Jenna: Well, this past year has certainly flown by. I can't hardly believe that it is our last week in New Zealand. I know I'm going to utterly fail at putting into words exactly what I'm feeling right now, but I'll try my best.
Reading back on our first posts, it's easy to tell Mitch and I were uneasy about starting a life here. After a relatively short while, though, we realised that fitting in was a lot easier than we expected, and it was going to be the leaving part that was going to be hardest. So far that's proving to be true. I've been riding a roller coaster of emotions this past month, striking anywhere between excited, sad, anxious, stressed, thankful, and elated.
I'll give us some credit where it's due; I think Mitch and I did a pretty good job of seizing every opportunity to try something new or meet new people. We kept open minds and open hearts and were rewarded with riches of the greatest kind: a sense of belonging, and new, lifelong friends. Life in New Plymouth hasn't always been easy - it's hard to try to settle into a place when you know it's only temporary, and I think it's human nature to want to really feel at home - but it's been pretty great. I'm so incredibly grateful to the company I work for for giving us the opportunity to spend the year here, and for making the transition as easy (for the most part) as it was. Back home, I'm grateful that we were able to rent out our home with zero issues to report (thanks, Dad!) and to family who stored all of our crap (thanks Mom and Debbie!). Finally, I'm thankful for the Kiwi people who so impacted our lives here and are making it terribly hard to leave. It's the people we met and befriended who influenced our lives here so much. It's to them we owe every unique Kiwi experience, every Kiwi word absorbed unknowingly into our vocabulary, and every new space in our hearts, just for them. My heart has never been more full.
Thanks, especially, to Mitch - for sticking with me, for supporting me, and for being my partner in crime this past year. We have so much to look forward to, and our year here together just makes me more sure that we are ready to face whatever challenges life throws at us from now until the end of our days.
I'm so sad to leave the wonderful people (you all know who you are) we have met this past year and I will miss you all terribly. I'll miss the country itself, too - its quirks, its landscape, it's Kiwi-ness. It brings me to tears to leave. But I know that we will always feel welcome in this little country again, and we will be back to visit. We are richer people for having been here, and we had a bigger experience than many can even dream about. I'm so glad we took the leap of faith. So while I'm sad, I'm thankful for that sadness - it means we had something truly special here that can never been taken away, or moved away from. We will carry it with us always.
Right, so with all the sad stuff said - I'm REALLY EXCITED to come home! I've missed everyone so much! This Christmas is going to be a special one. I'm excited to go back to our little house and really make it ours. I'm excited to REALLY start planning the wedding - hello, wedding dress shopping! - and just settle into being at home. I'm looking at it with new eyes now, and I've got to say that Canada is looking pretty great. If travel makes you appreciate even one thing, it's how good home is. I'm excited to put to work a list of ambitions I have for when we come home. Life is looking up, and I couldn't be more excited or grateful.
Much love, Farewell, and See You Soon,
Jenna
Very well said Janna :-)
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