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.

I Remember

Sept. 11, 2001

Ten years ago today I was a freshman in high school. It was still warm but I wore blue jeans and a t-shirt to school instead of shorts because the rooms were too cold with the air conditioning. I had band practice that afternoon and we were hashing out a new set for the game. My first class was Biology with Mrs. Gurosky and I sat in the middle of the row on the far end of the room. We were talking when the principal came over the PA system and this little brown box told us that a plane had hit one of the world trade towers. I thought it was an accident. To be honest, I didn't even know what the towers were although I had seen them on tv. Within minutes a second announcement told us both towers had been hit.

The rest of the day in every class was spent on the edge of our seats. Some teachers told us it was the beginning of a war. Others told us not to worry. Girls cried because they feared their boyfriends would be called to a draft. Some used cell phones in the bathrooms trying to call family in New York. I worried about my aunts friends. I feared war.

Silent students sat in front of televisions showing the news. It was improbable to believe as the destruction looked like a film. Like it could not be real, except that it was real. Real enough it would define the world my generation grew up in, real enough to change everything.

Where were you?

A year ago today

Hard to believe but a year ago today it was a warm and sunny summer afternoon in Alabama for me. I had hair that was long, super curly, and always in the way basically because I had no time to care for it or even the desire to wear it town in the blistering heat. Let's face it, AL humidity and summer are just too much to wear your hair down. I was working at Outdoor Distributors; a dead end, low paying job that I was thankful to have just because I knew it was hard to get work in the small town for such a short time period. I was planning on leaving for NZ in less than 3 months and even tho I had been stashing money away in a savings account since my 16th birthday and first job at the Piggly Wiggly (even in college) it would still be nice to have some extra cash for my trip. So I sold my hair for a nice sum that covered the cost of my plane ticket and some of my pre travel medical expenses (that I ended up not needing but I digress).

my rockin new pixi at matt's apt one year ago

Now I am working in Palmerston North, New Zealand as a graphic designer with a great group of people! Sweet As!

hair today after many hair cuts to keep it from growing all wonky!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Back Home

For those of you who don't know, I am from Alabama, USA which was devastated by a tornado this past week. Luckily for me and my family no one I know was killed or seriously injured although there was some property damage. I'll take that with a smile over loss of life any day. I know not everyone was so lucky.

Funnel Cloud
Tuscaloosa, AL

Tuscaloosa, AL

Birmingham, Al

Tuscaloosa, AL

Tuscaloosa, AL

Tuscaloosa, AL

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my little sister Leslie who is turning 15 today (well yesterday here in New Zealand)

Traveling from Atlanta to Palmerston North

Traveling back to New Zealand from the states was incredibly exhausting as I spent the last few days running about trying to pack and say my goodbyes. The number of stops coupled with lack of sleep, screaming babies, and the crappy plane on the long haul made for a dragging trip. I slept for 12 hours when I got back. I think next time I'll just try to book earlier (if I have the notice) and pay more for fewer stops.

First stop DFW

2nd stop LAX

3rd Stop Fiji - I really don't like British Brats with Nannies - long story

4th Stop -  3 hours of screaming babies later

5th stop - A taxi ride from sleep

Going back to New Zealand

It has been a fun and overall great holiday

Depart: Jan 20 - 22

11:45am EST - 1:15pm CST--Atlanta (ATL) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) -- American Airlines flight 4722
2:15pm CST - 3:45pm PST -- Dallas (DFW) to Los Angeles (LAX) -- AA flight 3032
9:30pm PST - 5:15am -- Los Angles (LAX) to Nadi, Fj (NAN) -- Air Pacific 3838
10am - 1pm NZT -- Fj (NAN) to Auckland (AKL) -- AirPacific 3842
2:25pm - 3:30pm -- Auckland to Palmerston North -- Air New Zealand NZ8337

Surprise Party for Natalie

Before leaving for the states I made a few 'appointments' to meet with some people that I knew would have a crazy schedule. Matt said that he wanted some 'Nat time' and what with his two jobs and girlfriend I thought nothing of a planned dinner until I arrived to discover balloons and some of my favorite peeps to hang out with in Birmingham. <3

Matticus, Cinibuns, GNat, Joshums and Sadie Sadie the crazy cat lady

Cindy, Myself, Josh, and Sadie

Breakfast of Champions - Oh how I missed you

Food in New Zealand is extreemly healthy and has so much less corn than anything we have in the states. They don't have grits, biscuits are cookies, and bacon is a 4 inch slab of something. Only eggs are similar. So good to eat southern cooking again

Impromptu Party

A wonderfully impromptu party (at least for me) ensued at a mexican restaurant halfway between Atlanta and Wilsonville after my Aunt and Uncle were kind enough to surprise me at the airport. It was nice after 31 hours to see a friendly face and get my first real hugs in about 5 months. Mexican food tasted as good as I remembered it the only down side was that since it was Sunday there was no margaritas. For the best I think as I would have probably immediately passed out from the combination of exhaustion and tequila.

Welcome Home - ish reception at some random Mexican joint 

My Uncle Buddy and Aunt Barbara who were kind enough to pick me up from the airport

My Dad and Mom

My ever bored sister and my jet lagged self