umi no ko

2008-01-10T22:09:00.000+13:00

In Auckland for Christmas my littlest sister Liz was pracitsing the recorder for a competition she was having at the camp formerly known as summer harvest. She was playing "I believe I can fly" I was singing along and before I knew it was singing

I believe I can fly
I believe i can touch the sky
Think about it every now and then....

Much to the amusement of my sister Teresas boyfriend Jason :)

Whats hot: Skinfood moisturiser
Not: Tourists going around the the roundabout the wrong way

2007-12-12T19:37:00.000+13:00

Read a cool article in the press today about artist Geoff Dixon I really liked his paintings of birds including the extinct apricot kea and the red and white kaka.... (it kinda relates to my next installation Ive been planning) I love new zealand birds, I saw a book at borders about extinct native birds that I really liked - should have got it... I find them at the same time haunting and sad whilst being awe-inspiring and glorious.

I thought it was a good article anyway

2007-11-09T21:01:00.000+13:00

I had another idea for a garden installation, I had the idea when I had a really crazy temperature this week so I dont know if its "sensible" or not....

I will tell more later as it evolves!

2007-11-07T13:37:00.000+13:00

Our "peony"... I think we have 'em in our garden and I think they are cool

2007-09-16T15:14:00.000+12:00

Hello,

Update on the life of Anne for the past month or so

Fun thing Ive done: Last weekend skiing at Porter Heights with Paul, Meagen (from work) and Zane.

Best movie I've seen: Eagle vs Shark

Most annoying thing: Lotto ads

Maori word to learn for the month: Ariki (person of high inherited rank from senior lines of descent, male or female)

Taken from here

I'm feeling good I decided not to let other peoples stress get me down, I have a very good life I should enjoy it!

2007-06-09T10:53:00.000+12:00

I made a giant origami crane at work on Friday (in honour of Elyjahs 1st birthday)
it was way cool

2007-06-02T16:57:00.000+12:00

Here is my second instalment

In other news I have discovered that I find mango chicken revolting!
While I love dried mango I am not convinced about putting it with a savoury meal....

(Spell checked just for you Lawrence!)

2007-05-26T19:02:00.000+12:00

Here is the first installment of my pentecost art piece!

People at our church (opawa baptist) spent today relecting on and creating things as part of our annual penetcost festival, I had to work so Ive been working on my own thing (since easter)

Todays installation is in the shape of open arms, its title is "welcome" it is currently on our front lawn for the weekend I guess! (unless people take off with it!)

This has been a very cool process for me and it holds lots of symbols for me to do with hope, where we've come from, family, love, freinds present and distant,reaching out to new people, acceptance, regeneration and taking risks. Which fitted in really well with what I think penecost is all about.

Thats alot for some weird art you may say!

2007-05-08T21:37:00.000+12:00

This is a picture of me this summer past at the sculpture depicting the anchor chain of Maui (the legend is that the North Island is the fish the south island the waka (canoe) and Stewart island the anchor. I really wanted to visit it it was cool. We had such a nice there.

So im kinda into art right now

I have decided to do my very own art installation
(also inspired by the Easter Journey and a feeling that I cant express myself very well with words)

It is going to be at our house on our front lawn.
At this point its going to be a "Pentecost" celebration piece!

Don't I sounds funny, this is part of me learning more about myself, like many people I could never draw or paint or anything like that but Ive been realising how much I take in visually how I enjoy reflecting on art ect Ive been surprised at how satisfying the process of imagining this project has been,

Well we'll see what actually happens.... Im not promising much but it will be there eventually!

2007-04-16T20:03:00.000+12:00

2007-04-16T20:02:00.000+12:00

2007-04-16T19:47:00.000+12:00

I have been having a very fun year doing lots of different things.

Last Friday for my work social club my team came second it was very very fun!

One of my highlights for the year so far was the Chinese lantern festival we went with a bunch of friends (including Iain McMahon - pauls cousin who now lives in Christchurch) During the festival I snuck away and did karaoke! In front of about 300 strangers I sung "summer of 69" it was very funny.

Anyway there are many other stories from 2007.

