I have had full-time work as a teacher for 1.5 years now in New Zealand and only have 6 months until I am a 'fully registered teacher.' YES!!! (The first 6 months of full-time employment was a nightmare though... I took a job in my favourite school where a teacher was arrested for molesting boys. This teacher was such a manipulative phony; I idolized him thinking that he was amazing, but that was what he wanted everyone to think to hide what was actually happening. Looking back, I took the job because I was desperate for full-time employment but now, I know that I will never take a job that stressful again. EVER.)
Dave and I were married on July 7th, 2012 in Zion, Illinois. Life is amazing when you marry your best friend. We do everything together including learning to surf, which is our new hobby since April of this year. Gardening is on hold because we will be gone for 5 weeks of the summer, and are looking to buy a property so we are not investing ourselves here as much, knowing that we will probably be moving within a year, hopefully.
Things to look forward to:
* Visiting family in the States in 4 weeks!!!
* Hopefully getting my first 1 year contract teaching in New Zealand!!!
* Buying a property!!!
* Building a house!!!
All of these things are super exciting. We are really looking forward to visiting our family and friends so soon. First, from December 15th-20th we will be in California catching up with family and friends there. Then we're off to freezing cold Illinois to celebrate Christmas, New Years and to be there for the birth of our niece, Pat and Lupe's 2nd child somewhere around the 1st week of January. From January 17th-20th we will have another couple days in California, then we fly back here to New Zealand, but WITH A FRIEND- Liz Gresey!!!! So excited to have one of my besties come here for a visit. :) Too bad I have to get back to work almost as soon as we get back, but it will be nice to have a few days hitting the beaches and relaxing together.
I just applied for my first 1 year contract that I think I will actually get.... FINGERS CROSSED!!! I have bounced from teaching 7th & 8th grade for 6months, then Kindergarten for 6 months, and now I'm teaching High School age kids. What a whirlwind!!! The position I've applied for is to teach Graphics, (Design) which I'm already teaching at the high school and they made the advertisement suited to my strengths, (Art included in the job description), so I'm presuming I will get the job, especially since I'm already doing it. We shall see.
We have been looking at buying places over the past couple years, both in the States so we can be closer to family and here in New Zealand where we have a great lifestyle. After much thought, we have decided that we would like to live here vs. the States. Bummer we won't get to see our family and friends there as much as we'd like, but you will just have to come visit!!! ;) Anyhow, there is a property a 5 minute walk from where we live that we have fallen in love with. It is just what we want; 4.125 acres, lots of trees, (oak, redwood, eucalyptus, elders, a willow and a puriri), a marsh at the back of the land, which we plan on digging out to have as more of a natural pond. The best part, and the only reason we are able to buy the land is because the land owner is financing us, meaning that we have eliminated the bank and will be paying him directly, kind of like a 'rent to own' situation. This is especially great because here in New Zealand, you would need a 50% deposit to buy bare land that does not have a house on it, which we do not have. The land owner is also very cool, and putting the marsh into a 'covenance' for up to 100 years, so no one can touch it but us, (this is since some of the marsh will be outside our boundary line and we don't want someone developing that land someday). Anyhow, it is all coming together. We have a lawyer who has drawn up a legal agreement that we plan on signing next week. Our planner is friends with the Mayor and everyone in the offices that pass subdivisions, so it seems like everything will go through by April. Fingers crossed again!!!
Then we come to building a house.... we have been talking of building a sustainable house which will be much cheaper to run once it is built vs. a house built with more traditional materials. We've read about mud brick/ adobe houses, rammed earth and most recently straw bale houses. This is our most favourite, as it sounds very warm once it is established, has gorgeous stucco walls and window seats in each window. I've posted pics of a dream straw bale house we have found below. I've also emailed the building architect asking what he would charge to share his building plans with us, and emailed the straw bale building engineer in our area. Once we've moved over there and need power, we do not plan on being on the grid because getting power set up at this property will cost $17,000-$20,000. We can have a mean solar set-up for that, and never have a power bill!!!
So, all in all things are really good here. Dave's business is doing very well- he's selling a guitar on Trade me at the moment for $3,800 and in the process of building one to bring with to the States to show off at Christmas time. His craftsmanship has become flawless and has a few regular customers who are collectors. He exemplifies the word dedication and I am very proud of him.
That's all for now. When we get building plans going, maybe some of you can come help us build our dream house!!!
Love,
Jen
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