Welcome to the Land of Oz

So many smiles begin with you.

Thunder

I stopped writing online and I hate myself for it. I never should have stopped because I knew this day would come: The day I felt like posting a new blog and instead would have to catch myself up. Don’t worry though. I’m not going to cram several months into this post.

I left New Zealand in January and moved to Adelaide, South Australia with Ryan. New Zealand was much better to me in 2011. I did struggle with work here and there, but with Ryan and his family’s help, it made the months precious and memorable.

Ryan finished his parents house that he was building, and we had Christmas there. It was my first “Summer Christmas” and also my first Christmas away from my family.  Stephen and Karen, Ryan’s parents, made Christmas special. It was hard being away from my family and I think they knew that. They made me feel at home and so loved. My favorite Kiwi Christmas memory might be my favorite memory all together from this trip. Instead of celebrating Christmas Eve, in New Zealand and many other countries, they celebrate Boxing Day, which is the day after Christmas. To this day, I don’t understand why they call it “Boxing Day”. I guess I could google it…

On Boxing Day, Ryan, Stephen, Karen and I went on a 3 hour ‘tramp’ up to the Rob Roy Glacier lookout. The hike took about an 3 hours. Of course Ryan and his Dad were always 50 feet in front of us, blazing along without a drop on their foreheads. Karen and I trailed behind…

When we finally approached the glacier, we found a little spot in between a grouping of large boulders to set up for lunch. It was strange sitting in a clearing with the rain forest behind us, and a glacier directly in front of us. No one spoke as we inhaled our tomato and ham sandwiches.

The breeze coming over the glacier cooled us off, our stomachs were full, and our muscles were tired. Stephen lay on one of the boulders to close his eyes. Watching him with his eyes closed, made my eyes burn. I longed for a nap. I lay in Ryan’s lap as he leaned up against another boulder. Karen followed Stephen’s lead and climbed up onto a rock to sleep.

In the fifteen minutes we were napping, I had 2 dreams. During the first dream, the tall grass tickling my arms woke me up. During the second dream, I was woken up by thunder. 

It was one of those naps, when you wake up thinking you are in your own bed, but when you finally open your eyes, you are actually on the couch, or on a bus, or even on the floor. I guess that is when you know you were in a deep sleep and that that nap was much needed.

Before I opened my eyes, I listened to the thunder. Realizing that I was actually outside, I opened my eyes and sat up confused. The thunder boomed. 

The glacier was falling apart. Literally. 

There was an avalanche, and though we couldn’t see it, we could hear the rolling snow and ice tumble as gravity brought it closer to the earth. It was a moment when your eyes search for something so desperately. We weren’t close enough to be in any danger, but oh how I wanted to see something so powerful. Something so powerful it generates thunder and shakes the ground below my feet. Unfortunately, it stopped after a while and we made our long journey back to the truck.

I have since thought about that avalanche.

That glacier.

That calf-burning hike through the New Zealand forest with my boyfriend and his parents.

How it was a beautiful day in New Zealand.

And how so blessed I am to be able to have naps in between rain forests and glaciers, and wake up not knowing if I’m still dreaming.  

Working Girl

As of the 27th of July, I've been working at SnowPark here in Wanaka, as the receptionist at the hotel. It is wonderful and I love it! Snowpark is a small mountain for only park riders...in an Older-Adult translation, this means, riders and skiers that just do tricks off jumps and rails and such. Professionals are around all season which makes my job real interesting. 

The night I was offered the Snowpark job, I was also offered a promotion job for the Winter Games which means I get to travel a bit around New Zealand and get paid for it at $24/hour! Lucky girl I am! The promotional job doesn't start until August 13th so until then, I'll be riding and working at the one and only, Snowpark.

My new girlfriends and I enjoyed a day riding with no boys... That's me in the yellow goggles!

4th of July Pics

These are long overdue but needed to be posted for family! Had so much fun over the 4th!

Craig, my brother and his girlfriend Caitlyn on the left. And Ann, my cousin and her husband Omar.

Reid, the little bro

Craig and Caitlyn

My dad and his mini-me, Sam

Beautiful Caitlyn

The little sis and Caitlyn

Sam's big brother, Henry

Henry and Uncle David

Cousin Miranda

Henry and his first Sparkler

Little Sister and Me....she acts way more mature than me.

Aren't we cute.

Wanaka

I made it to Wanaka!! I'm safe and so so very happy. I’ve been on the job hunt the last 13 days and like last year, it’s a bit discouraging.  I walk into a store with my resumes in hand and you can just see it in the store clerks eyes. The “No” is on the tip of their tongue. Ryan is working hard building his parents vacation home, so I have the entire day all to myself. Ryan thinks I should just go snowboarding everyday, but I feel extremely guilty playing in the snow before I have a job. So instead, I job hunt for 4-5 hours each day, then I go for a run or walk down by the lake before I go home to prepare dinner.

