New Baby!!!

Not mine...don't worry that is not why I have been in NZ for 9 months...hehehe Ironically, though, (can you tell that irony has been a big part of my life recently?!) I have a few friends that have birthdays on July 11--which always makes me smile because the date is 7/11 (if you say it how American's do with the month said first...sorry Kiwi friends). Well it makes me always remember their birthdays because in the States is a great little store that is open 24 hours and a always has SLURPIES, called, you guessed it 7-11. But that day gained another friend, Isabella Sowter. My friend Ingrid here in NZ has been so special to me. She has always invited me out to coffee, we have great chats and always end up laughing together about something. My mom has tracked her pregnancy with me and I just realized two weeks ago when my mom asked if Ingrid has had her baby, that I forgot to introduce her to my friends in the States.

I got to have my first cuddle with her on Thursday and she is SOOO sweet. She is not just a pretty baby because she is my friend Ingrid's, she is just one of the those gorgeous little babies. Ingrid I am SO glad that you "collected" me as a friend!

Why Are My Friends SO AMAZING?

Because today this was the phone call I got:

Amy: So for your Bday we are going to the Spa Downtown (in Redding)
Me: WHAT?!!! Really?!
Amy: Yes!
Me: I just wanted to hang out with you guys and not be Loserville USA on my 32nd bday waking up in a 5 Year Old's (Raya's) room that day...
Amy: Well we have a question though, Facial or Massage?
Me: Um...I don't care
Amy: You have to pick. We (Sea, Amy Danielle and I) are all getting Pedicures but their staff can only do 2 of us for Facials and 2 for Massages....Both for an hour. Just choose one.
Me: Um...I think Massage, but who really cares!
Amy: Done!
Me: I LOVE MY FRIENDS!!!!!!

Irony

One of the things I am going to miss the most in New Zealand is wine....the irony of that statement: I don't even like wine. But what I do like is the Wine Culture of NZ. Today I went to a YUMMY winery with Ali and Lisa for lunch and then did a little wine tasting after. I really don't like wine at all (but I did try this Port that was super good!) but I love the whole experience of wine tasting.

I was pondering on the way home, why I love this part of NZ so much and why I am going to miss it. I think it is the relationships that surround it. It is built into this culture and one of the beautiful memories that I cherish. It is something that is so much more than drinking a glass of wine, but it is an experience with others. One of my most favorite things is to experience the joy and drama of life--of which I have plenty of both! This last week I was reminded just how much I love to experience life. Whether it is good (joy) or bad (drama) I just love the experience of life. Joy and drama means you are alive.

And when you add irony to the mix, it just amps up both joy and drama. There was one point this week that I was sitting with friends and looked around and laughed to myself at how much drama had unfolded over the last 9 months and now I was sitting in a room with 3 of the most unlikely people. None of them knew just how ironic it was, but I did. And the part of the "movie" playing out in my head made me smile. I like when things come full circle and you begin to see some of the why's behind situations. The most ironic part of the whole experience was that I was in the room I think and that I wasn't overly sad, happy or mad...it just was what it was.

Irony is a funny thing. It means that you find yourself in a situation that is not that out of the ordinary but has one or two dynamics that make it just not what you thought it would be. Most of the time you can laugh at it but sometimes it makes you want to cry. I have had my fair share of those "crying" ironic moments, but this one this week just made me shake my head at what a funny life I get to lead. I do so LOVE the experience of joy and drama in my life.

So much like the irony of me loving the wine culture and it being something I am genuinely going to miss here, but not liking wine at all, I also have to laugh at the irony of how some of the things in my life have turned out here in NZ. Even though some relationships went a little different than I planned and some just never went any where I planned the irony of how they have all shaken out means that I am alive and have TONS of good stories! And when I say 'tons' I mean TONS!!! Wow is all I can say...

Fun in FIJI

I finally had to say good bye to the sun and my friends in Fiji...I soaked up the last bit of heat and rays as I walked onto the plane. I was full emotion as I left Fiji. Some trips leave you excited to come home, some leave you with vision for your future, some leave you with saddness about people's present, but this one oddly enough left me with confusion and questions and a ironically a new part of my heart opened up.

This was me and Luke the morning we left...the last day of good hair, showers, and feeling clean.



