You Are An ENTP |
 The Visionary You are charming, outgoing, friendly. You make a good first impression. You possess good negotiating skills and can convince anyone of anything. Happy to be the center of attention, you love to tell stories and show off. You're very clever, but not disciplined enough to do well in structured environments. In love, you see everything as a grand adventure. You enjoy taking risks for love. And if things don't work out, you're usually not too much worse for the wear! You would make a great entrepreneur, marketing executive, or actor. At work, you need a lot of freedom to pursue your own path and vision. How you see yourself: Analytical, creative, and peaceful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Detached, wishy-washy, and superficial |
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Meet my husband. . .
Dugald took the personality test too. . . meet my hubby:
Personality Change
It's seems I've had a personality change in the past few years, at least a little bit! The Myers-Briggs personality test is well-known and I've taken it several times over the course of my life. I've always been INFP, which I think means Introverted/Intuitive/Feeling/Perception. Well, a friend had this test on her blog, so for fun I decided to take it, and now I am INFJ. I went back and changed a few answers that I could have gone either way on and the results stayed the same, so this, apparently, is me:
If you want to take the test for yourself click the question above or go to http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourpersonalitytypequiz/
I'd love to hear what you come up with! I think for the most part my description is accurate, though it's definately wrong when it talks about my infinite patience!
Talk to me people. . .
You Are An INFJ |
 The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity. Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is. You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience. You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. In love, you truly see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow. You enjoy relationships as long as they are improving and changing. You can't stand stagnation. At work, you stay motivated and happy... as long as you are working toward a dream you support. You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher. How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable |
If you want to take the test for yourself click the question above or go to http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourpersonalitytypequiz/
I'd love to hear what you come up with! I think for the most part my description is accurate, though it's definately wrong when it talks about my infinite patience!
Talk to me people. . .
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Just playing around
I began blogging when we moved to New Zealand as a means to keep in touch with family and friends. I've also decided it might be a good thing to print out at the end of each year and just stick in the back of our family scrapbook. Now that I've discovered a bit of the blogosphere (not sure I'm spelling that right) I've enjoyed reading the blogs of others and establishing a sort of virtual community where I can find inspiration, encouragement, fellowship, shared interests or just get in a good laugh when I need it. As I've explored I've noticed that my blog's template, which is just the basic layout I use, is kind of generic. I've been playing around with ways to make it a bit more personal, thus the ever changing picture at the top. The current photo was taken on one of my morning walks, and I haven't actually posted it before because it doesn't even come close to capturing the beauty of sunrise over the harbour - partly because of the amateur photographer, partly because I was a bit late that day, and partly because it was overcast.
Just wanted to let you know why things may look different here from day to day. . . I'm just playing around and trying to learn how to do all this fancy stuff.
Just wanted to let you know why things may look different here from day to day. . . I'm just playing around and trying to learn how to do all this fancy stuff.
Monday, June 23, 2008
We're still here...
I haven't blogged for a few days because I just haven't had a coherent thought or any great family activity to post photos from. . . so I just thought I'd share some random recent occurrences.
1. We "registered" with the local medical clinic. In New Zealand the entire family goes to the same clinic to see a doctor. Since we've recently had three birthdays and I am used to taking the girls to the doctor every year I decided to go on in and get registered. I also am finally equipped with their shot records, very important documents I forgot to leave Texas with so thanks Lori for getting them for me. And, what tipped me over the edge and made me finally go down there, was the fact that Ellie was complaining that it hurt everytime she went potty. I know enough to know that her lack of a fever meant she was probably fine, but decided to go anyway despite the fact that I'd almost rather get a root canal by myself than take all four girls to the doctor's office. I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly we were able to get an appointment, and once we got there with how quickly we were seen - we waited about two minutes! We saw Dr. Coffee, I'm not sure if that's how you spell it but it is how you say it, a very quiet man, about my age, and from Ireland. He was very kind and gave Ellie a quick exam and then sent us on our way with a cup for a urine sample and told me to drop it back by sometime later that afternoon. All that for a total cost of $14! Oh, and he also said none of the girls needed shots this year. And, as expected, Ellie is just fine.
