Tomorrow is March and with it comes change.

Tomorrow I have the privilege and joy of greeting a man at the airport. This man has chosen to explore new horizons and make great changes and sacrifices in his life. Why? Because he likes me.

Wow!

What a thing to happen!

My heart and my head are swirling with the enormity of what this really means.  I’m both scared and excited and I’m pretty sure he is too.

Right now, I have an amazing glow of positivity surrounding me.  I have hope for what the future might bring, not only with this new relationship but just generally across many aspects of my life.  I see the world around me as a place full of light and wonder.

I recently saw my friend, Jo, post a reference to a photo-a-day challenge for March.  It came from Fat Mum Slim and it looked like it would be nice thing to do to capture moments of the next month.

I’m already posting to the Flickr Group “Happy365″ where we take a photo each day of the things that make us happy.  This is slightly different.  I can see that I will be challenged to see the world differently each day.  I’m looking forward to experiencing the enlightenment of this challenge.

March holds so much in store for me.  A new relationship. A new challenge.

And, to end the month, Easter! Easter Sunday being the greatest representation of new birth and renewal that I can think of!

Here’s to all things new!  To new horizons and to new adventures!

MARCH ON!

Since Christmas Day 2012, when #blog12daysxmas began, I have had some ups and downs. Mostly ups. Notably, during this time I have also travelled to Auckland, New Zealand for a 13 day holiday.

I have blogged about spirituality and fulfillment, love and kindness, the everyday, the less everyday, calm beauty, relaxation, new people in new places, reflection, more new people in new places, shopping with new people, even more new places with new people, and (whaddaya know) even MORE new people and some new things!

After meeting so many people for the first time, some of whom were not entirely new to me as our introductions had been made virtually many years ago and others who were a completely new introduction at the time of physical meeting, I could be forgiven for thinking that meeting new people is a little tedious or draining. NOT SO!!

Oh what wonderful people I encountered! Such beautiful souls. Happy, caring people. People who have opened their hearts and homes to me. I am so very, very blessed. My wonderment is no less dulled by the frequency with which I meet such incredible people.

I had begun to feel very alone in the world but now I know for absolutely certain that I am loved. What an epiphany to have!

How can I be sad or alone in a world that has such people in it?

You are all in my heart and I cherish each and every one of you. No matter how short a time we share together, no matter the way you come into my life – be it via Twitter or a chance meeting in the street or a comment on a blog post – you have touched my life. For that I am grateful and for that I thank God for you.

Well, that just looks like a weird sentence, doesn’t it?!

I met two beautiful souls for the first time: @hakiclark and @stitchsarah. We, along with @seanfish, shared good food and good conversation. Stories were told. Smiles beamed. Hearts were opened. Hugs were had. Topics discussed were from the mundane to the meaningful.

So I had the privilege to share a part of my story – my self – with lovely people who, in turn, shared their stories with me. It was a special part of my day and a very special part of my holiday so far.

This evening, despite being on holiday…in another parish…in ANOTHER COUNTRY!!!!…I volunteered my services as organist (and singer) at Mass. Being the Feast of Epiphany, the parish priest was glad to give the Mass the music the feast deserves and I was glad I could be a part of that worshipping community in that way.

It was another first for me… I played the entire Mass on a pipe organ. I’ve played pipe before but usually only as a visitor “having a go”. I had literally only minutes to familiarise myself to the instrument and all in full hearing of the congregation below. Oh yeah! That’s the other thing! I was up in the choir loft! I’ve never played from a loft before!

So I had the joy of sharing my talent – a part of my self.

For all the sharing, for the giving of myself… I don’t feel like anything is missing. Rather, I feel like I have gained so very much. I feel both at peace and stronger. Uplifted. Supported. Embraced.

Not a bad way to end the day.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Epiphany and my reflection on #blog12daysxmas.

I went with a lovely couple, Anne and Des, to visit some of the attractions of Auckland. We began with One Tree Hill. Oh my, what a narrow winding road that is to the top! My fear of heights was beginning to kick into gear on that journey. The view from there was breathtaking though.