The trip, like many, was an experience I will never forget. Parts of me were forever changed and forever healed. It is funny how much there is to learn in life. Some of the lessons won't be realized until much later in my life I believe. I left with so many more questions about life and God and myself. There were moments on the trip I was shocked at how insecure I am. I had thought I had sorted and conquered some of these issues. What I realized as the trip progressed is that I hadn't conquered the issue, but the defense/coping mechanism that hid the issue. I decided to just roll with it and allow my paradigm to be shifted a bit on some issues instead of using my defense mechanisms to handle my insecurities. The Fijians taught me so much about this. They loved extravagantly, gave generously, and lived free. They became a mirror for me, and instead of running from what I saw I listened to their teaching of how to love, how to accept yourself, and how to value others. Sam and Luke were the same for me....they both looked so much like who I know and have read about Jesus to be. I have so much respect for Luke and the things he is doing, but mostly how he humbly loves and embraces his Fijian friends, no judgement and no arrogance. Sam reminded me of the importance of listening and trusting people. Luke and Sam were filled with acceptance and often times blew me away in how they gave beyond themselves.

As any 10 days with the same people there were plenty of FUNNY moments, a few conflicts and a lot of memories. It was a trip that I will be looking back on for years to come I believe. Oh and I obviously made it back into the country :) It was touch and go there for a second, but then they stamped my passport with a visa and I finally breathed again. I don't think I realized how much I was holding my breath until I was able to walk through and into NZ.

Here are some fun pictures from the trip. My friend Sam took TONS--and he is a photographer so I will add some of his later, but here are some of my highlights!

This is me making "tamale" like things the first day...Lori you would have been so proud!!! There was tuna, onions and coconut milk--made straight from the coconuts on the tree outside the kitchen, wrapped in a taro leaf. It was almost the same process as making tamales.



This is my favorite little guy Serva. He is the one who bought me candy in the blog I wrote ealier--I wanted to kidnap him and bring him home, but I decided that would hinder me getting back into NZ so I didn't...



This is the truck I rode 4 hours into the village where Tavita lives.



Then we walked down this hill and towards the village...notice the horse--that is Tavita's little brother.





This is the river we had to cross to get to his village



This is the kitchen...their kitchens are outside and are just a room put together by iron and a grass mat with a fire in it. All their cooking is done over that fire. Even in the other village we were in this is true, but they have a stove in the house in the other village. Tavita's village is like something out of a movie. This is where Luke helped build the building, get a water source and build a road so they don't have to carry all their supplies down the valley, but will be able to drive straight to the river and build a raft to get their supplies to their village.



This is the building Luke helped them build. It is almost done. The Fijian's are almost done with it and it will be ready for them to use as their source of a community hall to hang out in at night and for special occasions.



This is the last night I was in Fiji...notice how burned I am! Yikes we spent too long at the sand dunes. I was doing so good and just getting tan, but this day we were in the sun for over 5 hours! Oh well its a tan now....that no one can see because it is SO cold in NZ!


This is me and Sam at the beach by the Sand Dunes


This is Nicha (the 16 year old of the family we stayed with and Tima (who is her cousin) at the Sand Dunes.


How cute is my little Serva in his grown up Sulu and Shirt for church. This is what the men wear for formal occasions.


My 10 days summed up in a picture...guys will be guys! They were annoyed I was making them take pictures. But this is our friend Tavita!!



Here is a picture of the bridge we crossed into the town every day from the village we were in the longest.



This was the Kava Bowl...it just doesn't do it justice. Just picture brown dirty water that taste worse that that!



This was the kids having a mock Kava Ceremony with Juice. It was Luke's idea to do a good bye "kava" session with them. It was so cute and fun for them. A great memory. And I have to say that juice was harder to drink than kava. Kava taste bad but after drinking 5 HUGE cups of the most sugarry tasting juice, I think I will stick with Kava.

1st Time in 15 years....

So picture this. I am standing in a park in the middle of Suva (one of the cities here) and I think this guy knows my Fijian friend, so instead of being rude I start chatting with the guy. We talk about CA and he tells me who he works for--the tourist council (this will come into play later). Then he shows me these little touristy things--which by the way I HATE touristy knick knacks. The next thing I know he has pulled me away to a picnic table and is carving my name in the wood!! Yikes!!! I had just been had! Because not 2 seconds later he says, 'this is how I make my bread and butter (and yes he did use that phrase) what will you give me?"

