Be less sedentary, office workers

Subtitle: Pedometer challenges emphasize how lazy I am. 

My workplace is doing a walking challenge that runs for 8 weeks. To satisfy the requirements, each week you need to walk 30,000 steps (somewhere around 15 miles of walking). I was all worried because the first day I only got 4800 steps in. Not so good, definitely not on track to get to 30k for the week. I was grouchy because I biked on Monday, and I felt like 20 miles of biking would count for something. Well, my wonderful coworkers informed me that I can make biking and running minutes convert to walking using a handy calculator. I got a LOT of "steps" from that. I'm now ranked 10th in the company for steps so far this week. Yay me!

That's right, I exceeded a goal set by my company.

I've never worn a pedometer before, and it has definitely made me think about how much I walk (or don't walk). Most of the day I'm at my desk, just sitting. Because the different office areas for my department are physically located pretty far apart (a good 10 minute walk), I tend to just communicate with most of my coworkers via phone and email instead of walking out there. I am lazy. You would think that an "athletic" person, someone who runs regularly, that my coworkers would probably think was fit, would walk at least a reasonable distance each day. Nope. The past few days (this is only day 3!) I have tried to walk to the farthest away bathroom and up my water intake so I need to go more often. I'm so crafty. The farthest bathroom is 600 steps round-trip. If I did that 3 times a day, 5 days a week I'd get... 9000 steps. Looks like I've have to be a little craftier to reach 30,000. I do a lot of wandering around at home, to run and change out laundry or put away dishes or whatever, but that's not enough. Here's my other strategies:

-Be less efficient. Put away shoes upstairs, then come back for laundry. 

-Drink from the water fountain instead of a water bottle

-Go see people instead of emailing (meh, that means interacting with people. I'll pass. jk. sorta.)

-Walk to the mailbox instead of getting the mail on the way home from work

Obviously, I'll still get a lot of steps in just from workouts, but on rest days, these tips will help me at least a little. Double obviously, these are not insightful or ground-breaking "tips," they're how I am gaming the system to keep my hard-earned spot in the top 10. Dream big.

Race week!

Last year I wrote a post the week before this same half marathon (I really should run more than 1 half a year so I have more blog content to reference when I'm trying to figure out if I'm failing horribly at training) about a "perfect" training week. Well I'll go so far as to say I had a perfect long run yesterday. Except maybe it would have been more perfect 2 weeks prior to my target race instead of 1 week prior. This is me throwing caution to the wind.

My long run last week was less than stellar and it made me doubt that I could finish the half without walking. I only got to 7.5 miles without fading. This week, I slowed it down a tiny bit for the first few miles, keeping everything right around 9:00/mile, and managed to finish well with 10 miles in 1:32. No walking. It helped that were was significantly less wind this week. It was a bit of a mental struggle at the end, but overall I was happy. I feel a lot more confident about the upcoming race. Right now, the weather looks fine (mid 70's for the high, low % chance of rain), although I know that could change drastically in the next few days. I ran this course last year, but I still figured I'd check out the elevation chart.

Scaling ftw.

The "big climb" is ~100 feet in a little over a mile. I don't remember that part at all. Last year, Nick was with me and he is a great motivator and distractor. I'll be all by myself this year because he's got nagging shin pain that's prevented him from running much. When I'm by myself, with no music, hills are harder. So now I'm worried about that one. Should not have even looked at the elevation map.

Anywho... the blog holds no record of what my longer runs looked like right before the half last year, and neither does my Garmin. Somehow, the Garmin recorded 0 runs last year for me between March 27 and May 1, and only 2 runs after May 1. I realize this actually probably means I didn't wear it between March 27 and May 1, but I'd much rather blame technology. The take home message from all this rambling is I have no idea what my goals should be for this race. It's easy to overshoot based on a final long run that felt really good, but my stomach has been in shambles since we got back from NZ and I'm not confident it'll behave (I got a major cramp after the Clif Shot I took yesterday at mile 5). I also haven't really tested fueling strategies (last 2 long runs I sipped water every 2 miles and had a Gu at 5 mi). I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING. Goals:

A goal: <1:55 (~8:45/mile)

B goal: <1:58 (last year's time, my PR)

C goal: <2:05

I'm going to take it easy on workouts this week. Workout plan:

M: Bike w/Nick

Tu: Run 5

W: Rest

Th: Run 5

F:  Run 3

Sa: Rest

S: Race

My workplace is doing a walking challenge where we try and get at least 30,000 steps a week. That's approximately 15 miles of walking, which is a significant chunk. 3 hours after waking up, I'm at 700 steps. That's sad. Hopefully this thing will motivate me to step away from my desk a little more often. 