Now I REALLY loved our doctors in Texas, I really did, they were all our good friends, but the medical system was never my favorite. We'd get the craziest bills in the mail and we never did know what they were for or whether our insurance should have paid it or we should have or whatever. We were also paying close to $1000 month in insurance just for me and the girls (until we switched to a Health Savings Account months before we left) - and aside from my thyroid being taken out several years ago we are all healthy! I haven't been here long enough, nor do I know enough about socialized medicine, but I have to say I just had a really good experience. The downside, or one of the downsides, is that our taxes are crazy high to pay for all of this. Also I believe there is a bit of a crisis here in the medical profession as far as keeping good doctors around, for various reasons. I'm just trying to look at the bright side, especially since leaving our friends and trusted medical advisors in Texas was a bit fear-provoking for me. So far, so good.
2. I taught Sunday School for the first time in our church here and it didn't go quite as I had planned. My sweet friend Julia, mother of two boys, told me that I am too used to being around girls. I had planned a nice little interactive discussion of the story of Zaccheaus to follow-up the video we watched as a part of a series. I had barely started speaking when one of the boys raised his hand, and I was impressed that he raised his hand, and shouted at the same time "Can we just play games now?". Oh yes, I also might mention that the class was twice the size it normally is due to a vote in the congregation that day that people felt quite strongly about. I realized the children were not going to go with my original plan so I rushed through and went right to the games I had planned - which, sadly, were not games that involved running around and using up tons of excess energy. I did a game where I passed around a bowl of Smarties (like m&ms) and told everyone to take some. When they all had the ones they wanted I told them that for every Smartie they had in their hand they had to tell us all something about themselves. It started off fine, but then we got to a boy I don't know and he said, quite seriously, "I hate my father". Nice. We moved right along and got to another boy who is fairly new to our church and a bit of an outcast and I was worried as to whether he'd participate at all, we've actually had to physically bar him from leaving before, he marches to the beat of his own drummer you might say. Anyway, he did play much to my surprise, only he said he had a green cat, to which the other kids (mostly the boys I have to say) shouted, "Liar, you don't have a green cat!"
3. Rain, rain go away come again another day. It's raining again today. Ick.
4. We're almost done with our school year that we began last August! Moving has a way of setting you back a few months. Anyway, to celebrate we're going to have a weekend away. I am speaking to a group of women from Margaret's church on the 3rd of July about Mercy Ships, so we will all drive there as a family and spend one night with them. Then on Friday we are planning to drive to Napier, a city I've been wanting to see and never have on previous trips. It's called New Zealand's Art Deco city. Here's a little trivia from Wikipedia for your further education:
On 3 February 1931, Napier was levelled by an earthquake. The collapses and ensuing fires killed 258 people. The town centre was destroyed and rebuilt in the popular Art Deco style of the time. Some 40 km² of today's Napier was undersea before the earthquake raised it. [3]
Although a few Art Deco buildings were replaced with contemporary structures during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s , most of the centre remained intact for long enough to become recognized as architecturally unique, and from the 1990s onwards had been protected and restored. Napier and South Beach (Miami) are considered by many Art Deco enthusiasts the two best preserved Art Deco towns, Miami Beach being mainly in the later Streamline Moderne Art Deco style. As of 2007, Napier has been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status, the first cultural site in New Zealand to be nominated. [4]
I don't think we'll tell Meggie about the earthquake, she worries more than I do! The area is also a great wine-growing region so we'll look forward to that too, and there are fun things for the children as well, but really we are just going to have a quiet weekend together as a family and regroup so we can start right in to our next school year when we get back.
That's all our news! We love to hear from you so email us when you can.
1. We "registered" with the local medical clinic. In New Zealand the entire family goes to the same clinic to see a doctor. Since we've recently had three birthdays and I am used to taking the girls to the doctor every year I decided to go on in and get registered. I also am finally equipped with their shot records, very important documents I forgot to leave Texas with so thanks Lori for getting them for me. And, what tipped me over the edge and made me finally go down there, was the fact that Ellie was complaining that it hurt everytime she went potty. I know enough to know that her lack of a fever meant she was probably fine, but decided to go anyway despite the fact that I'd almost rather get a root canal by myself than take all four girls to the doctor's office. I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly we were able to get an appointment, and once we got there with how quickly we were seen - we waited about two minutes! We saw Dr. Coffee, I'm not sure if that's how you spell it but it is how you say it, a very quiet man, about my age, and from Ireland. He was very kind and gave Ellie a quick exam and then sent us on our way with a cup for a urine sample and told me to drop it back by sometime later that afternoon. All that for a total cost of $14! Oh, and he also said none of the girls needed shots this year. And, as expected, Ellie is just fine.
