The Southern Cross

When you see the Southern Cross for the first time 

You understand now why you came this way
-Crosby, Stills and Nash

Several years ago now, I had the good fortune (and the willpower and motivation to save) to be able to take a vacation to one of the most beautiful places I’ve been – New Zealand. On that journey, I vowed that I would return one day, but of course that was more like the promise you make to keep in touch with people at camp, or, say the promise to win the lottery – it’s a nice thought, but unlikely to actually happen. What I didn’t expect was that I would one day actually be living in New Zealand – as in, have an actual New Zealand address where I actually go to sleep and actually receive mail. Yet, here I am. God has a wonderful sense of humor. 

Of course, moving to NZ isn’t the only (or the biggest) life change that’s happened since my last lonely post. I don’t have the time or desire to list all the reasons my poor blog has suffered in the past year and a half, but I do have plenty to post about. So, interspersed with my ramblings about living overseas again, this time in a westernized country, I also plan to blog about motherhood, pregnancy, child development, food, music, books, movies, and whatever tickles my fancy. 

I know much better than to make promises about keeping up with this blog, so I make no promises to post every day. I do, however, sincerely want to post about every day that we’ve been here so far, and hopefully every day that we stay here. And even if I don't quite meet that goal, I hope to make it worthwhile to visit this blog, and give me something to look back on and read when I want to remember the time spent here. 

On that note, here is a brief overview of what has brought me to this little corner of the world… 

A year ago today, I lived in Tucson, Arizona, with my husband and our dog. I had a good job at a good company, rising in the ranks, and ... I was pregnant with our first child. In fact, I was just about ready to pop. Funny side note, I think a year ago today we actually were attending a child birthing class... 

Anyway, to make a long story short, we had our first child a week after that class (more details in a future post), spent my maternity leave visiting family in Indiana and Oklahoma, and planned to return to my job in Arizona after Christmas. It wasn't until probably mid-December that we found out Tory was offered a job as a Research Fellow at Waikato University in Hamilton, New Zealand, giving us just about six weeks to get our visas and everything else together before they wanted him to start. 

Tory ended up coming to Hamilton first (the day after his visa came through), and I followed with our son a few months later. I remember when we were dating and engaged, we lived in different states and were only able to see each other once or twice a month, and that was hard. But that was nothing compared to being on the other side of the world, unable to see each other except on skype/facetime, for several months, and having to take care of a new baby on my own. Thank the Lord I was with Tory's family - I couldn't have done it alone. 

The day finally arrived in late May when we - Tory's sister, a family friend, our baby, and I - got on a plane and headed across the country, across the Pacific Ocean, and landed safely in Auckland. And here we are now.... 

One of the definitions for "cross" in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is: the intersection of two ways or lines. In some ways I see my life now as being at a cross. We're not entirely sure in which direction we'll be going over the next year. I suppose all of life is like that in a way - we always have a choice of directions, and each choice we make will take us in a direction that excludes other possible choices. 

I would never have imagined, lo those many years ago, that the choices I would make would bring me back here, with a husband and a child. But I'm thankful to be here. And I'm looking forward to where our choices will lead us, and to what new crosses we will come.