Afterwards, we went to Eastern Beach where we had “fush ‘n’ chups” (sorry…I just had to). I’m not a fish eater by any stretch – I’m even known for my dislike of the taste of fish – but I really did enjoy this piece of terakihi.

Following lunch, we ventured further around the shoreline to Musick Point where, again, the views were stunning. I was struck most by the colour of the water. Actually, there were so many shades of blues and greens. Shallow waters and deep. Some in bright sun, some under shadow of cloud.

I was blessed with yet another very enjoyable day on my holiday. This is how a holiday should be.

I had a lovely day out with another of my Twitter friends – the beautiful and funny @manikpixi. We had an incredible brunch…where I had a gargantuan slice of haloumi on bruschetta.

We looked at shops and dropped a little cash on those January sales. I salivated over some spectacularly gorgeous footwear and giggled over some spectacularly unusual designs.

I surprised myself at just how restrained I was – limiting myself to only one purchase (not footwear).

After that, I found that I was pretty tired so a nap was the order of the day and I’ve been in sleepy chillout mode ever since.  This holiday has got to be the most relaxing I’ve ever had.

I love life!

o hai

My dear friend, Sean, took me to the Arataki Visitor Centre where I saw a super cute gecko. He saw me, came over to me, smiled and posed as if he was waving to me! After that, we (that is myself and Sean, not the gecko) took a nature walk through the gorgeous rainforest of the Waitakere Ranges.

After that, we went to the beach at Piha where the sand is black…and very hot! I foolishly ignored warnings to keep my shoes on, opting to look the part rather than follow good sense and good advice to protect my feet. I feel like I’ve now done my training for walking over hot coals! That sand was pretty amazing though and it made my pink toenails look pretty darn sexy.

I have a tradition of dipping at least my toes in the bodies of water that I visit. I have done so on two sides of the Pacific Ocean, one side of the Atlantic Ocean and one side of the Indian Ocean…not to mention a few meaningful rivers and lakes. I can now add the Tasman Sea to my collection.

As if all of this activity was not enough, I finally got to meet long time Twitter friend @greengecko29 (aka Penny). She is even more delightful IRL! We had a lovely zert…which included gloop and the most delectable lemon meringue pie.

Now sunkissed and tired, I shall take myself off to bed for some much needed rest. Tomorrow is another day!

New Year’s Day is the day to do that. Think back on the year that has ended and make plans for the one ahead. Actually, my reflection was a little late in starting as I had a rather long sleep in and a relaxing pace to the entire day.

At this juncture I’m going to let my 2012 projects speak for themselves.

You may recall from New Year’s Day 2012 that I undertook to sum up each day of the year with one word and note it in my little diary. That is now at an end. I think I’ll continue it this year.

I have created a word cloud based on the contributions to the diary that I remembered to make!

I also said I’d take a photo of myself every day. I’ll leave you with the fruit of my efforts.

Not really.

I wandered as a tourist, yes. But I was not lonely. My evening plans include attending a party with a dear friend whom I met through Twitter so that kept my heart filled with the promise of good company. I also had a chance meeting in a shop with another of my twitter followers. It was unexpected and quite a pleasant interaction. He congratulated me on my 20000th tweet merely minutes after it had occurred.

The day was spent meandering from shop to shop, looking and soaking up a little bit of Auckland city life. I’m quite drained at the moment because of it!

I’d better muster my reserves for that party tonight!

Here’s a slice of my day in pictures:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

Too often we forget the importance of doing nothing and just taking time to relax. I’m terrible at this. I’m glad I had the inclination and the opportunity coinciding today.

I’m still relaxing so I think I might leave it at that for today.

Remember to relax.

I went up Mount Eden and saw beautiful panoramic vistas of Auckland. It was a magnificent day for it. Blue skies with soft clouds gently kissing the horizon.

This was followed by a trip to Auckland Museum where I saw an array of historical, cultural and zoological displays which showed me the richness of the culture here. There was so much to take in but it was not an affront to the senses.

All in all, it was a lovely day to have as my first full day in New Zealand.