Brown Eyed Girl Celebrates its FIRST BDAY

IMG_9550Thank you Thank you THANK YOU to everyone who has taken time out of their life to read my blog! It means the world to me to feel all this love from everyone!

WOW this blog celebrated its first birthday! To me –what is even more amazing is that I have lived in beautiful New Zealand for almost a full year. In 3 days, I will have been a resident for one year! While the time HAS flown by, I have shared in many joyous memories with my Kiwi families and Canadian friends! AND Sumzie 2012-2013 was amazing!

I had always planned, hoped and dreamed of one day moving to THAILAND. I am so happy to share with all of you that MY DREAMS ARE COMING TRUE>>>> I have booked my flight and only have 2 more days left before I fly back to the homeland. Ecstatic doesn’t even begin to explain my emotional state. I am beyond H.A.P.P.Y. I am busily trying to update the blog so that all my NZ posts are online before I leave the country. I will admit to falling MONTHS BEHIND but I have always had the intention of posting as much (if not all) of my travels with you all.

Thank you for the continued support. I bask in the love and support from all those that care for me! Looking forward to celebrating the blog’s 2nd anniversary with everyone 🙂

Stay happy and never stop dreaming!
xoxo Love you all,
Amanda Sumalee

Happy 2013 Everyone!

Monday December 31st, 2012
IMG_2350 IMG_2352 IMG_2359 IMG_2375 IMG_2390

The Whitley’s and I spent the last day of 2012 together at Takapuna beach. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. We packed the best lunch ever (cheese and crackers) and were able to fill the day with swimming and tanning. My allergies have really been acting up lately so I chose not to wear my contacts to the beach. Unfortunately I left my eye drops at home and my eyes started to dry up so much that they started closing up. Luckily the shops were nearby for Emma and I to buy another bottle of drops.  When we thought we couldn’t take the heat anymore we paid a visit to the Whippy van 🙂 The beach was FULL of other families but there was still plenty of room for us to spread out and enjoy the afternoon.

IMG_2414     IMG_2463

After a quick stop at the liquor store we all went home to shower and get ready for our evening. Emzie was wonderful at helping all the ladies with their hair and makeup. We had to run for the bus at the top of our bus — running in heels made for an impromptu workout and big laughs. The bus ride was around 40 minutes downtown. It was bumpin’ downtown and were lucky to get into The VGrill (Viaduct Grill) without any wait. O’malley and I split the stuffed duck meal and slice of cheesecake. We made incredible choices that night!! After dinner we struggled to find a place to settle down and share drinks before the midnight fireworks. Finding space that fit 5 people on New Year’s Eve was not the easiest of tasks! We went to a few places before walking across the bridge around 11pm to find seats to enjoy the fireworks. The fireworks were shot off of the Skytower. Knowing how often New Zealand has fireworks, we were a little underwhelmed by the evening’s fireworks. Not saying they were good but I was expecting amazing for the number of people that came out to share in the countdown and display. The show only lasted a handful a minutes before we were hailing a van-cab. O’malley snagged one super fast and we were back home really quickly..considering all the traffic

IMG_2567

IMG_2537

Tuesday January 1st, 2013

IMG_2682
My 2013 began impressively. I slept in and then headed off to the beach again. Takapuna is a close drive from the house so we headed back again. We settled down by some prime seating on a grassy area. We had planned on renting a couple of paddle boards but they were closed for the day. The waves weren’t impressive but we enjoyed our boogie board time together. Emzie treated us to some yummy Starb frapps…definitely a great way to start this year. We ended off the night by enjoying delicious cesar salads and prawns.  Of course we had to end the night with a family bowling match!