NZ: The aftermath

Coming home from 17 days away is hard. It's hard mentally because everything feels weird and new (I can shower without sandals on? what sorcery is this?). It's hard physically because of the time change and needing to be back on a normal sleep schedule. It's hard emotionally because I'd just spent the previous month almost continuously with my best friend, and it was great. I'd definitely recommend taking a couple extra days off to unpack and settle, because what we did was silly and kind of stressful.

We got home on Monday morning, around 9am. My mom got us from the airport and we made a couple stops on the way home. We were tired and out of sorts, but I had scheduled myself to be back in at work the next day. 12 vacation days nearly depleted my supply for the year and I knew I'd be facing a storm of work issues when I got back. Nick and I settled in at home, unpacked as much as possible, and I started on some laundry. We also had to deal with mail, which my parents had kindly collected for us while we were gone. And groceries. Because I am the queen of food not going to waste, we did not have anything perishable left in the house (aside from condiments). That meant no fruit, veggies, cheese, bread. We made a grocery run where we had to replenish our supply of everything. Before I knew it, it was time for bed and time to get ready for work... weird.

My mom bought me these, which meant I got to brag about eating kale chips and how they're delicious and feel self-important for a whole afternoon while devouring the bag. They were ok. 

Returning to work was great and I realized I missed people more than I had thought. I felt pretty good, just discombobulated and overwhelmed, but made it through the day on Tuesday. I was exhausted, and maybe didn't notice how badly my back was hurting by the end of the day. Wednesday was ok, but my back was starting to hurt like it had after the Brussels trip, except in a new spot. It got to the point where I was struggling to put together full sentences because breathing was a challenge. All signs pointed to an ER visit.

At the ER, I got a chest x-ray and they tested my blood for D-dimer, a breakdown product of blood clots. They gave me Percocet for the pain and that was when things got weird. The doctors thought I might have a blood clot from the long flight, but after testing it didn't look like that was the case. Just a muscle strain that's making basic living painful. No big deal. I got a prescription for Valium and Vicodin and was sent on my merry way. Nick was my driver, but I still had paperwork to complete and meds to pay for. At this point, the Percocet was in full force and I was dying- I'm not used to painkillers like that. My head was spinning, I was extremely nauseous, and I was still in major pain. As I paid for my pills, I was desperately searching for a trashcan because I was certain I was going to puke on the nice pharmacy girl. WHY DID SHE HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!?!?!?

This is your brain on drugs.

Thursday, I slept and slept and slept. I woke up for a little while around lunch time to take medication and watched a documentary called "No Impact Man" (I just had to Google that because my drug-addled brain didn't hold onto the title of the movie. Yikes). It was great, but I really struggled to stay awake until the end. Nick came home from work and I woke up again, sort of. I ate some and watched more TV and then was back to bed. I think out of a 24 hour period, I was awake for 4 hours at most. I cannot fathom how anyone gets an addiction to Vicodin because it just make me completely unable to function and I felt constantly nauseous.

My coworkers are so nice.

I got back to work on Friday to find 2 balloons- one for getting married and one for getting sick. They're funny people. There was also chocolate cake that I wanted to love but couldn't because food still felt icky. My back felt about 50% better and far less stabby, but I had to be diligent about taking anti-inflammatories or the pain would start to come back. Luckily I have a super-duper ergonomic work chair, and it was quite supportive and kept me comfy most of the day. 

It's been 2 weeks since then, and I keep having little flare-ups. Anything that has me in a weird position for too long has the potential to make my back go into full shutdown mode. I was in the dentist's chair for an hour and by the time I got up I was in a bad place. I've also had a couple days at work that have been rough. Oddly, working out doesn't feel bad. I can even lift weights using my back without aggravating the muscles too much. I'm just gonna keep on trucking and maybe not take 2 international trips in one month. Ever again. 

New Zealand: Getting home

Getting home from NZ was made infinitely easier when Nick asked if we could just pack my wedding dress instead of hauling it all over. I said yes, he fit it in his suitcase, and we were on our merry way on Saturday afternoon (after going to the Antarctic Center- very cool! Little blue penguins! aww!)

