Oh No! Not Tony Again...

Is it actually possible that this guy is following me around? Seriously! I don't really like this guy. And yet he has ended up everywhere I go. Jubilee Conference. Malone College. Lancaster, Pennsylvania when I was randomly flipping through tv stations and I found him on CNN. And now in New Zealand at the Parachute Music Festival in January 2008. Why?!!


Tony Campolo.

Why?

Actually, he's not a horrible guy, it's just ...some things that are unbiblical that he goes around saying. Sometimes he has some good points, sometimes he doesn't. It's hit or miss, but him in New Zealand???? This is a bit far from his normal comings and goings.

Arrrggghhhhh!!!! When will it end? =P

That's all. =)

Arrrggghhhh! and FYI #9 Summertime

I was really missing home again today. It's crazy, but when I really thought about it, I realized that I've been here in New Zealand for 7 1/2 months! I'm adjusted here, and I like the December summer, but it doesn't beat family, and Cleveland's snow storms, and lots of Christmas lights, and eggnog, and baking cookies without having to worry about humidity, and New Years Parties with friends. Though I must admit that having a picnic at the Hamilton Gardens with friends after church was nice. Strawberries in December! Go figure. Baking cookies was also good, though it was so warm that we had to keep sticking the cookie dough in the fridge so we could cut the shapes out. The butter in the dough must have kept melting or something. And ordering Korean food was great!!! Overall, my SUnday with friends was just what I needed.

Arrrgghhhh!!!

I'm both comfortable here in New Zealand and in America!! People keep asking me if I'll stay. And others are asking when I'll come home. I don't know! If I can't find a job soon, I'll be coming home sooner, though I don't forsee that right now. Otherwise, my visa expires in 4 1/2 months. So...yeah. Life without New Zealand...Life without America...Why must I choose?


FYI #9 Summertime

Summertime in New Zealand is December thru February. This means beaches, BBQ's, sunny skies, warmth, strawberries, picnics, flowers, fishing, cricket, touch rugby, walks, and summer fun during the Holidays.

Just thought you should know.

Jigga what?

It's been a rough couple of weeks for me. A lot has happened. What can I say? I miss home and the familiar terribly. I miss friends and family, especially during this holiday season...and here it's summer, so it makes this holiday season somehow unauthentic, though I know this is a normal occurrence in the southern hemisphere. It's just that most of the world is in Winter. And boy do I miss those snow cold days in Ohio, where the blue sky is hidden behind a grey curtain of cloud and weeps it's snow upon the expectant northerners.

To be home... decorating the Christmas tree, drinking Swiss Miss hot chocolate with normal marshmallows. Christmas cookies. Sledding. Christmas concerts and plays. Christmas lights on houses. Barnes & Noble Booksellers and falling in love with books all over again. Christmas specials on TV. American Chinese food for Christmas Eve. Family...

But no, I'm on my own in the harsh world of "adultness" and "life." Well...maybe not on my own since my sis is here too, but you get my point.

What's up?

About four weeks ago I had to choose between a job at "The Warehouse"(like walmart) and a job at "Pumpkin Patch Kids." It was a hard choice. I hadn't had an official offer from Pumpkin Patch when the Warehouse called, so I took the position there. The next day Pumpkin Patch calls, and I turn down the job since I already was offered the other one. I was also under the impression that I would have the opportunity to work the rest of my time in NZ at The Warehouse, so it seemed cool. But I should've known better. I was offered two days a week at Warehouse with one of the days being late at night, with the knowledge that I could add more hours when I went in. At Pumpkin Patch I was offered 3 days a week in Nov, then 5 days a week in Dec-Feb. Why did I choose the Warehouse? I have no idea.

When I interviewed at The Warehouse, I told them I may not have a car since we're borrowing a car from someone, so night shifts wouldn't be good. Of course they didn't listen and scheduled me for a late night. It was okay since I still had a car. Until now. We have to give our car back this week, so I am unable to work one of my days since I can only go by the bus schedule. I tried to talk to the managers about switching hours/ and adding hours but they said that their daytime hours were full and they actually have too many workers that they hired. But they said they can call me if people cancelled. However, I was called up to the office today because they said that I wasn't on the roster to work. I told them that I was filling in for a girl who needed someone to work for her. They said that it wasn't authorized and they didn't know of anyone who asked to have someone work for them, so they told me to go home. But the girl I was working for had told this manager that she couldn't come in and the manager told her to find someone to work for her because they didn't feel it was their job to call people. Wait. So...the girl, who is also new to working at The Warehouse, did exactly what they said, and they conveniently forgot, even though it's the manager's job to find a person as was told to me today. Typical.. So, I went home, after working just 3.5 hours. Of course I wondered why it took them so long to tell me that I had to leave. Hmm... Needless to say, I was pretty upset coming home. I had been looking for a second job the past few weeks and it's almost impossible to find a job now that doesn't require me to work on a Saturday. So, as of today.,I've been applying for jobs and saying that I am available Mon-Sat, and when I get another job, I'll have to quit The Warehouse.

