Taking to the Open Skies

Y'all, I've done it. I'm going a bit mad, leaving normalcy behind, and taking to the open skies to head to New Zealand in a mere 48 hours. I'll spend two months romping about the most gorgeous country in the world... the land of hobbits and fjords... home of amazing accents, glaciers, and (I'm told) bland food. At this point, I have two nights of work, everything already packed into a bag and I'm beyond attempting to contain myself.

I blame it all on this man:












Yes, sure... I know what you're thinking. But Janice, you look so happy together, you are such beautifully attractive people, you pose like supermodels. These things are all true, I agree, but in the spirit of properly relaying events, let us leave these facts aside.

I met Christopher on the 7th of September and it has been a whirlwind ever since. He had the nerve of being all wonderful and then dropping the bomb on me that - SURPRISE - he was planning a three month trip to New Zealand and wouldn't be back stateside until mid January. Just my luck... the most strikingly compatible person I had ever met was running away from me - and then he asked and I thought... I can work this out!

Now, I love my job... every day has its ebb and flow and sure, there are moments when I feel a bit tested, but I love it. I'm proud to serve at No. 9 Park right in downtown Boston for one of the coolest women chefs ever, Barbara Lynch. After getting myself all worked up, I had a meeting with my manager and asked her what she thought - citing I wouldn't go if it would mean a negative association with my name and she said I should go... that they would still be here when I got back and she would fit me in as best she could. So there you go, proof again that you never get what you want unless you put it out there in the world and give people the opportunity to say "yes".

So Chris left on November 4th and has been tramping (isn't that a funny word?) around the northern peninsula of the North Island for almost three weeks - well, it will be three weeks until the time that we are happily reunited. I'm so in love that it's annoying and even being without him for a few weeks has felt like lifetimes, but that's the immaturity talking I suppose.

Highlights of the trip include camping in the fjords, kayaking, skydiving over the glaciers, seeing active volcanoes, plenty of hiking, the Rhythm and Vines rock festival for the new year, my first winery tour, and a plethora of other shenanigans, I'm sure. This is the first post of many - with more pictures than past trips... my trusty NikonD80 has a huge-o memory card and I have a fancy new strap that sports photographers use for ease of taking shots on-the-fly.

I'll be away for all three major holidays, but happy to be away, in love, and returning to a fantastic job and my wonderful family and friends. Check in often to live vicariously through the wannabe Kiwi named Janice.