(source) - PS I 

The first surprise was that we had a mini-layover in Sydney, when we thought we flew straight to Bangkok. Luckily, the agent at the ticket counter mentioned that. Otherwise, I think I would have been very alarmed to land in Australia and think we had gotten on the wrong flight. We continued on to Bangkok, arriving in the wee hours of the morning. We had a 20 hour layover there and figured we'd check into a hotel, sleep for a while, and then sightsee until we had to be back on the plane at 9pm.

From the very beginning, it was an adventure. We waited in line at the currency exchange booth for a long while before being told we weren't trying to exchange enough money (50,000 baht minimum. We'd have been hard pressed to spend ~$160 in 20 hours..although we probably did end up spending about that much) and needed to try the places past Immigration. We waited in line for Immigration for another long while and worried when we saw another European-descent looking person (we may have stereotyped way too much, but we had to make some assumptions to determine whether someone might speak English when we were there) get turned away for not having a visa. I had checked online and thought I remembered Americans not needing a visa for short stays in Thailand, but as we neared the Immigration desk I was not so sure. Turns out, we were ok, but the guy checking our immigration cards was not pleased when we put "N/A" as our address in Thailand. Not only are "N" and "A" not letters in the Thai language, they mean even less when put together. After a bit of explaining about not having hotel reservations, we figured out that he wanted us to put "Bangkok" because that was where we were going to be. Simple.

Next, the the currency exchange folks didn't take credit/debit cards.My frustration and sleepiness were building up rapidly and I was also getting concerned by the lack of English speakers. I'd been really spoiled by Brussels, where nearly everyone knew English or we could at least work our way through a conversation. This was my first time in a country where that was not the case and I was having a little bit of culture shock (fact: I am sheltered and sometimes kind of ignorant.) We walked out to the taxi area and were immediately approached by someone (you know how your mom told you never to get in a stranger's car? Yeah, this would have been a time to remember that advice). He told us he could take us to a hotel near the airport, and started leading us away from the taxis that were all parked right there and past some tour buses. It was as shady as it sounds. Especially shady since he didn't actually have a taxi- he was a taxi procurer, that's it. He summoned a taxi from who knows where and as it arrived, so did a transit police officer. Our taxi hookup (taxi pimp?) did not have the proper ID/license to be doing what he was doing, and neither did the taxi driver. At this point, I was on the edge of tears and wanted to smack this guy for being so underhanded. We asked the police officer if we could go and he said yes, so I did my best impression of storming away as possible amongst tour buses. The guy followed behind us but I told him repeatedly I didn't need the police in my life. We found ourselves a legitimate taxi (after another struggle to explain we didn't know which hotel we wanted to go to, just one near the airport... just a hotel.. with beds... sleep...) and he took us to a place called the Valentyn Hotel. As we were driving to this creepy place, I saw a shuttle for the Best Western. Western... I wanted something Western... and it was the Best too. Why weren't we going there instead of the Valentyn? I bet they had breakfast and real air conditioning and toilet paper in the bathroom. The Valentyn Hotel did not have those things. It was a steal, but it was also shady (notice a theme?), noisy, and the bathroom was the same temperature as the outdoors (I am super aware these are the exact definition of First World Problems. It's my blog, I'll sound like a privileged brat if I want to). Regardless, we watched some highly entertaining TV (why was the only American channel Fox News? I swear we're not all like that, Bangkok) and got a few hours of sleep.

After the sweatiest shower of my life, we set out to get to the city. Once again, slightly shady taxi driver. At the airport, the drivers made a big stink about their taxis being metered. This guy had a meter, but didn't use it. We were also having trouble explaining we wanted to go to see monuments, which is a word that does not translate easily. We settled for "downtown." He dropped us off at the Chatuchak Market which was immediately overwhelming. Even at 9am, there were tons of vendors with food and clothing. We walked around for a while, hungry for breakfast. Eventually, we found a spot that had a vegetarian option (the vendor even understood the word "vegetarian"!) and had some food. It was alright. I think this is what I had. Nick had some chicken curry that he said was good. We wandered more and tried to get our bearings. It was still morning, but it was hot, and even though 20 oz. sodas or waters were only about $1.50 each, I couldn't see myself walking around, getting sunburnt and chugging soda for 11 more hours. I had major jet lag and wanted to be wearing pajamas and reclining somewhere while eating something from a package (I am spoiled). It was just a more difficult experience than I had anticipated, between the language barriers, not really knowing where we were, the heat, and how difficult it was for me to find something to eat. We also walked by the feeder animal street, which consisted of all the small animals you'd feed to other animals. Baby turtle and bigger turtles, tons of fish, mealworms, crickets. Petco is basically feeder fish nirvana compared to this place. Seeing the little animals in those really crappy conditions was upsetting.