I really don't like switching jobs so much, but I have bills to pay...which I don't have enough money to pay right now. And to top it off, I had a person who wanted to buy an artpiece from me for $110NZD and then I called to asked her when she wanted me to bring it to me and she seemed confused, and then she kinda remembered and said that she changed her mind.

Is this to be my life? Seriously...a starving artist who doesn't even have enough money to send Christmas gifts home that she bought months ago? Who has to pick and choose who she sends Christmas cards to? Whose credit card is alarmingly close to being maxed out? Whose hope of finding a job dwindles day by day as the temp agencies tell her their going on holiday and won't be open again until January and other jobs are weary of hiring someone who will be going home in 5 months. It's quite depressing. And I'm angry and very emotional. But I will not turn my back on God. I refuse to. He's all I have and he knows my needs. And he cares about me (1 Peter 5:7, Matt 6:25-34). He brought me here to this country of high price and few jobs. He will provide.

I could really use your prayers too.

Pumpkin Pie Anyone?

Whilst looking up a few recipies for Thanksgiving, my sis and I came across this little article about how some New Zealanders (affectionately known as Kiwi's) feel about Pumpkin Pie. Actually, I probably shouldn't generalize for the whole population, but the article generalizes for Americans so we're even. Read on.


Got Pie?
August 08, 2007 15:02
http://www.critic.co.nz/about/food/18


"Pumpkin pie is a mysterious entity. Celebrated in the states, here pumpkin pie is ignored by both Alison Holst and the Edmonds cookbook – clearly, it is a long way from threatening the pavlova as a kiwi staple. Who would make a sweet pie out of a vegetable anyway? Of course, pumpkin is technically a fruit, so maybe the yanks are right to bake it with a Belgium biscuit type spice combo and serve with cream. The problem with trying to make such an American classic though, is that Americans define ‘home baking’ a little differently from us. If you look up pumpkin pie recipes on the net, they often start with a can of pumpkin purée, to which you add a packet of pumpkin pie spice, then bake in a shell of ready-rolled short pastry. This version is from scratch, and you should be able to make it without buying any special ingredients."



Ha ha. Well, not "all Americans" define the can as making a pumpkin pie "from scratch". No one really wants to smash up a pumpkin unless we have to. But the can is easier if you want a fresh taste without the mess, so, yeah. I laughed.

A lot.

Mindless Thoughts and Thinkings

"Give all your worries and cares to God for he cares about what happens to you." 1 Peter 5:7

I've been trying to live daily with this verse in my heart. It's one of my favorite verses in the Bible and so important for me to remember. For some odd reason, I seem to have forgotten it for the past two years, but God brought it before me again. Through a song on an old CD that I had by Michelle Tumes. It's funny how he uses things. Hmm.

I'm missing home a lot. Family. Friends. Fried Chicken and greens. The ease of things, or so I imagine. Being far away from the familiar tends to lead to false views of what the familiar was like. Hmm...

Tiana and I will be making crafts tomorrow for our upcoming Thanksgiving Day. Construction paper cut-outs of pumpkins, leaves, and Turkeys. Exciting! Although it's Spring in New Zealand, we shall be celebrating the bright fall of Ohio for the next week. Since it's not celebrated in New Zealand, we're pretty much on our own. We had toyed with the idea of having people over and having a fun hang-out and American holiday day with friends, but there's a lot going on this week (Outreach night) and next week( Art show, Tiana's B-day, Induction into our new jobs) that we'll just chill on our own and make a small feast and praise God.

After thanksgiving, we'll put up Christmas decorations, though you will be surprised to know that some people here have had theirs up since October. Good thing we'll be working at the Warehouse (like walmart). We can get discounts on decorations!

That's all for now.

Places we've been in New Zealand

In staying up late last night and wasting time, I decided to mark all of the places where Tiana and I have been in New Zealand thus far. It's quite amazing actually! So far we've only traveled through the North Island:

The big, bright red dot is Hamilton, where we live. The small red dots are the places we've been. Not too shabby if I do say so myself =) New Zealand is small, but not that small. It takes awhile to get from Hamilton to Wellington at the bottom. Like 7 hrs or something. And Hamilton is in the middle of the North Island. We still have Northland to explore (the top)!!

Below is the map of the whole of New Zealand (North & South Islands). As you see, we still have a long way to go these next 6 months. There still the whole South Island!!!

The enemy within

I have been jobless now for over two months. My time is occupied with finding one, contemplating life, getting together an outreach night with my Bible Study group, and working on massive art pieces for church. Stretched doesn't even begin to express the way I feel. But bored does. Weird, I know. I have tons to do but a sort of lifelessness about it.

