Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my precious Angel Degen today - 27 May! Two years old - how time flies! We miss you so much and wish you were here with us on Earth to celebrate - although we always know we are with us in spirit.

You continue to be such an inspiration for so many, especially for your mommy and daddy, in your short 6-months here on Earth. Thank you for enriching our lives, in everything we do, we think of you. We love you sweetheart!

He greeted life with a smile, lived it with determination and said farewell with a fight. 

Beloved son, cherished friend, eternal inspiration. 

Love,

Mom & Dad and your sissy Miss G

xoxo

Degen's Story

The Green Torpedos, continued...

Well, I have picked, given away, chopped, froze, preserved and baked with literally THOUSANDS of feijoas... There are *still* more under the trees, but I am choosing to ignore them by not going into the backyard. (Side note: if anyone wants any, feel free to bring a bag and help yourself!)

Auntie Tracey was just telling me yesterday they are apx $3/kilo at the supermarket. Hmm. May have to start selling these little bad boys next year for a bit of extra coin... Okay, I probably won't... But, it would be a good idea! :)

What we have found is that feijoa muffins and feijoa crumble are yummy! Will see how the preserves go later in the year...

In other news, Miss G is 4 1/2 months now! WOW! Where has the time gone? She is just such a lovely cheeky girl - so happy and smiley. Love her to bits!

4 months old - with the feijoas! :)

We are still enjoying a relatively mild autumn here - it's actually been fairly warm for this time of year. Which we are *loving* at our outdoor netball games! We are now 3-0, our last game was a bit of a nail biter, so we all need to step it up for our upcoming games!

Edan's project car is officially 'home' now. Well, it's more like a body of a car at the moment, but he's out in the workshop every night tinkering... Oh well. He's happy with that. Now, if only I could get him to hook up my bike trainer...

Miss G and I are headed to Mainly Music this afternoon, she *loves* music, just like her brother did, so hopefully she has a lovely time there. And, well, me too. :)

Until next time!
:)

My Favorite Things!

Amber at Life on a Stick tagged me in her post, so I'm going to play along! Amber, a ND native, is an RN at the Mayo, a mommy of 1 and soon to be 3!, and is studying to become a Family Nurse Practitioner! Amazing!

A few of my favorite things (in no particular order):

#1 Cloth nappies. I recently purchased 11 cloth nappies to try out on Gretchen and I LOVE them. No big accidents yet (knock on wood), feel like I'm helping the environment by reducing our weekly landfill waste and saving $$. yay. (I still use disposables at night, I'm not quite that brave yet...)

#2 My netball team - Te Kawau Greens. A group of girls that just want to have fun playing some  weekend netball. Love it. :)

#3 My besties. I have the best of family and friends. Yay for all of you! Where would I be without your love and support? :)

#4 Travelling. Ok, so I haven't done this in quite a while... but I have backpacked a good portion of Europe (twice - @22 just out of Uni and @27 on our honeymoon), North America, a bit of Asia and some of the South Pacific.

Edan and I hiking - Mt. Ngauruhoe in the background

#5 Studying Nursing. Yep, I love it. My gorgeous Angel Degen enriched my life and has encouraged me to study nursing and I *LOVE* it. Can't wait to graduate with my Bachelor of Nursing, and then hopefully I can start my Nurse Practitioner study in the USA...

#6 Popcorn. Yum. Love it. Especially with butter.

#7 Living in New Zealand. My husband is a native "Kiwi" so I agreed to give it a go living in NZ for a few years. Plan was to be back in the USA w/in 5 years. Well, that's this year... (Finishing my RN training in NZ before we head back.) Such a beautiful country with super friendly people. I've been fortunate enough to have travelled to a vast majority of the country and it is just amazing.

Top pix - top of the North Island, Bottom Pix - Glacier on the South Island

Pancake Rocks/Blow holes - South Island

On Mt Ruahepu looking at Mt Taranaki (both volcanos)- North Island

#8 Autumn.

Pix I took here in the Manawatu

#9 Spending time with my family and friends - esp my hubby and sweet baby! So lucky my USA family come down here as often as they do. Would love to see more of you though - fab vacation destination! :)

#10 Reading. Love to read - was getting through the books quite quickly after I had Gretchen, however now she is a bit more active, so it's getting harder. But, still managing to get in a few books/month.  Any good suggestions?

Ok, I'm new to blogging so I don't really have anyone to tag yet... But, I'll get there! :)
Have a great weekend everyone! xoxo

Happy Mother's Day!

Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa.
Let us keep close together, not wide apart.
-Maori Whakatauki (Proverb)


Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mother's out there - especially mine and my grandma of course! :) While I am not physically near my mother, I am really happy that we are 'close' in the other sense of the word. Thankfully, she has been a positive rock for me to lean on during the darkest year of my life (losing Degen). So, yay, for her! Happy mother's day and sorry I just mailed your card yesterday. oops!

Mom with newborn Gretchen

Fruit galore!

Well, my feijoa harvest is definitely underway and I've been giving bags of the tiny green torpedos away as quickly as they've been falling off our hedge of trees! 

A days pickings! Yipes! 

Waste not, want not ... however, nature has provided us with more than our fair share. Thankfully, we have lots of friends that enjoy them as well. So far, I've made feijoa crumble, feijoa muffins, preserved feijoas and have frozen them as well... Which will be fantastic this winter! My next goal is feijoa/grape jam... Yum! :) 

Scooping out the inside to freeze in containers for later use! Yum! :)

When did I become such a "domestic goddess"? Hmm. I think I'm a domestic goddess in training really... I love trying to find ways to be more 'organic' and finding ways to save money... Funny how in my 20s, I poopooed the idea of being a stay at home mom and what could they POSSIBLY do ALL day!?!? Hmm. I'm really glad reality slapped me in the face - I have never knows such hard work, but yet, so rewarding. I absolutely love being home with Miss G, and of course I loved every moment with my precious Angel Degen. 

Some of my new 'missions' are attempting to quilt for friends and to sew dresses for Miss G. Wish me luck!