Illinois Vacation

Illinois was the 6th state I stayed in!

We (Keith, Meredith, Gracie, Isaac, Matty and I) drove approximately 10 hours (longest road trip ever!!) on the 3rd of July to Springfield (the capital of Illinois, and no not the Springifeld where Bart Simpson is from; in fact there are many Springfields throught the USA).

We stayed with family friends - Margie and Dard who were just great!!

We spent half the day with them on the '4th of July', hanging out by their pool which was lovely and then we traveled another 3 hours south to a small town Benton (like Putaruru size!) for Merediths' family reunion.

Had a tonne of fun there, hung out at the lake for a 4th of July picnic (now on the 5th of July), with all the family, went out on a boat one day which was nice as it was a beauitful day so just chilled in the water for a while.

On the Monday we drove up to St Louis (Missouri) where we went to an awesome kids museum with the relatives, and saw the gateway arch.

We dropped Keith of at the airoprt and went on back to Springfield.

That week we saw the Linclon museum, had donuts from 'mel-o-cream' yum yum and hung out at the pool.

We then went on to Chicago where we stayed with family friends, the Harters (Miris future home :P). They live in a suburb of Chicago so one day I took the train downtown (with a niece and friend of Karri Harters) and caught up with my cousin Dean, his fiance Emily and a friend of theirs. It was a big coinicidence that we were in the city the same day - Dean and Emily were driving cross country, moving from California to New York and we happened to be in Chicago the same day!! It was soo good to see Dean again and meet the very sweet Emily. It was fun to hang out and see a bit of the city with them.

It was great to see the Harters again, and spend time with them, but the following day it was time to head back to Minneapolis. Only a 6 hour drive (like from Putaruru to Wellignton I guess) this time, and it was nice to see the countryside of Wisconsin again.

Sport

I didn't expect many Americans to know what rugby was, let alone there be a women's rugby team in Minneapolis/St Paul (and more than one at that!).

I knew I had brought my mouthguard all the way to America for some reason! lol

So I found a team on the net and went along to a few trainings. They are a very good team - very skilled and also competitive which is great!

The team were vey nice and welcoming to me. I went along and watched them play their cross-town rivals one saturday in May, which was a great game to watch (I could have played for a little bit but I forgot to take along my mouthguard :S).

Their main rugby season is in the Fall (Autumn), so I had a month to think about whether I wanted to be a part of the team.

I decided not to be as it would have been a big commitment with trainings twice a week, and I would have had to travel quite a bit out of state to saturday games. They are a really good team who are hoping to get to the nationals, so I wish them all the best and hopefully I will get to see them play a few games this season.

So on that note I joined a soccer team :) We have just finished our season (which ran through summer) which I am disappointed about but I had a fun time!

It was a step up from saturday morning Putaruru High School girls team! So I learnt quite a bit from the players on my team - they are really good players!

Games were played on Tuesday and Thursday nights, all around the Minneapolis area, so through it I saw a few different places I wouldn't have necessarily gone to.

We had a mixture of wins, draws and losses but it was so much fun. The gals were really nice, and it was great soccer!

Even though the games were at night, it sould get soo hot. The humidity is huge here in Minnesota (well especially for me) so the games were definitly a great work out!

New York, New York!

On the 8th of May, Tessa and I arrived in New York(!!) - 11.30 Thursday night.

We were greeted at the airport by Bronwyn and Matt (my cousin and her husband).

It was soo good to see them, especially as I hadn't seen them for a while, and a bonus was them being kiwis, you sort of miss them after a while :P

We caught the bus with them back to their apratment - we couldn't have done it without them!

I made 'friends' with a guy on the bus. He kept on saying 'Don't go to Brooklyn, don't go to Brooklyn' and telling me all this scary stuff about it, then he would say haha just joking, yip I make the coolest friends :)

Bron and Matt lived by Columbia uni in Manhattan, was a pretty sweet apartment :)

On the Friday, Tessa and I went to the statue of liberty and Ellis Island. We caught the subway, which was easier than I thought it would be (thanks Matt for your help!).

It was a wet miserable day and we grabbed these plastic poncho raincoats thinking they were free but NO! nothing is free in NY!

We waited in the pouring rain for about half n hour before we went through security checkpoints before boarding the ferry to go to the islands.

We decided not to hop off at the staute of liberty cos of the rain, but had a good view from the ferry.

Ellis Island is an island where some of the first US imigrants came to get checked out etc, to see if they were allowed to stay in America. It was really interesting.

It was really cold and wet which kinda sucked, but it was an awesome experience to be there all the same!!

