God Bless America!

Saturday was a great, America-filled day! Our stuff finally arrived from the US and, lo & behold, it all made it here and nothing was broken! It was so great to have all of our little things from back home that make this place feel more like our place. We have pictures of our wonderful family and friends, some home goods that we got as wedding presents, and our stuffed Shih-Tzu since we couldn't bring Raleigh with us :)

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As a reward for all of HOURS of unpacking and organizing, we drove just outside of town to a new part that we hadn't been to yet. The reason for the trip? Martha's Backyard which is an American store that has ALL THINGS AMERICA! Some ladies we met at the American Women's Club event last week told us about this little gem and how surprised they were that there were so many Kiwis who like to shop there. We certainly won't be shopping here very often...1) because we really do want to immerse ourselves in the New Zealand culture and 2) because everything is about double the cost of what it costs back home (ie. Drew's box of Life cereal was $8NZD!) We did splurge and get some Life cereal, brownie and cookie mixes, Fritos, grape jelly, Dr. Pepper and REAL Ranch dressing!

Cheers!