Hula Hoop

Yes,  I am totally in LOVE with this crazy weird silly song lol. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat! I think I will end up crashing youtube and spotify lol!

Old Friends

While sorting through some of my things in the garage today I came across something a friend had written for me when I was going through a hard time.  Life was pretty crazy when I was a teenager but I was so grateful and lucky to have people who I felt I could confide in.

Long and short of it I decided to randomly email this friend and hope that she still had the same email address years later.  To my surprise she did.  It's been so good to be in contact with her again and it's as if nothing has changed.  Our friendship is still very much the same we just have years to catch up on with what is going on in each others lives.

It's crazy to think that after all of these years we still remember the time we met and how we met it was all very weird but if it wasn't for Shannon and her then fiancee I reallly would have struggled with everything way back then.

We talked about meeting up... I told her to fly half way around the world and come for a holiday here in NZ she already has family here so we def need to make some sort of plan though I'm not sure how much she will love NZ considering she now lives in LA!  Crazy!

Friends really are important and I'm so grateful for the people who are still in my life, who still ask and check on me, for the friends who have helped me out along the way, the friends who even though they don't message at all anymore hopefully still think of me.  I've had friends come and go but end of the day the friends I know I CAN count on would be there for me in a heartbeat andd I'm glad I can count them on one hand that's all I need.  I would rather have a few close friends than a million acquaintances 

Family and friends that's all I need in life to be happy...oh and maybe winning the lotto as well!

Freaky Friday

Nan and I were busy watching TV tonight when someone called around half an hour ago. Before I answered I said to Nan someone better be dying for people to be calling us THIS late... sadly that was the case.  Nan's cousins passed away.  Weird story though he has been in Whangarei hospital for the last little while and then he asked to go home yesterday only to get home and pass away tonight.  Sad for the family but he's been sick for a little while so good to be going to a better place :)

Nan and I will head to Kaitaia this weekend I think otherwise Monday depending on when the funeral is. I love funerals specifically because it's the only time almost your entire family is there but it's also a sad time as you've also lost a loved one.

Go out and tell the people you love and care about how much you love them.  You never know what tomorrow may bring.

All my love to the family up north and we will see you soon x

Remember Remember the 5th Of November

No we didn't celebrate instead Nan and Papa complained about how fireworks shouldn't be sold here in NZ because they're dangerous and there are way too many idiots out there who think they are heroes and end up injuring themselves.

I honestly don't mind either way.  I totally LOVE watching them and remember having amazing times with my cousins when they'd come to Auckland and we'd set fireworks off all night before playing Buzz the monkey games until 6am the next day.

We live so far out that I couldn't even hear any of the neighbours lighting fireworks haha! Instead tonight was the only time I wished I was back in Auckland for the amazing fireworks at sky tower.

Tawhara

 I guess some of the other perks of living off the grid is that people ALWAYS seem to come and bring us food.  From meat to seafood to baking we never seem to go without and are pretty lucky.  Earlier today someone bought us over some Tawhara.  I know I hadn't heard of it until today either.  It's some plant that grows in the bush and the inside white flesh part you eat.  I had a try and it's actually pretty good.  It tastes a bit like a nashi pear!  Of the few that we had most of them weren't so good to eat as they were overripe or had gone off. I was pretty sad about that as i really did want to try more but a google search tells me they grow in Spring only soo now I need to remember next spring to find someone to go to the bush for me and get some more!

Love the expression on Nans face.

TechNOlogy

Living off the grid has its advantages though it also definitely has its disadvantages. 

For the past week I've all of a sudden been having issues with my phone and not getting any service at all.  I could go outside and hold the phone up in the sky and pray to the cell phone God's that it works but I can't guarantee they'd even hear me.  It's very frustrating when it shows you have service yet can only make emergency calls makes no sense at all. 

On top of that the only internet we can get is dial up and even then that's not worth paying for.  I spent most of today trying to find someone,  anyone who offered some sort of internet that wasn't going to cost an arm and a leg for 1gb of data!  It isn't any easy thing to do. 

One company said the option they had available was Satellite which came with 10gb of data for $169+GST a month on top of a $199 installation fee and a $105 travel charge.  Yeah no thanks,  not interested in that at all. 

I did find another company which all the neighbours seem to use and they've said good things soo looking into that company to see what they offer.  Neighbour 1 couldn't stop talking about how amazing this company was so we shall see. 

In the mean time I shall use my mobile data hold my phone in the air to send or receive anything and hope that SOMEDAY all you can eat broadband will get to the far north and not cost you your life!

Far Far North

It's amazing how quickly things change.  From living in Auckland for the last 10 years to moving 4/5 hours north of Auckland to the far far north. 

I spent most if not all of my life here.  I went to Primary and High school here though to be fair I hated high school lol.  I think everyone hates high school don't they? 

Life now is filled with going to the supermarket once a week if that because it's a long drive just to get there.  There isn't a petrol station just around the corner and there definitely isn't a takeaway place nearby either.  What would normally be a quick 2 minute drive to the supermarket is now more of a 40 minute round trip not including the time you have to spend shopping.  It's okay though the quiet lifestyle of the far north is nice. 

We have the things we want and need though spark broadband would be amazing! Lol. 