Tessa and I then meet up with Bronwyn at the Museum of Modern Art, then we also went to the wax museum which was a tonne of fun!

On the Saturday, we went to the Guggenheim museum - which was very interesting! We also went up the empire state building which was incredible!!! We were soo high and it was amazing to see New York that way - an absolute must do in NY!

On the way home from Times Square that night we ended up at the wrong subway station, but decided we could walk home from there..but we ended up in the wrong part of town (not quite the bronx but nearly!!) In the end we rang our saviours (Bronwyn and Matt) who directe us to the nearest subway station, it was good to get home safely that night~

On Sunday we did a tour of the NBC studio, a bike tour around Central Park - that was super fun! The park is soo huge, and it was kewl to be there and see different places where movies have been filmed. One of the highlights of the whole weekend was going to Legally blonde - the broadway! It was a hilarious show!! The scenes, the acting, the music - everything was amazing!!! It was fun to go there with Matt and Bronwyn too (secretly I think Matt enjoyed it the most :P)

On our last day in New York we rode the subway all the way to Brooklyn (across the Brooklyn Bridge) to go the DUB pie shop - the down under pie shop. Tessa had found out about it and we knew we had to go there. In America they don't have meat pies like they do back home!

And the trip was worth it, unfortuantely it was pouring down with rain so we didnt walk back over the Brooklyn bridge, which I heard gives a great view of New York.

Overall it was an awesome weekend. It was great to catch up with Matt and Bronwyn and stay with them, and also to spend the weekend with my fellow NZer Tessa :) (small town represent)!

My first half marathon!

-Before

On the 4th of May, I completed my first half marathon.

I did not know what to expect, but it was more enjoyable than I thought it would be! At the 6mile mark I thought it was never going to end, but then at the 8mile mark I got some energy from somewhere.

It was held at Lake Minnetonka, approx 30mins drive from my house. Meredith and Sarah Graff (friend, neighbour and also Merediths business partner) also did it (thats how I came about doing it).

It was great weather for it too, a nice cloudy day.

-After

Some spring photos

Tessa, Sabrina, Nina and I at Lake Calhoun

The gymnastics meet at the University of

Minnesota

The church of St Paul at St Paul City

And the wall came tumbling down...

So the wall outside our house that seperates our street and the freeway came tumbling down! They are doing extensions to the freeway (motorway) so they took it down and its going to be down for a year or so!!! We weren't really looking foward to it but suprisingly it hasn't made much difference to things, there hasn't been a lot of noise because of it thankfully.

Well it has been a busy past week and a bit. A week ago on Sunday I had my monthly aupair gathering with the rest of the aupairs in my area. That was quite nice, we ate out at a vey american place 'Famous Dave's' where the 'ribs' are quite famous so of course I checked them out and I give my thumbs up to.

The next day,;Monday night I went to the movies with Tessa, Emma and Henna (a neighbouring aupair from Finland). We went to some movies at a town called Hopkins (about 15min away) and believe it or not our movie tickets were only $2.50!! It was great! Hehe we saw 27 dresses which is a predictable chick flick but cute all the same.

On the Wednesday I went to a Bible study group called 'young life' at the neighbouring city called St Paul (though it and Minneapolis are basically joined together - they're known as the 'Twin Cities') I went along with Annalise, (who knows Meredith from the skating ring where Gracie has her skating lessons) who goes to the University of Minnesota (known as 'the U'). I really enjoyed it, there were I would guess around 40 people, mostly college (university) students aged round 18-25.

The past weekend has been my busyiest yet socially! On the friday night I went along to the 'Wizard of Oz' play at the 'U' with Annalise and a few of her friends. It was a really good play, very talented acting and singing! There were many local (american and university) connatations throughout the play that I laughed along with the crowd pretending I knew what the joke was!
Before it started I had my first experience in a dorm cafeteria! (at the uni) There was soo much food selection, not gross looking food like in the movies either! I was pretty excited to be there! Had a really good night.

After working Saturday morning, I went with Keith and Merdith to their newphews middle school play. It was about the Beatles - a cute school play.
That night I went along with Tessa and her host family to a univeristy woman's gymnastics meet. That was amazing to see live!!! Something I have always wanted to do! The university of Minnesota is in the top 10 universities in the country for gymnastics, so it was top quality gymnastics performances.

Just a few facts - there are 53,000 students at the University of Minnesota.
- the first open heart surgery ever was performed here
- One of the largest universities in the USA

After that, Tessa and I caught up with a few aupair friends and went downtown.