It's my heart. The heart of my being. My art. It's suffering. My special worship to God is suffering. My confidence is waning. I feel incapable to do any type of art whatsoever. It's a kind of depression. It grabs ahold of my very soul and it sucks the life out of me. It's Spring in New Zealand!! Spring always excites me, yet I feel nothing.

I think a lie must have been whispered into my ear some time back. The lie that I can't do anything good enough. My guard must have been down. I want to paint soooooooo bad, but when I want to do it, my doubt and fear of failure creeps in.

If it wasn't for church, I wouldn't be doing anything. But the work I am doing at church is more of a 3-D thing and more instillation work and found object work than anything else. I am completely unfamiliar with this type of art, but I'm trying to try. And I feel like I'm going to screw everything up, so I'm afraid to try a lot. It's a struggle.


But I really want to paint. My fingers itch for it. I want to be here again, where I was when I wrote this entry last year:

I know how it is, when you're just doing art and feeling in the flow of
creativity. All of a sudden, nothing else matters. The sky darkens and you're
floating in your own paradise of colors.

It's like a certain hunger, burning to let the creativity out. Art, Music, Writing; it's all so important. Time seems to stand still, and there you are, creator and canvas, ink and pen, held in an embrace, dancing, and sharing many intense emotional moments. The music flows throughout and all is well, for you have become one, molded together. And as you pause and gaze into your creation, you can't help but to feel the energy flow through your veins -- for your work has bloomed into a beautiful masterpiece.

I long to be there again.

'Twas a poor day in more than one way...& FYI #8

I must begin this by saying that I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I was kept awake by my neighbors' 5am cheerful yelling attempt at making their crying/screaming baby laugh, and also kept awake by nature in the form of little baby *chirp chirp* birds chirp-chirping right outside my window. I mean, I'm not snow white! I don't enjoy that! Especially before 8am. It's only cute when it's on the T.V. and you can turn the volume down. Two babies whining. One unhappy girl. Hmm..

This morning I had to some artwork instilation work at church that took a long time. It's only going to be up for this Sunday. I'm still not sure if it was worth it, but it looks fine. My attitude during the whole time was a forced, and I mean a FORCED cheerful.

I also had an afternoon interview at a local clothing shop. I was not excited. I was exhuasted and a little annoyed by the "casual neat" dress that I didn't understand meant t-shirt and jeans. They should have spelled it out for me. I was overdressed! I sat through the interview... gave honest answers. It happened kinda like this.

____________________________________
Interviewers: "Have you ever been to our store before?"
Me: "No, not really. I may have heard of it, but y'know..."
Interviewers: "Did you ever make any mistakes at your previous job, working in retail?"
Me: "Oh yeah. Tons!" (and then I go on to list many of them)
Interviewers: "What did you learn from your mistakes?"
Me: Not to do them again. (Interviewers wait to hear more, so I say...) Y'know...because over time you learn not to push the wrong buttons..."
Interviewers: "How would you go the extra mile for our store?"
Me: "Hmmm.......I'd...uh.. set goals for myself."
Interviewers: "What kind of goals?"
Me: "Well, I want to save up some money for when more family and friends visit, so I try to remember that....umm.... Oh, and for the store, I...umm...would try to help a customer find something everyday."
______________________________________

And so on and so forth.

I should probly mention that at the bottom of my application form where it says "why do you want to work for us", I wrote "I'm a good worker. You need someone to work, and it so happens that I need a job. It fits." While writing this on the application, I was remembering the scene from "The Wedding Singer" where Adam Sandler is applying for a job at a bank:

Bank Interviewer: "Do you have any experience?"
Robbie (Adam Sandler): "No, sir, I have no experience but
I'm a big fan of money. I like it, I use it, I have a little. I keep it in a jar
on top of my refrigerator. I'd like to put more in that jar. That's where you
come in."

Anyway... I would be very suprised if they even called me back. I don't really care enough about working there so...they can give the job to Tiana. And I didn't expect the intense questions they asked for a CASUAL CHRISTMAS SEASON WORKER!!!Obviously I'd be applying so I could make some extra cash. Hello! No matter where I work during my time in New Zealand, I won't be working there and doing a good job because I CARE about the company, but rather, because I'm a good worker. I'd do a good job anywhere I work.

Sheesh! Hopefully I'll get some sleep tonight.