After getting our fill of the Market, we rode air conditioned public transportation and then hoofed it around the city. We were headed the right direction for the temples and tourist attractions, but things were farther apart than they looked on a map.  We ended up getting a little open air cab (Nick took a video of  what that was like... it was interesting). The guy drove us around for a while (air flow... lovely) after Nick explained to him where we'd like to go, and eventually he had to stop for directions. Sigh. He found another cab driver who explained that we couldn't go in the main temple we'd wanted to see since I didn't have long pants on (it was 100 degrees out!), but he suggested some other attractions. Our driver took us to one of those attractions (the temples are ridiculously ornate... beautiful), then seemed at a loss for where else to go. After more explaining by Nick, we went to another temple. Then he took us to his tailor, who tried to sell us custom made shirts. Really. It was around noon by now, hot as can be, and I was so done with the whole adventure. More explaining. Now we get taken to a boat ramp. The boat operator told us how much it was (1600 baht, which is only about $20/person for a couple hour tour), but we didn't have that much left. When we told them we'd need to get more money, they gave up on us, and we decided it was high time to get some food and maybe rethink our strategy. So we asked to go to a food place.... the driver said "seafood?" and although neither of us eat seafood, we said figured seafood would be served alongside non-seafood and said ok. But no. This was truly a seafood market. We were done. When we told our driver, he asked for far more money than we had originally agreed upon, money we didn't have, but accepted what we did have. Then Nick and I set off to find not-seafood. More walking. So much more. Our food salvation was a restaurant clearly geared towards Westerners. It had American and Australian license plates and some sports paraphernalia and lots of flags. It also had french fries, cold water, and some food options that I could request be made without meat (it still was not air conditioned. Will I never be pleased? no.). We hung out for a while, then got some sweets (Mr. BUN! fluffy balls of gluten and joy). We had a "butter bun" which is 100 times more amazing than it sounds. It was like cinnamon toast without the cinnamon. It was sugar, dough, and butter. I'm still thinking about it... Finally, we headed toward the airport.

It was only once we were back at the airport that we realized there is a hotel ATTACHED TO THE AIRPORT. It's magical. If we had known that, it might have seriously changed our experience, at least the shady cabby transaction part of it. But who has a hotel attached to the airport? I never would have thought of it until we started seeing signs.

Bangkok was a huge adventure and although the heat/confusion/lack of vegetarian options was frustrating, it was a really eye-opening experience. It was really neat to see another culture, especially at the market (although I could have done without seeing all the baby turtles packed into bins) and the temples we saw were truly beautiful.

After a lot of quality time at the Bangkok airport, we had 2 more long flights- to Dubai and then Dubai to Dulles. Those were uneventful (aside from 2 crazy cute babies sitting near us on our last flight), and finally, early on Monday morning, we were home sweet home. We were married, and had had the trip of a lifetime. Mission accomplished. 

Regularly scheduled programming.

I still have a couple of wedding/NZ posts, but we'll talk about running briefly. If you look at my workout log, it's really not exceptional. It does not really look like the log of someone trying to PR in a half marathon in 2 weeks. I should probably re-evaluate that goal.

Here's the highlight of the weekend.

Actually just the first 7 miles were a highlight. The last 2.5 were obviously a struggle. Even before I started the run/walk portion my pace was draggggggggggging (see the time between 50:00 and 1:06- late mile 6, early mile 7). It was gorgeous weather. I had a big breakfast (banana, 2 eggs, cereal, coffee), let it settle, then drank a bunch of water before heading out. Nick joined me for the first 4 miles, which were a 2 mile out-and-back. There was a bit of a headwind on the way out, but I was feeling fresh so it wasn't miserable, just annoying. After dropping Nick off at home, I did 2 more miles in the wind-favorable direction (the road I run on is east-west, with the water in the east, and the wind is usually straight on in one direction or the other). When I went to turn around, I realized how crappy the way home was going to be. I resolved to make it to 8 miles before starting the run/walk but there were some gusts that really sucked (blew? ha!) and I stopped at 7.5 to trudge through to the end. Average pace is not bad... if only the whole half could look like miles 1-7 up there, I'd be happy.

