New Zealand Holiday Recap (pt. 1)

It has been almost a month (but not quite...) since my last blog post! But the last month has been a blur! We did so many exciting things, had a week off of work, travelled down to the South Island (loveee), and just relaxed! It was so nice to have both Ben and I's parents here to visit! It has been 8 months (!!!) since we moved to New Zealand...time flies! We have been blessed with so many good friends but it's hard to replace your family. Especially a family that we lived with for 14 months prior to our big move :) Thanks Mommy and Poppy! :) They were here for almost 2 weeks and we got so much good stuff packed into those two weeks! In Auckland, we explored Cornwall Park, hiked to the Kitekite falls (which John and Ben climbed to the top of!) and watched a sunset on Karekare beach! We took advantage of the sunset to take some funny pictures! I laughed so hard I almost peed! Here's some of my favorites :)

Virginia and John

Our "W" for Webers!

After the "W"...Ben is being so sweet while John beats up Virginia :)

"N" for Nixons! (This is where I almost peed in my pants :)

Heart :)

After a couple days in Auckland, we headed down to Queenstown, which is my new favorite place! We had a great weather while we were there. It was only rainy for small amounts of time and it was warm-ish up until the day we left! Perfect! We rented a house which was absolutely amazing and had the best views. If anyone needs a recommendation of a holiday house in Queenstown, let me know! 

Our first day there we rode the gondola up to the top of a mountain and did the luge! It was so much fun! Mommy, Poppy, Ben and I all did the "beginner" luge and then Poppy and I went back and did the "adventurous" one! 

View from the top! Our house was on the backside of that peninsula

Poppy beat me :(

Another view from the top! Isn't Ben such a great photographer!? 

Okay, I have so many more pictures but you are just going to have to wait until the next blog post...I promise it won't take me a month to write! If you want to check out our pictures from the trip in the meantime head over to our Smugmug! 

Kai Iwi Lakes!

Blehhhhh...I have had wayyyy too much Easter chocolate! And now it's tempting me with it's "50% off" stickers at the grocery store!!

Anyway, for Easter, Ben and I had our first Kiwi camping experience! Now, I have been "camping" before but this almost always ended with us packing up early and heading home because a) it was too cold or b) we ran out of some sort of provision. Good 'ole college camping out at Lake Bryan :) Luckily, the people we went with this time were super prepared! They had a pretty sweet set-up! They even shared their tent with us :) We really enjoyed eating, tree climbing, reading, relaxing, taking underwater pictures, biscuit-ing...

...Boxhead...

 

...trying my first (and only) Marmite and chip sandwich...

...The Adventures of Chick-Chick... 

...my first successful wakeboarding...  

  ...and swimming in the crystal blue, fresh water! 

Thanks Karmia and Caleb for taking us! 

Now that we're home, we will probably be relaxing around the house and getting ready for our parents to come visit in less than 2 weeks!!! We have lots of exciting stuff planned including a trip down to Queenstown where I'm trying to get Ben to agree to some bungee jumping! :) We'll see how that works out...

You can see all the pictures from our weekend on Smugmug! Along with an awesome video of me wakeboarding (and bailing...)! 

love love love

the webers

Things I love...

The past six (almost seven) months have taught me a lot...but most of all, they have taught me that you can go without a BUNCH of stuff. Ben and I got rid of most of our belongings because 1) most of it was hand-me-down, college furniture that we weren't really attached to and didn't want to keep in storage for the next 4+ years and 2) we were too poor to afford to have it shipped over here! Fun fact, it is crazy expensive to have your belongings shipped overseas. I thought maybe $1000, $1500 max....no! Several estimates later were in the $4000+ range for a small amount of stuff. So, after arriving in New Zealand, we have had to acquire everything over again. Since our move into an unfurnished flat, we have gotten a lot more of the bigger stuff (sofa, bed, etc.) but are still working on it! So, stuff you don't need...

1. You don't need a microwave...if you have an oven/stovetop! This was one of those things that I went to the shops to buy and didn't want to fork out $200 for. And I have been meaning to get one, but at this point, we do just fine without it! I even have to get out the saucepan to heat up milk for my coffee in the morning ! It's a little extra step but just part of the routine now. So, it's on the back burner for now...

