Wow. 2005 eh? all gone, poof. Hope you've all had many moments that you can really genuinely say were beautiful.
I got to walk on a glacier, have Ryan over for our entire second semester (for seven months!), learned a lot about being pushed around by the world and just needing to deal with it.., had surgery to remove endometriosis, a cyst and a tumor from my uterus, and passed 60 points worth of graduate level classes (so 12 classes in total - a very stressful year, but my goodness, worth it!) with eleven A's and A+'s and one B+. I've also been working on my father and my business plan which has had its ups and downs, but looks optimistic for the next few months because I've been granted permission (but our University of Otago Management department) to actually revolve my Master's projects around the business plan/launching our company. Now, things may prevent us from getting it launched, but either way I'm excited to learn more about internationalizing companies. Really great topic, I tell you. In other news, my sister had a second child which just blows my mind, and I actually became more open to having children myself one day - so long as god blesses me so (endometriosis can effect fertility, but I'm on a rigorous diet as of last night when I read up on how one can prevent the negative effects simply by eating wel!!! brilliant eh?
yay for fantastic doctors who know their stuff.) on the social front i lost a good friend of many years due to 'differences' (im sure it's more than that, but i let it rest) and met a lot of new ones. i've really loved getting to know siobahn, bella, rama, renee, jo, andrew and a bit of cameron again and i loved becoming friends with you, Carolyn - its really been neato cheeto having you around. xo Also, love to you Heather and Ellissa who have been such amazing internet friends despite the distance! love love love. hehe yay. *smiles*
So what's been going on with you?
One of the more unfortunate things about 'mass journal entries' is that everyone on the recipient list can feel sort of annonymous. I do, however, want to stress that if you're receiving this - it's for good reason: that I love and care for you, and hope you are well.
Well, I've preeety much updated you - but for those of you who have some time on their hands, I'll expand a bit of some of the events of the year just for kicks. Otherwise, thanks for reading and I hope you have a freaking AMAZING year, yes yes I do.
Lets see. I think a real highlight of the year was when Ryan and I travelled all over the South Island just before he went back to America (he left on the 29th). Probably the most memorable moments were when we'd snuggle up in the back of our van (we camped out in my parent's van the whole time
hehe) and read 'Anatomy of the Spirit' together. It's a book about how interlinked our health is with how we go through our lives. Very interesting and I recommend it. It had a lot of challenging paragraphs in there where I just wanted to go and crawl under a rock - because I didn't want to deal with the lessons it was urging the reader to heed. It was good to hear the thoughts in there though; learned a lot.
there's also the most obvious thing that rocked about the trip...NEW ZEALAND IS BEAUTIFUL. Thank you. I remember doing a big road trip with Mom and Dad when I was 12, but my goodness - I did not remember it clearly! We drove through an area called 'Haast Past' from Mt. Cook over to Frans Joseph Glacier and Ryan was literally freaking out the whole time -- and he's normally fairly reserved/just relaxed as he takes it in. It was CRAZY beautiful rainforest, massive rivers rumbling so much power meters and meters below the road, waterfalls meeting us on all sides, mist everywhere..it was insane. We also did a glacier walk in Frans Joseph, and we were randomly picked for the 'advanced' group. I only went because I knew Ryan wanted to go(!) but wouldn't leave me if I decided not to. So so so, I went trouping off with 11 athletic males and it was an amazingly spiritual experience actually. I began to see the whole eight hour day hike as metaphorical for everything that one goes through. We slid through crevaces, jumped over them too, walked over rickity man made bridges over bits of ice that seemed to just go down forever...it was sunny initially, then it rained, we crawled through holes in the ice...again, craziness. We also saw beautiful beautiful Mt. Cook and Lake Pukaki - you should look them up, and if anyone needs a tour guide over the next few months before I head back to the states...then let me know! such a magnificent place.
hmm...so yes yes yes. I've allocated today to really get started on my masters, now that my holidays have come to a close and the sweet ryan has gone home, so I'll have to *poof* and catch you all later. Happy New Years and thanks so much for listening. Do give me a bell sometime if you want to catch up on the phone and/or via email.
Love you all,
Holly.
