I was stumbling around on the world wide web and found this gem…

some rules i try to live by:

1. don’t panic. don’t take anything, not even these words (and especially not yourself), too seriously.
2. never stop thinking.. if someone ever says to you ‘you need to stop thinking so much’ just ignore them and keep thinking deeper… your mind is the most important tool you have, if you stop using it, it will atrophy. FACT.
3. daydream as much as possible, even if it’s only for a few seconds at a time. stare into space blankly and don’t ever punish yourself for doing it. there’s no such thing as wasting time.
4. don’t be afraid to talk about anything. ask questions, and demand answers.
5. everyone is original. every life experience is case sensitive and unique. every thing you do makes you more YOU than anyone else has ever been.
6. stop rushing. take your time and enjoy every moment.
7. don’t let anyone tell you what to believe. discover ‘religion’ for yourself.. it should never be taught, only found.
8. talking to yourself is healthy. who else do you have more in common with?
9. we will always be in a transitional phase. look around you and know that everything will be replaced at some point.. this existence is only temporary.
10. if someone else has already said it better, don’t be afraid to quote them.
11. there is no such thing as time. there is only your life- earlier today you were born and death is predicted later in the evening.
12. every now and then take something that you see everyday and try to see it in a different light. renew its existence.
13. be happy… but don’t force it. that defeats the purpose. discover what is making you unhappy, and change it.
14. you will always succeed in trying.
15. we are all crazy. every person you read about in the history books, already know, or will maybe meet on the street, has or had some kind of ‘disorder’…you just have to learn how to use yours.
16. we are all about as similar as we are different.
17. ideas are just as valuable as people. why do you think we keep making people? we hope new people will have new ideas to share- so don’t let everyone down by keeping yours to yourself.
18. words will always be just words. only the feelings are real
19. ask a child for advice, and never speak down to them. they may not know much, but they know what is important.
20. prove you’re alive. remind the world you are still here.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1ttmbF/wunderlast.pen.io/

Ok so I know I haven’t written anything about my trip from the UK to NZ via the glorious San Francisco but it is in progress… in the meantime here’s a link to some photos I’ve managed to sort and put on Smugmug. I took a sh**load of photos so have been sorting through the first thousand haha and found some goodies

Check out my San Francisco photos here

So I’m back in Christchurch, New Zealand now and within a week found myself a stella job at BuildPro as a Shipping OFficer – based on the outside of the tunnel to Lyttelton which is where I live so nice and close to home! I’ve had the last couple weeks free to scope out the damage to the gorgeous city that I left almost 3 years ago and a lot of it is in ruins. I took some photos but have only scraped the surface of the damage as obviously it’s been a harrowing time for all Cantabrians

Check out my Christchurch Post Earthquake photos here

Ok so there’s been growing debate in my place of work as to whether my car back in NZ is in fact a jeep… I know for a fact it’s not a jeep as it’s clearly a Toyota Rav 4. But somehow all my UK work colleagues seem to say it’s a jeep whenever I produce a picture of my lovely navy coloured car that awaits me back in NZ!

To me a jeep is the brand Jeep… like a Jeep Cherokee or whatever? Now I’d love a Jeep – a convertible soft top one if I was given the choice haha so I’d fully agree if I thought my car was anywhere near a Jeep… but it’s not.
Apparently it’s a gay hairdressers car.
Which is fine… except I’m not a gay hairdresser.
And neither is the person who’s been driving it at presumably a Nana-speed for the last 2.7 years – my lovely Mum haha.

THIS… is not a jeep! is it??

Toyota Rav 4... NOT a jeep!

OMG how excited am I right now!! Decided to split up my loooooooooooong flight back home to NZ by having a stopover in San Francisco for a few nights! I’ve dreamed about going there for years but it’s gotten stronger since I moved to the UK for some reason. I CANNOT wait to leave now & whenever I think about it I get a massive grin on my face! (actually been caught out a couple times at work grinning like a maniac for no apparent reason haha)

My plan is to do a couple of day trips as well as general sightseeing round the city & just soaking up the atmosphere really… sitting in a cafe people-watching will be a regular occurrence haha. So far I’ve scoped out a couple of mint tours I definitely wanna do – day trip to Yosemite National Park & 17 Mile Drive down the Pacific Coast Highway!