Pics of Ryan and I feeding the ducks in Wanaka.

Cooking in New Zealand has been a mission. From going through unfamiliar brand names at grocery store to working with different measurements like Celsius and milliliters. I also am trying to cook things that are staples in the kiwi diet…like “Bangers and Mash” and Meat Pies, which is also unfamiliar to my American taste buds. Ryan comes home from the building site starving and doesn’t want a chicken caesar salad unfortunately. He wants meat and lots of it. Cooking for one is a bit different than cooking for two. If I mess up the recipe or burn a tiny corner, I would still eat my disaster. When you ruin it for your boyfriend, or his parents, you want to crawl under the kitchen table and not come out! I know this sounds stereotypical but women are supposed to know their way around the kitchen. I’ve done well so far with my dinner entrees and I’m a rock star at breakfast. But, and let me just say there is always a "but" with me, when it comes to pastries and desserts….oh my gosh. I’m terrible.

A few days ago, I had a bit of a sweet tooth. I was craving brownies so decided that a box from the store would be the best route to go. Box brownies would prevent me from destroying the kitchen and burning the apartment down. Boy was I wrong…

Who in the world can mess up box brownies? I’d like to blame the oven, or because I'm not familiar with Celsius, or even because it was a weird New Zealand brand and not Betty Crocker. Yet I can’t. It was me and only me…

Minutes after I realized I had completely ruined the brownies and the apartment smelled like a burnt mess, Ryan text me and said he was in the parking lot. This meant that he was about to walk through the door and into the cave of smoke that I had created. I froze in the kitchen with terror, my face already building with redness. Words shot through my head.

GET RID OF THE BROWNIES.

I ran to the back door and slid it all the way open. I grabbed the brownie pan out of the oven with two towels and darted back to the door. Without pausing, I chucked the pan into the air like it was a frisbee. My goodness can brownies fly.

Ryan walked through the front door right as I was closing the back door. The “smell” was me preheating the oven for dinner. Or at least that is what the story was.

As we ate dinner that night, all I could think about was how dessert was somewhere in the backyard still in the pan. The pan throwing saved me a bit of embarrassment at least and until I master the box brownies of New Zealand, I won’t be cooking any cakes or homemade pies.

My birthday was on July 16th this last week. I spent the day with Ryan and friends on the mountain snowboarding. The weather unfortunately was terrible; so it didn’t take us long to change our minds and head back down to town for lunch at a pub on the lakefront. We ended up playing a few rounds of pool and then heading back to the house to get ready for dinner. My handsome guy gave me a beautiful ring for my Birthday, but don’t let your brain runs with romantic ideas. It’s a ring to go on your middle or pointer finger. Just a little piece of jewelry to make me feel special. His parents also gave me a cute necklace and card. Ryan was so sweet to take me to dinner at the only Mexican restaurant in Wanaka. A small taste of home was the perfect way to end the day.

Last year my birthday was also spent in New Zealand and its quite funny to think about how much things have changed. If you wanted to read what I blogged on my birthday last year, click here. I am 24 now. I now know that I am old because every time I mentioned I had my tonsils out last month, the response was, “Wow, at your age?” or “Don’t they do that when you are a bit younger?”. It’s okay though…I’ve never been afraid of birthdays or getting older. Yet, after my first wrinkle arrives or grey hair starts to set in, I’m sure I’ll change my mind. Until then, add another candle to the cake.

Okay. Year 24. Let’s do this.

P.S. because I opened up on this blog and told you an embarrassing truth about me....I expect stories/comments of cooking disasters from your kitchens. It will make me feel better about being a terrible at dessert making.

New Zealand Part II

I’m back! And in more ways than one…


I haven’t been writing because I’ve been in Texas and to some people, that just doesn’t seem like an adventure. Yet, as I think about my last two months in Texas, I’ve had more adventures than I have realized…

- I had my tonsils out! That’s one heck of an adventure and at the ripe old age of 23, it wasn’t a breezy procedure like I thought it would be. Thank goodness for mothers…

- Ryan was able to build my parents a new backyard fence

- Was able to attend Dogie Days which is the cutest little 4 day carnival in my hometown.

-Took Ryan out shooting guns on my best friends ranch

-Spent several days at the pool with my Mom (my skin deserved a tan)

-Two much needed trips to Dallas and Fort Worth to see the family I nannied for during college

-Spent 4th of July weekend in Oklahoma visiting family and shooting off fireworks

-Had a garage sale and made a whopping $400 bucks!