Heello

2007-03-21T19:45:00.000+12:00

Hey there sorry its been so long we've finally got switched over to new blogger!!

It seems good I also have automatic spell checking abilities now so that is also good for y'all

I been having a great summer Im sad that its coming to and end Ill write more later and put some photos up to

2007-01-13T08:53:00.000+13:00

Here are some photos from end of year at work one with my hair very short it is much longer now and looks more normal,

The other is me as santa!

2006-12-20T13:51:00.000+13:00

I did shave my head, it was a number zero.
I did it on Sunday after church, basically for no reason apart from fun and to see what it would look like.

I will take some stylish pictures and post them but for now there is one on Jasons blog of me and my no hair buddies.

2006-12-13T09:45:00.000+13:00

Im tired of my hair cut now...

I want to shave it jus because Ive always wanted to but then it would be fun to have long hair again...

Maybe shave then grow

Nothing else much happening apart from busyness, I have an exam this Saturday which is uncool.

2006-11-11T14:54:00.000+13:00

I feel compelled to tell you about the movie "Little Miss Sunshine"
Paul and I both thoughouly enjoyed this movie we went to see it last week(Thanks for the recommendation Danielle and Shaun ect and for the birthday moive vouchers Amy!)

I thought it was fantastic its not very often that you get a "comedy" thats deals well with a number of serous topics.

That leaves you feeling - lots of things.

Its really like a family roadtrip story, the characters are great, (and dont be put off by the fact they are on their way to a "pre-teen" beauty pagent, the idea of kids beauty pagents is NOT gloirified and is not the point)

Yeah so I recommend this movie too. (It carries a R13 rating in NZ as there is a little crass talk from Granddad!)

2006-10-28T09:00:00.000+13:00

3D minigolf was fun last Tuesday it was crazy with special glasses that make everything... well 3D.

Here is a swanky picture of me dancing to the super "wild wet"theemed music.
Thanks for the picture Andy!

2006-10-11T18:11:00.000+13:00

I just went on my skateboard for the first time in three years!
I went down to the end of the road to post my assignment, it was fun and at least 2ce as fast
Glad to know I havent forgotten how!

2006-10-04T09:44:00.000+13:00

Here is a picture of our last month work social club event rock climbing yay!
This is a the new attraction at The roxx called clip n climb. I can totally reccomend it for all ages.
It has automatic belay machines

that atuomatically retract and the lower you down and lots of fun different types of walls to climb.

The photo is my workmate Marie and I racing (it has a timer and you racing to the top and push stop) Very funky!

2006-09-30T10:59:00.000+12:00

I had a dream about Tsunamis last night. It was so weird the funny thing is that I was in the Jewish part of town that was up in the hills so I was safe from the tsunamis (there were about 10 of them) I and the other Jewish people (??) were watching and it was really scarey. Then as they subsided I saw the life gaurds going around on these inflatable motorised surfboards trying to rescue people.
For more great stories about dreams this week at espresso we are talking about dreams.

2006-09-09T11:15:00.000+12:00

I was somewhere that shall remain nameless this week, it was work related
and some one said to the group

"I've never seen anything like that in all of Christendom"

I was shocked I think I even said (quitely) out loud "what?!!"

The person looked vaguely horrified that this had come out of his mouth I dont know if anyone else noticed, it was funny and weird at the same time.

He ment it like "in all the world" obviously (or the bit of the world that matters or the bit that makes sense and is where you would find anything that is truely right??!!), thats just so bizare to think about, OR is it like calling people who dont follow Christ at a particular moment in time "pre-christians"!!

Just conjures up kind of like images of like crusaders jumping on their horses to go defend Christendom right? (And I dont mean the rugby team - but thats another discussion!)

2006-09-02T11:15:00.000+12:00

I watched star wars VI Return of the Jedi for the first time this week, (well I might have seen parts as a kid) this was brought about by watching episode 3 with the young adults group hank a few weeks back. I found Revenge of the Sith really sad and it made me wonder what happened in the end.

I was really struck by the awful music although Im told I was saved from the "jub jub" song that apparently had been edited out of the remastered version I was watching.

