Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

I miss you and I love you so much. I wish you all the best for the new year.

Much love!!

Here are some pics from the last 2 weeks!

Home

Hello!!

Time has passed so much faster then I have expected it to. I was going to write this awesome blog saying how I'm coming home in like a month and now its more like 2 weeks! WHAT?!?!

I don't know about you but it isn't feeling a lot like christmas over here. The warm weather, the long evenings and completely out of place christmas songs recalling a "white christmas". Its going to be a weird one with none of my family around. I don't mind so much but I am going to miss not bundling up and going out for a sleigh ride or a snow angel none the less. Over here, I think i am going to be making some sand angels and singing "baby its cold outside" to myself over a cold beer on a hot beach. That actually doesn't sound that bad....

There is a seperate occasion that I want to draw some more attention to though. New Years! So I am arriving the evening of the 29th and I will be home enjoying every single minute until the 13th. I am inviting everyone to come home and see me while I am there. I would like to ring in the new year up at the mill doing the typical Ukass family outing. I know that its a little late notice and it is a lot to ask of because it is winter but I am putting it out there none the less. I am not sure when I am going to be able to get back home so this is going to be a special one for me. Also because it has been what feels like FOREVER since I have seen everyone let alone talked to people.

This is all I can say for now. I am sure that you can communicate with my parents and sort things out. My life is going crazy right now with work and getting all set up for christmas.

Love you :)

Summer Lovin'

Well...this weather is more like it! The sun is finally shinning a few more days a week and the rain has become less and less. Finally its feeling like summer which is AMAZING! With the change up of weather we are getting very busy with work and summer activities. The ocean is a little bit more tolerable and the later evenings mean more time to be out frolicking.

We went out to Piha, a surf beach about 45min out of the city, for Josh's birthday (far right). His girlfriend Jess (middle R) and I are really good friends and she is just wonderful. Dave (behind me) is just Dave...I live with both these boys and have Jess over as much as possible to mix things up in the flat. We are in the process of finding a new flatmate but its not easy with us all being so busy with activitites to be home at the same time. So far...no luck :(













Recently I have been rock climbing as a team building/reward with work. It was so much fun and I seriously surprised myself with how well I was able to do. Only myself and my yoga instructor, Nikki, were able to get up this wall because you had to spread out and use the wall as well the the foot/hand holds to get up it. CRAZY! Nikki is the one in the group picture climbing up the wall with me. I take her iyengar yoga class every monday and wednesday night. It is more alignment and perfecting your poses so you are able to do other types of yoga correctly and be able to have better posture and skeletal system in your every day life. I, believe it or not, love it! Three hours a week is sometimes not enough for me so I try to squeeze in some Bikram or original yoga as well.

On Tuesdays I play touch (rugby) with a couple girls from work. It is a tough game because I am so use to being ahead of the ball and this game you have to be behind it. I feel like I am being lazy but thats just the way to play the game! It is a workout though and I am running solid for 30 minutes with is more then i was doing a few weeks ago.


I am also going paddle boarding. It is so cool and a real workout! I love being out on the water and there is no better way right now then stand-up paddle boarding. We rent the boards and head out on the water for about a hour. It is a major workout because you need all of your balance and then paddling against the current and the wind to get somewhere. In the bottom picture, Cassy (a fabulous girl from Billings, Montana) and I made it around the bouy that was 200m from shore. It doesn't sound bad but it was rough and the wind was fighting us the whole time. Today, Kat and I went out and it was a real struggle to get back in. I ended up paddling ahead of her then going back to get her all the time. My arms right now are refusing to type (but I will prevail!!).  When we finished our paddle the guide told me that I should be competing if it was only my second time and I was such a strong paddler. I thought I owed that to canoe races on Halgrave Lake (Jenna xx). I doubt that I will start that next week but I really do love it and the water isn't that cold if I fall in :)

 

Work is going really well otherwise. I am working hard to move up the ladder so I can get my visa renewed but there is no confirmation on that. I am now planning on moving to Australia (Perth) if my visa doesn't come through for NZ. It is unbelievable that a year is quickly coming up and I have been home for 3 weeks.

