15 years.....

Wow I can't even believe how fast time really just flies by! 15 years ago my older sister and I arrived in New Zealand from South Africa to start afresh. It was so hard at first, everything about NZ was just so slow and so behind. Where SA was so loud and crazy and so much fun. Took us a few months to adjust to the lifestyle and even longer to grow to love being here. Deep down in my heard SA will always be home. Afrikaans is the norm! People tend to think because we live here we can't speak or understand it anymore. REALLY!!! Come onnnnnn... Ons taal, bly ons taal!

So much has happened in these 15 years. Good and bad! But lets just focus on the good. Looking forward to many more wonderful years in beautiful NZ!

Day-10 Photo of home!

A postcard my dad brought back from SA for me.

Well at heart I will always be a South African. I was born in Cape Town and lived there until I was in my teens before my parents decided to immigrate. There is so much that I miss about not living there anymore. The beautiful scenery, the amazing beaches that were just 20 minutes from our house, but most of all my family and friends... and boy there are so many of them. To this day family and friends back home still ask whether I can still speak Afrikaans. How could you ever forget a language when you still speak it everyday. LOL! I try my best to teach it to my son, Levi by speaking it to him and it's so nice to watch him respond by understanding what I am saying. I am blessed to be able to speak two languages fluently. I know there are some SA friends of mine who don't speak or understand Afrikaans. To go back for a visit one day is just in my dreams... one day when I can afford it, it might happen.

New Zealand the way I know it.

Well I wasn't too impressed years ago when my parents decided to begin a new life here for us, but of course that didn't last very long. It's been an amazing 14 years in this country so far and so many more to come. Every word on that photo is exactly what NZ is all about. I have grown to love this country I call home now and have done so much here that I am so grateful to God for. There is so much about living here that I love so much I wouldn't even know where to begin. I guess you just have to pop over from wherever you live to know what I mean :)