Seriously though, I am glad Ive now watched it I now have appreication for star wars growing up I was always on the trek side of things because my Dad and I used to watch some together now I think my likeing for both is about equal. However if you had to go to a dress up party you would definitly rather go to the star trek one in my opinion.

Word for the... month

2006-08-24T13:34:00.000+12:00

inclement

My boss used this word in an email and I had to look it up to find what it meant....
It bascially means windy, rainy or foul

Usage: It was an inclement day.

So there you go, you should beleive me I am a "Scientist"

2006-08-05T12:26:00.000+12:00

Here is a photo of me with my new glasses! dont they make me look serious!

For those who dont know I got them a week ago for seeing long distances.
Its only really got bad in the last 2 months but it is soo much better especially for driving
I feel much safer and so does everyone else!

Word for the week!

2006-07-14T13:14:00.000+12:00

The word for this week is Rabbittoir! Close your eyes if you are scwirmish! But it’s like and abattoir but for rabbits!

I’ve played scrabble a few times recently it seems.... played with Stu and Maria last week so I think I need to expand my vocabulary. However spelling and times tables are unnecessary!! (That’s what calculators and spell checks/ dictionaries are for!!)

2006-07-12T18:38:00.000+12:00

Paul thinks its really funny but yesterday at my work they made me the go to person for IT at our site (we have about 25 people at our facility) our current IT guy is leaving in 6 weeks so my training has begun I now get to set up global tele conferences and do things like patching routers??? Well they sure didnt make me in charge of spelling at the plant!!

2006-07-08T09:42:00.000+12:00

Well that was a fun experiment.....

Here is a picture of Paul and I at my work mid winter dinner last month.

I have been sick since I got back from Auckland I think I may be starting to get right now so thats good. Just in time to play soccer this afternoon!

umi no ko

2006-07-08T09:41:00.000+12:00

Hello everyone

2006-06-06T17:06:00.000+12:00

Now these are from when Dora visited my work in production get up!

Note the way the head covering makes me look like a smurf or something over the top of my mohawk!

Thanks for the photos Dora! (and the fun times!)

2006-06-06T16:44:00.000+12:00

Some photos from Doras visit.....
We had a really good time together.
Here is a photo of Me and Dora on Monday when we went to town to the art gallery and stuff. It was fun.

2006-05-25T14:11:00.000+12:00

Wow its almost been a month yeah,

Ive been busy had a work trip to Auckland which was good, and then everythings just busy as any thing

Congrtulations to my Parents 25 year wedding aniversary on the 16th of May

Today Dora (my next sister down 22) has come to visit us in christchurch we're off to the university (canterbury) international festival concert tonight and then on Sat night we have tickets for the super 14 final so that will be good as long as it stops raining.

So everything is go.

2006-04-29T10:51:00.000+12:00

Its been amazingly rainy here this week....

A poem:

Rain falls on the sunshine soaked ground,
Purging it of any deluded ideas it had of going on forever.

The air is strangely easy to breathe,
Like there’s a weight lifted off: expectations of greatness.

2006-04-19T19:38:00.000+12:00

This week has been amazingly sunny here in Christchurch (great for Liz) we went to Kaikoura on Mon morning stayed the night saw the best waterfall with baby seals (thanks for the tip Sharyn), were talking like 20+ baby seals up close it was great, then went to Hamner on the way home we went on the waterslides it was fun.

Now we are going to play some more scrabble cards (thanks Danielle, Shaun and Brodie) (sorry about the spelling)

Here are photos we took of liz and seals

2006-04-15T16:35:00.000+12:00

Reading Brain McClarins A generous Orthodoxy I am enjoying and not only because its nice to have time to read, in only in the first half but it intersting to hear about how Brain puts together the different peices that are the different traditions of Christian faith/practise. As someone who was raised a Catholic, spent university in the "evangelical union" married a brethern (with anabaptist tendedncies) goes to a baptist church works side by side with a anglican vicars wife and has various pentecostal freinds its intersting. I really do beleive we all have so much to learn from each other.

2006-04-03T19:22:00.000+12:00

Had a really nice weekend.

