I'm in another internet cafe

I'm reached a new low. I've got Danny to the right of me and Ken (his friend to the left) both playing war craft. In my defence though, I'm blogging instead of being a geek. Blogging's cool and not geeky right? right?

Anyway... life's pretty good. Can't think of any exciting adventures to share with you all. Although, I did have a hot date with Mary! She's my brother's ex-girlfriend's mum. Hmmm, close family, yes. She's lovely.

I haven't started searching for a good church in chch, I kinda slept in on Sunday. We'll get there.

I saw the most adorable dog ever! ok, not quite as cute as Lukey (Em's dog) but still. Danny discribed the dog very well "He looks like a miniture bear". I couldn't help but smile at him and stare. He spotted me and I guess it was like love at first sight or something. He was on the other side of the road and ended up crossing over towards me. So gorgeous. I said hello and started patting him and then chatted with the owner for a bit so that I could spend a bit more time with the dog. He was definitely the highlight of my day. Made me smile :)

Hot date

I've got a date with Catherine tonight :) we're going to the movies then out for dinner. should be lots of fun. I haven't seen the girls in months! She lots of fun and I love her (in a heterosexual way of course).

I was in the garden all of yesterday morning. Hmm, I think that I might go back out there later on today if it stops raining. The weeds at my place in chch have grown out of control! Danny asked our neighbour to recommend a gardener to us. The one she suggested was $50 per hour. Over my dead body!!! Even though i wouldn't be the one paying for it, I refuse to allow a loved one to pay that much for someone to pull out weeds. We're looking into other options now but in the meantime, I'll try to do as much as I can.

I've got a week before I start my clinical. Woo hoo! How exciting.

Home sweet home

I arrived back to NZ last night. The plan? I'm going to go to Nelson tomorrow with my brother and my extended family. We're all goin to spend Christmas there with mum. Then, I'll be waitress there till about mid January before setting up my life in chch for the next 3 years.

From my trip overseas this time, I learnt quite a bit about myself. I guess that my submersion into a foreign enviroment really aided my self evaluation process. I'm moving into my clinical years next month so now is a good time to sort out what I want out of life. I still don't know the extact details but I definitely have a much better idea. For example, I don't know what kind of doctor I'd like to eventually be but I know the qualities that I'm looking for.

I received a letter(that I wrote earlier this year) in the mail yesterday. I know that it sounds a little odd but it's actually very helpful to evaluate the year that is about to pass. Did I achieve all that I wanted to? Were my priorities kept in check? Have I grown as much as I wanted to? Has my life this year been a blessing to those around me?

I think that I did a reasonable job of it all. But is that what I actually want? In my eulogy one day, for my life to be discribed as "reasonable"? NO! I want it to be an extraordinary life full of God's love and gace. A life fulled with adventure and excitement and much much more. I'm going to write another letter sometime in January. There's going to be more of an emphasis on God and my big plans for life will also start to take shape.

I also appreciate my family a little more now. As I'm sure you're all aware, every family is imperfect. Every member has strange quirks that can drive us mad at times. But we love them to bits anyway. I'm not sure whether it's that we love them inspite of their faults or because of them. Maybe it's a bit of both.

My brother (Danny) was in China and Japan while I was in the states. He's now thinking of moving to China to study Mandarin. If he does, he'll be leaving in mid Feb. If so, I'll probably visit him in late October of the coming year. It'll be a huge challenge for him (and our family) for many reasons but I think that (if the plan goes ahead), it'll be a great learning experience for him (and our family).