My Life's Constant

Moment in time: Germany just kick Greece's butt and is on their way to the semi-finals in the Euro Cup. Woot.

I've been wanting Union Jack shoes for YEARS
they didnt have them in my size :(

It's been a long week. I was sent to Redditch for the week to work on a new project. It is interesting and fun. And I'm pretty sure I suggested that we all have a meeting in two weeks in a different part of Germany, so i'm going to have to travel again. Which means, Redditch this week. and i'm in London for the weekend because it was pointless to fly to Munich only to turn around and fly back for my project meeting in London next week. Then my suggested trip to one part of Munich and then the following week i'll be in Schopfheim, Germany (which is where Germany, Switzerland, and France meet up). With all the travelling, I'm finally understanding what my dad would say when he got back from business trips. I would always ask, "what did you see?!?!?!" and he would say "not much, I go to work, eat dinner, and then back to the hotel". I never understood why he didn't have tons of time to sight-see. i get it now.

With all this travel, my new motto is "home is where my suitcase is". For the past four Sundays I've been travelling. These are the locations because some one asked earlier.

1. New Zealand to Texas
2. Texas to Missouri
3. Missouri to Germany
4. Germany to England

When I was in New Zealand, Saryah thought it was weird (and probably a little annoying) with how I wanted to go to church every Sunday and then something would happen so we couldn't and I would be upset. Luckily on my last Sunday there, I was leaving in the evening, so Saryah & I were able to make it to sacrament. It was amazing. I was so overwhelmed with how peaceful and wonderful it was to be at church. 

When I landed in Germany, I literally put my stuff in my flat, had a 5 minute shower and left to try and find the church. When I saw it I just burst into smiles. I was smiling all through the German meeting. Luckily, they had someone translating, but I was trying not to giggle as I attempted to sing the hymns in German. It was wonderful. Then I went back that night for a Young Single Adults (YSA) dinner they were having. Then I went back for the YSA Family Home Evening on Monday night. One of the girls saw me there and said "you've been here two days and have already come to church 3 times" to which one person said "she has her priorities straight".  

When I flew into London on Sunday, I made sure to get a train ticket that would give me enough time to go to church before having to head off to Redditch. I was in a state of bliss the whole time I was in church. I was able to answer questions, sing my fav songs, and love life.

I don't talk about this to show you that I'm obsessed with going to church or that I'm creepy weird. I did these things because with all the crazy moving, living out of a suitcase, being in a different place, and always meeting new people...there is one constant in my life. Always. No matter where I am or what's going on in my life, the gospel of Jesus Christ and His church is there, and it's the same no matter what country or language it is. The Holy Spirit is there, testifying of the truths that are being taught. There is a peace that enters into my soul when I walk through the doors. It realigns me after a week of awkward moments or complete cluelessness or exhaustion. It doesn't matter where I am in the world or whether or not I speak the language, the Spirit has no language barriers, and I know I'm surrounded by people who feel the same way. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the same no matter where you or I are in the world, and I know that it is Christ's church. 

I love being a Love

Auckland was great. I loved being there. I was told that people usually love it or hate it there, but it is said people only hate Auckland because they're small town people. Truth. I'm a city girl, and I loved it.
I loved the bakery bread we ate with meals. And Uncle Malcolm making sure I had my toast and butter with my breakfast every morning. I loved how Aunt Mary was so sassy with everything she said and did. It was a great time to go there and get to know more of my family. The Loves, my gran's family, moved away from each other a while ago. It was a 6 week boat ride for Uncle Malcolm and Aunt Mary to come from Scotland to New Zealand. Crazy. So I love it when I meet a fellow Love and get to know my dad's aunts and uncles because they are sassy Scottish. It's defiantly where I get some of my more stubborn personality traits. Plus, there's always that nagging feeling wishing that we got to get the last name Love too. So cool! But one of my Love cousins told me one time that a lot of people don't believe that's really her last name. Oh well.

Anyways, it was great to be there and meet my family in New Zealand. It was sad leaving. But Saryah will be there for a bit longer and enjoy it for me as I go to Germany for the summer.
And the pic above is of me, Aunt Mary, and Uncle Malcolm making hearts. I think Uncle Malcolm had the most difficult time doing it :) but I wanted to do it because we're Loves.