IMG_2571 IMG_2584 IMG_2586

Wednesday January 2nd, 2013

It was the Whitley’s 2nd last day in New Zealand so we spent a little time in the morning cleaning the house and packing their bags. Momma Whitley had made reservations for the five of us to dine at the Skytower ‘s restaurant at 2pm. We left the house early so we could do some last minute downtown shopping. The Skytower buffet is on the 3rd floor of the tower so we weren’t given much of a view.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much food there was. What shocked me the most was the dessert bar. There was a full cheese spread and CANDY table to create your own vanilla sundae. The only SHOCKING thing was the receptionist asking me if I was over  FOURTEEN YEARS OLD. She asked everyone if they were over FOURTEEN. And then singled me out and said, “Really? You definitely don’t look it” I was completely shocking as I was dressed in a dress and had a full face of makeup!! DO I actually look fourteen?! I guess maybe I do….?

IMG_2622 IMG_2634 IMG_2635

Thursday January 3nd, 2013
Ana and Kristy arrived today!!
Emzie and I were both up and awake around 4:15am so we could scoop the lovely ladies from the airport. Their plane was supposed to arrive around 5:30 but arrived a little bit earlier. It has only been a day since their arrival but we have already spent lots of time planning our upcoming day trips.

IMG_2656

Whitley’s leave today
Their flight was scheduled to take off at 8pm so Em and I drove them to the airport for around 5:30.

It rained on and off all day but the rain seemed to stop in the evening. We drove down to the viaducts downtown so the girls could get a feel for driving on “the wrong side of the road” and start warming up their cameras!

IMG_2680 IMG_2679 IMG_2678 IMG_2668 IMG_2671

Looking forward to continue this fabulous vacation!!! Lots of beach days in our future. I will post more facebook photos when I get around to it. Thanks for staying in touch.

Buddha Blessings to everyone. Trying to make the most of my time here. The time keeps FLYING by!!!
xox Amanda

–> Happy 1 year anniversary since our beautiful blonde – lush lashed Socks came to Victoria. CFCS would not have been the same without you. Thank you for rocking those socks  and being who you are. Gorgeous inside and out 🙂 Emzie, Ana and I promise to have an amazingly relaxing and fun filled beach day on your behalf today!!! Much love babe!

Season’s Greetings

I hope you all found time during the holidays to enjoy the spirit of the season! IMG_2002

Christmas 2012 was a fun day of celebrating. The boys let me sleep in until 6:36am before running into my room to let me know that Santa had come during the night. I had such a great time watching the boys eagerly open all their presents. Shortly after 7:30 we were all sitting down to enjoy a lovely breakfast. (It was a very early morning for me!)  I drove to Emma’s place around 11 to meet up with all the Whitleys and enjoy a beach walk along Takapuna beach. The tide was in so we couldn’t climb the rocks — but we did have a great walk along the shore. I was able to assist in the capturing of the Santa hat family photo picture for the fam jam. Afterwards we ordered pizza and Indian and had an intense xbox bowling tournament. Lots of fun was had by all.

Boxing Day was a FULL on shopping day. I was not too excited about all the shopping but I did enjoy the company. The weather was pretty rainy causing us to run from store to store. We went to A LOT of the touristy stores. I finally got to buy my first hoodie here. They are sooo hard to find here. We had another night of playing xbox and then drove home later that evening.

I was working on Thursday and Friday and was fortunate enough to have gorgeous summer weather. We went to the beach 3x and swam and surfed lots.  A few weeks of vacation officially started Friday evening. I packed all my clothes and headed back over to Emma’s house.

IMG_2103IMG_2163

Originally we had planned to have a beach day Saturday and head to Waiheke Island on Sunday for scooting around. We had to switch our days around because all the mopeds were booked on Sunday. It was a blessing in disguise because Saturday’s weather was absolutely GORGEOUS!!! It was about 25-30 degrees and stayed that way for our day trip. We were  so fortunate to have so much sunshine. We took our 40minute ferry to Waiheke Island at 9:30am. We had one brief stop at Devenport to pick up other passengers. We were able to pretty much cover the WHOLE Island while riding the mopeds. We didn’t do any swimming at the beaches but we stopped at a few to enjoy the view!! The water was a stunning shade of turquoise and the pictures don’t do it justice. We stopped for lunch at Stonyridge Vineyard. We had rented mopeds so we decided it would be best that we not sample the wines. Instead we had a meal and only one glass each. While we were dining a helicopter landed outside in the field. 4 people stopped in for a quick bite to eat. As we were leaving they were boarding their helicopter to leave. Just a quick little stop for them!