It was my birthday on Friday I made chocolate eclaires to take to work and it worked really well. Just an edmonds recipe it was easy and really tasty! Definitly one to try again. Was a really fun day.

Saw Siones wedding on Shauns birthday that was quite good (although quite rude)

And today Paul I and Lawrence went for a swim at the beach.. yes the beach here in Christchurch .... it was such a nice day. Michial came down to the beach and brought Kizzy for her first trip to the beach!

Yeah so lots has been happening its been good.

2006-03-25T13:48:00.000+12:00

I finally got to play Mah Jong last night! Ive been wanting to play for ages! I havnt played isnce a was about 8 or something!

We had Ben Whale and his new wife Karen round for dinner (since waltham fun thing was cancelled due to poor weather) Bens just moved to Christchurch so it was really nice to catch up. He's a mathmatics Phd student so I felt he was suitibly qualified to instruct us on the intracacies of Mah Jong. It went really well although we only got through 2 hands it was really cool to finally play.

So anyone want to learn to play let me know!

2006-03-22T19:37:00.000+12:00

This is for Liz (and Dad!)

And all those Morgan Coakles out there!!

2006-03-20T14:00:00.000+12:00

Instead of going to Auckland (cancelled U2 concert) I went to Opawa Baptist Womens camp this weekend. It was a really nice time of refreshing. With Dayle speaking to us all and all the ladies having a really nice time. Some highlights for me include

Travelling with Anita (in the awesome yellow car)
Learning about using our imaginations and accessing our emotions/feelings to better underatand God.
The waterslide with Danielle and Joyce! (see photo)
Playing minigolf with Lynne and Joyce and Kate and me NOT (Thanks for the tip Lynne) throwing a tantrum (this is an acheivement for me!)(also see photo)
Leanring to play the card scrabble game
And just meeting new people and getting to know others more.
And as you may see in the photos enjoying my new haircut!
Oh yeah and on the way home the best fejoa juice I ever did have!

2006-03-12T15:35:00.000+13:00

This photo was taken last night its Paul with one of Lawernce and Michials kittens Kizzy (sorry if its spelt wrong) in his jumper. Its a great photo.

We also had Lucys baby shower yesterday which was a great sucess.

Now Im having a dilema the U2 concert is cancelled so were having to unplann all our plans. Its a shame but thats life.

2006-03-06T16:04:00.000+13:00

We went for a swim today the water was colder like it was back in December but it was good.

Here is a photo from about a month ago of me and paul playing petanque with Michial and Lawrence. It at their house and I am wearing a fish dress that my Grandma Dorothy made.

2006-02-27T12:06:00.000+13:00

We went on an Awseome holiday last weekend 4 nights away at both Okarito and Wanaka.
It was such a nice rest.

The picture is from our double Kiyak on a river in the Okarito lagoon. Its a White heron or Kotuku. Huge beautiful birds, inly about 120 breeding pairs left and they all live in this Okarito area.

Its nice to be back though. still warm.

2006-02-11T14:31:00.000+13:00

I never did figure out how to get a poll going.

My best story of this week is when I in a meeting at work here I was giving a talk about the importance of accuracy when filling out paperwork and at the ending to ensure that no one thought I was being grumpy or too bossy I said Quote

"I'm not trying to woof-woof or anything!"

Yes I actually said woof-woof in an attempt to communicate!(There were about 15 people present and I managed to go quite red!)

(sorry for those who have heard this story already its a great story)I like stories (Lynne has a great story about fish legs this week also)

Being able to tell stories gets you through times when you are just meeting someone and I think they teach you lots of things they can help you remember where you've come from and can help you not take your self too seriously. When it comes to God, I think telling stories about what hes done/ what hes like is important. I think hes there (offen quitely) in lots of our stories. I wonder what he was doing as I was not woof-woofing my work-mates! Prehaps he was just laughing.

2006-02-02T13:18:00.000+13:00

I know you all are loving the free dog so hes something more for you...
today at lunch at work I choked on some water I was drinking and it went everywhere, the great part is that its the 2nd time its happened to me this week!

Does this ever happen to anone else maybe ill make poll about it.