On Sunday, Henna, Tessa and I tried out the bus system. We first went to uptown (a concept in cites throughout the states) where I found a shop I just love called urban outfitters then we headed downtown. The buses were pretty easy, not to confuisng or too scary (As someone had heard they were). You pay $1.5o and you can make as many transfers as you want for the next 2 and a half hours.

Oh yea, a few exciting things to note! Tessa and I are going to New York for the weekend in early May! It is all booked and we are rearing to go!
Also I had been on a waiting list for a half marathon (that Meredith is doing) and was emailed the other day to say a few spots had come up, so I am now registered for my first half marathon, on May the 4th.

Yip so as you can see its been a pretty busy week...Take care!

Random things

All the time I am constantly thinking, "Yea, I've got to put that on my blog'. But when I come to writing it I forget!!!

Just a few things that I find funny/interesting:
-There is a gas (petrol) station called 'Super America', another one is called 'Holiday'
-They drive on the other side of the road :P
-Amerians like to use the word super
-Meredith and Keith think its funny that I use the word "flash' to describe things (though Tarn and I thought maybe its just because we are from Putaruru!)
-Most people I meet when they find out from NZ say "Oh I've heard its a beautiful place', or 'I've always wanted to go to NZ' or 'I've heard (from friends that have visited NZ) that NZ's are the nicest people!' - So there you go!
-I think I'm going to set up a seperate column for this that I can keep on adding to this as its a daily thing I hear or see funny things.

Most of the snow had disappeared by last Sunday then on Monday it snowed all day (the most snow I had seen falling), it was almost a blizzard!! (well to me anyway). But today the temp was in the late 50s (round 14 degress celsius) so most of the snow has once again gone. Though the locals say winter is not usually this long - though snow can come as late as late April. Sounds like the same sort of thing is happening in NZ with the long Summer?!

This week was Gracie's schools spring break (the schools don't always have it on the same week) so on Wednesday evening we went and stayed overnight at a water park. We arrive there round 7 so had a few hours that night for swimming and going on the 'mean' cool slides. They were seriously awesome slides - the best I've been on.
It was a fun overnighter -the kids really enjoyed it (it was like a vacation). And so thursday morning we hung out at the pool and slides for a few more hours. Gracies a little dare devil!! We went on a tube down a slide together (its dark and scaryish) backwards and she wasn't even scared!! That was a heap of fun.

Went to a zoo this morning in St Pauls (neighbouring city, though its basically joined to Minneapolis - they're called the 'Twin Cities'). That was really nice - we meet up with some friends of the Johnsons there. It was a really cute zoo and it was free :) There was also a conservatory there so we had a look in there and there was a 'Fern' room. I said to Meredith when we walked in 'This looks like NZ bush' (I kinda thought ferns as a whole were native to NZ but no they're not). But anyway lots of the ferns were NZ ones!!! I was so proud, and there was also the Silver Fern :)

Signing off for now...

Pictures for 'Minneapolis so far' blog

Tessa, Emma and I

The 'Target Centre' where the b-ball game was

By a NBA statue at the basketball game

My first 'Blizzard' (from Dairy Queen) on my jacket thanks to Matty!

Keith and baby Matty

Isaac and Gracie

Minnehaha falls (10min drive away)

Flamingos at the zoo

The girls and I at the Minnesota Zoo

Me at Lake Calhoun

Lake Calhoun

On a snowy day - photo taken from my back porch

Isaac's first day of soccer

Minneapolis so far

I am useless at doing blogs as you probably can tell. Haha even posting the pictures with the blog I am finding difficult! lol

So I have been in Minneapolis since the 21st of Feburary. I really love it here!!!!

My host family is fantastic (I am trying to find a good word to describe them but I can't think of a good one word to describe them)! I feel so so blessed to be a part of their family for the year.

I could have ended up with any family but I am soo truly thankful to God that he has placed me with the Johnson family! (By the way Meredith said any of my friends or family are welcome to come stay so here is an open invitation :P).

They made me feel welcome and right at home right away and it was soo cute - they gave me a welcome home balloon, an american star balloon and a smiley face balloon at the airport when they picked me up :) Gracie also gave me a cute little stuffed animal.

Most of you already know, but I guess some of you don't - Keith has his own custom cabinetry business and Meredith co owns a personalised stationary business.

They are awesome people, and its great - they love People magazine and American Idol ;)

Because I haven't been good at keeping this updated - I will try and summarise a few things I have done so far.

I have made some friends (which some of you may laugh at :P) which is great, and my host Mom is really encourages me to make friends :)

Went to the Mall of America, the biggest Mall in America - a 15min drive from my house (though for Tessa and I it took a little longer as we kinda got lost! lol). It is really really big! We didnt get lost in the mall but we did get lost in a shop - Macys!