I got to walk on a glacier, have Ryan over for our entire second semester (for seven months!), learned a lot about being pushed around by the world and just needing to deal with it.., had surgery to remove endometriosis, a cyst and a tumor from my uterus, and passed 60 points worth of graduate level classes (so 12 classes in total - a very stressful year, but my goodness, worth it!) with eleven A's and A+'s and one B+. I've also been working on my father and my business plan which has had its ups and downs, but looks optimistic for the next few months because I've been granted permission (but our University of Otago Management department) to actually revolve my Master's projects around the business plan/launching our company. Now, things may prevent us from getting it launched, but either way I'm excited to learn more about internationalizing companies. Really great topic, I tell you. In other news, my sister had a second child which just blows my mind, and I actually became more open to having children myself one day - so long as god blesses me so (endometriosis can effect fertility, but I'm on a rigorous diet as of last night when I read up on how one can prevent the negative effects simply by eating wel!!! brilliant eh?
yay for fantastic doctors who know their stuff.) on the social front i lost a good friend of many years due to 'differences' (im sure it's more than that, but i let it rest) and met a lot of new ones. i've really loved getting to know siobahn, bella, rama, renee, jo, andrew and a bit of cameron again and i loved becoming friends with you, Carolyn - its really been neato cheeto having you around. xo Also, love to you Heather and Ellissa who have been such amazing internet friends despite the distance! love love love. hehe yay. *smiles*
So what's been going on with you?
One of the more unfortunate things about 'mass journal entries' is that everyone on the recipient list can feel sort of annonymous. I do, however, want to stress that if you're receiving this - it's for good reason: that I love and care for you, and hope you are well.
Well, I've preeety much updated you - but for those of you who have some time on their hands, I'll expand a bit of some of the events of the year just for kicks. Otherwise, thanks for reading and I hope you have a freaking AMAZING year, yes yes I do.
Lets see. I think a real highlight of the year was when Ryan and I travelled all over the South Island just before he went back to America (he left on the 29th). Probably the most memorable moments were when we'd snuggle up in the back of our van (we camped out in my parent's van the whole time
hehe) and read 'Anatomy of the Spirit' together. It's a book about how interlinked our health is with how we go through our lives. Very interesting and I recommend it. It had a lot of challenging paragraphs in there where I just wanted to go and crawl under a rock - because I didn't want to deal with the lessons it was urging the reader to heed. It was good to hear the thoughts in there though; learned a lot.
there's also the most obvious thing that rocked about the trip...NEW ZEALAND IS BEAUTIFUL. Thank you. I remember doing a big road trip with Mom and Dad when I was 12, but my goodness - I did not remember it clearly! We drove through an area called 'Haast Past' from Mt. Cook over to Frans Joseph Glacier and Ryan was literally freaking out the whole time -- and he's normally fairly reserved/just relaxed as he takes it in. It was CRAZY beautiful rainforest, massive rivers rumbling so much power meters and meters below the road, waterfalls meeting us on all sides, mist everywhere..it was insane. We also did a glacier walk in Frans Joseph, and we were randomly picked for the 'advanced' group. I only went because I knew Ryan wanted to go(!) but wouldn't leave me if I decided not to. So so so, I went trouping off with 11 athletic males and it was an amazingly spiritual experience actually. I began to see the whole eight hour day hike as metaphorical for everything that one goes through. We slid through crevaces, jumped over them too, walked over rickity man made bridges over bits of ice that seemed to just go down forever...it was sunny initially, then it rained, we crawled through holes in the ice...again, craziness. We also saw beautiful beautiful Mt. Cook and Lake Pukaki - you should look them up, and if anyone needs a tour guide over the next few months before I head back to the states...then let me know! such a magnificent place.
hmm...so yes yes yes. I've allocated today to really get started on my masters, now that my holidays have come to a close and the sweet ryan has gone home, so I'll have to *poof* and catch you all later. Happy New Years and thanks so much for listening. Do give me a bell sometime if you want to catch up on the phone and/or via email.
Love you all,
Holly.
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My female friend "C" was talking about "scene" people. The people that are trendy. She works and lives in the "scene" area of Houston. The scene party we crashed in houston had paintings, and not much else on the walls. The back room had turntables, and nothing else so people could dance. I think that house was 100 years old, and had 100 people in it. We were mingling with poser college kids, 20 somthing writers, musicians, artists, etc. The "scene" people.
I need sleep now, so more story later. Must go to Lab in A.M.