New Year Resolutions

The Treacy family had a lovely break in Canterbury. Here are some photos to keep you all up to speed with our happenings.

Some quality parent and child time.

We took relaxed walks with the family and their dogs.

We played with our new toys and our cousins.

Beautiful angels..........but I'm not fooled :-)

One of our gorgeous Christmas feasts!

Thank you so much to all our family and hosts while we visited Canterbury. It was wonderful to see you all and appreciate the effort it takes to accommodate all FIVE of us, our luggage and the inevitable noise and mess.

New Year Resolutions......

So I have been thinking about the new year....of which six days have passed already.

I have made a long list of tasks that need to be completed over the next month. The list continued to grow into a year long list. I have been brave and included my "wishes" on this must do list. Thinking that if I include them here, they may actually be achieved.

It was a movie I watched a few nights ago that has inspired me. Julie and Julia; you know, the one about the young woman that sets herself the challenge to cook all of Julia Child's 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' recipes in 365 days. She then blogs her progress which in turn encourages her to continue her demanding challenge.

Well, I have no book that inspires me so. But I really felt 'up for a challenge' this year.

Daddy T likes the idea of me blogging about our daily life (obviously his is more inspiring than mine if he thinks it is worth blogging about, maybe I'll suggest he blogs about life behind a

desk !)

Personally, 2009 was a HUGE challenge for me. I'm either growing up really quickly or have simply learnt that life can be unfairly short. So I plan to live each day of 2010 creating my legacy.

So, I have set myself a challenge. I have 359 days left and I have decided I will learn, do something new or achieve something I am proud of EACH DAY! I will announce my daily achievements as a personal record (a tool to keep myself on track). This will hopefully keep all those mundane tasks in perspective, not allow the piles of washing get in the way of real living. Jeepers, I'm a bit scared actually. It means I have to think about each day and not muddle my way absentmindedly.

An easier challenge would actually be to record the things daily that I am not proud of (a job half done, a scowl at a child etc), we kiwis are so much better at finding our weaknesses. But I'm a teacher and despite the fact that I am currently out of the classroom, I will always be a teacher, so learning is important to me.

I'd be grateful if you ever find yourself doing something you are proud of, then drop me a line :)

Today's achievement..............realising I am brave enough to set myself a public challenge!! LOL

Now I just have to do it!

ps: Just finished Tony Parsons book "Starting Over". About a 40yr old guy, married, with two teenage kids. Has heart attack and receives a donor heart. He continues to live life, grasping every moment, with positive and negative consequences. It's a good, easy read about life and how to survive the mundane. I enjoyed it.

Happy New Year to you all xx

Day four: The search for a suburb continues....

Today Mark trotted off to work and us girls hit the North Shore once again armed with our map and morning tea.

Yesterday we "did" the mall. (As only four girls can :-)

Today we started with a trip up through Dairy Flat, beautiful rural country which reminded me of home (North Canterbury) and up north to Red Beach and Orewa.

I remember Orewa well from my early high school days up in Warkworth. It's very touristy but a gorgeous beach,,,in summer! It has a quaint little village centre with beachy shops and two fantastic playgrounds, so the girls inform me. Pohutukawa grow all along the beachfront, which I absolutely love. I can't wait when the are in full bloom to show the girls our native Christmas Tree.

Despite being a dreary, grey day it was warm enough for a few snaps against the lovely view. 

You can certainly see more of Whangaparaoa on a clear day.

Looking down over Orewa beach

I have decided that if we were to live north I would definitely consider Red Beach. Has a 

very forward thinking and innovative primary school too which is a bonus.

After a break and play at these coastal locations we ventured back to Albany for lunch. I managed to find the worst coffee in North Shore. At least I found it in the first week and got it over and done with. LOL

I will be on the search for the best coffee, as I promised my best friend from Rangiora that we would have a coffee date when she visited me. Anyone out there know where I an find it???

Caitlin did a brilliant job for the next hour co-piloting with the map as we checked out the following areas for housing consideration. Glenfield, Bayview, Windy Ridge, Birkdale, Marlborough and few others forgotten.

With a final bribe of an ice cream we managed to get back to our Albany accommodation exhausted.

As the evening approached we were pleased to see  a little sun. Knowing that Canterbury was shivering in the cold we took the opportunity explore the facilities available to us while we stay at "Cassa Bella". We found the playground, Tennis court and playground and even a gym to get my post baby figure sorted out....................yeah whatever!!!!!! LOL

If it was summer I know we'd be using these facilities!!

I will be pleased when this driving around is over. 

I'm sure we will do lots of driving as a family over the next few months, but it will be for a different purpose and we'll have settled into our own place by then :-) 

Once we know which areas we prefer or "feel good" to us we can then get some real estate agents helping with the actual house search. Rental properties to start with, and then we can look for properties for sale at a more leisurely pace.

Keeping oneself busy is a good way of avoiding homesickness. 

Tomorrow the driving must continue. I will be searching the "Bays".  Not sure if we can afford to live on that side. But I will search high and low cause it's gorgeous over there!

I have promised the kids that after a morning of driving we will do something exciting  .............................Chipmunks was Molly's request. 

A massage and facial would suit me.... :-)

The Treacys Have Landed

Watch out Auckland....we have arrived!

My eyes hurt....I've stopped crying now, but gee whizz we shed a few on leaving Canterbury!!

Sunday morning we arrived at Christchurch Airport with two very large, piled high trolleys of luggage. Leaving Rangiora and saying goodbye to Mark's family was hard enough....but we discovered many more lovely people at the airport to shed a tear with.

Despite the sky consumed with foggy clouds the take off and the flight was surprisingly smooth and being the nervous traveller that I have become (only after a shocking landing at Wellington few years ago), I actually enjoyed it. Watching Molly's face as she experienced the thrill of flying for the first time was a wonderful distraction. Phoebe fed, slept and then chatted throughout. 

Caitlin recovered quickly from the ChCh Security officer confiscating her school scissors that were considered too sharp and large!!! Harrowing experience for her :-(

She soon cheered up as the Sky tower came into view....or the "Macdonalds Tower" as Molly yelled out to everyone on board. She assumed it must belong to the golden arches franchise as we did inform her that there were some very large Macdonalds restaurants up North. (HeeHee)

Walking through Auckland airport was sobering....no family with smiles or hugs for us! We felt a little numb. Mark and I wondering for a small moment whether we had made the right decision.

Our  "Cassa Bella" house http://www.shortstayrentals.co.nz/index.php?page=casa-bella-fin is very nice, comfortable and has everything we need.....thank you Irwin! Molly was over the moon to find channel 45 on Sky was available!!! LOL

Interesting how your priorities change when leaving one home for another. I did manage to make the babies bed, an important task to get done quickly on arrival. But the following photo shows how important it was to get "online". LOL

Well, at least it did mean I could chat with folks back home and let them now we were happy and settled. :-)

Since then we have stocked the larder....from the biggest Pak n Save the kids will probably ever visit and have started the hunt for a house to rent. 

The cats have calmed down and made themselves comfortably at home which is a relief.

Gone into Mark's work and introduced the girls to his workmates and scribbled on the whiteboard in his office. Phoebe was a hit...maybe I'll have some baby sitters????

HUGE day for Jaz (me) and the girls tomorrow; Mark starts work and I will have my first driving lesson in the North Shore. I think I might be borrowing Mark's GPS for a week, but the lovely lady commentating is particularly annoying and might drive me over the edge....well let's hope not. We picked up my car today. It had arrived safe and sound and I'm glad to have it with me. 

The exploring can begin....