Please know that I miss you all of course and I hope this finds you all happy, healthy and warm. Sending you all the sunshine New Zealand has to offer,

 

Much love xx

lululemon Ponsonby

Kia Ora! (Hi in maori)

I realized that I took heaps of pictures of my store but I didn't send them. So here they are. This is where I am almost every day :)

Front community area

Yoga mats, accessories and yoga

Shor

Goal Boards

http://info.lululemon.com.au/auckland/ponsonby

Long Time Gone

Hello Family!!

It has been a while and my sincere apologies. I have been busy :)

Work has been going really good. I have been crazy busy but that has been alright. I had a performance review last week and my manager sees me as the regional training manager in a year so I have got to get learning! I was basically told that if I want to be sponsored (which I do) by lululemon then I need to move to Wellington and open the new store in February.  This of course scared me shitless because that is a HUGE commitment and I just didn't know if I am ready for that. Of course...how could you be ready for it! But this is life and I have so scared that I've been wasting mine living over here until I realized finally that I am currently living life and I had better pull up my big girl panties cause it's not slowing down anytime soon.

My flat is going great. I really love my flatties and we are all getting more involved in summer sports which is so fun. We are all making plans to get out and do things this summer so I am really looking forward to when the sunshine is out more often.

I have joined a touch rugby team with a couple workmates and I suck at it. I have to learn the rules and of course make a fool of myself a few times before I really get it right so I'm working on it. It's nice to get out and meet new people and do something completely out of my comfort zone right?! I am also part of the lululemon cheer squad which is awesome. We just had the World Triathlon and the Auckland Marathon which we showed up for and it was amazing. We started cheering at 7am and screamed our heads off for about 3 hours.

Kiwi's are funny though. They have this saying here, the Tall Poppy Syndrome. It's essentially if someone tries to go out on a limb or rise above the norm, everyone else will knock them down until they are back at the same level as everyone else. Kiwi's are very modest needless to say. So for me (a quiet Canadian) it is very hard to be with Kiwi's who would rather stand around and watch instead of make a scene and scream my head off. So for halloween the kids may walk to the end of the block and no further to not be greedy or excessive where we would walk for hours with a pillow case or 2 to get as much as we could carry. I have definitely noticed that I indulge much more then Kiwi's do that is for sure.

I still don't have a car which is making me insane. I just can't settle on one and considering I don't have a vehicle to go and view potential vehicles it makes buying one very hard. I am counting on fate to just align the stars and one will magically appear for me. I'll see how long I can hold out on that one :) But I did get some artwork. It cost me $18 online which I think is a steal of a deal!

This weekend I am going to Mumford & Sons concert on Friday night, then on Saturday night I am going to the Black Keys concert. I am really excited as I love live bands and being in a small place its easy to get tickets to see your favorite bands. It also makes me feel a little closer to home as I would see them back in Canada.

Much love and I hope you are all doing well. I get caught up and forget to write but it doesn't mean that I don't love hearing from you.

xx

Got It!!

I got the job!!! I am so happy and start in my new roll as assistant manager on October 1st.

So excited!!!

Interview

Hey everybody,
So I had my interview yesterday and I don't think it went so well. Alex, my boss, sat beside me and just watched me on the phone ... Weird!! The just of it was why can't I just keep doing my job at the level I am at right now as I am already doing 70% of the assistant managers works anyways. Needless to say I am a bit bummed out as it took them a month to organize that and it just wasn't a good experience. But upwards and onwards!

The weather is cold but the sun manages to shine a bit more every day. Day light savings is coming up too so that is going to be a nice change to wake up in the daylight and go home from work in the daylight!

I hope the weather stays nice for you. Uncle Frank those pictures were amazing thank you for that. It looks like you got a very nice harvest this year.

Love you all,

Waitakere

Today I went for a drive with Jess out to the Waitakere's. It's on the west side of the island. It's near Piha and Muriwai I took heaps of pictures and I hope you enjoy them!! I have an interview tomorrow and hopefully it will turn out positive and I will get a nice raise along with heaps of responsibility. But with that raise I am going to get myself a car so I can do more of these little escapes!

September!

Wow I can hardly believe that it's September already! Time has flown by I honestly don't even remember what I've gotten up to!

Work is going good. I have yet to hear about the assistant manager position and it has been 24 days today...not cool. But it's going good. It's a job just like any other one that I go to every day.