Gutted is not even close to the right word to describe how MAD I am at this point. I am fuming at the experience. I ended up giving him $20 becasue he can't sell it--or more accurately trick anyone else with it because now my name is on it!

Sam, Tevita and I walk away and I am FUMING!! I am so mad I can't even speak. I have been going to countries whree they trick the tourist/white person for 15 years and this was the first moment I missed it!!! Plus Luke and Sam have been relentlessly making fun of me and teasing me so I just didn't want to hear it and give them more fuel for the fire. I finally threw it away I was so mad--do you think I need closure?

The story doesn't end there, though...of course not, because my life really is a movie or a book! The next day Luke, Sam, Tevita and I are waiting in the police station trying to sort out Tevita's visa (Luke has been helping him get a visa to NZ...after much drama he finally got it, but that is another story). As we are quietly waiting, and I was just sitting there because I am just along for the ride with all that Luke is doing, and all of a sudden there are 3 policeman surrounding me asking me questions....about the above guy. Then what seemed to be the head guy says I will be right back. What the heck is all I can think...only in my life! 5 minutes later the president of the tourist council (see I told you that would come into play later) is brought into the police station. The policemen ask me to explain what happened. I re-explain that he was tricky and dishonest to that man. He apologizes and says he will get my money back afte rasking, "where is the stuff he sold you." 'Um...I threw it away...' I felt kind of dumb at that point but I just went with it.

Five minutes later the above man walks in...I feel SO awkward at this point and Sam and Luke are pretending like they don't know me. But I decide I better just roll with it and play it out...a good story is all i can think. The policemen make me tell him what I told them. He says he didn't trick me and I reminded him of what happened. He then has to go into the head guys's office. I am dying at this point...feeling bad that there is this much drama all of a sudden. Luke and Sam are still pretending they don't know me, just to give you an idea of the dynamics. The head guy calls me into his office with the guy and makes me retell the story again. I told him it wasn't right what he did. He was pleasant to talk to and some tourist might buy his stuff he should not be dishonest. He apologized and gave me my $20 back.

I found out later that he has had lots of complaints and they have been trying to catch him...so I was in the right place at the right time...or for his sake I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Oh the stories I have are mind boggling to me...

I do have to add one last thing in this blog: YAY for Michael Phelps!!!! Luke and Sam were very bratty Kiwi's about the world records he was setting, but I still loved every minute of the history being made...and I wll never watch another Olympics again without remembering Fiji and Luke and Sam and their Tall Poppy bad attitudes. I feel like Phelps help me win the argument about NZ vs USA all week...thanks Michael!!!

Bula (aka Hello) From SUNSHINEY Fiji!!!!

Highlights of the trip....

**SUNSHINE
**Warm weather
**Felling hot
**Getting a tan....
OKAY I actually have experienced other things but I thought I should start out the blog with how happy I am to be in HOT weather even if just for 10 days!!

**Getting to catch some of the Olympics! (dad I even saw a wrestling match...China/Georia--looked like about 145/154 weight class...was Rick on that match? I thought I saw him or the other guy you work with)
**Seeing Michael Phelps win Gold Medal after Gold Medal--to the irritation to my "tall poppy" Kiwi friends who can't just be excited for the guy that is standing out!
**Getting some fun text from home...(I can text now in the villages I am in...so send me some text love!)
**Eating yummy breads and fruits
**Playing with dirty little messy kids
**Walking through the markets
**Laughing at silly I was to think that going with two Kiwi guys to a foreign country was going to be easy...FUN yes, but Kiwi's as a whole are a bit less emotional and guys in general just don't like to talk...AGHH!! Hell for this American verbal processor :)
**Driving in the back of a truck for 4 hours (closest way I can describe it is a truck the migrant workers in CA drive in)Definitely would not have passed CHP standards. And the seat belt law---well that is just a non existent things for people and kids alike!
**Staying with Great Families
**Seeing the true Fijian Lifestyle
**Watching them love and welcome anyone in their homes and hearts
**Hearing them Sing
**Playing with my favorite friend, Serva...who I like to refer to as Cheeky Monkey--which he now responds too.
**Having a milion nicknames: Tina being the funniest...they couldn't quite get Dana so when I introduced myself they said, "Tina...like Tina Turner?" Luke and Sam have loved that! And now that is all they call me.
**Taking drugs disguised as "tradition" in Fijian culture--KAVA...a root that when pounded and mixed with water looks like brown dirty water and taste worse than that. But it is the much loved custom of Fiji and part of any ceremony that they do. I have drank Welcome Kava, Meeting Kava, Farewell Kava, Good bye Kava, Thank You Kava...and the list goes on. Pretty much it is any excuse to celebrate a person and drink Kava for HOURS!! I drank it with a smile and used my Wooing powers to get them to give me small cups. It is traditionally done by men but since I am a visitor I as well took part, but flashed a couple smiles and ended up drinking way less than Luke and Sam..I LOVE being a girl!!!