New Zealand: South Island

The South Island was beautiful!!!!! We ended up flying between cities because it was cheaper and faster than renting a car and driving. to fill up a tank of gas here for a tiny compact car was at least $60. no thank you. so we flew from Wellington to Christchurch. Honestly: Christchurch was not worth it. It was a bunch of bad luck too on my part. Only on mine because I decided to go do something on my own for one of the days...which was a bad choice. After that...the new rule was: Saryah makes all the decisions. Good rule indeed. The coolest think about Christchurch was we watch LOTR: Two Towers. Woot. and i played chess with a German guy named Tom who was drinking a bottle of wine while eathing chips with sour cream dip. Classy.

We then flew to Queenstown. IT IS BREATHTAKING!!! The scenery was amazing. We took a taxi from the airport to church only to discover that it was conference weekend and church was not in the building. (this only reinforces the new rule of Saryah making all the decisions).

After taking the gondola ride up Bob's Peak

We had the famous Fergburger, which was big and yummy, and we had also found a British shop earlier, so I bought an Irn Bru to go with lunch. AMAZING!!!

In a little store I saw a little stuffed lamb that I wanted to buy for Baby Spice but I decided that it wasn't uni-sex enought to buy. Plus Erica wasn't emailing me back about her opinion (only for me to realize that my email was never sent but saved as a draft :/ )

I went to Milford Sound the second day. It was wonderful. I made friends with a guy from San Diego, Eli and a girl from NYC, Lindsay. We were picture taking buddies since we were all traveling alone. It was great. We were really lucky. Dolphins swam toward and under our boat and we saw little baby seals who were just swiming in twirls. it was adorable!!!!

Then to Dunedin. One regret: We didnt do an extra day there. It has a strong Scottish influence there and they kept all their old buildings there, so it was really pretty to look at. Loved the South Island. It was fun.
We're in Auckland right now. Saryah and I just got back from the Mercer's. We went to Kelly Tarlton's this morning. Best part of our bus ride back home: Saryah and I were just listening to our iPods and we looked at each other. I think signed the Hot Rod "I'm too legit to quit" signs without saying anything and at first she looked confused and then understood and we started laughing. life is great!

Work Update: I have a lot of paper work to do when I get back home that I need to get sent in. Also, they're working on getting me a studio apartment in Munich, while Lindsay (my future partner in crime for the next year) will have to live in a hotel in the little suburb we're going to be working in. All because she's on a visa and i'm a EU citizen. WIN! But until the papers are finalized, I'm not getting too excited.

New Zealand: North Island

Truth: this may be the most difficult blog post I have ever written. It took me forever to figure out how to access my blog and let's not get started with how tempermental the writing on a phone part is getting.

Weta Cave in Wellington. I'm with an Orici :)

Anyways, I have pretty limited internet access. Right now we're sitting in the Te Papa museum in Wellington. We just returned our rental car because it is terrible to try and find parking here. Too much effort. Anyways, lack of internet means a lack of connection and communication to the real world. For someone transitioning into a new job and trying to get details still figured out, this is kinda frustrating because I don't know what's really going on right now. But I did get an email saying we're going to be getting a rosetta stone language thing for the country we are living in and it will be passed around depending on whichever country we are living with. Woot!

I'm glad im doing this trip now because I feel like a novice traveller. I keep forgetting basic things that I used to know about travelling. Plus, I didn't fin. some leather boots before I came so my shoes keep on getting wet over and over again. So cold feet with the rainy weather. Oh well. But I talked to a Sister Missionary at the Hamilton temple from Italy and she said Munich has great leather boots. So I may just wait and deal with the wet shoes and cold feet. It's been pretty rainy here but it's been fun.

Two of my dreams have come true these past 2 days.
1. I bottle fed a baby lamb.
2. I saw maori people do the haka. Legit.

We head to the south island tomorrow, starting off in Christchurch. It should be loverly.

Oh, and i've also discovered the secret to waking up early in the morning really well rested. You go to sleep early! :) no really. I've been getting up at 7 or 8 am bc I got to bed at 8 or 9 pm each night. It's brilliant.

Funny sign

Oh goodness...my phone is being mean so im going to post this.

Photos added at a later date:

New Zealand Hamilton LDS Temple