__________________________

FYI # 8 A Rugby Tragedy

New Zealand is serious about Rugby. This year happened to be the Rugby World Cup over in France. New Zealand's team, the All Blacks, does fairly well, with NZ playing them up like they're the best thing since "air". Commecials, flags, posters, shows, clothing, etc, etc. It's kinda annoying, but that'll happen with any sport. So, the World Cup comes along and the All Blacks do well throughout the various pools and games that happen for several weeks before the finals and everyone is confident that NZ will make it all the way. This past week was the quarter finals. The All Blacks play against France and they lose,18-20. It was a pretty close game. It was actually a little exciting for me. When they lost, I felt a little pang of sadness for them. After all, no one likes France. Haha. Just kidding. Anyway,Tiana and I move on, but the rest of the country is devestated, like they lost a war. The news is filled with sad tidings and the coach is known as the "first casualty" as he will be fired from his job and a new coach assigned by Christmas. There is even an investigation going on to see if it's the coaches' fault that the team wasn't fully prepared for the World Cup. What?! And on top of that, the newscasters are interviewing psychologists to help people get over the shock of the loss and urging people not to be negative towards the All Blacks and to support them when they come home. New Zealanders in France who had bought their tickets for the semi-finals and final game are upset because they refuse to go to the games because their team is no longer in it. Even the teammates are saying that they're still in shock. They've been treated like gods and now they failed.

Hmm...You know what I want to say to New Zealand?

GET OVER IT!!! QUIT BEING BIG BABIES!! SOMEONE HAS TO LOSE!! IT WAS A CLOSE GAME! OH NO, MAYBE YOU'RE NOT "THE BEST". IT'S SPORT. MOVE ON AND TRY AGAIN NEXT TIME!!!

Next thing you know, they're gonna pull an Al Gore and accuse France of cheating, or the refs of being wrong or something stupid like that and demand a redo. Is there so much arrogance towards their team that the country is soooooo affected? Sheesh!!!!

The September Holiday: Part One

"The grandparent visit"

Once upon a time, there were two sisters who lived in New Zealand. They were very stressed, overworked, and unhappy, so they decided to take a holiday...

...a SEPTEMBER HOLIDAY!!!

Starring:

The grandpapa: Lester

The grandmama: Frances

The older sister: Tiana

The younger and more intelligent sister: Cara

(Hey! I can write what I want!)

And a random DUCKY that has travelled the world!

(seen in Taupo where Tiana, Cara, Frances and Lester stopped for tea (lunch). This will not be mentioned any further in this story)

They did many things those first two weeks of Septemeber together. Saw many sights and had heaps of fun.

The Marine Parade-Pacific Ocean-- Napier

Sky Tower--Auckland

"Whaka" Maori Village--Rotorua

Museum --Rotorua

Hastings Town

Hastings Memorial Park

Tasman Sea Wharf--Raglan

They travelled all about the North Island and were content, for they had not seen each other in so long. They laughed and hugged and watched rugby... and had a grand ol time.

And then the sisters were alone once again...

Coming Soon:

The September Holiday: Part 2

"The mama visit"

Hellllooooo Woooorld!!!

I'm Free!!! I'm Freeeeeee!!! I no longer work at K-mart!!

Which also means I'm broke!!

My sis and I have moved for the 3rd time. The second time was just a house-sitting stint for 6 weeks. Now we're in a place that is really nice. Brand new. A little more expensive, but good. It's not through a realtor which is what we prayed for. The landlords are awesome. And we're kinda off the street in a little community. It's good.

Okay.

Our grandparents are here right now, so I am super excited. Mom will be here in 2 weeks. Great! Massive excitement. I can't wait!!!!

I'm getting more and more involved with church. Campbell put me in charge of getting people together to do art each week during our series in Galatians. It will last until the middle of Dec so that's cool. I'm doing this week, for the first week. Here's the pic.

Life's been hard, emotional, great, etc. There's a lot of growing going on. It's challenging and there's a lot of spiritual warfare, but it causes me to cling to God more.

So all is well.

Dear Father,

Dear Heavenly Father,

Hi. How's things?

For me, I'm a bit confused. Emotional, I suppose. You already know my heart so I probably don't need to tell you, but I have NO CLUE of what you're doing with my life. Everything's changing so fast, I can't keep up. There are good things, then there are bad things. My emotions are up and down everyday. How far can I stretch before I break? Family, friends, chuch, work; New Zealand, America...issues everywhere. Why? Why must it be so hard? I've cried...oh man have I cried, and I have laughed, and I have danced for joy, and I have been so tired I couldn't get up. I hate my job! Well, no, I don't HATE it...I more...hmm...well, I don't enjoy it. But I need it to pay the bills. Speaking of money...thanks for letting me and my sis stay at this house for free...but why must we move so soon? To a more expensive place than we had before? A place that may or may not be sold soon. That'll affect us for sure. The cost of living here is so high! We can barely make it as it is with bills here and back in the States.

*sigh*

We aren't traveling much and that is kind of hard. Our car is having trouble. I'm not doing my art, my special worship of you. And Father, why is it that when we get good news, it is immediately followed by bad news. Not always, but often. Too often... Family is coming soon. I can't tell you how happy it makes me! But...that means that I will have to take time off from my job, if not end it, for a whole month. How will I pay for bills then?