Well, it has been one of the most interesting trips I have ever taken. Fiji is an incredible culture full of smiles, relationships, perseverance, joy, relaxation, family, and tradition. I have learned so much from my Fijian friends as they have modeled relaxing and letting life unfold. I have learned much about myself and about people on this trip...but mostly I have learned new sides of God. I have been reading the book The Shack. If you haven't read this book you NEED TO GO NOW AND GET IT! I didn't believe the hype surrounding it but man was I wrong. It is not just a book that is good to read. It challenges your thoughts on spiritual things, God and yourself. I HIGHLY recommend it no matter where you are at on your spiritual journey.

With that said, as I have read this book and experienced this beautiful culture I feel like I have had a life changing experience. The life is hard here for many of these people, and the days are long and conveniences are non existent. Yet, here it is where I am seeing new sides of myself and of God. I have watched myself experience love in all sorts of ways, but I have also seen myself reject love out of fear. I play it off with much spiritual language at times but after you cut through all the crap it is just fear and insecurity. But I see the kind heart of God who patiently allowed me to come to this place and encounter in ways that have been not at all what I have expected. He is patient and loving and trustworthy...and ALL ABOUT relationship. I can look like I am all about relationship but as I have watched myself and allowed this book and these people to be a mirror for me I realize how much I missed out on. There was a moment when everyone was taking a nap...Fijians LOVE their rests. I picked up the book and had an encounter with God that was like none other. I actually had to put the book down and walk away because it was too intense for me. Plus I was crying so hard and was just about to go into Ugly Cry...thinking that Luke and Sam were asleep...but NOPE! They just looked at me wondering what the heck book I was reading. I finally had to walk into town to regroup a bit. It didn't really work because I continued the conversation I was having with God and kept crying as I "tried to pull it together."

I finally came back and was battling to think of anything else and my sweet little friend Serva, who is the cheekiest little 3 year old came and found me to play. We ran all around the village, him just chattering away to me in Fijian. He took me to the shop so he could buy two pieces of candy. He looked at me with this beautiful, dirty faced, teeth falling out smile and handed one of his precious candies to me. My heart melted at the loving moment. We then, as little boys do, took off running to play in the dirt.

I guess at the end of the day God knows exactly what we need to actually have an accurate view of Himself...not because He needs us to, but because He longs for us to know just how Loved we are by Him. Who knew that after growing up in church, a GREAT family, going to Bible School, working in numerous churches and serving people for over 10 years that a small rustic village would be the place I would finally allow God to teach me some stuff about how stubborn I am but how much more stubborn He is for me to know I am loved...

WARM WEATHER HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!

You don't even know how excited I am to see 80 degrees again! I laid in bed yesterday morning whining about being cold...I am SO over the winter. But I must quickly change my attitude because there is a lot more winter in my future, but alas, for right now I will focus on the 80 degree weather that is my VERY near future!