Of course all the other touristy things like Alcatraz, Pier 39, Fishermans Wharf etc… OMG & the bridges! I ADORE the bridges there so can’t wait to see them up close. Ohhh & the cute houses off of that sitcom Full House I used to watch as a wee tyke haha.

Any tips or recommendations please lemme know!!

My excited face haha…

Well people it’s alllll about to kick off this Friday with the opening ceremony and first game of the Rugby World Cup in my gorgeous homeland of New Zealand! As a Kiwi living in the UK at the moment it’s very surreal to think all this is going on back in my wee country but it’s all very exciting!

Only thing that kinda sux is that some of the All Blacks games are on a Friday morning UK time when I’m at that place that makes me do stuff for money haha. Oh well… I’ll just have to keep checking the updates in my break! I’m heading home to NZ in mid-October so should catch the quarter-finals onwards back with Mum and Dad in Christchurch. Wow that is very weird to think I’ll be back home soon! After being over here for over two & a half years it’s gonna be very odd I’m thinking… specially with all the earthquake damage etc. What I’ve decided to do is sort through all the photos I took of places in Christchurch before I left for the UK and find some good ones to show a before/after shot showing what’s left… if anything. Going to be very sad but I will no doubt put it on here.

Anyways… somehow I got sidetracked from the topic of this post haha which is the rugby! Click here to see a video on YouTube that shows how awesome my country is and how excited they are to host this event!

Now I was sitting on the bus the other day trying to stay awake on the way to work when I had a random thought about time. Well, more kinda along the lines of how specific times of the day mean different things to everyone… and it changes depending on what your job is, what day it is or what time of year it is.
See, for me at the moment I have a few times of the day that are important… but come the 16th Sept when I finish at Draeger they’ll no longer be relevant but will always stick in my mind when I hit them back home. Am I the only one who has this happen to them? Since being over here I still think if 6pm as dinner time cos Mum always had to have it on the table then for Dad haha!

6.45am during the week is when I absolutely MUST be heading out the door to get the first of two buses to work or I’ll be horrendously late…

12.30pm is my lunchtime with Apprentice Joe & the rest of the 1230 gang Andy, Brian & Scotsman Bill haha…

3.00pm is my arvo break that I normally miss cos I’m too bloody busy…

4.35pm is home time yippee! See this was a regular one in the UK for a finishing time but not so much in NZ so be interesting to see if it changes when I get home.

Hmmmm… I started writing this post thinking it would be interesting but it’s really not haha but I’ve spent half an hour typing it (interrupted by the weekly phone call from Mum haha) so I’m still gonna publish it!

Once again… here’s a couple of random pics

Well the time has come for me to leave the sunny UK (ok maybe sunny is a bit of an exaggeration haha) to head home to sunny New Zealand! (proper sun hurrah!)
So after much deliberation & tears I’ve handed in my notice at work (more tears in front of the boss eeeeek!) and my last day is 16th Sept (which will most definitely bring on more tears haha)
I love the people I work with at Draeger (well most of them… some of them drive me round the twist!) & it’s going to be so hard to say goodbye that I’m truly dreading it actually.

My mission when I ventured over this side of the universe was to travel & make new friends & I’m happy to say I’ve done that! Friendship knows no bounds despite being oceans apart & technology these days is epic!

BUT I will be back! This time next year to be exact but the Northeast Geordies won’t get me unfortunately… I’ll be settling down south! Shacking up with my bestie mate Amelia & her hubby Mike at first til I get myself a massively high paying job & a gorgeous flat haha then it’s travel, travel, travel!

Anyways… I always like to post a pic so…

Well as of the end of July the O’Brien family have a new addition!

My cousin Neil & his wife Jen welcomed to the world their 4th sprog… wee Baby Emma!

How cute is she!!

Well im back in Spain again… Riviera del Sol to be exact!
Arrived at Malaga airport this arvo & got the train from the airport (or Aeropuerto) down the coast to Fuengirola then got lost before finding the bus station (& right bus!) to get to Riviera del Sol… But my mate Dan & I eventually made it & now at the apartment sunning ourselves on the balcony with an alcoholic beverage!

Tomorrow? Its Market Day up the coast at La Cala, then maybe quiz night at the local pub

Its HOT! Like 30deg

Well I’ve decided to start updating this blog more seeing as I’ve just got the App on my iPhone haha!
The next couple months are gonna be filled with awesomeness… My best mate Dan is coming over from NZ for my 30th bday in June yay! That’s him below on the right can’t wait to see him & have some laughs!