2. You don't need a frying pan...if you have a saucepan! This may sound like a no brainer but everyone has at least one frying pan...maybe 2 or 3. There was one in our furnished apartment, so I got used to having one and then one didn't come with the set of pots and pans we bought so we've just been doing without. The only thing we haven't been able to make is fried eggs...which I kind of miss...so I might be going to get one this week! That being said, Ben is a pro at poached eggs :)

3. You don't need a TV, if you have a computer! A good friend "donated" a TV to us (thanks, Vasana!!) when I told her we weren't going to buy one. Honestly, we haven't turned it on once :/ We only have a couple of shows that we actually watch together and I have been addicted to The Vamprie Diaries (vampire shows are a no-go for Ben) so we watch movies...which we need the computer for anyway. Plus, all the shows and movies are online nowadays :)

AND, of course, there are some things I cannot have lived without the last couple months :)

1. Skype/Facetime...so we can see all our lovely friends and family back home. We are so lucky to live in the age of Skype and Facetime! I don't feel like I've been gone for 7 months because of how often I am able to talk to my loved ones. Sorry Rachel, I had to :)

2. Kiwi Friends...Ben and I have been lucky enough to find some great friends here in New Zealand! We would have been so bored and probably killed each other if we didn't have those people! In fact, we are heading away for some camping next weekend and I am super excited!

3. My Hubby...As cheesy as it sounds, he is my best friend and I don't know how I could have moved across the world without him. Because those first couple weeks, it was just me and him...all day, every day! He is easy to travel with. We share the same interests (for the most part). And most of all, we have fun together, no matter what we are doing! I don't think there's anyone else in the world I could spend 24 hours a day with and not want to send them packing at the end of the week :) Okay, done...

4. My iPhone...on the opposite end of the cheesy spectrum...I am so thankful my iPhone was able to work on one of the New Zealand networks. And that I was able to unlock it (without too much hassle) to use on that said network! Living in a new place, at first I had to get directions EVERYWHERE! I mean, walking to the store, I had to get directions. Don't get me wrong, I still use it when we are going somewhere new (to pick up something I bought online...) but it was so useful when I had no clue where I was going. I also used it on a daily basis when I was riding the bus thanks to the handy, dandy bus app! But...done with that sucker! How did we get directions before mobile internet???

This is a rather wordy post so I'll leave it at that. Today I started a 10 day "clean" eating cleanse in preparation for said lake trip in a couple weeks! So far so good...I have gone one whole day! Be proud :) I'll let you know how the next 9 days go! Cheers!

My first re-finishing project! Im addicted...

I have seen picture after picture on Pinterest of refinishing projects for old piece of junk furniture that's made into something amazing and actually worth keeping. Well, I always think, "How hard can that be?" And it's way cheaper to buy something old and spruce it up than to buy it already re-done. I'm really excited with how it turned out!! I apologize in advance for the crappy iPhone photos. My computer is so old now that it no longer downloads software because it's so out of date...and so I can't upload pictures from the camera :( I hope you love it as much as I do!!

BEFORE: 

Sadly, I did not get a before picture of the whole thing put together and please excuse Ben's crap on top...you get the jist)

Notice those ugly retro half chrome, half laminate legs...and of course the brick in place of one leg...

PRIMER:

ALMOST THERE:

(after one coat of paint color and then "distressed" slightly)

AFTER:

After painting and distressing, we added a clear coat on top that gave it more of a vintage-y feel and look to it! I love it! Oh and check out the new legs, that look so much better! I also loved the pulls that it had on it already so I just cleaned them up and reattached. 

I will try to post some better pictures because you can't really see the great seafoam greeny color! I'm so proud of how it turned out and can't wait to start my next project :) Ben is excited...

Look what I found...

I have missed my almond milk. So now I'm drinking hot cocoa with almond milk. Yum....

Second, I did this workout today...

It was really good! I love a good arm workout. And it didn't take too long...so I added in some cardio before and after! I totally did not want to go work out after school today but I went anyway and then I made a fantastic dinner: tin foil fish and veggies and wild rice. It turned out really good and was super quick and easy!!! 

And, lastly, check out our custom bed :) We bought a bed off of Trade Me and it turned out to be just a couple inches too short for our mattress. Well, my handy hubby lengthened the sides and now it fits perfectly! And it has siderails that match our dresser! Haha! I think Ben is tired of me buying things off Trade Me :) 

YAY! So glad we don't have to sleep on the floor anymore! Goodnight :)

Rainy, Cozy Sunday

It has been almost a whole month since my last blog post! I can't say there's been any particular reason why, I just haven't really had anything spectacular to post about. Nothing better than a rainy Sunday to get you back on it though. I've got (healthy) banana muffins in the oven, hot coffee, rain pouring outside, a warm blankie, and The Bachelor on in the background :) Let's talk about The Bachelor. I watched the first episode right when it premiered and then I thought, "I don't want to get sucked into that again." So I stopped. Then I saw a couple of people posting about this or that on Facebook, so I gave it another try. Now I am hooked. I'm only on the fifth episode, so please don't spoil it for me! I actually haven't looked at any spoilers and have no clue who he picks, let along who gets to the final two!! This is like the first time ever... It's a trashy show, I know. But it's addictive...and easy to make fun of!