There is a theme park in the middle of the mall that I am looking foward to going on at some stage.

One Sunday afternoon I went with a few aupairs (Tessa - a NZ aupair, and Nina and Sabrina - German aupairs) to the Minnesota zoo. That was great fun - it was a chilly day though so it was good there were animals indoors to look at.

Have been to a NBA basketball game; Minnesota Timberwolves vs New York Nicks in Downtown Minneapolis.

That was a pretty cool experience. Though Minnesota aren't doing that well this season so the game didn't really draw a big crowd. We (Tessa and Emma - an aupair from Sweden) had cheap seats right up the top, but we could have moved closer but we quite liked our posy :)

A few Saturdays ago watched Isaac at his first soccer game. its was soo cute and funny! All these 3 year olds running around. Of course it was inside at an Elementary School gymnaisum.

Also the day after I arrived in Minneapolis I got to watch Gracie at her Ice Skating lesson - that was very kewl to watch!! Will try it sometime, may get Gracie to teach me a thing or two.

Have been basically been keeping up my fitness, I really love going for runs here. Theres a pretty trail along a river near our house that I like to run along. Also Lake Harriet is a 10min run away. It is soo beautiful, especially as it is frozen over with snow at the moment - though today when I was down there I saw it is starting to melt.

Went on a 7 mile run last Saturday with Meredith and a few of her friends (they are training for a half marathon - I'm on the waiting list). I think that is the longest distance I have ran at once time. It was really nice though, we ran round Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun (they are next to each other). To make it more memorable, it was snowing beautiful soft snow flakes that would stick to the end of our eyelashes.

Believe it or not I have made 3 pavolvas since I have been here (making a total of 4 my entire life so far!) Yes I know some of you probably don't believe me, so I am taking a photo of every one I make as proof. They have been a real hit I must say, but then they have nothing to compare it too :P

On Easter Sunday, we had brunch after church with the Johnsons good friends Skip and Corey and their two girls. It was a really nice day - good food and good company :)

So far I have gone along with my family to their church on Sunday - City Church. It is real nice, but there are not many people my age so I am going to have a look around at a few churches in the area and see if I can get conected into a small/cell group.

So I have tried here to ring you up to speed with my happenings here in the U.S of A and I will endeavour to keep this blog updated.

God Bless,

Cilla

Arizona

The following Wednesday after I arrived in Minneapolis, I headed with my family (Keith, Meredith, Gracie and Isaac) to Arizona (Within less than 2 weeks of being in the US, I had been to 5 states altogether!!).

Originally their was a muck up with the flights and I was going to be on a seperate flight that left nine minutes after the other one, but it was sorted out in the end but our seats were all over the place in the plane. It was roughly a 3 hour flight and we flew over the southern part of the Rocky Mountains (Colorado) and possibly the Grand Canyon - it was amazing too see from in the air!

We stayed at Merediths Aunt and Uncles place in Phoenix, Arizona. They are wonderful people who made me feel right at home :) It was a really nice week of relaxing and hanging out and getting to know the family better.

For those that don't know, Arizona is on the border or Mexico. It is a desert land and there a cactuses everywhere!

We went to the park lots, went on a few hikes (which I made the mistake of saying tramp which they now mock me about :P), went for a swim, and also went to a train park one day. The weather was in the 70 degress Farenheit so it was like going back to the NZ summer days. We also stayed a night with Keith's Mom who also lives there. The picture below with the mountain is Camel mountain, if you look closely you will see it is shaped like a camel lying down.

Kia Ora!

Coming up this Sunday, I have been in the US a month! Time has flown by and I have been meaning to set this blog up for a while, so here it finally is!

A quick rundown on my time so far:

I arrived in the USA at LA airport on Sunday the 17th of Feburary. From there I flew to New Jersey where I had my aupair orientation from Monday through till Thursday.
I didn't really have any hassles with the travelling which was great!
The orientation was ok, I meet some really cool South African girls who I hung out with during the week. And I had two lovely roommates who also came to Minnesota - one was from Brazil, the other from Ukraine.
On Tuesday night, there was an optional bus tour to New York City, which of course I took up the offer. And excuse the pun but 'I love New York'! It was so beautiful and exciting. A few friends and I got a piece of 'New York' clothing as a momentum.
We saw Central Park. The Plaza (form Home Alone 2), Ground Zero, the Statue of Liberty (a far away view), umm and lots of other famous places.
It was a very cold night which made me think maybe I couldnt handle Minneapolis (as that is way more colder with snow - New York didn't have snow!!)

On Thursday afternoon, us aupairs all went our seperate ways to start our new lives.