Palmerston North, New Zealand

Hello from Kiwi land! I'm here visiting my two super good friends, Ken and Ellie Chitwood. Ellie was pretty much my first Concordia friend. About a week into our Music History class, Ellie turned around and said, "You don't happen to have any chocolate do you? Because I'm having a major craving." It was at that moment I knew we would be friends. :-) She took me to the cafe for the first time at Concordia and introduced me to all her friends. With both of us in the music department, I got to spend many hours in super exciting classes and at concerts and recitals with Ellie. And we often chatted over Starbucks or breakfast in cafe. I got to hear all about it when she had her first date with Ken Chitwood, another Concordia student, and when she knew she was going to marry him. And then in June 2007, I got to stand by her when they recited their vows to each other. They immediately headed off to New Zealand where Ken was to serve as DCE intern at a Lutheran church. When I heard about their plans for 18 months in New Zealand, I told them I would come visit. That promise is what precipitated this entire crazy trip I am on around the world! I had always wanted to go to Europe, and New Zealand was in the opposite direction, so I decided to fill in the gaps a little bit and just head all the way around the world! So I basically have them to thank for this. :-)

Here I am in New Zealand, my last stop on this whirlwind adventure. Ken and Ellie are the cutest couple ever! And they live in a really nice house with the cutest little dog ever named Pepper. You will see plenty of pics of Pepper in the New Zealand slide show because she's so cute. I have gotten to see the church that both Ken and Ellie have worked at the last year and a half. I also got to see them in action at youth group, church on Sunday, and the Thanksgiving Dinner and Service the church held. (It had absolutely nothing to do with American Thanksgiving. Just a coincidence that they are around the same time.) It is obvious that Ken and Ellie have done a lot with their time here and are a huge asset to the church body here in New Zealand. I'm really proud of them and how they've flourished and I felt proud to be their friend when introduced to all the wonderful people in their church family.

Yesterday we went on a bushwalk! It was super cool! And I got to meet Jen and Sam, two of Ellie and Ken's friends. Jen is actually from Minnesota (believe it or not. I totally believe it because Minnesota is everywhere!) and Sam is a Kiwi. He was surrounded by Americans all day as we talked about the differences between New Zealand and America. The weather has been amazing since I've been here. It said it was going to rain yesterday and today and they have both been beautiful days! I am bringing the good weather with me wherever I go. That has been a huge blessing that has carried through this entire trip. This week is going to be super fun. We have a James Bond party on Wednesday night, Thanksgiving on Thursday, and we're going to see the new James Bond movie on Thursday night. I'm pretty excited. Also, Ellie and I have something pretty exciting planned for Wednesday, but it's a secret. If I wrote it, this blog would self destruct in 10 seconds. And then you all wouldn't get to see my cool pictures and everything. I have your best interest at heart. That's all for now.