...Is the Nicehouse

Kim and I are very close to becoming 100% debt free for the first time in both of our adult lives. The order in which our debts got paid down should not have surprised me. 

Car loan for the truck, gone.

High-Interest Credit cards that Kim (sneakily) held on to, gone.

0% interest loans for TVs, etc, gone.

Lee's student loan.....still carrying it? 

Here's how this works, my man. Kim is still currently working and gets paid in US $s in the a US bank. Those dollars go towards paying off any remaining debts. The logic for leaving the student loan until last can eloquently be summed up  in my wife's own words...."I'm not paying for the time you spent at college getting drunk with your buddies!". 

Obviously this is just an assumption on her part. We didn't go to school together so who knows what I was up to at UF.

Let me get to the point. 

We received a package yesterday and it was as if a stork flew straight from Gainesville and delivered a bundle of joy right into our growing family.....

so peaceful when they sleep. sure do pee a lot.

walkies in the bugaboo

safety first. don't want any trouble with the law.

time to eat

Such a handful (22oz!! Thanks Brian/Kia!!!!). Kim and I can't decide whether to have the cap removed or not....medically, they say, there is no reason.

We've been here for 1 year now, and it has been one year since my lips have tasted the sweet-deliciousness from the good folks at Plank Road Brewery. Cheers!

Turkey Day in Kiwiland

Last week, Lee says "I will cook the turkey."  Kiwis don't really "do" turkeys until Christmas seeing as how they don't really have Thanksgiving.  Another complication is that it is spring/summer here so your typical Thanksgiving side dishes aren't always available - as in, no brussel sprouts... think strawberry season...  And!  no jellied cranberry sauce in the can.... thank goodness :)

All that being said, we found a 3.5 kilo turkey and made some quick substitutions on the fly for side dishes but kept the traditional sweet potato casserole, stuffing/dressing, and cranberry sauce.  Lee dry brined the turkey for a few days and did a secret under the skin spice rub that I'm pretty sure had some Szechuan peppercorns in it.

What is Thanksgiving without some good college football?  We waited until today to have turkey day so that we could watch the UF vs FSU game which came on at 9:00am here.  It's becoming a Sunday morning tradition for Lee and Beau to get up for ESPN Gameday and then the UF game every Sunday.

beau gators!

Our fellow ex-pat friend, Carlton, came over for the football and feast.  Unfortunately for him, he is (was) a FSU fan!  Great come behind win for the Gators today.  Even our GT Yellowjacket nephew (sorry for your loss Ty!) got behind the Gators!

Dinner was nice to have with friends here, but we miss our family and state-side friends!!  Hope more of you can come for a visit in the near future....

turkey day table

fellow ex-pat carlton

lee requested traditional sweet potato souffle - marshmallow and all....

perfectly juicy turkey

just a little snack for me!

Dessert - had to be pumpkin pie!  Homemade crust and everything.... brandy whipped cream on top.

yum-kin pie

Aftermath....

and then there is always these....

tryptophan doesn't seem to impact ella...

3-Year Itch?

We decided (Lee decided) that it was time for us to leave the little guy with a babysitter and venture out for dinner for our 3-year anniversary this week.  We had managed to dine alone once before while Lee's mom, Shelagh, and her friend Jackie were in town back in September, but had not risked an actual babysitter yet...

The day started great.... awesome coffee from Ozone Coffee Roasters (New Plymouth, NZ).... Beau in a lovely mood.... got out for walkies with Ella.... then who knows what happened, but 3:00pm comes around and we've got a screaming baby on our hands for an entire hour!!!!  I truly think that he is starting to teeth as his cheeks were fiery red and he was putting any and everything in his mouth EXCEPT for his bottle!  He's all of a sudden started refusing to drink from the bottle without a true "bottle battle" on our hands.

So we worked through the 3pm episode and had a nice happy settled baby for our neighbor, Dayle, to come over for a sit with Beau while we went for dinner.  Beau likes Dayle and she brought over her partner's 11-yr old son, Frasier, who both Beau and Ella like.  So.... we left....  a bit trepidatiously, but stuck to our plan.

We went to the Refreshment Room in Titirangi.  It's a lovely little restaurant where the menu changes daily/weekly and the owner is the chef.  They grow most of their own vegetables in their home garden - a bit like Cakes and Ale for those of you from Atlanta.  I've got to say that it was pretty relaxing going out to dinner just the two of us to celebrate....

view from the refreshment room over the waitakeres

chef with fresh bread for asparagus mozzarella bruschetta 

Dinner was excellent - we made it through some pre-dinner beverages, the entree/appetizer of bruschetta with grilled asparagus and fresh mozzarella, and our mains/entrees before Lee's phone started blowing up with texts from Dayle that got a bit more frantic with each one.  Needless to say, dessert had to be takeaway and we headed back to the house not really sure what to expect...