My flatmates and I are doing awesome and they have become my family down here. One friend, Jess, and I go for breakfast every Wednesday and then go adventuring around Auckland which is really great. We are making plans I get out of the city over a weekend but with work who knows when that will happen.

Other then working I go to a lot of fitness classes. I do iyanga yoga, Pilates, crossfit, and hip hop every week so that is keeping my schedule busy and my wallet empty. I get 2 classes a week with lulu but it adds up!

All in all life is good. There isn't too much going on but that's alright. I am trying to save for having more adventures soon. Hopefully around Christmas when mom, dad and Jordan are here. Love you all very much and I am sorry that I don't write often. I don't find that much happens for me to write you. Let me know how you are though I do get excited when I hear about home!

Love love love xx

Christmas in July Pics

 Heres my turkey!! Yum

 The finished product...turkey, red cabbage, stuffing, potatoes and gravy!

 Me, Kat and Dave's friend Katy

The crew! L-R (Me, flatmate Josh, flatmate Nick, Brendon, flatmate Dave, Kat, Keisha, Raj, Katy, Vanessa, Dave, Jess)

Christmas in July

My dinner was a success! I am exhausted!

Bike Riding!

I've been sitting here staring at the blank web page thinking of what to type. I want to share my exciting and adventurous stories, but the truth of it is I don't have any of those. I will do my best to spice up my average day to day!

My flat is going great. I now live with 3 guys who all have girlfriends. Its nice because I can get some girl time 2 nights a week but because i work with girls all day long its nice to come home to a drama free place.  I am having christmas dinner on Friday night because I didn't really have a chilly christmas and the weather here is pretty terrible and cold for Auckland so we are having Christmas in July!

Work is going great. I am currently a supervisor but the assistant manager position was just posted today and I am considering applying for it. I have taken on the operations manager job which is an assistant manager responsibility but I'm nervous to take that leap! Right now I go to work then head to a yoga class or pilates or physic. It's not a very exciting life but currently it is mine!

I got a bike. A fella I work with is moving back to the UK so he gave it to me. Its a quick one!! My flatmates are jealous so I figure that it's an alright bike. I am going to ride it to work tomorrow as its all up hill and I don't know how long its actually going to take me!

I am doing good though. Just working and seeing my friends whenever I am able to. I miss you all very much of course but I think about home and all of you all the time! Love you so much,

Times flying

Well...I'm just moving along down here. Work is taking up almost all of my time which is good cause I am no longer bored I am now dreaming of my days when I had no obligation! I am applying for the operations management position at work. It's basically the CEO of this location so I have a meeting with my manager today to see how that will look.

Auckland is beautiful and still blows my mind when I come over the hill and there is the sea right there! I absolutely love it here and am glad that I have made this decision to move here. The weather I can't say the same for but from what I hear home is pretty terrible too.

My flatmates are awesome and we jut got a new guy in so I am no longer the new kid which is awesome! I am making friends, working hard and trying to enjoy every minute before it leaves me!

Miss you all at home and love you so much. If you look up lululemon ponsonby on facebook you will see my modeling! Pretty exciting :)

Update

Hi All!

Just a quickie update on how I am doing.

I am GREAT! I have a good job, an amazing flat and awesome friends :) As far as work goes it is a huge learning curve that i am working my hardest at to concur and take over. There are a couple assistant manager positions that are opening up and I have my eyes set on one of those for sure. I had my first day yesterday and it went alright but i am feeling much more confident today. It is just one big friendly work party all day long!

My flat is amazing and i am changing rooms on thursday to the front one. It is going to be noisier with street noise but there are heaps of windows and there is a closet! That is a huge bonus because right now my clothing are getting dusty and are literally hanging out. We are getting a new flatmate next week too so that should be good to not be the new kid any more. We are having try-outs tomorrow :)

I am making some new friends through lululemon as well as through this Canadian girl Keisha. I am filling my time with new friends or yoga classes. I am extremely busy and am going to be signing up for salsa lessons on Monday nights this coming one. I am SO excited about it!

