It's Not Easy Being Green

Today's post will be like me. Short and sweet, with a splash of color. Well in reality, I have a tendency to be less splash of color and more, you've lost your rainbow and can't find it because I'm wearing it kind of person. Anyway, instead of telling you about how we went to another beautiful place over the weekend, I'll just show you:

This was taken outside of Orewa, north of Auckland. Ok now how about some more lush loveliness:

How is that for clean, green New Zealand? Green, coincidentally, is the color I turned when Adam told me he gets to go back to America for work and will be slipping in a quick visit home. It was that shade of green right between insane jealousy, Shrek, and feeling like you might puke. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture, but I can assure you it was very becoming.

I have now adjusted to this news and am happy for him. Ok fine, and for myself because we are putting together quite the shopping list of things for him to bring back. It's unclear at this point in the game, how he will fit one niece and  three nephews under the age of 6 AND an entire Trader Joe's store into a suitcase, but if anyone can figure it out it's Adam.

I've been living the expat life for over 4 months now and one of the most striking things about New Zealand is how everything operates on such a smaller scale compared to America. I was in stitches over the weekend when the following happened: I'm in line for the bathroom at the Howick Farmers Market and there were two other people in line with me. Just to be clear we are talking about a line that is 3  people deep.

So I'm standing there when one of the women says, "This is just like in the movies," referring to women standing in line for the bathroom. If that was like the movies then, prior to coming to NZ, I was in the movies every day! It is something I never even thought about, but to her it was clearly a big deal.

After all, there are the same number of people in the whole country of New Zealand as there are in the city of Atlanta. It's all perspective. And I'm getting plenty of it.

I'm also getting plenty of picturesque beaches into my weekend schedule, but I guess you already knew that. Maraetai on the Pohutakawa Coast is no exception:

This is one of my favorite stretches of coastline and only an hour from Auckland. If you're local be sure to check it out!