2006-01-30T17:24:00.000+13:00

One of my all time favorites thanks to T.dog (Teresa) A little picture we like to call "free dog" dont ask me why it just is.

The beach is nice right now the water is lovely down at Waimairi, such nice weather it makes me very happy.

Lots of happy.

2006-01-28T11:55:00.000+13:00

Weve been having a good time, saw the buskers festival in town which was really cool, we had a visit from Andrew (Peters brother) and Andre and my (great)Aunty Elaine and Uncle Gilbert. So its been nice.

We also had our 2 year wedding annivesary last week (Also Happy 1st Anniversary to Chris and Holly!)

We played the Buzz playstation game with various friends, we also played singstart and Pauls finally got the hang of it ;) He even bet me on 2 occasions!!

I have just been planning a new hair style! On my list of thing to try I have 2 things left, and Im really sick of my hair right now. I did the dreads and I dyed my hair pink/blue and black at different times. (the other things on my list)
Ive been doing some research it should happen in the next month!

2006-01-15T20:02:00.000+13:00

Well Its quite nice to be back and to be well again.

I was sick for about 4 weeks there, including pretty much the whole time we were in Auckland. But now Im finally feeling good.

Some highlights were Christmas with all our family and new years with some freinds out at Helen and Rays in Anawhata. And Peter and Tammys wedding of course which was wonderful. See attahc picture taken in my famous "fuzzy" style. It was a great wedding such a special time.

Very nice to see everyone we mananged to catch up with but there were quite afew people we missed which is sad but feeling so lousy did not help. But yeah nice times

Sealanne

2005-12-19T16:51:00.000+13:00

So I got this calender from work and it had a picture of seals in it and Paul noticed that one had a face like I sometimes pull...and also my sister Margaret last time I saw her commented that my hair looked like a seal.... need I say anymore, actually we did this photo shoot that very night, I even styled my hair appropriatly ;)

2005-12-10T12:16:00.000+13:00

I often say that I am the most impatient person I know (which makes it a good thing that Paul is so patient) when I took that photo of our lChristmas lights I couldnt wait till it was properly dark when the lights would have looked cooler.

I also have a quote amongst the evening music team at Opawa that is "on the night" it is an expression that is use during a music practise to descibe how you play a song during the performance/church serivce/whereever you are playing. I say it all the time Jamiee and Sasha love to tease me about it! I dont know where I got it from possibly from Naomi? or someone else in the Whangaparaoa Baptist axis band known as "Traction" - good memories!

2005-12-05T20:25:00.000+13:00

Well its that time of year... its been busy but fun.
So warm, its been fun hanging out at Lawrence and Michials new place right by the beach. We played cricket yesterday and went swimming it was so nice.

Put some Chritmas lights up today, we wont get a tree this year because we will be in Auckland, which I cant wait for.

In sadder news we missed out on U2 tickets this morning, but will try again next week to get tickets to the 2nd concert.... which should be more successful I hope.

2005-11-19T16:43:00.000+13:00

Was just reminiscing a little about my wonderful time at The University of Auckland, we actually about “human fly” I really liked being at university I liked my classes so many I enjoyed like Pharmacology, immunology, microbiology and the joy of the engineering papers ;) I really did like it and then there was all the wonderful friends I met and my time with EU (and I met Paul). But yeah the human fly does stick out in my mind! For those who don’t know or haven’t heard the story it’s like a giant wall of bouncy castle with Velcro on it and you wear a suit of Velcro and you run and jump at the wall and you stick to it. Anyway so they had one in the quad and pretty much no one wanted to do it, so I went on it pretty much for a couple of hour straight, now that’s exercise that’s fun! A few others were jumping too and we had competitions and did synchronised jumps. Anyway I remember this very fondly!

2005-11-18T16:09:00.000+13:00

For all those who were wondering whats been happening last weekend (long weekend in Canerbury) we went camping. Herei s a picture of our tent with Michials and Lawrences in the background. It was fun we went swimming 3 times in 24 hours!

2005-11-08T16:23:00.000+13:00

I just took this photo for holly she asked what our tree was looking like at the moment! It’s looking quite rugged like it needs a trim!! But the irises are looking very nice!!