I know, I know. I'm complaining. I'm sorry. All I have comes from you. Campbell said that at church today. I don't own any of it! My job, my money, my borrowed car, my shelter, my being, everything is yours...rightfully yours. You created it all. So what am I worried about? Why am I discontent? Why am I afraid? I run to you, Father, because you're all I have. And I put my full trust in you. You know what you're doing.

Thanks for the chat. I'll see you again in a few minutes. Bye.

FYI #7 Window Washers

Everyday around noon at the busy intersection of Ulster street and Mill street, there are a couple of Maori guys who walk around with water bottles filled with water and window brushes/squeegees. At red lights they go around washing peoples' car windows for free. Okay. That's nice. But just imagine a big tough looking guy, running from car to car and throwing water at a window, then squeegeeing the windows so hard that the car shakes. Or a big tough looking guy chasing a car down by squirting a line of water on the back window of a car whilst being several meters away, kind of to make the car stop, then running to the front of the car and doing the normal back and forth window wash, while inside a frail looking blonde cringes in her seat, hoping for this terrifying moment to end? I witnessed this the other day, while I was taking the bus to work. I about died in my seat from lack of oxygen because I was laughing so hard and trying to hold it in. This women in the car thought she was in real danger, and from the outside it looked funny.

Anywho, I always wondered why they washed the windows. Well, on Saturday, Tiana and I had a chance to find out when we were stopped at a red light and one of the guys came to wash our window. Tiana rolled down her window and asked why they did the window washing. The guy said that it was to keep him and his mates off the streets and to keep them busy so they don't get into any trouble. I don't know if they were doing a city service kinda thing, or doing this with a community group or even on their own, but I do know that we had the cleanest windows...

Sick and Tired

I'm sick. It's like a bad head cold that just leaves me feeling weak and stuffy, accompanied with a fever. I still had to go to work. Mon-Wed is Stocktake at K-mart. It's important. Any other day I would have called in sick. Thankfully I had a bit of meds here from when I was sick back in May, so I am feeling better.

I don't like my job. Retail is not my biggest interest in jobs, but when I worked at Barnes & Noble, I had more passion for what we were selling...books. And everyone working there did too. Barnes and Noble had more care about customer service. I went through training specifically for that. At K-mart, no one really wants to be there, things are more sloppy, and expectations of customer service are way down. They keep wanting me to work the main cashiering place when others don't really have to. It's probably because I actually acknowledge the customer being there and give them proper greeting. And even this week when I'm supposed to be doing stocktake, I still have to work the cashier area for a bit. Apparently two of my managers were fighting over what I should be doing this week, cashiering or stocktake. There were two schedules that said two different things. One said I work 9am-6pm which is what I usually do, and the other said I work 1pm to 10pm. I didn't realize I was so special. Aparently stocktake won. Fine.

But on Monday at the end of my late 10pm shift, they said that Tuesday may go untill 11pm because we were behind from last year. But they said they'd see how the earlier stocktake shift went. Well, on Tuesday, at 10pm I told them that I needed to go. They were a little annoyed. One guy asked me why I didn't tell him yesterday when he asked. All this time I was waiting for them to let us know how the first shift was going so I would know if I needed to bother at all, or if we were going to get off at the scheduled time. There was another worker who thought this too, so I know it wasn't just me. I was pretty annoyed that they were upset with me. It's already bad enough that I work 9 long hours for this with only a 30min dinner break, and I do this all while being sick, but then to be told that I need to work more hours? I don't think so. The schedule says 1pm to 10pm and that's what I agreed on when I was asked. Also, Tiana picks me up from work and she has to work early in the morning, so I can't be staying later. Needless to say, I am pursuing other interests and will only be keeping this job at K-mart only until another is found. Hopefully I can leave it in a few weeks because I am about to BREAK!

Tiana and I are really stressed and tired. We're not going to do full time jobs anymore. We haven't had time to do anything. We work, then sleep, work, then sleep. We didn't come to New Zealand to do that. We have a working holiday visa, but the holiday part seems to be missing. And in Sept, my mum's coming, so yeah. And yes, I said mum. Our jobs wouldn't go for us having 2 weeks off, so at the next job, we just have to tell them upfront.

So there, I'm sick and tired. You get it? Hehe. he. hmm....

Or What? Was I supposed to write before this?