I've done a couple of other medium distance runs lately, but mostly around 5 miles. I plan on attempting 10 again this weekend as a final long run before the half. I was going to lament how I don't feel as prepared as I did last year and blah blah blah but I actually think that, except for being absent from running in April, I might be in a similar place to (as? I can't figure out that one) last year. I re-read some old blog posts and I wasn't running much more than I am now. So who knows. Cautiously optimistic that (as long as the weather doesn't suck and my stomach cooperates and I sleep well) I'll at least be in the neighborhood of last year's time, right around 2 hours.

13 days (yes, I am counting down to a half, which some people can do in their sleep, but it's been a while since I've done a race and a whole year since I've done a half. And almost 6 months since the full. Yikes!). 

New Zealand: The activities

Near daily posts? I should go on vacation more often just so I have something to write about.

This post is largely for me to capture some memories of my favorite things about NZ. I am forgetting things. Just the South Island of New Zealand requires weeks and weeks of exploring.We were in New Zealand from April 14 - April 27 and that was not nearly enough time to experience all that we wanted to. It's not a big island, but driving between the different regions takes a lot of time and every region has so much to offer, you want to be able to see them all! Here are some highlights.

Ohau seal colony:

This place was magical. The seal colony is basically a seal hangout on the northeastern shore of the South Island. The adult seals hang out on the rocks beside the ocean. The baby seals will scoot themselves up a creek to a pool at the base of a waterfall and hang out together. After a 5 minute walk from the oceanside, you find yourself at the base of this beautiful waterfall and there's literally dozens of seals waddling around the rocks just feet away from you and frolicking in the pool. It is phenomenal. Unfortunately, it was getting dark out when we went and we couldn't get great pictures, but we have a dark video that shows the mass of baby seal bodies playing in the water. It's amazing. I could not get over the cuteness and the joy of the seals. You can read more about the seal colony here.

Mt. John Observatory
The middle part of NZ is recognized by the International Dark Sky Association as an especially dark place (I'm sure there's a more official term for it), devoid of artificial light, and it was chosen as the site for the Mt. John University Observatory partially for this reason. Nick signed us up for a tour that included a 15ish minute windy drive up a steep hill in a bus. And for the last half of the drive, the bus only had parking lights on. I was a bit uneasy. But after that, it was wonderful. We got to look through 2 "normal" telescopes as well  as a big, motororized one. The Wikipedia article has more specifics. The guides were informative and showed us "ooo pretty colors" astronomical features as well as ones that were more science-y. When we got back in the bus to go down the mountain, only having the parking lights on seemed more than sufficient. Having our eyes adjust to that level of darkness was really cool. 

Hikes!:

New Zealanders love their hiking. During every casual drive around the country we'd encounter signs alongside the road that indicated trailheads for very short as well as very long hikes. My favorite was Roundhill Ski Area, which we found completely by accident. We were driving around and found a sign for a 5k hike to the ski area, and decided to do it. It was quite the climb, somewhere around 1000ft to the base of the ski area, then we did a steeper portion from the base to the top of the main ski hill which was another 300 meters. Phew. It was technically easy because we were walking on roads, but difficult because it was around 2 hours of straight uphill then another hour downhill. Very worth it to get a view of Tekapo from high up.

Helicopter Flight Glacier Landing
It's cheating to include this since it was part of our wedding package, but, as I said to Nick when we were up in the air, I felt like I was on a Discovery Channel show when we were flying over mountain passes and glacial ice formations. It was beyond beautiful. Even though the helicopter didn't agree with my stomach, I could easily get past that and just soak in the scenery. It is expensive but an adrenaline rush in addition to giving us such a unique perspective of the mountain.

Marlborough Wine Trail:
One rainy day, our planned boating excursion was cancelled. We made the best of it by going wine tasting instead! The Marlborough region of New Zealand is famous mainly for their Sauvignon Blanc but we tasted several reds too that were great! My favorite winery was Herzog Winery. We happened upon it while driving around. The young woman pouring our wine was informative but not judgmental. Great experience overall. We bought Gruner Veltliner from them (a wine I'd never even had before- fruity, acidic and crisp). My other favorite was Lawson's Dry Hills. Our guide was very helpful again (there are unhelpful ones, like the woman at a winery that will not be named that wouldn't let me taste wines out of their "proper" order but didn't tell me that when I blindly started in the middle of the bunch. Come on.). We bought a Pinot Noir from them that was pretty good.