In the last month or so, I have joined a gym as well! That is partly what makes it harder to post. I go almost every day after school to work out (unless I have a meeting or something) and when I get home, I barely feel like cooking dinner...much less blog posting! It's been a really good gym though! I tried a spin class for the very first time and it kicked my butt!!! I was sweating like crazy and my bum was sore for the next couple days! I definitely want to give it another go! This week I want to try the kickboxing class out! Since I go during the week, I give myself the weekend off...because who really wants to go to the gym and work out on the weekend??

On my last post I told you all about my dresser project...it is ALMOST done! I actually went and got the final stuff to finish it off yesterday! I will be clear coating and painting the legs today and hopefully it will be in the room by tomorrow!! YAY! Here's a sneak peek...

We also bought a bed frame (along with a little bit of drama) on Trade Me yesterday, so our room is starting to look like a bedroom...not just a mattress and piles of clothes on the floor!!

Our little garden is doing really well too! We have spinach, basil, mint, and coriander (cilantro). I picked all the spinach for salads last week and there is already another bunch ready to go!

Spinach is so expensive from the store so I'm loving having it in my garden! Guess we're going to have to have salads on the menu at least one a week! We also made mojitos last night so we used up some of our mint! I wish we had more room so we could have tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, and lots of other things! Maybe one day we will have a self-sustaining veggie garden!! Haha...good one Libbi!

PS-Just had one of those banana muffins I mentioned...and they are GOOD! Perfect Sunday morning treat...and they were quick and easy! I already had all the ingredients on hand (only one ripe banana though...) Here's the recipe: Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Muffins.

Hopefully I will be done with my dresser TOMORROW and I will definitely post all about it...because I'm super proud of myself. I have told myself that I won't work on more than one project at once but I already have my next one ready in my head! I'm loving being crafty!! I hope you enjoy hearing all about it :) Until next time...

Getcha all caught up...

Hi one follower...It's been too long.

I have so much to fill you in on because we JUST got our Internet turned on at our new place :) Yes, the first thing I wanted to do with the Internet was blog...

WE MOVED! Let me back up because before you can move, you have to pack...

This is Ben's idea of packing....

After our move to Auckland (and Mommy mailing us pillows), we were blessed with a bajillion space bags and nothing to do with them! Well, when packing to move to the new place Ben decided to put them to good use and space bag all of our pantry items. I must say, it worked pretty well.

Anyway, we now live in a beautiful little fourplex (I almost don't want to call it that because it's more of a house broken up into four different units) in Meadowbank, about 15 minutes (without traffic) from the city. It's right in between Ben and I's workplaces so super convenient. Ben is even looking for a bike to ride to work. Which means that I can have sole use of.....

our new car!!! Isn't she cute??

The whole reason behind the move was because we wanted to buy a car. It's too expensive to have a car-park in the city so we decided to move to the burbs where parking is FREE! Our new place has a car park AND a garage, which Ben loves! I love being able to go to the grocery store, the coffee shop, where ever...whenever I want! I think I am just about used to the right-side driving! It almost feels natural now. I'm gonna be all screwed up if I have to drive when visiting the States. 

Reason #1 I love having a car: We can finally buy some furniture! Including our new couch!

It did take 3 trips...but I was so impressed that it fit! Here is is all "assembled."

I love it! It is exactly what I was looking for: grey, lounge thingy, and it even came with a giant ottoman! Now I just need some bright colored pillows to throw on there...and maybe a tray for the ottoman...Secondhand stores, here I come!

Okay, last picture...our new sweet neighbors brought us this cake over the other night right after we moved in!

(Ben might have started to cut into it and then I wanted to take a picture...)

It was delicious and I love that they are so thoughtful. Makes it less awkward if I have to go over and ask for an egg every once in a while :) In our apartment, I did not have a conversation with our neighbors ONCE! We had three apartments on our floor and I only ever saw the inhabitants of 2 of them....and that was infrequently. I think we are going to like it here! 

Now that we have the internet, I'm going to go catch up on New Girl, The Biggest Loser, The Bachelor...you know all the good shows :)

Love,

The Webers :)