You would never guess the MAYHEM that was going on!!!! No wonder Beau was screaming and exercising his baby lungs to their full extent.... Not only were Dayle and Frasier at our house with Beau and standing outside on the front porch, but two of our neighbors came over to see what the ruckus was about and brought their dogs which caused Ella to go into hyperdrive.  The circus had come to Kopiko Rd and Beau was just not ready for that!!!

Took about 5 minutes to get Beau settled, fed, and happily asleep in his cot - no worries whatsoever... meanwhile, Dayle enjoyed a glass (or two.... ) of wine with Lee.

Lessons Learned:  No matter how much the babysitter insists on Beau being awake so she can get a good cuddle in, make sure he is fed and in bed before leaving the house for dinner!!!!  Mommy knows best.

pre-dinner pic.... did not capture the circus :)

Busy As...

Hello All

Our apologies for not keeping up with the blog posts of late.  We've got a backlog of posts to publish as soon as we have a few minutes to get the pictures off our camera :)  To tickle your tastebuds, some of them are:

• 4x4xFour
• Wine down Weekend
• Yanks in Kiwiland
• Doggie Hamptons

In kiwi terms, we've been "busy as" or "full on" since the last post.  We've had several visitors from the states and taken the family on two trips with stays in some nice kiwi bachs (holiday homes).

Be ready - you may see a waterfall of blog posts over the next few weeks!!

Till then...

Rainy Day Walkies

"If you don't like the weather in Auckland, 

just wait 5 minutes."

Such an infamous quote and oh so true.  Winter time in Titirangi... reminiscent of Seattle... but warmer... and ALWAYS subject to change :)

Beau had a Plunket (free check-up) visit today at the Titirangi office for the first time instead of at the house.  Weather.com said 70% chance of rain, but they are just guessing from their office in Atlanta!  We (Beau and I) decided to take a chance and walk.  I mean, by the time you load up the truck, find a parking spot, unload the car seat, etc. it's just not worth it for a 1.1km drive.

I only needed to pick up a few items at the grocery for dinner, so Beau and I set out with the Buga-boo in the sun for a nice walk to the village.  Just in case, I made sure we had the rain cover....

Groceries secured... starting to get a bit dark and windy...

Plunket visit went great!  Beau is healthy and steadily gaining weight.  He weighs 5.88kg or 13lbs.  Nurse was very happy with him.  We are in the middle of talking about sleep patterns, teething, etc.  and....

DELUGE!  

It didn't just start drizzling, it started the kind of rain that causes people to leave their attics in kayaks!

Walk back was a bit less pleasant but the rain cover did its job keeping Beau nice and dry and warm :)

rainy buga-beau

nice and dry inside

not so dry mommy

Time to dry off, let Beau take a nap and get to cooking some yummy NZ lamb shanks with a Mexican-American twist - ancho chiles!

braised lamb shanks with ancho chiles and cumin

S'oul-ful Sunday

Today was good.  Today was fun.

Tomorrow is another one.

-- Dr. Seuss

S'oul Bar in Viaduct Harbor seemed like a great idea for a late Sunday afternoon lunch.  We were in the mood to enjoy a little seafood, be near the water, and hopefully sit on the patio and soak in the Sunday sunshine.  

Booking = 2.5 people :)

view of viaduct harbor from s'oul patio

Perfect weather.  Perfect patio.  Perfect view. Perfect wine.  Perfect oysters.  Perfect baby.  

Can't ask for a better Sunday afternoon.

chilly chardonnay

bluff oysters and caviar

sunday sunshine

full tummy

All things good for the s'oul...

Kiwi Family Weekend

We got out of the house quite a bit two weekends ago and decided to risk heading to Bethell's Beach with baby and boxer!  The weather was sunny and not bad for a NZ winter day - about 55F.  It had been raining most of the week and we (Ella & Kim) were getting cabin fever in a big way.

It is amazing the amount of prep work that goes into getting the whole family ready to go out - timing the feeding, changing, adults getting to shower... what used to take minutes has moved into the hours timeframe :)

We got to Bethell's about mid-day on Saturday and the sun was still out, but the wind was whipping the west coast beaches.  Lee strapped Beau into the Baby Bjorn (first test run) and we headed out all bundled up.

wearable baby

beau bjorn

Unfortunately, the wind was a bit much for Beau and Lee headed back to the truck for a light snack while Li'l Ella and I played frisbee on the beach....

lunchtime

li'l ella... wind in her hair :)

The adults needed to eat, so we went to Kohu Road Cafe for a quick bite.  This is a very cool cafe - reminiscent of Atlanta coffee shops.  They also do their own ice cream here - all natural and so amazing.  

kohu road cafe - yummy ice cream!

This was a big day out for the fam.  A bit of traveling, getting in and out at lots of stops, some exercise for everyone....  Came home and had some tummy time and lazed around for the afternoon.

tummy time - getting stronger

tummy time for ella too!

All in all a very successful day.  Lots of "firsts" and trials.  Things are going well here in New Zealand.   Different, but great!

beau's first shower

sleepy time