as you read this, i am probably on a plane over the ocean on my way to new zealand to embark on my second semester of classes. so exciting! looking forward to meeting lots of new people, going new places and growing in my faith. here are a few pictures i took with my film camera around campus from last semester
ps: mad props to anyone who knows where this post title reference is from
last weekend, a few people from my school and I took a day trip to tirau, which is a quaint little town a few hours away from school. i almost didnt go because of the huge load of homework i had but i glad i decided to throw caution to the wind because the homework eventually got done and i had a great time. the town is really cute and quirky and it reminded me a bit of the towns in norcal like carmel and cambria my family road trips to every year. i had a lovely time meandering through the shops, drinking awesome coffee, getting homework done in cute cafes and gawking at the huge sheet metal sculptures at every turn. it was a nice and much needed break from the daily grind of college life.
as i mentioned in my last post, i did the flowers and decorations for my schools thanksgiving feast last thursday. since we are on the southern hemisphere, we are going into summer so my choice of flora and fauna was vastly different than typical thanksgiving decor like berries and leaves. i used mostly wild flowers and grasses from the fields surrounding my college and bottles from the many ginger sodas we drink around here. i also made an homage to fall in one of the windows thanks to some decals and a leaf garland my mom sent me so i would still get a taste of fall. my favorite part of the whole project was creating the wonderful smelling jasmine garlands for the curtain rods and mantle. decorating reminded me how much i love working with flowers and of my job last summer interning for a wedding florist. i could definitely do this for the rest of my life.
thanksgiving may be my favorite holiday. not because of the food, though it is delicious, or even the company, whether it be family at home or friends in a distant country, but because it is a day to celebrate everything God has blessed me with and done in my life. this year, i have so much to be thankful for like being able to study in this beautiful country, the new friends i’ve made and the old friends i cherish, my cute puppy back home, my wonderful family, the things i consider necessities like a laptop, phone, camera, car, food and a roof over my head and even things that are seemingly silly in comparison but still make life great like my morning coffee, cute shoes, blogs, beautiful photography, good books, yoga, tea and the like. though i wasn’t home this thanksgiving for the second year in a row, it was still a great time eating yummy food and spending time with my college family. i did all the flowers and decorations for our celebration (post to come) which i had a blast with! it was a thanksgiving i will always remember and be thankful for.
i have always loved Lord of the Rings. when i was a kid, i read them with my mom and i have seen all the movies on opening day. i even did a dance in my grade school talent show to music from the movie soundtrack! they are some of my favorite movies partly because of the beautiful scenery and cinematography! so when i found out i was going to new zealand, going to hobbiton was on the top of my list of things to do! this past week, i finally got to go to hobbiton and it totally exceeded my expectations! it was so quaint and beautiful and alot larger than i imagined! they just redid it for the filming of the hobbit series and we got lucky because the lake area opened to the public just a week before we visited!