At the moment Paul is growing all sorts of vegetable type things in the garden he loves it!

Im really looking forward to go to Auckland for Christmas were arriving I think on the evening of the 22/dec and staying till the 9/jan (for the lovely Tammy and Peter wedding) its all going to be alot of fun for all.

2005-11-07T18:20:00.000+13:00

Here are some more photos one is of me and Pam who came to visit 2 weeks ago we had such a nice time (also notice the giant iris in the background Mum!)

The other is of the cute cat who hangs out at our house he came inside today as paul and I were tiding all our clothes! We gave about 7 plastic bags full to the salvation army, now our clothes can fit in the draws so hopefully we can have a tidyer room!!

2005-10-29T10:11:00.000+13:00

Ive finally figured out how to add links to my bloog....
Itll take me a while but I hope to get them going bit by bit in the next while.

2005-10-29T09:25:00.000+13:00

We've had a really fun week, catching up with freinds, Allan, Jeremy C, (went to Ben and Karen wedding ceremony it was so nice!) And then we met up with Pam my freind from primary school which was also very fun and we met with Frank and Melva as well. So its been pretty full on wiht visitor from all over the country.

We did find time to go for our first swim of the season at the beach Paul and Allan and I swam at taylors mistake last sunday (yes it was cold), Jess and Lydia came to the beach with us too, it was such a nice day and such nice weather all week.

Also our work social club played paintball last night, the place was really cool the guns were good and everyone was having a great time (and playing by the rules) but still I didnt manage to enjoy it all that much. But still I would recommend it to those who do like that sort of thing, it was "The ultimate game" on macleans island road.

2005-10-22T10:04:00.000+13:00

David Hasselhoff was on Rove live last night it was hilarious. There is this thing called Hoff-mail, basically jokes about "the hoff" anyway I think its funny (and so does David H. he was wearing a "Dont hassell the Hoff" t-shirt.

2005-10-13T18:34:00.000+13:00

Here are some photos from my mums visit. It was really good to have her to stay.

We are in Auckland this weekend its going to be alot of fun...
Pauls Dads wedding, seeing family and friends and that.

2005-10-05T19:13:00.000+13:00

Here are somephotos I took a while back Ive been meaning to post. One is in our garden when it snowed here in christchurch, the other is at Mt Hutt when we went tabogganing with chris and holly, the person is Paul.

My mum is coming to visit on Saturday!

2005-09-20T14:07:00.000+12:00

Photo of me courtesy of Malcolm S. From my EU days (about 3 years ago)
when I wasnt as stickly

2005-09-10T11:11:00.000+12:00

Ages ago I wanted to write about something but I ran out of time, it was about a month ago now; Paul and I went to an open meeting about water resource allocation
In the Canterbury region it was interesting, but the funny thing was at the end when it was time for questions etc. The chair of the meeting (Bob Parker- Mayor of Banks Peninsular) asked that only questions be asked IE no long winded statements. So the first guy gets up and what does he do makes a 5 min statement about what he thinks, so Bob says to him (semi-annoyed) so is there a question in that and the guy says "umm…... What do you think of that?!" Well it was funny I thought at the time, maybe not so much any more!

2005-09-03T10:43:00.000+12:00

Well I still cant figure out how to change the side bar thing.... Ill
have to get paul to show me.

I think I need some more pictures to make my blog more interesrting

Maybe I need to say something contriversial....

Maybe my "different" spelling makes it all worthwhile anyway!!

2005-09-02T09:29:00.000+12:00

How could I have been so slack.... I dont know.

Went rock climbing again last night (have been quite alot recently) I went with Holly
last night, It was fun. I think I have a bruise on my chin (an improovement on last time when I briused my knee, head

2005-08-01T11:22:00.000+12:00

Here is a quote by Albert Einstien (the spelling is my own), I saw it is the weekend press.

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science."

In other news today for the first time I moosed my tooth (actually my teeth but it rhymed) The dentist sugessed that I use the stuff called tooth moose that hopefully will help re-calcify my teeth as ive had alot of trouble with them.

