Missing Home

Maybe it's the hormones; maybe it's the holidays approaching. Maybe it's both. Probably is. But whatever the reason, I've found my thoughts wandering towards home a lot recently: the cool, crisp fall air; Thanksgiving preparations in full swing; family and friends gathering together; and of course the other myriad of memories and thoughts that follow such a mental trail. The food and the shopping....favorite restaurants and holiday treats.....; I'll quit now while I'm ahead.

I do genuinely enjoy living here; I am settled and an peace with being here and I am content. I couldn't be more convinced that we are in the right place. There are things about New Zealand that I really am starting to love, and my heart is at rest here. But at the end of the day, it still isn't home; I am still a foreigner, and I still deeply love and miss my homeland. I am at peace with missing home, but sometimes I still do. On the bright side, I'm looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving (though we're celebrating on Saturday).....I think it will be good for my heart.

Finally...

...feeling better! The flu is long gone, and I've had 3 good days in a row with no morning sickness, either. Yippie! This is what we like. Although I'm not nauseous, I still don't feel myself yet ~ physically or emotionally. These hormones sure do have a funny way of changing everything. I'm counting the weeks until that (supposedly) glorious 2nd trimester when (everyone tells me that) I will (supposedly) feel more like myself again. I sure hope "everyone" is right.

In other pregnancy news, I had my first ultrasound on Friday. We got to see the baby's heartbeat and even got to see his/her spine ~ which at only 8 weeks, I wasn't expecting to see, but was pretty fun nonetheless. Everything checks out fine so far, with a estimated due date of July 1st. I am already counting the weeks. Some women just love being pregnant; I am not one of them.

I did take Taylor to a friend's birthday party on Saturday ~ the first party invitation from one of her pre-school friends. She was so excited to be invited to the party, and with several other moms there who I've gotten to know over the last several months, we both had a really good time.

Not too much in the line of other news, as it's been pretty quiet around here as I've been focused on recovering from the tummy bug, and then attending to all the details of life that went unattended while I was sick, such as grocery shopping and cleaning the house, laundry, and all that. Tomorrow is back into the normal routine ~ off to the prayer room in the morning.

I was throwing up yesterday...

...but this time it's because I'm sick.

Somehow managed to pick up a 24-hour bug, although 24 hours later, I still don't feel like myself again. Might take a bit longer to recover from this one, being pregnant and all.

Pregnant + sick = not fun combination.

I've been throwing up today...

...and it's not because I'm sick.

Let the reader understand.

Election Night in NZ

Today I cast my ballot for a second time this year. It was strange, though fun, to vote in another country. It's been interesting watching how different it is from America. The whole process from the actual voting experience to watching on TV the events at each party headquarters and everything in between is much more 'toned down', laid back, relaxed, and casual compared to America. Though there's much I still don't understand about NZ politics, it's still interesting to sit and watch on the news where each party is at as the polls come in; it's definitely part of my cultural initiation into NZ. With that said, back to the other room to watch the latest results coming in....

Busy Week

All too soon, another week has come and gone, and here it is, Friday again. It's been a full week at the House of Prayer. YWAM was having their national leader's gathering in Tauranga this week, so on Wednesday the THOP gang joined a mere 75 other YWAMers from around the nation for a BBQ. Though I'm not fully part of the YWAM community and culture, I have done enough with the organization throught the years to recognize faces and re-connect with people whose paths we have crossed in times past.

Then on Thursday our staff and interns sat in on a presentation by a man who is a Kiwi church historian. He spoke for a good couple hours about NZ church history and the relationship between the Maori and the European missionaries. It was quite fascinating to learn the history and the stories of this nation, even this city in which we live.

And then this weekend there is a large conference at the church in which thop meets, so there was no prayer room today, and there will be no prayer room tomorrow, either. Some of our staff and interns are helping out at the conference; I love their attitude and willingness to jump in and serve when needed.

And then on Sunday, one of Aaron's good friends is coming up to Tauranga for the week and will be staying with us. He's stayed with us many times before and is just about like family, so it will definitely be fun rather than stressful having him here.

Never a dull moment around here, I can promise you that!