here lately





After skimming through the recent entries on this little blog I realized it has been awhile since I’ve posted a general life update. The things I am learning and deal with in writing are very important to me, and I love using this as a platform to voice those things. But the day-to-day monotonous things are good to remember, too.  They might not be artistic or enlightening (is anything I write?) but they are things worth holding onto. 

So here comes the boring stuff! 

We have been back in New Zealand for just over 2 months now. For the most part, it seems like we never left, although a few things have changed since our time away. We have moved house here, from the east side of the city to the west. Our old place was on a property deemed a rebuild due to earthquake damage, and the main house was torn down shortly after we left. It was a bit weird to not return to the familiar, but we are enjoying the new digs. Flatting is new territory for us, but ours has been a friend since we first arrived in Christchurch and so it is a positive arrangement. 

Kevin is hammering away at his dissertation, which is due next April. After which he will have completed his PhD, and I will lovingly refer to him as Dr. Chase and encourage anyone with ears to do the same. He has worked very hard, and it’s worth noting how fun it is to tell people my husband is a bug scientist.

I began hunting for a second job the day after coming back. I have learned from the past year or so that free time is like cake: really good, but too much can be detrimental to my well-being. So last week I started working part time at a social services company in our neighborhood. So far, I have heard a few sad stories, gathered for many morning teas, and memorized more acronyms than I thought possible. Joking aside, it is such a good work environment and I am looking forward to learning more about the field that my Mom worked in for many years. 


The reality of only having the next 8 or so months to live in this beautiful country is starting to sink deeper in. Our visas will expire next July, and then it’s onto the next chapter in our journey. We have a vague idea of what that entails, but cannot spend too much time planning the future. So for now we are taking day trips, eating meals with friends, and driving to the beach even if it's the windiest day of the week. Which, somehow, seems to always be the case. It's fine though, because Kevin has the windblown look down.