White Christmas

T-minus 8 days until we leave for our first trip back to the States since our move. Looking forward to seeing fam and friends - NOT the 20 hours of plane time and potential to get shot by some random whacko while we're there...

We are official!

Guess which nutty family was granted residency today by the New Zealand government?  Yep!  The O'Briens are now kiwis!!  Sweet as!!!

Our first year...

I can't believe it's been a year since we took off on this amazing adventure! Although we miss our family and friends, we couldn't be happier in our new country. Surprisingly, settling in at work has been way more stressful than the personal aspects. There is a decidedly different approach to conducting business than I'm accustomed to, so while my skill set is killing it, the approach to management and cross-functional interraction has been a shock to the system. I keep trying to remind myself that if I can deal with this wackiness, that I'll be just that much better should I decide to move back to a US-based company at some point.

Anyhow, we would LOVE some visitors soon so we can show off our little slice of heaven (hint hint)...