Oh No You Didn't!

Oh YES we DID!

We have gone and done it, jumped off the deep end and landed in....chaos, confusion, heaps of junk but also in excitement, bliss and happiness! That is a good way to sum up these past few months. Anyone that knows us, knows we are not slaves to the machine. In fact, Bruce's favorite quote is "Unplug from the Matrix".
I have to admit, it was hard for me to "unplug" at first...but then I saw the other world. The other side of life that we lived in the Philippines, in Thailand and in Belize. That "Don't-Worry-Be-Happy" everyday of your life kinda feeling. We had it all of those places and more. The one that sealed the deal? Our new home, New Zealand.

See us? We're down here at Invercargill!

Abel Tasman Park on the South Island

I know, lots of ya'll couldn't find it with a map, a magnifying glass and a fifth grader and that's ok...Maybe that is some of the reason why we feel it could be perfect for us. We don't find any happiness in any of the "normal" things anymore. All we do is plot our next escape, dream about far away lands, imagine living somewhere else. Don't get me wrong. We are NOT America "haters" (although some have implied that). We love our country and what we have accomplished. What we don't like is the subtle changes that make our society less and less comfortable for us. Sure, we could live in the boonies in some little state but when we looked at everything, including our jobs, America didn't fall at the top of the list. We chose New Zealand for several reasons, but more so, it chose us.

When we first had an inkling that we would enjoy living there was literally hours after disembarking off the plane in Auckland. I know that every place had its pros and cons but we found so many more pros, the cons just faded away. The country made us fall in love. Not in a dopey, 6th grade way but in a "grown-up" way. Like, "I know you have a big beer gut and gray hair but i love you anyway" kind of way...I don't know how to explain it but that's how it is for us. Believe you me, we did not come to this idea very lightly. It was months of discussion, dreams, drama and lots of distress!! But, in the end, we used our hearts and minds and prayer to make the decision. So here we are...

Jurassic Park, also know as New Zealand

Bruce and a Maori Warrior doing the Haka

Finding a job was the easiest. Thank God for the hustle of our recruiter, she was able to find us both jobs in the same area in no time. The downside? We decided to go somewhere that was not our first choice but we are still excited about the opportunity. We are going to be on the South Island at the southern most city, Invercargill.

For those of  you who need a quick "refresher" on New Zealand geograpy...New Zealand is an island country in the south western Pacific Ocean. It is about 2,000 miles from Australia and lies pretty close to some AWESOME places in the South Pacific-namely Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and New Caledonia. It is a developed country that ranks high internationally in education and economic freedom. It was also ranked the LEAST corrupt govenment in the world...hmmm....Anyway, the Queen of England is the recognized head of state because it is a part of the British Commonwealth. The Maori are the original inhabitants and are still very highly represented in the population. English is the language and there are immigrants from all over the world residing there. The thing that most Americans know about New Zealand is that the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was filmed there (on the South Island! not too far from us!) and the director of the trilogy, Peter Jackson is from there. There are also more sheep than people there!

Most of us know little to nothing about New Zealand. I'm hoping that by keeping in touch with ya'll through our blogs will give you insight on what its like to live in another country and to learn more about NZ!