The weather is staying sunny but it is definitely cool. I think it was 1 degree last night which is chilly! Hopefully it stays nice and sunny and it can get dark and cool early just as long as that sunshine is out during the day :)

I hope you are all doing amazing and we will talk soon!

xx

Expectations

So I got some more details on the job. I am starting at full time hours and me and another new girl, Kate, who are starting off as key leaders (supervisors). Alex, my manager, informed me that lululemon doesn't sponsor people to stay in a foreign country. With that, she told me that I will be managing a store in 9 months. She said that she has yet to work with me but knows that I will be able to rise up to the position and she will help me get sponsored if I am in a management position. So thats cool :) Other then that I have to go on a shopping spree of lululemon clothing but i get 60% off my first $300 every month so that works out to being like a $1000 monthly spree!! Heres more incentive to come and visit me...if you come you will get presents!!

I am going to an All Blacks game tonight and am looking forward to that. Should be fun :)

Much Love

Work!!

I GOT THE JOB!! I am officially a key leader at lululemon athletica! That means that I have already bypassed the educator position which is just a sales person and am starting as a supervisor! So excited its crazy!!!

It's raining and a very good day to stay in so I was happy to have some great news to brighten my day!

Balls Rolling

Well I am starting to get things sorted. I have the most comfortable bed in the world thanks to a new sheep skin underlay, heated blanket and throw! I am also starting to get things unpacked and set up. This weekend is a long weekend and I am planning on getting a clothes rack and some hangers and hopefully be able to unpack my suitcases and feel like I'm really moving in.

I met a girl from Nova Scotia who works at lululemon and is leaving in 3 weeks. She is going to give me her leftovers that she doesn't want to take home like sheets and things. I'm fairly excited cause that is a HUGE savings for me :) The girl that I live with now is going to be moving out next month and she is also going to be giving me some of her things to use like a dresser!! So I am in no rush right now to get everything but it would be nice to not have a pile of clothing that I am searching through.

I have an interview with lululemon on Saturday morning at 7:45. Its early of course but it will be good to get it out of the way! Hopefully things will go really well and I will have another interview and then I will get the job :) The manager changed the interview time to see me sooner because the regular interview time was next Saturday so she bumped it up a week. That is hopefully very good news for me.

Other then that...things are moving along quite nicely. I walked from Westmere (my house) to Ponsonby (lululemon) today which took me about 40 minutes and was a crazy twisted way. I decided after yoga that I would walk to the bus station and whenever it came then I would catch it. Well to my non-surprise it never came by! So I ended up walking home as well which took only 30 minutes. Now I know that I can walk to and from potential work as well as it is so beautiful here that I enjoy my walk and am saving $8 on bus fairs!

I hope that you are wonderful and the sun is shining on you!

Lots of love

I Live in NZ!!!

So today it hit me...it only took what...10 days?!?! The most beautiful sun set happened tonight and I got a couple shots of it then I got my bedding and am packing to move! I'll send you pics of where I'll be living when I get all moved in! The pics are...sunset, my mess that I somehow have to it into 2 suitcases again and my new bedding!!! It's not going I be as much fun packing without my helpers gram and mom! (yes Guinness thinks that she is coming with me. :))

Moving!

I got myself a place!! I'm moving just a few km away from where I am right now which is quite awesome! There is a couple and another guy with a girlfriend who doesn 't live there. I'm fairly excited!! So we will see how it all pans out but I think it's going I be great! Heres my new address do you can google earth me! 169 Garnet Rd, Auckland.

I move on tuesday! Wish me luck

Got A Move On!

Yesterday I went downtown and checked out an apartment. It was so small I felt like I was camping in our old trailer...but smaller! I couldn't see myself paying $200/wk to live there so I carried on! I checked out the lululemon athletica in the britomart area which is pretty cool. It's right down on the water and there are all these outside beanbag chairs and music playing. It's pretty sweet. The girl there was super stoked to meet me and I will try to apply down there next Thursday. Form downtown I went to Ponsonby which is an area like Kitsilano, Vancouver or Kensington, Calgary; hell its Banff to Invermere. It's the cool place with the bars and cafes on the street and all the quaint shops and high end things. I went to the lululemon there and talked with some girl from Nova Scotia who is basically going to help me get a job. We are also having coffee on Monday! So things will hopefully be good with getting a job at lulu if they can help me work towards my final goals (finance for them).