Besides watching South African Taxi drivers goofing off at work, all cramming into one car to talk whilst they were waiting for customers, and watching a fire drill evacuation of K-mart and the surrounding stores in the K-mart mini mall; besides hugging a giant L&P drink bottle, and spelunking through dark and daring caves; besides eating at Hell's pizza kitchen and watching a unique multimedia church baptism; besides sliced lamb and kumara lunch at a cafe and fireworks at the Rugby stadium for an All Blacks (NZ) vs. Canada game; besides visiting New World, Woolworths, Foodtown, Countdown, New Save, and Pak 'N Save grocery stores and irritating car trouble, besides moving into a beautiful French Couple's home while they're away for 5 weeks and moving out of the dirty little flat that we called home for two months....

Or what? Was supposed to write before today? It was a busy time!

Highlights:

I have a job. I work at K-mart?! I hate it. So there. But it is a job.

18ups Bible study has been great. We're studying the book of Daniel. Yesterday, though, Benedict (a 22 girl from France) gave her testimony. It's awesome to share testimonies with people all around the world.

Tiana and I are almost completely moved out of our flat. We have until Friday. We have moved into a nice house in Pukete Hamilton (north from where we were before). I love it here, but as with staying at any place temporarily, I don't feel completely at home here. We are watching the house for a French couple from church and their two little girls who have flown to France for five weeks. But it is comfortable here.

We did eat at Hell's pizza kitchen last night, before we went to Bible Study. Interesting. I believe we got the "Gluttony" pizza which would be the equivalent of a "works" pizza. It was good and they seemed to have a oil base instead of tomato sauce. It's more like a gourmet pizza place, but the titles of the pizzas were all types of sins. The good thing is that I'm not superstitious. It's not serious. It's just pizza. No lightening strikes here.

This past Sunday was a baptism of two guys we know and and a girl name "Cara (like me_" whom I just met at Bible study yesterday. They had interview the 4 people who were baptized on camera where they gave their testimonies, and all family members and friends were able to stand up front to watch the baptism more closely and the meaning of it was explained and testimonials of the people baptized were given and there was a lot of prayer time. Many of the family members or friends who showed up were not Christians so it was an amazing witnessing time. Afterwords we had lunch together; hot carved meat (beef and ham) sandwiches and and potluck desserts. It was a good time of fellowship.

We visited a few weeks ago, Mount Pirongia. For those who have heard about my previous trips here will recognize it as the forest mountain that I climbed with the team in 2005. It was a life changing experience. Tiana and I didn't have time to climb it, but it was nice just to drive to some of the area mountains that surround Hamilton in a gorgeous backdrop.

Two weekends ago, Tiana and I visited the Coromandel peninsula. We didn't actually make it to the town of coromandel, but we stopped at many places and went through some caves and mine shafts and native New Zealand bush. It was great!

Well, lot's more has happened but I'm tired of writing. Here's some pictures for ya!

War of the Worlds stadium. If you saw the movie, you would understand.

I love this drink!!

The beach!! Pacific Ocean!!!!

Our church. City Bible church, or Agora

A rainbow over Victoria Street

A friend from Korea, Mary

Temple Mount, the morman temple we mentioned in another post

Tractor race at Fieldays, the largest agricultural fair in the southern hemisphere.

More pictures:

http://malone.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009137&l=3a787&id=160800988

FYI #6 The Rain in Spain

No, I'm not in Spain. Quite the opposite hemisphere, actually. But if the rain in Spain falls gently on the plane, then the rain in New Zealand pours heavily on the ground, against the windows, up on the rooftops, and under the umbrella. During this time, world is covered in a heavy mist; just enough to soak you. About five seconds later, the rain stops and the sun is out as though the rain were never there.

Sometimes the rain is so light that you're not sure if it's even raining. Maybe it feels like you're walking through a cloud, but by the end of it, you still manage to be soaked. And again, the sun comes out, and you feel as though it were only a dream.

Island living.


But the rainbows here are beautiful.


_______

Exhausted!!

Whew! This week has been ROUGH!

In a nutshell, we found out that we still have to pay the $1100 electric bill because it's a "grey area" with the department of housing. They said as more cases come up, the laws may change to define it more, but as it stands right now, tenants basically have no rights (put in my words). We also learned it's better to speak to them in person instead of over the phone because you can see what the law says and actually speak with a mediator. What gets me is that everyone around us said that it was wrong and were shocked that the property owner wouldn't pay. We were offered by the landlord (the Actual Landlord who we just met last Saturday) $400 towards helping pay for the bill, or 1 month free rent. We took the latter because it would save us $800 although we'll still be paying too much. We told them we were leaving in three weeks and didn't have to pay last weeks rent. Meanwhile, Our Water heater is still acting funny, and charging us too much.

This past week we've also gone to our first young adult Bible Study called 18ups! We were able to meet more young adults, and connect with God in a small group setting. Last week was an off-topic week, so this next Tuesday we'll be studying in Daniel.

