WWOOFing ExTRAVAganza!!!!!!!

OK, to start with, last weekend I didn't do much of anything, truly. However, I did go to Joe and Amy's church, ReChurch! If you haven't checked out their blog yet, please do, it's so interesting! Joe gave a great sermon last week about spiritual healing from God. We went through the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, and Joe preached about the source of our suffering from the Fall. It was really good. There were several people there, most of them new I think they said. I talked to a girl afterward and hopefully she'll come back next month. She said she's been looking for a church for awhile and just lives right down the road. ReChurch had sent out postcards letting people know about it, and that's how she'd heard. It was an awesome way to advertise! Anyways, after I was able to eat with the team...truly an amazing group of people who are so welcoming and encouraging to be around! It was really good for me to join in fellowship with other believers and I definitely praised Jesus for how awesome it is to know people are serving Him almost everywhere!

Now to WWOOFing!

Sara and I rode the bus Monday up to Motueka, a town right outside the Abel Tasman National Park (where I tramped/hiked during break). We worked on a Bed and Breakfast, and here's the link if you want to check it out: http://www.pahrd.co.nz/. The family we stayed with is young, and they rent out their other accommodation room for the winter to help with money. Now for names...Heidi (mom), Will (6 year old), Jack (2 year old), Cam (dad), and Moki (black lab). Let me just say that it was AMAZING! We got there Monday not knowing what to expect and were immediately included in whatever the boys were doing haha! We had delicious pasta for dinner and were given a room in the house (although we were offered the Loft in the garage...which we weren't keen on haha). The boys showed off all night before bed, and then Sara and I did the dishes. Heidi is so cool and laid back, and you can tell she grew up on a farm and was a huge tomboy =). She was so great! Cam wasn't around all week because he's taking classes on how to start a winery and is almost finished. They'll be starting one within the next year, which is pretty awesome. Tuesday morning we awoke to cows mooing at the neighbor's (Sara thought it was a phone vibrating hahahahhaa) and then got to work. We picked up sticks in the yard and were followed around by 2 lambs and several chickens! We stacked firewood, helped clean up the main guest room, and then trimmed some of the dead plants. It was easy work of course and just general chores. It reminded me of home (whenever I got around to actually doing what Mom asked). Anyways, we played with the kids that night, helped build space stations out of legos, that kinda thing. Heidi made mashed potatoes and I can't remember what else, but I haven't had mashed potatoes in forever so I was satisfied haha! That night Sara and I watched a movie and went to bed early as we were still trying to catch up on sleep from the weekend and bus ride.

Wednesday we did a lot of the same stuff as before, mainly working on the guest house since they had guests coming. It was pretty easy stuff, although I saw a couple spiders and had to kill them! Yuck! Mom's made us all paranoid...ugh. The guest room has an outdoor bath and shower, which is interesting and cool. The bath is an old-school fire bath and I guess really relaxing. We didn't get the chance to try it out ourselves though, which I'm OK with haha! Anyways, after chores we went on a run and then rode bikes to Kaiteriteri Beach. It's a really famous beach here in New Zealand and you can see pictures if you Google it. It took us about 30 minutes to get there, and it seemed most of the way was uphill! Plus, once we got there it was FREEZING! And of course I was in shorts and a t-shirt...New Zealand weather is so temperamental and ridiculous! UGH! Haha oh well though. We had a little duck come up beggin for food, and he was so cute I couldn't say no =). He just sat right at my feet the whole time haha. After doing some exploring, Sara and I decided to head back to the house. We walked our bikes up most of the hills =)...it just got too hard hahahaha! Oh well, at least our day was full of exercise! We played with the kids later that evening again and they're just so great! It was so nice to stay with a family and hang out with kids...days definitely go by faster that way!