Now I REALLY loved our doctors in Texas, I really did, they were all our good friends, but the medical system was never my favorite. We'd get the craziest bills in the mail and we never did know what they were for or whether our insurance should have paid it or we should have or whatever. We were also paying close to $1000 month in insurance just for me and the girls (until we switched to a Health Savings Account months before we left) - and aside from my thyroid being taken out several years ago we are all healthy! I haven't been here long enough, nor do I know enough about socialized medicine, but I have to say I just had a really good experience. The downside, or one of the downsides, is that our taxes are crazy high to pay for all of this. Also I believe there is a bit of a crisis here in the medical profession as far as keeping good doctors around, for various reasons. I'm just trying to look at the bright side, especially since leaving our friends and trusted medical advisors in Texas was a bit fear-provoking for me. So far, so good.
2. I taught Sunday School for the first time in our church here and it didn't go quite as I had planned. My sweet friend Julia, mother of two boys, told me that I am too used to being around girls. I had planned a nice little interactive discussion of the story of Zaccheaus to follow-up the video we watched as a part of a series. I had barely started speaking when one of the boys raised his hand, and I was impressed that he raised his hand, and shouted at the same time "Can we just play games now?". Oh yes, I also might mention that the class was twice the size it normally is due to a vote in the congregation that day that people felt quite strongly about. I realized the children were not going to go with my original plan so I rushed through and went right to the games I had planned - which, sadly, were not games that involved running around and using up tons of excess energy. I did a game where I passed around a bowl of Smarties (like m&ms) and told everyone to take some. When they all had the ones they wanted I told them that for every Smartie they had in their hand they had to tell us all something about themselves. It started off fine, but then we got to a boy I don't know and he said, quite seriously, "I hate my father". Nice. We moved right along and got to another boy who is fairly new to our church and a bit of an outcast and I was worried as to whether he'd participate at all, we've actually had to physically bar him from leaving before, he marches to the beat of his own drummer you might say. Anyway, he did play much to my surprise, only he said he had a green cat, to which the other kids (mostly the boys I have to say) shouted, "Liar, you don't have a green cat!"
3. Rain, rain go away come again another day. It's raining again today. Ick.
4. We're almost done with our school year that we began last August! Moving has a way of setting you back a few months. Anyway, to celebrate we're going to have a weekend away. I am speaking to a group of women from Margaret's church on the 3rd of July about Mercy Ships, so we will all drive there as a family and spend one night with them. Then on Friday we are planning to drive to Napier, a city I've been wanting to see and never have on previous trips. It's called New Zealand's Art Deco city. Here's a little trivia from Wikipedia for your further education:
On 3 February 1931, Napier was levelled by an earthquake. The collapses and ensuing fires killed 258 people. The town centre was destroyed and rebuilt in the popular Art Deco style of the time. Some 40 km² of today's Napier was undersea before the earthquake raised it. [3]
Although a few Art Deco buildings were replaced with contemporary structures during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s , most of the centre remained intact for long enough to become recognized as architecturally unique, and from the 1990s onwards had been protected and restored. Napier and South Beach (Miami) are considered by many Art Deco enthusiasts the two best preserved Art Deco towns, Miami Beach being mainly in the later Streamline Moderne Art Deco style. As of 2007, Napier has been nominated for UNESCO World Heritage Site status, the first cultural site in New Zealand to be nominated. [4]
I don't think we'll tell Meggie about the earthquake, she worries more than I do! The area is also a great wine-growing region so we'll look forward to that too, and there are fun things for the children as well, but really we are just going to have a quiet weekend together as a family and regroup so we can start right in to our next school year when we get back.
That's all our news! We love to hear from you so email us when you can.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
It wasn't Father's Day
Just thought I should post a brief explanation as to why I wasn't blogging this weekend about what a fantastic daddy Dugald is - and he is amazing. It's because it wasn't Father's Day here, so we didn't celebrate him in a special way, especially since it was Katie's birthday. Apparently the Kiwis celebrate Father's Day on the first Sunday in September. So, please don't think I forgot my dear husband, who is truly a father to be admired, you will be hearing about him in September!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
What we do during ballet. . .