-Cleaned out my parents pond and took down wallpaper at the house which is extremely hard work when it is 110 degrees outside.
See how much you’ve been missing out on while I haven’t been writing…I could elaborate more on my Texas adventures but I feel like I have gotten the point across. Texas was great, and yes, I cried at the airport before I left, but I was ready for my next mission.

I am currently in the Auckland airport, waiting to board my flight to Queenstown, where “the boy” will be picking me up so we can drive to Wanaka where I’ll be living till January. Now as much as I love America, and more importantly Texas, when I flew over Auckland this morning, I got that sting in my belly. That anxious butterfly feeling came back so quickly, and I wasn’t even expecting it. “Holy Cow, I am in New Zealand!” I felt just like I did in January of last year when I arrived…a new adventure was about to begin.

To go ahead and get it out in the open, no, I do not have a job waiting on me in Wanaka. I know what you are thinking if you’ve been with me from the beginning. Why on earth would I go through all that,“Not having a job/money/stressing out all the time” again. Well this time around I’m praying for a different outcome. I already have a place to live, I have contacts in town, a ski pass, and a car if I need one. Also, I have money saved up and a new attitude after last season. With my resumes already printed off, I’ll be on the hunt for a job this week. Odds are actually good at this time of the year, unlike last season when I was hunting when it wasn’t snowing and no one was in town. This season the snow was a bit late, but it works perfectly in my favor. Everyone that was hired early on in the season had to leave because they had no money coming in…no snow, no money. It finally started snowing two days ago, still not enough to call it a ski hill in my opinion, yet the mountains did open. So…pray pray pray that I find work soon!!

On another note, my Birthday is in 9 days. My mom and dad threw me a small family party at the house the night before I flew out which was a surprise. It was the first time I have been able to celebrate my birthday with my family in a few years so it was great to be able to enjoy a piece of cake with them, blow out candles, and open a few cards. I even received a beautiful new handbag for my trip! So very thankful I have a great family that would have a little party on my behalf. It was a great send off…

I still have to set up internet at my new place, so be patient. I’ll update as soon as I can. I also no longer have my “American” cell phone so please don’t be upset if you call or text that number and I don’t respond. It is too expensive to use. I’ll be getting a new number, but email is still the way to go. My email is:
madison.riseling@gmail.com
Alright…off to Queenstown where my adventure all began. Wish me luck! Lots of love from New Zealand!

Our American Roadtrip so far...

Road tripping through Canada and the United States has been AMAZING. We decided at the last minute to use CouchSurfing.com for our accomidation throughout the trip. It is an amazing website for people to upload their profile and invite people to their homes and stay at their house for free. Yes, it can be quite sketchy, but this is the same website that I used in Thailand that saved me when I started running out of money! I know it won't be a pleasant experience every time, but so far we have been so lucky with amazing hosts! 

Here are some photos of the trip so far starting with Vancouver:

 We ran into a giant Harley Bike group driving through Canada on our way to Vancouver...we of course couldnt miss this photo opportunity.

Our first Couch Surfing experience was a success. We slept in a yoga studio!

Downtown Vancouver

The Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver. 

Ryan and I inside the Olympic Rings in Whistler, Canada.

We pulled into Seattle around 7:00 pm and went straight to the Baseball field. The Texas Rangers were playing the Seattle Mariners...Texas won! 

Loving his first baseball game with his footlong hotdog and beer.

Outside the Safeco field after Texas won.

Catching the bus with our new Seattlelite friend, Cynthia. This picture was taken after Cynthia pulled home-brewed Whiskey out of her purse that hung from her scooter handles. It gave us all a big laugh...

Downtown Seattle-It was raining/freezing the entire time we were there but was such a beautiful city!

Pike's Place Fisherman's Market-Yes, they actually throw fish just like the movies! 

FISH  EVERYWHERE!

Our 2nd Couch Surfing Experience = Success!

Getting artsy with the Camera in Seattle. Ryan is in there somewhere.

Multnomah Waterfall in Portland, Oregan.

Lunch break in Portland Oregan. 

This was the 2 hour window of sunshine we had in Oregon... it was so depressing!

Even though we have little money to spendf, we are finding ways to enjoy the roadtrip while being financially smart. We share tuna sandwiches everyday in a random park, and have a bag in the car full of apples and oranges. We try to see all the tourist sights in every city, but instead of spending crazy amounts of money on t-shirts and souvenirs, Ryan and I purchased baseball mitts and a ball to toss around along the roadtrip. (This was influenced from the baseball game in Seattle) We have played catch everyday since! The ball and mitts are officially broken in. I hate saving money, but this is actually what I'd rather do. Play catch in a beautiful parks in random cities and eat tuna out of a can with my Kiwi boy. I have to save my pennies for New Zealand in June! 

Tomorrow we leave Oregon for California!