Admin
Major Contributor
formerly ~cara~
Posts: 4,651
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Post by Admin on Aug 19, 2005 10:59:50 GMT 10
Hi Beth~
Welcome to Hearth and Home. We are so glad you joined us. Jump right in, post an intro and enjoy looking around the boards. Looking forward to getting to know you..:-)
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Post by beth on Aug 19, 2005 13:31:17 GMT 10
Hi, everyone,
I've just joined the group, and thought I should introduce myself. <<waves>>
My name is Elizabeth; I'm a 37yo American living permanently in New Zealand (since 2002). I am a full-time first-year university student (law, psychology, sociology) and am "at work" 100 hours per fortnight - 60 hours paid normally, 40 hours of "sleepover" shifts - so I sometimes go for days doing a zombie imitation. I'm married (to Alister) and have two grown stepkids (Natalie and Greg). We have two cats, or perhaps more accurately, they have us.
I have a number of interests and hobbies, some of which include:
Gardening - I finally live in an area that values gardening as much as I do! And, I live on a hillside with an established garden - well, more like a jungle, at this point - so there's plenty to keep me busy.
Cooking - I love trying new recipes, and being adventurous in the kitchen. Good thing, as we have a nibbles and drinks 'do' for 20 people tomorrow; I will soon be grinding my fingers right to the nub trying several new recipes for appetizers.
Music - I love music - everything from country (old and new) to pop, rock, hiphop, r&b, show tunes, and the classics like Sinatra, Martin, etc. Lots of new discoveries since moving here.
Photography/scrapbooking - I have loved the former since I was a kid, and the latter since around 2000/01. Expensive here, though - both of them!
Design - Whether interior, landscaping, scrapbooking, photography, website, whatever - I love design.
Observing nature - I think I drive hubby batty waxing lyrical about grasses and textures and such.
Kids - I don't have kids, and it looks unlikely that I ever will. I miss my niece (11) and nephew (12), and my youngest nephew (1) was born after I moved here, so I've only met him once. Used to always have kids at my house.
Sports - I love watching sports - American football and New Zealand rugby, especially. I joke that it took me moving 10,000 miles away for the Tampa Bay Bucs (I've been a fan since around 1980) to get *to* the Super Bowl, much less win the darn thing.
Hiking/4wd'ing/camping with hubby - We don't do a LOT of either, but we do enough to keep it fun. NZ is a great place for it, too - no creepy crawlies, nice weather, great scenery.
Well, that's a start. Can't reveal all my secrets in the first post.
Oh - where do I work? In the residential mental health field. Here in NZ, mental health institutions were practially all closed a few years ago, so all the people who used to live there now live in the community. There are organizations which own/rent residences for them, and hire staff to support them. It can be challenging, frustrating, etc., but it can also be rewarding.
Elizabeth
PS I am BRAND NEW to posting in this kind of forum - might take some getting used to.[/color]
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Admin
Major Contributor
formerly ~cara~
Posts: 4,651
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Post by Admin on Aug 19, 2005 14:57:52 GMT 10
Wow, Elizabeth, what a great introduction. So glad you found us. Happy that you posted such a great intro and we certainly are looking forward to see some of your gardening, and scrapbooking talents. There are lots of scrapbookers here and Eliise is our mod in charge of recipes.
I am Carolyn, owner of this list with my dd LoriT, and admin along with LoriT and Deed. I am married to my dh for 38 years, have three grown and flown kiddo's and 7 of the most wonderful grands you ever could wish for. My dh is semi-retired and I have been a SAHM most of my life. I enjoy this website, scrapbooking, gardening, landscaping, decorating my home and right now my passion is remodeling my computer room.
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Post by violet on Aug 19, 2005 16:15:59 GMT 10
Welcome, Elizabeth, I am still dreaming of the pumpkin recipe you posted! I am also American, but have lived in Australia since I was 14 (like 30 years...). Am I allowed to ask how you ended up in New Zealand? Your study/work load sounds pretty intensive. Will your studies help you in your work? Our mental health systems must be similar, I don't think it's an ideal situation here. Just my opinion anyway  |
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Post by braided-rug on Aug 19, 2005 17:19:42 GMT 10
Yes, it does sound like our system.
Welcome Elizabeth. I am enjoying reading your posts.
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Post by beth on Aug 19, 2005 19:35:51 GMT 10
Thanks for all the welcomes. :-)
Carolyn - I would love to HAVE my own computer room - I share one with Alister. I keep threatening to turn the downstairs bedroom (one of two spares) into my own computer/scrapbooking room. Problem is, I also love having the computer "handy" to the kitchen and lounge. Thanks for letting me know a bit about who's who here, and about your family.
Miss Violet - Yeah - the pumpkin recipe is yummy. I'm busy tonight making nibbles for a big do we're, um, doing tomorrow night - lots of first-time recipes for me, including pesto and risotto - and both are absolutely divine. If I eat them tonight, I don't have to tell the guests that I ever made them, right? The risotto is for fried rice balls stuffed with mozzarella, and the pesto will stuff some little cherry tomatoes. Mmmmm.
