinerary for the day I was suppose to fly out and made sure all the details for my fake departure were taken care of as well as for my real arrival. A special shout out to two of my friends (you know who you are!) for helping me pull of this feat.

Surprising the folks was awesome but of course uncertain and sure enough the one night I come home no one is there. I call around using skype so if folks check caller id it wont show my sim card that I've been using since LA (I also had to limit internet usage so people didn't see I was in the country). I didn't have to wait too long before my dad rolled into the lot which was great but it took him a few seconds to get over the shock of it I think. I really wanted some Mexican but we couldn't convince my mom ( or say my dad couldn't as I wasn't 'there') to meet us but we went anyway. Dad called her again to say he left his wallet and so spitting lightning my mom shows up to pay his bill. All rainy tears by the end of it.

It was good to see the family :D

Even with the jet lagg Matt convinced me to go out and party hard at Oasis that night with my b'ham friends including my bestie Sophia. Great times.

Awesome

Don't know what who more awesome. This kid, or this kid's parents.

Christmas Tree at work

Day Uno

Today!

Very excited to open some presents tomorrow :D although I have been officially banned from touching presents under the tree until said time ;)

Kung Fu

As most of you know I am in a Kung Fu class here in Palmy. If you don't know I train about 3 nights a week for 2 plus hours. On Saturday the 10th of December we had our belt grading which was super exciting. It's the first time I got to grade due to other circumstances and I'm super excited to say that I passed and am now a yellow belt! This is even a bigger accomplishment because I graded in front of Ta Si Gung who is the Grand Master (internationally) of our organization. I was lucky enough to train with him for a week and a half as well doing everything from kicking to knife fighting and it was a blast and a fantastic learning experience. I hope to get pictures soon!

Helping Rachel Decorate

Helped Rachel and Evan decorate the tree. Christmas trees are a lot smaller here and they don't do all the crazy amount of lights or ornaments like we do in the states. I like that. I like the idea that I can assemble and decorate a tree in under 2 hours. :)

Best Cake Ever

Becks made us a cake. In the shape of Catan. 

Equal Awesomeness

My work today

It's that time of year again that the clients panic and send us massive amounts of work to be done that they have known about for months to be compressed into one weeks worth of work. This means 50 hour weeks of design chaos, gallons of Dr. Pepper and occasional chocolate cake. All in all not that bad, no worse than finals that's for sure. In fact I'm going to say it's 10xs better but it is still a bit crazy. Below is one magazine. One.

Itenterary

Depart Auckland Monday Dec.26

AA 7315 3:05pm AKL to LAX. arrive LAX 6:30am

AA 2430 LAX 9:05am to DFW arrive 2:15pm

AA2030 DFW 3:10pm to BHM 4:40pm :D

Christmas Card!

Got my first Christmas card of the year from Auntie Barbara and Uncle Buddy and a nifty new hoodie :D

Christmas Wish List

By popular request :


A Kindle
On those long 12 hour plane rides my poor little iphone battery just can't hold up to it. Plus the screen and brightness really aren't designed to be read long term. Little knidle batteries last ages and their screens are made for reading plus they weigh less than a book in my backpack. It doesn't need to be super flash, the small one is just fine. I can't imagine needing more than 1,000 books at a time.
Amazon Kindle

A Tripod
I bought a new camera and i could use a small, easy to transport tripod, just something nifty to get me by and steady the camera on a table top. It would be nice to have one that tilts the camera but I can do that with books so no big issue.
Tripods at Best Buy

A SD Cart

I bought a new camera and I could use some 4GB-32GB SD cards. They are 2x's the price in NZ so I haven't bought any. Even a small one would be a big help. :(

SD Cards at Best Buy

Money towards new MacbookPro
The macbook I saved for and bought when I went to Auburn is on it's last leg. After multiple years of abuse via college tote bags, bicycle baskets, over heating and general mistreatment my logic board is failing fast and I could really use a new computer. My dream laptop (I'de prefer desktop but with moving so much) would be about $2,700 but I'm saving to get one that is about $1,600.  It's something I use every day  for work and play.

