Heading up to Piha

I could start making excuses of all the reasons I'm behind on blogging like I'm sick, injured, was out of town, and have been really busy.. but you don't want to hear all of those! :)

Tuesday
I spent the day at Shore Hub answering phones and directing calls while working on blogs and the youth bulletin. Days go by pretty fast at the hub, different leaders of the church stop and talk to me and there are always other chores to do around the place. One of the youth and I were planning to meet up but things didn't work out as planned so I ended up going to meet her in her neck of the woods. We met at McDonald's for some grub and then headed over to the mall to walk off the millions of calories that I had just eaten. Our talks range from important to off hand comments really easily which is nice because it never feels forced. Being able to walk around made things alot of fun and we found adventure in each store we wandered into. The malls closed though, and we realized that we had some how been over looked by security guards and were some of the last ones in the mall, we laughed as we made a break for the exits. There isn't much to do on a weekday so we headed back over to the McDonald's for an apple pie and continued our discussion. 5 hours I spent with the girl and every minute of it a blast and a suprise. Sometimes all people need is a person to talk to and to relate with.

Wednesday
I slept in and worked on stuff here in the house, youth bulletin, journalling the usual, also trying to finish up all the reading I was assigned. Inside days aren't terribly exciting and there are no amazing things to decribe. So yes, an inside day for me, they are terribly needed but nothing to write home about!

Thursday
I went back to the hub and continued answering phones and forwarding calls. Usually I'd be with Jill Nerheny but she didn't have anything for me to do this week and ANZAC Day was coming up so she allowed me the week for other things. It was just us girls at the Hub, Belinda the youth minister, Maxine the children's minister, Me.. the volunteer? haha. When we all got tired and I bit ran down we called for a "Tea Time" with Tim Tams. Tim Tams are these amazing chocolate covered cookies that melt in your mouth. Amazing discussions pop up when people are at peace, I suppose that's the art of hospitality. Aunty Jill picked me up from the hub and we headed over to Massey University for a kebab and to tie up some loose ends before leaving for the weekend. The kebab was amazing as usual and we headed back home to meet up with Aunty Jane. We packed the car with suitcases, food, and pillows and headed out to Piha. Piha is the most popular surf beach in New Zealand. I'm no surfer so don't expect to see a picture of me hanging ten. I'm slowly but surely getting used to the roads but still after 10 turns in a row around a mountain side my stomach is in my throat and it's contents are not happy. The Beachstay that we stayed at was warm and cozy with a big fire place and cushy couches. We had stopped on the way over for some groceries and pies for dinner. We sat down at one of the tables in the stay in enjoyed our pies. (pies here don't mean like pumpkin, apple, lemon, or any other favorite. they usually mean meat pies) It was still early in the night so we played some games something called "pass the pig" and boggle. I was dead tired from the travel and I hit that bunkbead pretty hard, but rolled over to read a few chapters in my book "Blue like Jazz" it's an amazing book with a nonchristian outlook on christianity. It's really enjoyable. The writer refers to spirituality like one can explain being hungry or thirsty, it's there you feel it, but it's nearly unexplainable. You just know it and you do what the feeling tells you to!