I can't believe how time flies.... It's December 11th ALREADY! I honestly can't believe how this year's flown by! Where has it gone?! In exactly 10 days, I'll be flying off to Wellington and then taking the ferry with my better half, his sister and a bunch of friends to the south island - a place I've wanted to go to for two and a half years, ever since I got to NZ! I've heard a zillion fantastic things about it being the more beautiful island and good god, i think the north island is gorgeous as it is!

Soon it'll be Christmas and then a whole new year begins. Although I don't celebrate Xmas in the true sense of the word, who can resist being swept along by the commercial aspects of the holiday - the lights, the glorious food, the presents & cards and the sheer festivity of it all...I enjoy this time of year and perhaps it's even more special because right after Xmas, is New Year's and that's always been a time of reflection for me...everything that happened this year, what next year could possibly have in store for me....and so on.....

This year was a landmark year in a number of ways...the year I got out of uni, the year I got a job even before I left uni, the move from the place I called home here in NZ and my closest friends, to a city I'd never been to before and where I knew not a soul, a year of ups and downs in terms of personal relationships and moments of blissful happiness....a year of house hunting on a meagre budget and furnishing the chosen abode with aforementioned meagre budget! The year of work-related successes and personal revelations...all in all it's been a good year!

At this juncture, there's so much to reflect on and so much more to look forward to...life's the best it's been in a long long while. While I miss my friends and my family with all my heart, I've found someone whom I cherish (something I really didn't expect to happen and for a long while, used to think would never again happen to me..mainly because I was too tired and disillusioned to try) and who, in return, cherishes me. Possibly for the first time in my life, marriage doesn't seem monstrous....but strangely, rather attractive...an comfortable.

I've made friends this year, who have become so dear to me and I have found work that thankfully, I believe more in, each day. There have been ups and downs there as well, and the usual flurry of doubts but they've abated with time and I become more confident each day. This year , I've learnt that I'm truly good at a few things I do and that with perseverance and dedication, I can actually succeed. This has done wonders for my self confidence in certain arenas (I specify this because there are other arenas in which I haven't succeeded as much as I would have liked to and in those arenas, I need to work even harder next year!)

The parents get here in Feb - that's just slightly over a month from here and the trepidation that was the usual scheme of things once-upon-a-time seems to have taken a backseat this time. Thank God. Now I just look forward to their arrival and seeing them after such a long time and taking them around this country that I've fallen in love with. Of course there is the usual I-must-make-the-house-look-as-lovely-as-possible and the i-must-get-a-car-ASAP anxieties, but those are totally manageable! Although, i really DO need to get a car and my budget is shamefully pathetic!

Okie dokes...this hasn't been a well thought-out post or an edited one either, so pls forgive the slip-ups and grammatical errors! Also it's just a flow of thoughts, possibly not very coherent at points...ah well...it takes all sorts, doesn't it!? I must try and start writing regularly!

Till the next time, take care!  ¶ 11:23 am