IMG_2281

IMG_2159

Oneroa Beach

Oneroa Beach

Stonyridge Vineyard

Stonyridge Vineyard

IMG_2286

IMG_2331

Our first stop on Sunday was to Westhaven Marina so Father Bruce could chat with my Kiwi father and see their sailboat. He appreciated his little tour of the marina and chat with another male. I think he liked getting away from the 4 females for a little bit this trip. We then carried on seeing more sailboats at the harbour downtown. There were some big boats docked. We talked to one owner who had his boat on the market for 4.5 million euros…he told us his bigger boat was arriving in a few months and just needed the space to dock the new boat. We stopped off briefly at my home so the Whitleys could meet my family and wish them luck on their one week sailing trip. Ever summer my family goes away on their boat and the boys get to go fishing and swimming every day. We had planned on going to Long Bay Regional Park and walking the kilometre-long sandy beach but instead decided to go swimming.

IMG_2346
I am trying to stay on TOP  of my blogging… promise. Spending so much time out in the sun keeps me busy and EXHAUSTED in the evenings. I will try to get back to posting my photos on Facebook too. I was doing so well for a bit. I am hoping to get my New Year’s day/evening blog up today or tomorrow. The Whitleys are leaving today and Ana/Kristy arrived so the house is a bustling.

Buddha Blessings to all
xox Amanda

…remember any of these pictures can be enlarged if you click on them 🙂

Tragedy and Rebirth

Yesterday I woke up to a text from my friend informing me of the Connecticut shooting. A 20 year old shot and killed his mother and then went to Sandy Hook Elementary school killing 20 children and  countless adults. I immediately texted her back saying this world is too intense for me. It is becoming such a scary place! Neither of us are mothers but we could NOT imagine a world without our babies. My heart aches for the innocent angels that lost their lives. The pain those families and community must be going through… events like this really shake me. Throughout the day the New Zealand media kept the public informed. Feelings of such strong gratitude for all the heroes who helped protect the children and sacrificed their own lives. Faculty members lost their lives for the sake of their children. Through this devastation stories of strength and heroism are coming to light. I watched Barack Obama’s heartfelt speech and I, like him, feel my heart is broken! I posted on my Facebook wall that I have so much to be thankful for. I must continue to not lose faith in humanity.

With that said — I am so thrilled to welcome Charley Juilet Glass to the world. My best friend’s sister delivered her precious baby girl in Nanaimo, British Columbia today! Charley shares her birthday with my Daddy- o. December 15 is a great day to have been born!!! Happy Birthday xox

My New Zealand update this week isn’t too meaty. Emma and I got together during the week to buy the last of our Christmas presents. We are both officially done shopping! Feels good to have all my presents bought and wrapped before December 15th. We also mailed all our Christmas cards back to Canada (weeks  back) and know that most of them have already arrived!

family Xmas tree

family Xmas tree

bedroom tree!

bedroom tree!

We spent Saturday lounging in the sun on the porch enjoying spritzers. We had to put the umbrella up because the sun was becoming unbearably hot. We had our books and portable speakers and made a day of lounging. When we found ourselves to be way too hot and sticky we went inside and watched The Fast and The Furious….I know we lead a hard life!!!

Emma was able to successfully pick up the Whitley clan from the airport this morning. It will be nice to have more Whitleys here for the holidays!

My boys have school on Monday and then just a half day Tuesday before they are off on Summer Holidays until the second week of February. LOTS of summer activities planned and I am looking forward to lots of summer fun. The countdown for Ana and Kristy to arrive on January 3rd is getting closer and closer too.

Life is good for me but my heart feels heavy for all those in Connecticut. What happened was ‘unimaginable’ and I will continue to be thankful and blessed for all that I have.

Buddha Blessings to all
xox

Amanda