Campbell (the pastor at church) wanted Tiana and I to work on prayer stations for Sunday's service to give people the chance to reflect on the message. There was communion, a place to write prayers to God, a place to pray with someone, a cross where people could write there sins down and lay them at the foot of the cross, etc. It was a lot of work, but many people were able to reconnect with God because of it. It was also good to be involved in a church again!

Campbell also gave Tiana and I a car to use for three months. AWESOME!!!! So, we are happy about that. The first thing we did was drive to Temple Mount where the big Mormon temple stands. Haha, we kinda got there by accident (it's in the middle of the country, outside of the city, but we drove up in it and took a picture. At night they have lights shining on it, so it looks like it's glowing. It was also sad to see, because of the false faith that lay inside.

We'll be house sitting for a family from church in July-August, about 5-6 weeks. Rent free!!! This will allow us to find a flat or apartment that is really good for us, in a good neighborhood. We may have a flatmate from Canada during this time as well. Also, we may be able to have heat for a change!!!! It's freezing over here!

Yesterday, Tiana and I went to the Biggest Agricultural Fair in the Southern Hemisphere!! Fieldays!! Basically, it's a place where farmers and families can go to learn about the latest farm equipment, buy different large farm things, there were competitions,a tractor pull race, a fashion show (of outfits made out of things/materials found around a farm), petting areas, demonstrations of products and food tasting, etc. It was kinda like a walk through telecommercial for some things. Haha. It was an experience for two city-girls such as Tiana and I. Pictures to come soon.

There's a lot more that's happened this week, dealing with job opportunities, and then them being withdrawn, etc, etc, etc. Tomorrow (Monday in NZ) we start applying at hotels as housekeeping or something.

Please pray for us. It's been a difficult, yet rewarding week. One can only imagine what this one will be like. Also, we REALLY need jobs.

Moving...again? and FYI # 5

Yes. Our property manager is being...uh..well...a jerk. Read Tiana's post to better understand.

http://attraction-within.blogspot.com/2007/06/trouble.html

It's a good thing. This time we'll really be able to view an apartment before we rent it. For now, we still are looking for jobs. Some leads, but nothing final yet.


FYI #5 The Noise Patrol
These are a little behind, but I always MEAN to write down FYI's, there's just too much going on.

Did you know that New Zealand has a 24/7 hotline that you can call for their Noise Patrol people? Apparently, if people are being too loud and unruly, or there is a problem with excessive noise on a street, etc, you give these people a call, and they will send a "Noise Patrol" officer down to investigate and deal with the problem.

For example, if the neighbors in the flat nextdoor to any given person decides to have a party with tons of drunken people cursing and screaming at the top of their lungs, complete with loud music that reverberates across the neighborhood and is so loud that any given person can barely hear themselves think, yet can hear the announcer on the radio nextdoor breathe; and all the people in the surrounding areas are annoyed, but waiting for someone else to do something because they can't get to sleep because it's late into the night....well, any given person can call the Noise Control Hotline and have someone come over. If, when the Noise Patrol officer comes and the flat nextdoor argues with them about the issue, the stereo and amps can be forcibly removed from the premises and a hefty fine left behind.

I only know this because we checked online last night as we found out the laws of the land about noise control...

...right before we called the Hotline and had the Noise Patrol come out and eliminate the noise.

Uh-Oh!

So...
We need some prayer. We may have to move out of our apartment and start the whole apt search again. Our landlord is acting tricksy. Here's the situation.

Last week we received our first electricity bill. In was $1100 nzd due by the 15th!!!! About ten times more than it should be! This was incredibly wrong and we found out that the water heater was leaking onto the roof. It's as if we had hot water running constantly for 1 month. The landlord then tells us it's our responsibility to pay and makes up some things that aren't in our tenacy agreement (yes, we savde a copy for our records and such times as this).
After seeking advice from different people, the electric company, and the Department of housing and building who deal with housing law, we know the landlord should pay most of the money to the power company, and we, after monitoring the meters for 7 days, would pay the amount that we should have payed normally if it weren't for the faulty equiptment. Normal monthly payments would probably be aroung $100. We have to call the landlord back today, and if he still refuses to pay then we have to take it to the Dept. of housing (which is what you do instead of taking them to court) who acts like a mediator between the landlord and the tenant in resolving issues. Of course if we take it that far, we can't stay here, because relations will be shaky after that.

Tiana and I don't want to move because we're settled a bit, have everything hooked up here with phone and internet, but we also feel like this landlord is taking advantage of us because we're not from here, and also female. They think we don't know how things go here. And there have been a few other things that have been pretty bad here (including the apartment not being cleaned up before we moved in) and things like this that violate what the landlord was supposed to do.

So anyway, we could use the prayers. And thank you, mom, for raising us so that we know how to get the facts and handle serious situations, and do research so that we aren't so easily fooled. We truly are having an abundance of "experiences" here, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. It's all apart of life, I suppose.