2005-07-24T06:03:00.000+12:00

Someone at work said to me yesterday (paraphared)
busyness is all in in your head i.e its a choice

I dont know that I completly agree, Ive been working alot of over time this week.
I supose it was a choice somewhere back there, anyway speaking of work here is a
picture I took of myself eating lettuce at last years work Christmas BBQ

2005-06-29T10:12:00.000+12:00

Ok so last night at Expresso I was VERY embarrassed because during a game of “cranium” I became VERY confused as to just who MR T was!! I had to get my team to guess who he was without saying names or places! I failed miserably!

My MR T was a 1990s rapper who was on CSI!

Oops so now I’ve done some home work and found out

I’ve had a break through!!! ICE T not MR T was on Law and order: SVU! That’s where I got the 90s rapper thing from!

Mr T was an actor not a rapper and he was most famous for his role in the A-team (1980s). And also in one of the Rockys. About the only thing I was right about was the fact that he relatively recently became a Christian.

So as Paul said to me “I pity the fool who doesn’t know who Mr T is!!”

More info found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T

2005-06-23T10:08:00.000+12:00

Theres been a rumor going around that my name is spelt Ann! Its actually Anne.
Not saying this because I mind I dont mind often people call me Anna which I also dont really mind. It just it could get confusing and I thought I should officially set the record striaght!

2005-06-16T19:41:00.000+12:00

Ok so for all you gues who have been hanging out for my latest update here it is............

Yesterday evening I went to a Tae-Kwon do class in Riccarton.

The story goes that I used to train in Auckland; I trained for about 3 years (ages 15-17) in which time I got my red belt. I was aiming for my black belt in the next year when I quit, now quitting is not something I do easily.

I decided to quit because I felt it was the right thing to do, primarily for faith-based reasons, I felt it was something that “God wanted me to do.” It was a hard decision to explain to my instructor who wasn’t a Christian and who was relying on me as her assistant instructor.

Looking back now I still feel it was the right thing to do, my time at university was great and I needed to be able to focus on other things (I guess the thing with the training is that it can be quite time consuming). I also feel that I’ve had a chance to figure out my own value as a person because of God and not because of other things. (Like the colour of your belt)

But here the slightly contentious thing; at the time friends had bought up the whole thing of martial arts not being spiritually wholesome. I had for years told them that the ITFNZ brand of Tae-Kwon do (TKD) was in no way dodgy spiritually. We did not chant or meditate or have any idols or anything. The patterns (like set moves equivalent to Katta in Karate) have meanings but they represent Korean history they tell a story not anything suspect. There are some marital arts I would not do for spiritual reasons but not TKD. However this talk did get to me and I think in the end I thought a martial art is not worth risking damaging my relationship with God/Jesus over. However now I’m thinking maybe I was wrong to give in to that pressure??

When I did quit I never sold my uniform and I always said to myself I would only go back if I again felt that was what “God wanted”.

So it’s been 6 years so what made me go to a class?

Well I suddenly stared thinking about it a couple of months ago and I do need some sort of regular exercise and I know that it’s great for my asthma.

I think that it was a God thing; I think that he did lead me to go to that class, I think there was some release going there and feeling like I could look at it with unbiased eyes, and actually make an adult decision about it. You see for me quitting/giving up on something is so hard and there is still a part of me that would like to reach my goal of getting my black belt, but being there I realised that I don’t actually need it.

The question I have now I where to from now?

I’m not entirely sure I want to start back again there are things to think about.

-Time commitments especially as I train for black belt

-Time away from Paul

-Is it worth it maybe there’s something else I could do (the only other sport that was really get me excited is rock climbing and I do like soccer) One of the nice things about martial arts is you do it alone and I think I really prefer that.

-Possibly violence issues? TKD is not a very violent martial art, it is known for its kicks and jumping techniques and as being an particularly artistic martial art (I always loved the challenge of perfecting techniques the precision of a human body) HOWEVER you are learning how to hurt some one. Anyway I’ve been going on long enough, these are just some of my thoughts, I guess Ill think about it some more.