I leave for Fiji tomorrow morning. We will be heading into one of the villages right away and then on Monday we will head into the village that takes a bit of an adventure to get to. 4 hours on the back of a truck to the river, checking the height of the river. If it is low enough we cross it, if not we camp there until morning. Then we hike another hour into the village. From there we will see the opening of the building my friend Luke helped them build. And a reconciliation of two chiefs that have had generations of hate towards each other...pretty cool, huh? We will also head to a village that has an orphanage to see if Luke's Trust can work there. And we will head to another city and meet with the original Coup leader of Fiji...nice, huh? Luke will be doing all the talking but I am pretty excited to go along for the ride and see what this trip has in store for us. Luke and Sam, the other friend we are going with, make me LAUGH SO HARD. I think I will laugh for an entire 10 days...which might help in the crazy conditions we might be in over there.

I will blog when I get home and can't wait to see little Moses Lance!!!! (let's hope you have him by then Alyssa :)

Talk to you guys in 10 days!!!!

Wednesday Wines Does Cooking!!!

This week Wednesday Wines went on a Field Trip thanks to our beautiful friend Michelle!! She signed us up for a cooking class at this AWESOME cooking store. We came after work, all having either a pretty crappy day or were just SO tired that we wanted to just curl up on the couch watching TV, but we endured! We did stop and get a wine on the way which probably helped a bit :) And we were glad we did!

I LOVE the food network and so does my friend Hayley, so we pretended like we were on the food network the whole time! This was our chef, James. Notice the cool mirror behind him so we can see what he was doing...I SO felt like I was on the food network.



We had a yummy Pear and Honeyed Walnut Salad and A wonderful Potato and Peas Salad. And then he made an incredible Onion Soup and Potato and Leak Soup that was like silk! He also taught us cool things like...the stove heats the pan, the pan heats the oil, the oil heats the food...so simple but makes so much more sense. He was a BIG advocate of Rice Bran oil because of its flash point--which I learned all about, too!

Here is Rochelle and Michelle trying the yummy pear salad and me and Hayley trying the soup. SOOO GOOD!!!






They haven't quite got used to their American friend taking pictures ALL the time and ones that are posed, but it is MEMORIES I keep telling them!! Here is all of us after a good time!!










Then what else would you do after a cooking class, but go get more food! We snuck over to Wendy's so that Chef James didn't see us and filled our tummies a little more. Seems wrong that we ate fast food after such a cool cooking class, but there was 22 people in the class so we just got little teasing bites of the yummy food! :) If you ever can go to a cooking class you should definitely do it!!! So worth it and so fun, but only go with good friends that make you laugh...that was the best part!

Only in New Zealand (part 12)

Sometimes life just doesn't go how we plan...but there is always something to laugh at! This last weekend I spent the weekend with Andy and Sally and Georgia and Mac. Are plan was to go away for the weekend to this great little vacation spot, but the weather was another "Weather Bomb" watch....so we decided to "go away" at their house. We pretended like we were away, but really stayed at home all weekend. On Saturday we took a little road trip on Saturday which was FULL of laughter.

I saw lots of fun places in NZ....some weird, some sketchy and some just plain funny! Most of the time I just kept thinking...Only in NZ.... We started at going to the Cheese Factory about an hour away. We hoped in the car excited for our unknown adventure. We played car games all the way there and we were ready for our Cheese Tour! (Stac I know you would have been all about it...hehehe)



Full of excitement we walk in and notice the machines aren't going--the cafe is but no machines. Apparently the cheese makers need a break....who would have thought! No tours on Saturdays! So in stead we did a little cheese tasting. Here is me and Mac showing you how it went :)










Then we had a little coffee and hit the road, not fully sure where we were going. We traveled through some tiny towns that Sally hadn't even gone through before. And decided on Candy Land! Who wouldn't want to go to a candy factory. Now I grew up going to the Hershey Factory all the times so I was quite excited. We drove up and I thought...uh oh... It looked a bit old and sketchy. But we did get to make our own suckers which was cool!!! The big sucker me Georgia and Mac are in front of was actually the size of a sucker they made in the 90's to win a world record...crazy, huh?!

We drove back through some more towns and finally found a cafe open for lunch after going to 3 different ones! There was a little bit of a low blood sugar melt down, but was quikcly sorted after a yummy toasted sandwhich!!

After traveling back home we watched a movie, watched the All Blacks crush the Australians and went to bed happy! We spent Sunday shopping and watching a movie and I went home Sunday night refreshed and so thankful for my friends Andy and Sally!!