Josie takes ballet on Monday and Katie takes on Friday so we are there a lot. There is a little waiting room where the parents can sit if they'd like, but you can't see in to the dance studio and the room is quite small. So, the other three children and I usually take Rico down to Karori Park. There is a stream that runs alongside of the park that Rico and the girls love to splash around in. I am not convinced it is the cleanest water, but it is a much better alternative than being cooped up in a little room for an hour or a half hour (depending on who is having a lesson), so we take the risk.
We go to the creek rain or shine because the girls and the dog come home wet regardless. Yesterday it was quite cold but that didn't stop anyone from getting in! We bravely let Rico off the lead to play and usually it works out quite well. However, yesterday right as Ellie was telling me she needed to go potty Rico took off after two other dogs- chihuahuas no less. Needless to say they were terrified! I ran after Rico yelling for him to come and told Meggie to hold on to Ellie. Thankfully the owner of the wee small dogs was ok with Rico bounding after them and once I managed to get the lead back on him she wanted to have the dogs get used to him. So, disaster averted. Once they moved on we made it to the bathroom, but not a moment too soon. Just thought you might want to know :).
We go to the creek rain or shine because the girls and the dog come home wet regardless. Yesterday it was quite cold but that didn't stop anyone from getting in! We bravely let Rico off the lead to play and usually it works out quite well. However, yesterday right as Ellie was telling me she needed to go potty Rico took off after two other dogs- chihuahuas no less. Needless to say they were terrified! I ran after Rico yelling for him to come and told Meggie to hold on to Ellie. Thankfully the owner of the wee small dogs was ok with Rico bounding after them and once I managed to get the lead back on him she wanted to have the dogs get used to him. So, disaster averted. Once they moved on we made it to the bathroom, but not a moment too soon. Just thought you might want to know :). Sunday, June 15, 2008
Another Sunny Winter Day
We had another great weekend here in Wellington! The sun was shining, we celebrated Katie, life is good. On Saturday we decided to head back down to the waterfront and rent a "Crocodile Bike" for a little while. Unfortunately, since we were biking, we couldn't take Rico. Here he is, with Willow, watching us leave. How sad is that?
Anyway, we got down to the marina and loaded up the bike ready for our next adventure. . .
It was sunny, but that doesn't mean it wasn't chilly!
The Birthday Girl just enjoying her day.
Anyway, we got down to the marina and loaded up the bike ready for our next adventure. . .
It was sunny, but that doesn't mean it wasn't chilly!
The Birthday Girl just enjoying her day.
We took a short break for gelato - we said we were going to get hot chocolate, but when we saw the gelato we couldn't resist and only daddy ended up with a hot chocolate.
We parked our bike right outside this cute little cafe. . .
and tucked inside for some tasty treats!
Then we had to use up all that extra energy, and warm up a bit, so we pedaled over to the play area and let the kids run around awhile. Here comes Josie down the big slide.
After returning the bike we tried our hand at rock climbing. . .only daddy made it to the top! Here's Katie looking a bit like SpiderGirl.
Meggie did pretty well also!
Since Josie didn't make much progress on the wall she decided to show off her prowess on the bar. . .
The afternoon ended after a trip to the bookstore where Katie got to spend some of her gift certificate from Grandma and Grandpa.
By the by, Katie is wearing her new outfit from American Girl that matches the new outfit her doll got, thanks Mimi and Big Daddy!!
and tucked inside for some tasty treats!
Then we had to use up all that extra energy, and warm up a bit, so we pedaled over to the play area and let the kids run around awhile. Here comes Josie down the big slide.
After returning the bike we tried our hand at rock climbing. . .only daddy made it to the top! Here's Katie looking a bit like SpiderGirl.
Meggie did pretty well also!
Since Josie didn't make much progress on the wall she decided to show off her prowess on the bar. . .
The afternoon ended after a trip to the bookstore where Katie got to spend some of her gift certificate from Grandma and Grandpa.
By the by, Katie is wearing her new outfit from American Girl that matches the new outfit her doll got, thanks Mimi and Big Daddy!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
