It's beginning to look a lot like....umm...

I know that North America is having one of the worst winters in recent memory, so I'll try to keep my weather-bragging to a minimum, but I just have to say - the weather the last few weeks here has been the nicest weather I've ever experienced. Consistently mid-70s, mostly sunny, and always with a slight breeze. The only problem is that weather like this makes it a little difficult to get into a Christmas mentality. One  American friend who has been in New Zealand for four years said she feels like she hasn't had a real Christmas since she moved.  It seems that along with accepting a new world without Octobers, we may have to give up Christmas as we know it as well.

Even though it doesn't feel like Christmas to me, I am more than happy to take advantage of everyone else's Christmas spirit.  We have been to Christmas festivals and parties and - best of all - yesterday marked the beginning of Christmas break at work (not holiday break - we are not PC). The entire office is closed until January 13th. That's three weeks off - an entire 23 days! I thought I'd have to give birth if I wanted to take off that much time at once!  And our Christmas party last night was pretty epic - it was at a winery/brewery on Waiheke Island that has all kinds of activities, including archery, laser skeet shooting, volleyball and barrel races!

We have a lot of adventures planned over the next three weeks, and I'll try to update whenever we have internet access.  We kick things off on Tuesday with a Christmas trip to the wineries and beaches of Waiheke Island with a couple of friends coming over from the States, then we're exploring Auckland, doing a 3-day/2-night hike in Tongariro National Park, ringing in 2014 at Lake Taupo, camping outside Wellington, drinking wine in Martinborough and maybe zorbing in Rotorua.  

But for now, here's a look back at the Christmas season so far....

Christmas decorations around the city - as well as our awesome Christmas tea towel!

A last night with some American friends before they all go back to the States for Christmas; the view from our building during a particularly stunning sunset after a stormy afternoon.

A lazy afternoon in the park next to home followed by an evening Christmas concert in another park.

My work team's Christmas outing and a Christmas prank someone played on one of the more ornery partners. We got Mexican after mini-golf and no one understood what they were eating. "It looks like this is all just the same few things mixed together in different ways.  What's the big deal?"

Katniss Powers and Robert Hood showing off some archery skills at the work Christmas party.

Work Christmas party. From top left: intense game of giant chess; laser skeet shooting; relaxing before dinner; Rob bringing all the ladies drinks; waiting for the ferry to take us back to Auckland.

Fiji Time!

For my 30th birthday, Rob and I headed to Fiji for a 4-night, 5-day vacation. We've never been on an island vacation together before, and Fiji is only a 3 hour flight from Auckland. Once we arrived we had to take a boat ride to get to our resort, which was on one of the outer islands. The main island reminded me a lot of Jamaica, but all comparisons ended there once we reached our resort. 

Fiji was hot and magical and disorganized (our boat back to the mainland actually left an hour earlier than scheduled - thankfully we asked because no one told us). The resort was a bit rustic, but that was a large part of its charm. We filled our days with eating and drinking and knitting and reading and snorkeling and napping. We can't wait to go back (except next time we'll spring for a  hut with air conditioning)!

Check out the slideshow below - just remember - they don't work on mobile devices!

Here's a preview for those of you who can't see the slideshow right now.

On Turning 30

I'm still working through all the Fiji pictures to put together that slideshow, but for now I wanted to share this video from the traditional Fijian dinner we had on Friday night. Before dinner, all the staff from the resort performed for the guests, and Rob was smart enough to capture some of it on video.

I have no idea what they're saying, but the manager of the resort told us that it was a traditional Fijian welcome song. Which fit the theme of our trip well, seeing as it was my own personal welcome into my 30s. I had some anxiety about turning 30 before it happened, but now that it's come and gone all that anxiety has dissipated.

When I look back on the past decade and reflect on all that has happened and all that I've done, I'm almost surprised I'm not older. I don't remember my 20th birthday, but I do know that at that time I had never traveled outside the US, never lived outside of Ohio as an adult - I did not even know how to knit (or apply make-up). Most importantly, I hadn't met Rob or most of my dearest friends.

My 20s were such a fantastic, evolutionary decade that I can't help but be excited about what this next one might have in store!