We also, by luck, saw a brewery during our driving around. Moa Brewery was stuck right in the middle of wine country (their brochure explains that the founder made wine but took to brewing beer as well). I was trying to stay away from too much wheat, but we still had a beer tasting and it was great. Sadly, they only distribute one of their beers to the States and it was not our favorite. My favorite was the Hoppit, which combines small, furry footed folk with hops. My two favorite things. Jk, it's just a super hoppy beer which of course I loved. We bought some Weka Cider from them because cider is kind to my tummy and their formulation was particularly delicious.

Smash Palace in Christchurch:

Yeah, it's a bar, but it was a very unique experience. They have a website you can check out. This place was a bar that was destroyed in the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011 and has been replaced by a bus! An American couple that we met by chance while kayaking recommended this place. I definitely wanted to go, but after driving around Christchurch for a few minutes, I really couldn't figure out how anyone could ever find anything in that city in its current state. The city was devastated by the 2 earthquakes and they are still rebuilding. A lot of the main "downtown" area is still blocked off. While I can see how lively the city may once have been, as tourists, it was a lot to handle. I'm not complaining about a city that is still rebuilding after multiple natural disasters, I just wasn't prepared for it. Miraculously, we found the bar the other couple had mentioned- by chance, it was across the street from the Thai restaurant our campground owner suggested.

The bus/bar atmosphere is a lot of fun. They had 55 gallon drums with fire lits inside for warmth, as well as some covered areas with heat lamps. I saw someone carrying a hot drink when we walked up and the bartender told me it was mulled wine. That is pretty much my favorite warm beverage. I had a mulled cider and then mulled wine and they were both delicious. Nick was delighted by their unusual beer selection- they had brands we didn't see anywhere else in NZ.

Te Anau Glowworm Caves:
This experience could also definitely be called magical... if you don't have anxiety issues. We went on a short with a guide, boarded a boat, and then it got very dark, very quiet, and very unsettling. I think caves are beautiful and interesting, but I have to stifle feelings of uneasiness whenever I'm in a cave because if I think too much about how deep underground I am, or how far from an exit I am, I can quickly get in an icky anxiety spiral. The tour, unfortunately, took those feelings and added the complete darkness, silence, sitting very close to strangers, moving around on a boat, complete lack of a frame of reference for distance and time elapsed and.... I freaked out.

What am I leaving out? Oh, the totally awesome glowworms (these are not my pictures!):

What it looks like in the lighted part of the cave- lots of insects glowing up a storm on the wall (source)

Tons and tons of glowworms and their little insect catching devices hanging down. (source)

Nick loved the tour and he pointed out particularly impressive groupings of the little guys. It really was beautiful, and I wish I hadn't been so freaked out by it. I'm glad Nick had a great time and in retrospect, I can really appreciate how unique and special the whole thing was. 

Kayaking in Milford Sound:
Seriously, the best. The best ever. It helps that Milford Sound is heavenly (not my pics, again):

It was cloudy and misty about half our time there...(source)

...And glorious and sunny the other half!(source)

Nick and I had done a kayaking trip in Ireland that I really loved, and I didn't think this could top it, especially since we were on day 10 of traveling and I was tired and it had rained pretty much every day and we were really, really in the middle of nowhere. We drove around the night before our trip and saw enough crazy rock formations to know we were in a fantastic area, but the gloomy weather made me grumpy and dubious that being out on the water for 8 hours the next day would be pleasant.

I was proven very wrong. We were in a group of 6 total, with a young New Zealander as our guide. Surprisingly, all 6 of us on the tour were American. Extra-surprisingly, Nick and I were the only two there with normal, full-time jobs. The others were in varying stages of traveling around the world, which amazed me. My Type A-ness could not wrap itself around not knowing where I'd be sleeping in 2 days. Or 2 weeks or 2 months. My mind was blown. They were all really nice and laid-back and made for great kayaking companions.

