I woke up this morning, made myself a cup of tea (or two!), pulled a sweatshirt from my university days on over my head, and felt very thankful for warm, woolly socks made right here in New Zealand. I had to confirm to my husband that, yes, it is too chilly for Joe, our 10 month old, to wear shorts. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s getting cold over here.

There are still a few mild days and, truth be told, there’s usually a point mid-morning where I take off the sweatshirt for a few hours, open the windows, and bask in the sunshine that my houseplants so eagerly soak up. Even now I’m in short sleeves and bare feet as I write this post. Still, those days are becoming more and more rare, and the fact that it’s getting cold in May is something that I have yet to get used to. To make matters even more confusing, I was serenaded and entertained by a May Day dance going on in the street below just a few minutes ago. May Day. Isn’t that a celebration of Spring? But here we are, celebrating the onset of winter.   more ...

From the moment I had a child, things became different.

Wait, back that up: from the moment I conceived a child, things became different, and I’m not just talking about the big life changes that come along with having a baby. I’m talking about the differences faced by an expat parent who is having and raising a child in a culture that’s different than the one in which they were brought up.

Even before Joe was here, we were already making changes in how we did things and learning about the different ways and words associated with having a child in New Zealand as compared with the US. When we stocked up on baby supplies, we made sure to get dummies and a cot and nappies and singlets and bodysuits and skivvies and stretch-n-grows. We didn’t call them by their American names: pacifiers and a crib and diapers and undershirts and onesies and turtlenecks and footed pyjamas.   more ...

I know that February is the “short month”, but it’s seemed to drag on and on in our house. Chalk it up to a full schedule and an active baby. In addition to picking up more hours at work and other extracurricular activities, we now have a very mobile little boy! Joe has been crawling all over the place and very little escapes his grasp. Add in a brief bout with a virus and cutting his first tooth, and you’ll understand why this month has seemed so long.

Having so many other activities has left less and less time for my blog. I’ve skipped a few days and unfortunately went a bit longer in replying to emails from potential expats than what I’d normally like. I love that people feel free to email me – I do my best to come across as approachable – but I sometimes wish that people would take a moment before hitting the “send” button and do a little prep work.   more ...

One of my biggest fears about moving to a new country as a “tag along” spouse was isolation. I dreaded the thought of moving halfway around the world with my husband, having him go off every day to a job while I sat twiddling my thumbs in the apartment, wondering what to do and not knowing a soul.

I’ve had my share of “thumb-twiddling” days and moments where I made faux pas in social situations. Overall, however, I feel as though I’m doing an OK job at transitioning to life in New Zealand. I think that if I could talk to every person who’s preparing to move to a new country, I would tell them that one of the best ways of easing the transition is to form a social network.   more ...

Our family just returned from a wonderful 6 week holiday to the States. This was my first time back since moving to New Zealand over a year and a half ago, and it was the first time for most of our family to meet Joe, our then-5-month-old baby boy.

We had a great time traveling all over the place - Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and finally down to Georgia to visit my in-laws. At one point during our stay, my mother-in-law reminded us of the china that she'd been saving for me. These beautiful, antique, rose-patterned pieces had once belonged to my husband's Grandma Lillian and were sitting in the cabinet, collecting dust. I'd been putting off taking them for various reasons. There was always another move in our future or another change on the horizon, and it never seemed like the right time to take such lovely, delicate pieces home with me. This time, however, I thought about it for a good while before giving out my standard reply of, "I'd love to, but not just yet".   more ...