grateful for

I can't quite believe how fast time has gone by. So many things have happened in the short span of these two months. My final exams as a student have finally been surmounted. ;p Sadly, there are more exams to come in the next few years but at least this great burdensome one is over and I'll worry about the next ones when the time comes. Work has started and although I'm starting with a relatively 'slack' rotation, it can be so. dang. tiring. Weekends aren't even guaranteed rest days and I'm always pleasantly surprised when I can leave work while the sun is still up(!). I suppose if you expect very little out of things, you'll always be pleasantly surprised.

Today has been one of the most restful days yet. :D One blissful Sunday of no work. I woke up earlier than usual, read Hector and The Search for Lost Time (I do like the Hector series of books quite a bit; it's written in that simplistic sort of way that I know is meant to be able to capture both the child + adult reader but has more meaning for the adult reader)(and at the level my brain is functioning now, I tend to absorb simple things a lot easier Xp), snoozed a little in bed, tucked in beneath my comforters, enjoying the rhythmic breeze of cold air from the air-conditioner beating gently against my face, woke up, read a couple more chapters, snoozed again... until I finally felt rested enough to wake up. :) I've never been a huge fan of the saying, 'you're only know true happiness if you've experienced true sorrow' or something akin to that because I'm not one for much suffering. But there is so much truth in that statement. Days off from work have taken on a quality so sweet and so tantalising - not something I felt until I started work.

One thing I've started doing since I started work is writing a little post on Facebook - a little pinch of gratitude for something that happened in the day that I would like to put out to the giant cosmic world. I try to do so almost daily - sometimes I forget, either because I'm too tired to remember or because I'm too busy enjoying my free time outside :D (always swinging between extremes here)(the same way now I'm always either ravenously hungry or excessively replete). Perhaps some people might find it lame, but I think it helps put things into perspective. I have a plan - at the end of the work year, I would've gathered 300 odd lines of gratitude, and I'll print them all out onto tiny slips of paper and make a collage out of it to frame on my wall. Something of a reminder of what most people in my field find is there most trying year of all.

I remember on my first day of work, waking up a little earlier than expected because of those dreadful nerves. And I remember thinking to myself... I'm so grateful that I had the most incredible break ever. I had pretty much the most awesome grad trip(s) with people I love and adore and it was an accumulation of experiences that are wonderful enough to keep me buoyed through hard times for the rest of the year.

One of the places I was able to go to was New Zealand. It was my first time there and I went with a group of my favorite classmates who are so fun, spontaneous and downright crazy that it was the perfect adventure of a lifetime. There are way too many photos I snapped of us there and I'm trying to come up with a more logical way of showing them over the next few posts but here's a little teaser of our time there. :D

Yeah. So I did travel with 4 other guys. But these guys are the most harmless bunch of dudes ever. ;p (And through not helping me undo and re-make my caravan bed so that they would have space to play bridge in the car in the daytime, they never let me forget that I was their bro!)

A kea we met along the way! There was a sign that said DO NOT FEED THE KEA or it will attack your car. And we were like really??? But then... it descended upon our car. More photos next time. ;p



NZ was just full of these random scenic spots! Sometimes we would stop by and take a look around and snap some photos. But other times... especially when the wind blew, we just hopped down for a few minutes and scampered back up into the car.



One thing I LOVE about NZ would have to be all these long quiet highways that stretch on for miles and miles with NO OTHER CAR ahead or behind! There were a couple of times when we just stopped by the road, did a couple of random jump shots RIGHT SMACK in the middle of the road (photographic evidence here).









Adrenaline junkies we are. Mario style! XD 



And this badass Fox Glacier cow with a heart shaped birthmark on its forehead was too cool to not capture. I ended up having to walk reaally close to the fence and was a little worried because these cows were pretty huge and seemed to be edging closer... but like so much of NZ, it was a part of nature in its tranquility.

Alrighty then, time for something else now. The one good thing about starting work is not having to worry about studying on days off (FOR NOW ><) so that definitely frees up time for other things. Haven't had the energy to bake very much but I have had the craving to just read as much as I can now to catch up on some great books. Currently on my reading list is, "Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul" (just because while my heart lies with independent cafes, I have to say Starbucks really got me through my exams and my first few calls in hospital ;p) and... The Little Prince, which is probably about time.

xoxo (I have a feeling the next post won't be too far down the road!)