It’s been over three months since I’ve published a blog post and even longer since I’ve given you all an update.
I could list a million reasons why I haven’t been writing – I’ve been busy, I worked long hours, I did have a table to sit and write at, my laptop broke; but, they would all be excuses. I just haven’t really made the time to sit down and write.
This was both good and bad.
Good because 2018 was honestly a year of growth and change – we said no way to Australia and yes way to New Zealand in January, and moved to Auckland. We spent many hours planning our 2019 wedding, we went back to Canada to see Kels’ sister Briana get married. In December we said see ya to Auckland and the North Island and I accepted my first “big girl job” (aka a job that actually uses the degree I spent four years earning) and we moved down to the south island. 2018 was a quiet year; but a big year. I didn’t make the time to write because I was honestly busy – I was wedding planning, job searching and probably soul searching too.
It was also bad that I didn’t make the time to write because I wasn’t THAT busy. I made excuses for why I wasn’t writing, I had poor time management for the hours I wasn’t working and honestly admit to wasting time that I could have been productive with it. I told myself that I had nothing I wanted to share, I was living in Auckland – working, going to the gym and sleeping. Kels and I took a couple weekend trips; but, I had lost inspiration – I felt like a fraud. I wasn’t adventuring heaps – I was part of that 9-5 population that worked for a living. I didn’t really care to write about it. I kind of gave up on blogging.
It’s sad because I love writing, I love reflecting on memories and I love sharing my adventures. I can’t promise I will now be consistent with this blog; however, I hope that if I don’t write – that it’s for the good reasons and not the bad.
While I’ve got you – if you’re still up for reading my ramblings – let me give you a quick life update:
Kels and I are still living in New Zealand, and slowly but surely making it feel more like home than ever.
In December my mom and dad came to visit from Canada. We rented a holiday home in the Coromandel and Margaret and her boyfriend flew up from Wellington and we had our first proper family holiday in YEARS. It was so so good to be all together again, and it was heaps of fun!
From there, Kels and I spent a week exploring some bits of the North Island we had never seen before! We hiked the Tongariro Crossing (which is in an active volcano zone, and also the site of Mount Doom from LOTR), we visited Mount Taranaki and we visited my sister in Wellington. The purpose of the entire roadtrip from Auckland down to Wellington was to move our entire lives to a new city.
We moved from Auckland (North Island) down to Nelson (South Island). We made this move for a couple of reasons, the first being I was offered a job! I’m calling it my first real “big girl” job – it’s the first job that relates to my field of study in university. It’s a health promotion role in which doctors, nurses and other medical professionals “prescribe” exercise to individuals. It’s a nation-wide initiative and I think it’s so awesome! I help guide people to become self-sufficient in managing their own long term health. Although accepting the job meant leaving our flat, our jobs, our gyms and our friends in Auckland, upon talking it over Kels and I decided it would be a really good change of pace for us – and a really great career opportunity for me. My dad grew up in this area of New Zealand, so we have grandparents, an auntie and an uncle as well as cousins right here, which made the decision that much easier.
Since we moved from New Zealand’s largest city (almost 1.7 million people) to the smallest city I’ve lived in (just over 50, 000 people), both Kels and I were obviously worried about a lack of job opportunities for him. Things have somehow worked out so far as Kels has accepted a position as a strength and conditioning coach. He is currently in the process of starting up a Youth Development Program (so if you know any youth athletes in Nelson area, hit him up! (PS have you checked out his blog?).
We spent Christmas with family at my grandparents bach. It was a great time to go fishing, swimming, kayaking and spend time with everyone! We went to Wharariki beach again, which was really cool because it was almost exactly a year to the day we got engaged.
We’ve also been sorting out wedding stuff like mad this last month it seems. I don’t think I’ve gone more than 2 days without a message from my mom about the wedding. I guess it’s getting close – only 133 more days!
So basically, in the last little bit, we have: moved cities, both gotten “big kid” jobs, found a new place to live and now we’re working on figuring out our routines, and making new friends down here and continuing to figure out how to successfully pull off a big party aka our wedding. I couldn’t be happier with the move – it was scary, but we realized we weren’t truly happy up in Auckland and decided to do something about it! Life has a way of working out, and the last few months have truly been on our side. I am so thankful for all the support from friends and family who have made this transition easier!
I’m going to perhaps try to get a few more blog posts going – let me know if there’s anything you’d like to know more about!
xoxo
Dani
Great blog Dani!! We were so pleased to have you move to Nelson to be near your family and as it has worked out it was meant to be because you both have good jobs and a bigger place to live in. YIPEE!!.
With love from your New Zealand grandparents.
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