FYI #4 A Trip to the Bookstore

Books.

As some of you may know, I worked at Barnes & Noble Booksellers for about 7 months. I've had a lot of training on types of books and pricing. Mass Markets are usually around $6.99 OR $7.99 USD (united states dollars). These are the smaller paperback books. The paper quality isn't the greatest and tends to yellow over time, but it does it's job which is to get thousands of copies of a particular book to people for an affordable or cheaper price. This is especially important in comparing to it's sister book, the Trade paperback. Trade PB's tend to be a little bigger with a finer grade of paper. These run around $12.00 or $14.00 USD at B&N. Most people when getting paperbacks, especially in fiction, romance, or sci-fi/fantasy novels, tend to get the Mass markets. This is good, too, if there are a lot of series of a book. Blah Blah Blah. I'm sure you care. Here's my point. I used to think that B&N was a little expensive (I go to the library or used book store a lot, so anything not free or under a dollar is expensive to me). But a few weeks ago, I was putting applications into book stores in the malls around here, none of them as good as B&N and Borders. I decided to see what prices were like here, so I picked up a Mass Market book that I had seen many times when I worked at B&N. I was expecting the price to be a little more than in America, just because of the exchange rate of the money. But I was not prepared to see this book at $28.00 NZD (new zealand dollars). Now, American money is worth a little more than New Zealand's, but even with the money difference, that's still like $22.00 USD. That's like $15.00 more! I was shocked! I didin't even look at the hardcover books! I spoke with someone who told me that pretty much all of the books in NZ are shipped from overseas, so the shipping is really expensive. Crazy. Be happy that books are less expensive in the U.S. I sure am!

The Party Bus and other Tales of the Gabriel Two

Wouldn't it be sweet if you were jobless for over a month AND got a electricity bill in the mail that says you owe $1000+ nzd in less than 14 days!! Meanwhile, phone and Internet bills are on the way!! And in two weeks, more rent!!! Exciting!!!

Oh wait. No....! That stinks! Gosh, who's life is this?

Oh yeah. It's MY life. And the life of my sis.

Hard times now, but growing times. The sis is taking it a bit harder than I am. I guess I did all my worrying before I got to New Zealand. And anyway, Satan loves to get under the skin of a worrier so, yeah. I should know. The way I figure it, God's brought us here, specifically for some purpose, to this exact location, at this exact time. He cares for the birds, the flowers, and all of creation. He's got us covered.

The good news is, we've found out that we can work pretty much anywhere again. We decided to clarify our visas with immigration and they said as long as we don't work anywhere past the expiry date of our visas, so that includes full time AND part time work. Great! No one has called us yet from all of the temp agencies we interviewed with and took tests for. We're going to call some of the other places where we put apps in too. And also, there seems to be a good amount of hotel staff and housekeeping needs.

I'm not sure why our electricity costs more than monthly rent, considering we don't have a t.v., don't turn on a ton of lights, don't really use the heaters, don't have a big flat etc. But we do have a washer machine, electric oven, hot water, and a laptop. I guess it adds up. Plus, this kinda stuff in NZ costs more than in the US.

We're broke, but we're gonna make it. Please pray for us. For encouragement and trust.

FYI#3 The Party Bus

Yes. I know. I already wrote about riding the bus. But this is necessary. This past week, Tiana and I took a bus to pay our rent, and got a BusIt! card that you load like a gift card. The benefit of it is that you don't have to search for the exact change when you're on the bus (unless your card is empty) and you pay about a dollar less for bus fare. Some parts of America have this, but Cleveland sure doesn't! At least, I've never seen it. I payed standard fare every time I took the bus to work, counting out the change that was at the bottom of my purse. Pre-paid fill-up cards are a must! Not a 10-ride card. Just a card that has $15.87 or whatever amount on it so that when you're in a jam and need to get home, you can pull out your handy dandy BusIt! card and get home. Or, If you have a $20 bill when approaching a bus, give it to the driver and they will add the extra onto your card, instead of you asking everyone if they have change. Of course, NZ buses have cash registered on the bus, so they would be able to give you change if you needed it, but anyway.

On our way home, we rode a Party Bus home. It was not called "party bus." That is a label that I gave it. But come on! I walked on the bus and there's music playing overhead. Not music from someone's headphones turned up too loud. No! Overhead speaker, music. And not just any music. Prince! Michael Jackson! Some other older stuff that I didn't know the name of, but was upbeat! The bus driver was happy, dancing in her seat. People on the bus were smiling, diggin the beats. What more can you ask for, after a hard day? My thought is, if they CAN play music, they should ALWAYS do it! A bus equipped with speakers means Fun Fun Fun! And even though I don't necessarily like (the artist formerly known as) Prince, or Michael Jackson, I had fun, and I enjoyed the ride.