2005-06-01T18:40:00.000+12:00

The Simpson’s tonight (old episodes channel 3 at 5.00) was talking about something we touched on at Expresso last night, Science and Religion! Anyway it was all scientists vs religious until the end where everyone (except Lisa and Marge) gave up and gave in to Consumerism. I thought that was really funny.

To do my part for the cause I would really like a digital camera
(but instead will pay for dentist bills)

2005-05-30T17:44:00.000+12:00

Well it sure has been a while…..

I don’t know if I’m cut out for this blogging thing! But it think ill give it another try.

I went to the dentist today and it was most disheartening, I’ve been trying really hard with my teeth brushing really well and flossing once a day. And it did pay off I have no new holes and they said my teeth/gums are in great condition…. BU T I have to have 2 old fillings replaced they are only 1 ½ years old and at the time I said to them that they went smooth and that food was getting stuck, they said there was nothing they could do about it. So now I have to get it replaced for a cost of 300 dollars. Its just annoying that they didn’t do it right the 1st time. Going to the dentist is so expensive its just crazy. I bet there are a lot of people out there who simply cant afford to go.

On happier news I made a pavlova for the first time last week it didn’t rise very much so paul refered to it as “sweet egg pie” but it was nice.

Hari huri tau

2005-04-01T10:58:00.000+12:00

Its my birthday,
I think my Maori is correct I know that to Hari huri tau ki a koe is to say happy birhday to you but I dont know how to say to me so Ive just gone with "happy birthday" in general.

So yeah the tradition at our work place is that you bring morning tea for everyone which went well. I even did some baking which I haven’t done for a while.

I don’t mind being asked how old I am, but I don’t like being asked what I got (luckily I haven’t been asked that so far this year!) I hate that at Christmastime too ever since I was a kid maybe it’s because the kids who asked always got much more or much flasher stuff than me or maybe because I don’t like the gift/material possession emphasis. Gifts can make you feel good but we all know it’s the relationships and the love shared behind them that count in the long run eh..

It is nice to receive things though isn’t it, I do like practical things. A good gift idea for people who don’t need things is vouchers for experiences whether it is a concert or a movie or a dinner out.

But as they say gift giving/receiving is one of the love languages and is a way that all of us can experience love. This makes me think of gifts I have received of the years from a monopoly set that I really wanted and those cool flowering paper trees you used to get way back. Then there’ gifts like some one doing something for you when you felt like you didn’t deserve it, like a special dinner when you feel sick. This makes me think in a new light of Jesus’ special gift of a new life and eternal life that he has given me. For all the gifts from family, friends and God (from whom all things come) I am very grateful.

Get Serious

2005-03-30T11:02:00.000+12:00

Well Ive figured out what to do so now Im starting to think about what to say..

I guess I dont have a major cause like others, I have a number of more minor causes I guess
I dont have a particular horse to get on. But this is making me think more about what I care about and there are things in there and maybe I can get them out!!

Next experiment

2005-03-30T09:52:00.000+12:00

This is a photo of a whippet these are the dogs that I like....

Yes this was the next experiment- getting a picture on my blog!

Some Background

2005-03-26T13:16:00.000+12:00

I am a 20 something female New Zealander

I work as a "scientist" I like science and I enjoy my job, I generally enjoy life also...
I guess you could describe me as some what of an optomist.
I particularly like microorganisms, and although am not working in the area yet would like to end up some time in the future in the area of envornmental microbology.

I like the beach I like to "surf" (Im not very good but I like to be out there in the water)

I am married to Paul and so have inherited an intrest in polical goings on and current events ect
We are Christians and go to Opawa Baptist here in Christchurch

I am secretly messy

Time to start

2005-03-25T09:22:00.000+12:00

I guess its time I got myself a blog, it seems like the thing to do.

I dont want to be one of those hefty serious ones just some where to prehaps start to put thoughts to paper once again.

The title currently is umi no ko it means (in my 16 year old sort of japanese: girl of the sea or "sea girl") couldnt think of anything else except maybe friend of microorganisms.

I though maybe I could put some of my poems on here and other random thoughts.

I need some sort of disclaimer of course about my terrible spelling.....

Now lets see how this works!