Shoes
My ChuckTs are falling apart and so I really need some new converse all star classics. I'm thinking bright red (not maroon) and low tops :) Again something I can't get in New Zealand easily.
converse

Socks
Striped socks, esp toe socks. I don't like socks with animals or stuff on them just fun coloured stripes. Normal fun coloured socks would be fun for the summer too.

Please No Candy

Trying to eat healthy. Candy is not healthy. Don't tempt me ;)

A New Zealand Thanksgiving!

rachel and me setting the table! Ham!

Todd and Marc

Baliey vs Jess on Wii with Chris and Evan watching

Racing cows

Loudhailer Halloween 2011

 Out of commission with a scratched cornea i'm only just now getting around to posting Halloween pics. Unfortunately i didn't get to stay around in costume all day because I was blind in one eye and decided to go to the doctor. It was all kinds of no fun. But, the costumes did turn out great I think!!

The Bride (me), Dexter (todd), Quail-Man (Jess) and Edward Scissors hands (Rach)

Serial Killer/Blood Spatter Analist vs. Science Project

Todd as Dexter with Body bag in his 'kill suit'

Dexter is a cop that works as a blood splatter anysist. He is also a serial killer that kills those that got away.

Rach as Edward Scissor Hands

Edward Scissor Hands. Always looses paper,rock, scissors. Never allowed to run. Ever.

Just a trim thanks

Bride of Frankenstine

Doesn't like her husband

Jess as Quail Man

If you were a kid in the '90's and watched Doug, you love quail man!

Best Little Gingerbread House Ever!!

For Thanksgiving dinner, Jess made the cutest little gingerbread house FROM SCRATCH. She baked the gingerbread, made homemade icing (with a dash of cinnamon which was sooo good), and used 'lollies' for windows and decorations. The awning of the windows and door frames were pineapple covered chocolate and she even made and decorated little gingerbread trees and candy canes! so pretty!! so yummy!

cute little gingerbread house with walk!

see! little decorated trees and 'holly' bushes that were cinnamon candies!

close up of window. she was sad the icing melted and covered so much of it.

inside of window so you can see it was a sucker! The bloody windows were transparent! wow jess!

Hahaha

There are days I miss home but a funny story from there always makes me laugh. This is a funny newspaper clipping shared with me by some facebook friends. Enjoy! Rock on Marines!

Click to make bigger

Hell's Pizza

In the U.S. we have dominos, pizza hut, hungry howies, and Tony's for pizza. In New Zealand we have Hell. Complete with clever branding (which I love) they have misfourtune cookies , Lamb shanks (ad has a 3 legged lamb) and all sorts of funny goodies. I posted my faves below

Dave Dobbin Concert

Palmerston north held two Rugby World Cup games including Georgia, Romania, and Argentina. Oddly enough the guy I couch surfed with and was my first friend in NZ moved to Georgia so it was kind of ironic. As part of the festivities they held a free concert in the park and I'm pretty sure all of Palmy was there. The highlight of the night was Kiwi artist Dave Dobbin who was pretty good. Esp to get these guys up and dancing because Kiwi's don't dance for anything!

Dave Dobbin

Argentina fans partying hard, using flags for capes and the like

more Dave Dobbin concert

Crazy

Matt and his band playing the other night

Tasmanian Sea

Rachel was kind enough to invite me for a drive to the beach. The water is much colder than the Gulf of Mexico and the shells are different too. The sand is black and it doesn't have a strong smell either but lots of wind and rocks. Fun little trip!

Beach

Evan like to push his own stroller until he gets tired

tractor to put boats in and out of the water

Me and Evan

Late night pranks

This year New Zealand was host to the Rugby World Cup and of course had many guests from overseas. Most countries drive on the same side of the road but England, Australia and New Zealand prefer to be a bit different and drive on the opposite side. Remembering this fact, the local governments painted giant arrows on the road to remind guests which way to go.

 After driving my scooter on the wrong side of the road (but immediately fixing) Rachel said she would come to my house and paint big arrows on the road. The other night, I beat her to it

hehehehehe