Thursday we decided to work 8 hours and pretty much weeded all day. It was a long day...weeding is a very menial task! Plus I'm a slight perfectionist when it comes to doing chores (Mom's voice always rings in my head to "Do it once and do it right"), so it took me longer because I was determined to get ALL of the roots! Jack came out at one point to help us but didn't stay very long. He was so cute though and really good at weeding. By Wednesday we could finally understand most of his babble, and he said "Big roots, dumb roots, take THAT!" It was hysterical! I have an awesome farmer's tan now thanks to this wonderful task! I put heaps of sun-tan lotion on so I wouldn't get burnt, and I didn't...except the back of my neck, and only half of it haha! I don't really know WHAT happened, but it's back to normal today (Saturday) so that's good. Oh, I found out that Sis had her baby today!!!!!!!! Well, yesterday my time, sorta...the 21st of October! I was sooo excited!!!!!!!! I facebook stalked and found a photo of her...her name's Olivia and she's beautiful! She's going to look just like Sis I know it! I texted Mom the next morning and she went and saw her and sent me her picture =). It makes me sooo happy every time I look at my phone to know that I'll be meeting her in a few weeks and I can't wait! So praise Jesus for new life! YAY!!! Be blessed Olivia!

Friday, Heidi dropped us off at Abel Tasman and Sara and I spent the day hiking to Anchorage. It took us about 4 hours, and it was a leisurely pace! It was nice to walk the trail when it wasn't raining =). Plus, we did a little more exploring and stuff too. We then rode the AquaTaxi back and took the bus back to the B&B. That night Cam came home so we finally got to meet him. You can tell he's a wild child hahahaha! I don't know how Heidi does it! We decided she's got 3 boys, not 2 =). But he's very cool, really outgoing and really funny! Jack and Will put a concert on for us that night, and Will and I played rugby. Jack also played....he was the 3rd team hahha! We didn't know what he was going to do next....half the time he was chasing me tellin me not to "touch his brother" and the other half he was chasing and tackling Will and telling me to "block" him haha! He's so stinking cute that kid! Anyways, the concert was great! Jack LOVES pretending he's a superhero of some sort, Batman, Superman, whatever, and he danced around while Will jammed out on the keyboard. Then they switched, or were supposed to but Jack got bored jamming and went and danced with Will hahahaha! It was absolutely awesome and reminded me of summer nights at home, messing around when we were younger and catching fireflies and such. It was a gorgeous night out too!

And now we're at today...and it's been a long day. It took us over 12 hours to get back to Christchurch, and most of that time was spent on a bus. I did get to finally hear Joshua's voice, not on voicemail but real-time, and that was FANTASTIC! Apparently he's in Alabama for the weekend?! Haha oh jeez. Anyways, we took some pictures this morning of the B&B before leaving and I'll have to put them up on Shutterfly soon. I really loved everything about wwoofing...it went by soo quickly! The family was great, seriously. The only thing super "organic" about them was that they have an outhouse-type toilet. That's about it. And it wasn't that bad at all. It could have been much worse =). The dog, Moki, was also so fun to have around...it made me miss Cocoa so much though. His ears just weren't the same...Cocoa's ears were my favorite thing to pet. Moki's a great dog though too. He's really patient and good with the kids, and they climb all over him just like we did with Cocoa. And he's so fun to play with haha! He loves to play fetch, but his favorite is keep-away. Whereas Cocoa used to play tug-of-war, Moki likes for you to chase him haha! We had to watch him to make sure he wasn't ruining the boys' guns. Anyways, like I said before my wwoofing experience was superb! I would definitely do it again, hands down. We got to do so much stuff and didn't have to pay for a thing! It's by far been my cheapest week here haha! No groceries to buy, no rent, nothing. It was wonderful. And the family was so laid back and fun! I loved being able to stay with a family...I think that was my favorite part. Playing with the dog and the kids was fantastic. I admire Heidi so much, she has such a great family! But now I've got some studying to do for the next few days, finals on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then I'm off to Dunedin. It's going to be non-stop for the next few weeks and I'm going to be loving it! I'm so looking forward to walking off that plane and seeing Joshua and everyone (but especially him)! Anywho, I'll update you when I have something to update. Pictures will be posted soon! Love and miss you all!!! Goodnight!!!!!!!!


P.S. I came home to a huge and wonderful chocolate bar left by Kana, a friend that stayed in my room while I was gone =). Guess I'll be going to the gym often this week haha!