Happy Monday :)

Good morning all! Happy Monday! Good weekend? Mine was busy, busy, busy as usual but good, good, good at the same time. Spent Saturday afternoon curling my sister's beautiful long blonde locks and doing her makeup for her last ever school ball (will post pictures tomorrow), then stayed to watch the All Blacks beat the Wallabies (again), winning the Bledisloe Cup (again) with my parents. Was kinda weird saying "I should go home now" once the game was over, but a cool feeling all the same.
Yesterday I wrote some of my novel! Which led to a discussion about grenades, cannons and landmines with dad and Joshua last night when we had my family round for dinner. Very excited to be making some headway, and it's all thanks to the wonderful comments on this post from you lovely people. I've also promised a friend in America I will send him part one of my novel at the end of the year, so I'm getting it done man!

Happy Monday :)

My what a weekend it has been! I feel like I need another weekend just to get over this one - I mean, I love being busy, but sometimes I just wish for a weekend where there is absolutely nothing on; a weekend that is sunny of course; one that we can spend lazing on the beach. Lucky for us it's spring in less than two weeks! The light is already lasting longer at night... bring on daylight savings!
On Saturday my brother and his girlfriend came back from a trip overseas - she had been gone three months, he was gone for five weeks - and we welcomed them back with a very kiwi weekend (quite unintentionally - the kiwi stuff just kinda happened...) We had a barbecue with both families, drank some beer and some wine, played Pictionary, then watched the All Blacks beat the Wallabies. Then on Sunday we had roast lamb and I made Lemon Meringue Pie, which was pretty darned amazing for a first attempt, and they showed us their photos - yes I was jealous (I've been trying very hard not to be, telling myself "it will be your turn soon") It was great to have them back and hear their stories, and it has definitely made Joshua and I think more about our own trip, which will be happening in 2014.
So what did you get up to this weekend friends? Have a lovely week! xo

I am a New Zealander

New Zealand is a strange and wonderful place, where there is technically no such thing as a New Zealander.
My Dad always says to me, “Do you realize that New Zealand is the only country in the world where we can’t call ourselves New Zealanders?”
When we fill out forms, we have to tick the box that says “New Zealand European/Pakeha”.
Firstly, I have never been to Europe, and nor has my family. My ancestors were born in Scotland and England, and only ever went to Europe to fight in the wars.
Secondly, “Pakeha” is a Maori word, which means “white ghost”, a name given to our ancestors when they arrived on the shores of New Zealand in ships flying white sails 200 years ago. Some say it means, “white pig”, or at least that’s what the Maori kids at school used to tell us.
Of all things, the Rugby World Cup has bought this anomaly to the forefront of my mind once again, which is entirely appropriate, given that the eyes of the world are on our tiny country at the moment, with 20 countries competing for the Webb Ellis Cup.
On my dad’s side of the family, I am a third-generation “New Zealander” and on my mum’s side, I am fourth generation.
On Sunday, my dad, sister and I donned blue and white face paint and headed to the stadium to support Scotland, the country of our ancestors.
There is nothing wrong with being proud of your heritage and supporting other teams for a bit of fun, but where do we draw the line at being defined by our heritage?
I love the sound of the bagpipes, and jumping around yelling at Scotland to “run the damn ball!” and cheering when they score, but when I stood up and sang Flower of Scotland (the national anthem), the hairs on the back of my neck stayed flat and my heart beat was normal.
Yet when I stood up with my sister in my living room on September 9 when the All Blacks kicked off the RWC with a match against Tonga, put hand on heart, and sang God Defend New Zealand, tears of pride came to our eyes.
When the All Blacks performed the Haka, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
Every Anzac Day, when I attend the dawn service in Wellington, I think of the New Zealanders who fought and died for our freedom regardless of the colour of their skin nearly 100 years ago.
How many generations of people born and raised in New Zealand will it take to shake off the words “Pakeha” and “European” and when will we get to tick the box that says “New Zealander”?

Monday Monday

Good morning people and hello to another week :) I've had my coffee and am raring to go! Hope everyone had as fabulous a weekend as I did. On Saturday we celebrated my little brother growing up by throwing an epic 21st party. We danced lots, sang lots, drank lots, and caught up with people we hadn't seen in years, which was awesome. It was great being able to dress up - living in the country means there's no opportunity to dress up anymore. People wear jeans and t-shirts to bars and to work, so if you dress up, even if you wear heels that make noise when you walk, people look at you funny.

The All Blacks also made everyone's weekend on Friday by smashing Japan 83-7, a great defeat considering they were without captain Richie McCaw, and star players Dan Carter and Mills Muliaina due to injury.

Also started reading The Endless Forest by Sara Donati, the sixth and final book in the Into the Wilderness series. So far it's a good read, except the book has skipped a few years and it's been a long time since I read book five, Queen of Swords, so there's a whole heap of new characters and old characters I had forgotten about. But I'm thinking Sara meant to confuse her readers to start with and all the characters will be explained as the book goes on and the gaps will be filled in. So I have every confidence that this book will be just as great as the rest of the series and I'm sure I will be sad to say goodbye once it ends.

So I hope you all had a great weekend. What did you get up to? Read any good books?

Happy weekend!

Happy weekend everybody! Hope your weekend is as fabulous as mine has been so far! The mighty All Blacks destroyed Tonga 41-10, booh yah! What a great start to the Rugby World Cup :) Opening ceremony was amazing too, read about it all here.

Had a great night with little sis eating homemade pizza, waving our flags, singing the national anthem at the top of our lungs (our poor neighbours...) and yelling at the TV. GO THE AB's!

Photo from Daily Mail

This time it's ours! Game on!

Today the biggest event to hit New Zealand starts. RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011!

Today my humble little country becomes the centre of the world's attention as we host our favourite game and our favourite way of showing national pride.

Tonight at 8.30pm, thousands of New Zealanders will stand at Eden Park Stadium, on the streets of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, in pubs, rugby clubs and living rooms, with their hand on their heart singing our national anthem God of Nations before we watch the All Blacks destroy Tonga.

It has been 24 years since the All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup, and that was on home turf a year before I was born, when All Blacks Captain David Kirk held aloft the Webb Ellis Cup after beating France 29-9.

So here's hoping our beautiful captain Richie McCaw (he is gorgeous - I want to marry him) will get the same honour this year.

I was born in June, the middle of the rugby season, and my birthdays ever since have slightly revolved around rugby. It started at the hospital when my mum, who was packed up and ready to go after spending nine days there, just wanted to get home, and dad was late picking her up because he was at the rugby club chilling with his team after a "hard game".
Mere weeks after I was brought home, every Saturday I was wrapped up warm, put in the pram and sat on the sideline to watch my dad play. Then, two years later, my brother was born and he started playing when he was four years old, so every Saturday for most of my life during winter has been spent on a rugby field.
Despite that, I still don't know all the rules, but rugby is a big part of my life and the thing I love about it is the national pride that shines through and the good old fashioned rivalry between countries. So I, for one, can not wait to get involved in this history-making event that I will tell my kids about one day, and it starts tonight with pizza, chips and dip at home with my sister with the sound up loud.

I think my friend and fellow journalist Lee Stace, who is a huge rugby fan and works for Rugby News in Auckland, hit the nail on the head this morning with his message to New Zealand on the world cup, so I leave you with his Facebook status:

"Rugby World Cup 2011 begins here. To the All Blacks, do us proud, Win or lose, you will always be our team. To the New Zealand public, please be good hosts. Be gracious in victory and, heaven forbid it occurs, defeat as well."

GO THE AB's!