Despite the rain, the protective gear we got from the tour company and the motion of kayaking kept us pretty warm. The views were breathtaking from land, even with low-hanging clouds, and once we got on the water we got an even better view. Milford Sound is not technically a Sound, as it was formed by glaciers, The rock faces we were kayaking next to went straight down into the water, and the slopes reached steeply upward and were covered in greenery. Our guide told us that the area gets around 9 m of rain a year. That's ~27 feet! This explains all the greenery and also why when the sun peeked out, our guide was delighted and began snapping pictures along with all of us tourists. It was glorious. There were several rainbows that were as vibrant as I have ever seen. The kayaking portion was slow and meandering, with lots of time for pictures. We stopped for lunch, got to hear a lot about the area, and got to learn about each others' lives. Combining that with the beauty of it all and it made for a pretty perfect day.

I used the word "experience" too many times. I sound like Roger Sterling talking about LSD. I am sure I am forgetting something. Also, some of my very favorite moments weren't "experiences" but those moments when I realized how lucky I am to have this time with my new husband in New Zealand, just seeing the world. Magical experience. Juuuuust kidding. Super duper magical experience is more like it. #winkyface #self-deprecationdoesn'ttranslatetotyping #hashtagsaredumbstopit

New Zealand: The Wedding!

The wedding day was moved forward by 2 days because once we got to NZ, it became apparent the weather wasn't going to cooperate with us on the original date (Tuesday). That actually turned out pretty great because it gave us extra time to settle in and explore the town we'd be getting married in. Lake Tekapo is a tiny, resort-y type town with half a dozen restaurants, a makeshift supermarket, a "hotel", a large campground and a bunch of tourist-attractions. It also has this gorgeous lake:

Not pictured: the perfect milky turqouise color of the lake from glacier runoff

On the wedding morning, Nick and I set out for an easy 3 miles around the area. It was a nice morning (but overcast! I was scared it wouldn't get sunny for our ceremony!) but roads/sidewalks were limited so we ended up choosing a route that quickly turned into a steep, technical trail. That shortened our run a little but was still a perfect way to start the day. We'd spent the previous night in a hotel and the ability to take a real shower in a private room was pretty great. We showered, had buffet breakfast at the hotel:

Milk. It'll keep you trim. 

 and then the waiting began... we made sure everything was laid out and hung up, but mostly it was just...waiting. And getting nervous/excited. My hairdresser and makeup lady arrived around 10am. 

Makeup is a serious business. Also, wtf am I doing with my feet???

I had emailed with them a couple times before the wedding but still didn't really know what I was in for until I could actually talk to people and look at colors. We all agreed on a plan pretty quickly and they worked their magic for a while. The photographers and wedding planner arrived a little while later. All this time, Nick was just hanging out, watching TV and watching me. Poor guy. 

There was lots of milling about, picture taking, and Nick got to escape with our male photographer while I got finished. They went and got coffee, returned, then he and I each got dressed.

My hand peeking out of the hotel room door. The photographer and planner kept calling my watch the "wee little watch." Wee! Cute. PS my nails are cheapie at home glue-ons and they were awesome- I got about a week out of them.

Nick headed to the lake before me while I got pictures taken alone. It was warming up and sunny by the time our ceremony was ready. I nervously headed to the lake and then... we got married! Our photograher, Wayne, was also our celebrant. We had prepared a ceremony ahead of time and I wish I could remember it all because it was gorgeous and very "us." Nick and I read our vows from the celebrant's iPad (technology ftw, I never could have remembered the vows if I had tried to have them memorized), and I cried. Is it normal to just want to tackle and cuddle your husband-to-be during your entire ceremony? I was marrying my best friend, I just wanted to hug him but I could just hold hands. Lame (totally kidding). We finished the ceremony, signed the marriage license, had some cake and champagne, and it was official!

Fun fact: in NZ, they do the cutting the cake and feeding one another tradition, but they do not try the cake smashing. Thank goodness. Our planner seemed appalled you'd let your husband smash cake on your special makeup on your special day. That's a tradition I want no part of, so it worked out perfectly for us.

Cheesy happy

Champagne, vows, flowers

We spent the next few hours driving around scenic central NZ, stopping every now and then for photos. 

Then we took a helicopter ride to the top of Tasman Glacier.  

I am happy to be married, but not happy to be in a helicopter--- weirdest feeling of my life! 

Then we were done, and I felt like this.

Nick and I had a special dinner back at the hotel, then had some champagne and cider and relaxed. It was a perfect day, although taking all those pictures is SO tiring. We were in and out of the campervan a half dozen times, and by the end of the day I was ready to take my dress off and brush my hair. And by the end of the day, I just wanted to take time and be with my husband and soak in our time together. Luckily, we still had 1.5 weeks of time in NZ ahead of us!