As much as I complain sometimes life is pretty good here.  Even snapped up a few pics of our house,  our dog,  our garden which needs replanting,  our fruit trees and even some other random trees lol.  Nan even has a rose bush. 

My 5 Months

That time of year again with my crazy monthly updates. It would make a lot more sense if I actually blogged everyday rather than every 5 months. Really do need to get my butt into gear and blog more often!

Here is what has been going on the last 5 months.

JUNE:
Finally settled into my new home and am loving having my own place. Have jumped back on the weightloss bandwagon again and also trying out some new recipes which to say the least have been pretty interesting. I made a Paleo "bread" which I got from Dom's Kitchen and when I gave it to E to try he said it tasted "healthy" that must have been his way of saying it wasn't so good haha. It doesn't matter the bread wasn't for him anyway. I also tried my hand at Chia Pudding for breakfast because apparently it's the cool thing to do at the moment. Honestly, not the biggest fan at all. As amazing as the pictures I have seen it doesn't taste as amazing as it looks. I've also been trying out the new hot & cold brew tea from Red Seal which I really like. Things are going well with the kids and we've been making a lot of smoothies and drinks with the Nutribullet that Ben got given for his birthday present. Soo good!

June was also the month I went back in for surgery on my vocal cords. Last time I went was way back in 2013 so was good to be able to get back in and hope for some better changes with my breathing. Things didn't go too well though as I was back in hospital with difficulty breathing. Spent a couple of nights in before being discharged along with drugs galore.

JULY:
July was one heck of a month.  I started a new job. Still trying to shift some weight. Had a lot of difficulty breathing and ended up in and out of hospital a couple of times. Long and short of it things were pretty much touch and go. My breathing was getting worse and the decision was made to take me in for surgery again and put a tracheotomy in. Things didn't get any easier though. I had seizures and spent 10 days in hospital trying to get use to having the trachy in and learning how to change the inner and outer tube. Slowly moving my way up from soft foods to be able to eat regular food again. Running tests to find out what was causing the seizures. It was all a bit crazy. Mum came over from Australia so it was really awesome to see her and have her over here as well.  Over the next couple of weeks Nan and Mum packed up the things in my home and I was moved out and ready to get myself to Australia as I needed to be around family and they're all in Australia. It was a tough decision for me to make to uplift my life and move to Australia but I know at the same time I needed family support. Things didn't go according to plan though and we were instructed to stay here in NZ until I could see Jacqui (the surgeon) in August. Discharged from the hospital with supplies galore along with a humidifer machine and a nebulising machine.

AUGUST:
Another crazy month. I still have the trachy in and after seeing the surgeon I now need to stay in NZ and have more surgery to see if that will help with my breathing. In the mean time I have moved what little things I do have to the far north and now living with my grandparents in the middle of nowhere. Huge changes for me but I am super lucky and grateful that my grandparents are okay with me living with them. Oh and before I made the big move north I got to spend the afternoon with Caro and the kids where we went to Japanese for lunch. Slowly settling into life here in the far north spending a lot of time with my grandparents travelling around. Even went to Kaitaia and got to see my cousin and her baby which was nice. Baking galore for my Papa and his sweet tooth but am enjoy the slow paced life. I think after working pretty much non stop for the past 3 years I need the break. Surgery is all booked in for September fingers crossed we have some success.

September:
September was a pretty good month. weather here has been amazing and my month has been a mixture of relaxing. Spending time with my grandparents. Baking. Trying out a new nail business. Making new friends thanks to said nail business. Having my Aunty and cousin come for the weekend while we spent it playing cards, cards and more cards.  Oh and drinking can't forget the drinking. My cousin bought a MASSIVE bag of photos which I went through and found a lot of photos from when I was a kid soo took copies and made me remember how much I loved spending time with all of my cousins growing up. I also had surgery which went well. They tried out some new "super glue" which was bought in from the states and should hopefully keep everything apart. Spent the night in ICU and was discharged the following day. Due to go back in a couple of weeks time for a follow up appointment.

October:
Aside from the follow up appointment with the surgeon which wasn't good news October has been pretty quiet. I saw Jacqui who took a quick look down my throat as it's as if she hasn't done any surgery at all.  At the moment I'm pretty much 100% dependent on the trachy and now we are trying to weigh up different options on what is best to do now and what sort of surgery will help or work. We also discussed the options of perhaps having the trachy in forever but that for me would be the last option.  I think I am so use to having it it doesn't bother me so much anymore but I would like to at least try other options first. Nan went to Whangarei for cataract surgery and we also got our car fixed. Papa reversed into it but it's fixed now just needs another buff and polish and it will look great.  My cousin and his gf were visiting from Australia so they came up to see Nan & Papa so was really good to spend some time with them and catch up on some of the cousin gossip. Other than that it's been a quiet month which has been nice.

It's crazy to think how in the space of 5 months things can change so quickly. Moved away from Auckland. Left a job I only just started. Living up in the far north. Totally off the grid with no broadband internet and hardly any cellphone coverage. I wouldn't change it though yes life is a bit hectic for me at the moment but end of the day things could be so much worse.  As sad as I get with how things are at the moment I always still try to see the positive.  Things can only get better right?!