I got my resume back and its AWESOME! Hell I didn't know I was so good!! So now I'm working on updating all of the things I need for them to complete it and I am ready to apply for some jobs! Pretty excited :)

Tonight I went to see another place that I think I will move into. It's $180 and it's alright. Just me and a boy but he is small and cute :) so we will see...due to my carelessness to keep looking I may just take it! I will keep you posted!

But its a Friday night and I'm enjoying my bottle of wine and pack of timtams and watching some Bones!! I miss you all so much though and hope that your doing great!

Much love!

Jack Frost

Jack frost...that is what I woke up to...brrrrrr.  So I called Guinness under the covers to be my heater and went back to sleep! Its beautiful and clear but it just a bit chilly. I went for my morning walk with Guinness on the beach and I was wearing shorts and everyone else was wearing their puffy jackets and pants. So maybe I am a little more use to the dry cold not the humid wet cold that the evenings and mornings are.

I am going out tonight with a friend and am SO excited! Its going to be so nice to see another friend. He also has passed my name along for some places to rent for me which is so nice. Its all coming together and I am basically stress free about it all! 

Im having so much fun and just trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am in New Zealand! It blows my mind still!!

Love you all 

Starting from Scratch

I'm doing good. I'm trying to switch over to the new time but the jet leg is slowing me down. The current time here is 7:15am on Saturday, May 19 and it would be 1:15pm MST on Friday, May 18 for you. The weather is alright getting up to 18' in the day time with scattered downpours and as low as 8' in the evenings. The houses here don't have insulation which makes them quite cold. I feel like in living in a camper trailer with no heat in the fall.

I am getting my resume sorted out and am looking at places to live. It's a slow process but I'm plugging away at it. It's lonely for sure but I'm just trying to keep my chin up and move forward.

Miss you all!

What Ill Miss

As I board the plane to leave
Cranbrook I can't help but notice the breath taking mountain range ahead of me. The vast fields that lead to the base of these huge rugged peaks that still have a decent frosting of snow. The sun hits these wonders of the world that we take for granted and it lights them up in a way that makes the rugged edges glow and soften. It is so beautiful that it humbles me and adds to the respect I have for this landscape. I am surprised that it doesn't make me sad, it only makes me excited to return and seem them again.

After landing in Vancouver I feel like I am me again. Traveling alone (not in a depressing way), taking things as they come and not having the stress of other peoples planning. I am ready for this. More now then ever!! I am going to miss you all terribly but I know that you have my back and I've never felt more loved.

Thank you so much for the personal visits, the phone calls and the cards.

Uncle Pete, thank you so much for making the trip down. More then anything, you attending my send off party showed me that family will always be there for you because we are family. In my last blog I wrote "fight for what you want cause no one will fight for you". I have now found that untrue. Your family will fight for you. Whether its playing devils advocate, taking a stand when you forget what your fighting for or standing there takin the punches with you. Family will always be there for you. I am SO happy to say that I have the most amazing family that I wouldn't trade for anything. That being said, I'm going to miss you all terribly!

I'm also going to miss pickup trucks, Kraft dinner, calmato juice, summer time (haha)...I know there will be more but right now I'm too darn tired to think!

I made it here and the weather will be alright for a while then some rain will come. It feels like home here though and I am comfortable and happy to be here. I just need to get my butt in gear to find my own place and job. That will all come with time!

Much love

Home Stretch to a New Home

Well Jamaica has come and gone and now I am looking down the home stretch to moving to New Zealand! I leave Canada in 4 days and am getting very excited about it. Right now I am trying to say goodbye to everyone here and hello to everyone there! That makes for a lot of phone calls and late evenings trying to squeeze everyone in!

Arrangements are set that I am going to be house sitting for Lynette and Reinier for a couple weeks until I get myself settled in a place of my own. My resume is coming along nicely and I am hoping to get started in a job as soon as I get there.

I probably wont be writing every day as I wont be doing the most exciting things when I first arrive but I will fill you in on the BIG details! I will post as many pictures as I can to make sure you all know why I fell in love with the country! I hope you enjoy this blog as much as the last and that there will be some wild adventures somewhere along the way!

As they say in Jamaica...One Love