Easter is in fall and Halloween is in spring

I've given myself a challenge to really give this blog a shot. The challenge is to write a post every day for 21 days. It may be short, it may be crap, but it will get me in the groove and I'll be able to determine whether I've simply been lazy or honestly have no desire to write a blog.

With that fantastic lead in I sure you're just dying to read the rest of this post, right?

Saturday, Friday in the US, 19 April will mark one month since we arrived in New Zealand. The lead up to us leaving was insane. It seriously happened so quickly that I had very little time to really take in what was happening. Little time to truly appreciate the fact that I was leaving the only country I had spent every day of my life in minus 5-6 weeks I had spent visiting other countries.

The focus had to be on getting shit done. Tons of little and big tasks jumbled on lists written on scrap papers strewn across my desk at work, strewn across our apartment, and crumpled into the crevices of my purse. Eventually all put into a Google Doc that Jeremy and I shared because, it turns out, random and missing to-do lists help you get virtually nothing accomplished.

We had to get Visas, give notice to our apartment manager, find a moving company, wrap up and delegate components of the major project I was working on at work, give my notice at work (sob!), complete the massive checklist of items to get the cat into the country, and on, and on, and on.

It's not like we were moving to Georgia, or Colorado, or back to Minnesota, or even to Canada. We were crossing the international date line. Moving to a whole new hemisphere, where Easter is celebrated in fall and Halloween is in spring. (Side note: My cookie cutter organization system is completely destroyed.) We were packing all of our belongings, putting them in a cargo container, and shipping it many miles across the ocean. We were saying goodbye to our loved ones.

The last one really got me. I haven't cried so much and so hard in a very long time. I could handle everything else. Just more ticks on the to-do list. The goodbyes broke my heart. They made it real.

But, technology is amazing. Skype, Google Hangouts, Whatsapp (if you are on there you need to friend me, or whatever it's called), Facebook, Instagram, and email have all been instrumental in keeping me from feeling isolated. And it's been fun sharing the journey with my peeps. Perhaps it will even help me find more peeps here in New Zealand. God forbid I should actually go out and try to meet people in person... I kid... Kind of.

There you have it. That's day one of the blog challenge. I'm rounding out my incredible opening with an equally amazing closing. Cheers!