I met my now-hubby Alister in 1998, online. I was so determined that I wouldn't do that, when I got online, but it kinda snuck up on me. We met IRL in 2000, again in 2001/02, and I moved here in 2002. How about you? How did you land in Australia?
And yes, the studies will help in my work - mostly because it'll open a few more doors, and because nearly everyone in the field seems to be working toward a degree so you're behind if you're not. Mostly, though, I believe there's got to be a better way, and if I stay in this field, I want to eventually try to start my own small organization - it drives me insane that so many people who never even lay eyes on the clients are making life decisions for them. However, at the moment, I am thinking of pursuing law; I might change my mind! I'd actually love to work with kids; there's just not enough money in it.
Where are you, Braided Rug?
And, thanks everyone - I enjoy writing, so it's nice to hear that someone enjoys reading! :-)
Back to the kitchen!
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Post by braided-rug on Aug 19, 2005 20:40:57 GMT 10
It is nice having someone enjoy what you write, this forum is just lovely.
I am in Australia too, Snowy Mountains area.
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Deed
Treasured
~Super Savvy Seamstress~
Posts: 2,240
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Post by Deed on Aug 19, 2005 22:23:54 GMT 10
Hi Elizabeth  Welcome to H&H! ;D I'm Deed, SAHCM (stay at home critter mom) to my now 14 cats! LOL My hubby and I have been married for 18½ years and he is now semi-retired too. I love sewing, crocheting, knitting and this is my first year for having a veggie garden. Coming along pretty good too. Can't wait to get to know you!  |
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Post by katieanne on Aug 20, 2005 1:10:10 GMT 10
welcome aboard eizabeth!!! this is a wonderful place to meet wonderful people. always wanted to visit new zealand and australia. glad to know you!
blessings, kate
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Post by violet on Aug 20, 2005 17:17:14 GMT 10
Beth the risotto idea sounds delicious, if you eat them all you won't have to share lol! My mother's Australian, father is from Tel Aviv, they met in Australia then moved to the States. When my sister was 11 and I was 14 Dad came home and said "well, we're moving to Australia in February, I'm going to start a business there". I was less than impressed but the rest is history. I thought your degree may have something to do with what you actually see in the field - my sister was head injured after a horse riding accident 20 years ago and now suffers from frontal lobe syndrome and its attendant psychiatric problems. I have a small awareness of the paucity of services on offer for people in her situation. I think it's kind of cute that you met your partner online. At least you get to know each other's thoughts before you clap eyes on them, so that you're not just judging on appearances. Hope the do goes well tonight! |
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Post by beth on Aug 21, 2005 14:08:10 GMT 10
Thanks for the further welcomes. Braided, I have no idea about AU's geography, so "Snowy Mountains" means as much to me as saying a very small town in the middle of, say, Rhode Island. I'll have to dig out a map. :-)
The risotto rice balls were SO delicious. Despite my inner foodie screaming to keep them all to myself, I shared. Wish that inner foodie was strong enough to make me obey, darn it.
Violet, do you get back to the US very often, or are you totally "alienated" from the US now? A Brit living in the US told me before my move that eventually I would feel as if I didn't really belong to any country - that I'll never really be a Kiwi, because I lack those initial cultural experiences and such, and that I'll stop feeling American. That's a brief recap of what he said, and I can see where it would be true to some degree. I guess it'd be different if you move as a child? (I'm not moaning here - I do love NZ.)
Elizabeth
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Post by violet on Aug 21, 2005 21:07:32 GMT 10
Beth, your friend was right, I straddle the two countries and don't belong to either. I'm not prepared to give up my US citizenship nor am I ready to be an Australian citizen. No, I haven't been back either. I feel as though I have a greater level of freedom in some ways, but am rootless. Having kids has not increased my sense of belonging here, and every now and then I get a kind of yearning to go "home".. somewhere.
On another topic, will we see those risotto balls somewhere, they sounded delicious!
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Post by lucie on Aug 22, 2005 3:54:35 GMT 10
Hi Beth! Nice to meet you! |
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Post by braided-rug on Aug 22, 2005 11:39:08 GMT 10
MissViolet, does it help that your Mum is Australian? I have had similar feeling from leaving the farm, although that doesn't compare to a country.
Australia has what is know as a Great Dividing Range that rougly follows the East Coast. The Snowy Mountains are in the Southern NSW section of it. I guess that doesn't help either.
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Post by violet on Aug 22, 2005 12:37:56 GMT 10
No, braidedrug, it somehow doesn't help, just makes me more different from her and my aunt (Mum's sister). I suppose that's why I have been so committed to giving my kids a sense of belonging in their upbringing. It doesn't bother me at all, it's just made me very very self-reliant.
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