HOLY S***!!!

I'M GOING TO NEW ZEALAND!!!!! TODAY!!!!!!

I can't believe the time to leave is already here, it feels so surreal, like my life can't really be this awesome! But it is.

Don't you just love life sometimes?!

However, first, I must drive down to Chicago-O'Hare International Airport, then hop on a flight to LA. Then a nice long wait...then I board the plane to Auckland! For 12 hours and 40 minutes...hopefully I'll get some sleep! And when I land, my year abroad begins! I've planning this for so long it seems like, and now I'm finally on my way. Ready to start the adventure of a lifetime!

I'll learn to surf, maybe even work on my longboarding skills, see kiwis and penguins in the wild, ski the Southern Alps of New Zealand, go bungi-jumping, and soooo much more I haven't even realized yet!

Love you all, miss you already(so much), and wish me luck!!

so much to pack!!

I've begun my packing adventure, with much help from mom, and it is crazy!! There's so much I want to bring, but so little space to pack it all! I've managed to trim the list of what I plan on bringing pretty far down, but it's looking like I'm still going to have too much! And unfortunately, my cheesehead had to be cut from the list...but I still have my Aaron Rodgers jersey! There's still an area stretching from the front of the living room, through the dining room, that is FULL of stuff though. You can see most of it above. And when I say most, I mean there's still a pile of stuff behind me that didn't fit into the picture...

Anyways, here is a helpful time difference site I found, so whether you are in Denver, Wisconsin, Minneapolis, Ireland, Russia or anywhere else in the world, you can find out what time it is in New Zealand!

Also, I figured out my skype name! It's lauren0410jelinek. Although I might not be able to skype too often, as I will have limited internet access, and skype can really eat that up apparently. But go ahead and add me anyways, and we'll figure something out!

Much Love to you all!

Almost There!!

Wow! I can't believe that I will be leaving for New Zealand in less than a month, 26 days to be precise! And there's still so much to do! Including packing!! How on earth will I fit my life into 2 large duffels weighing no more than 50 lbs each, and one carry on? And then still have room to bring back whatever additional stuff I acquire over there during the course of a year? Well thanks to my excellent packing skills (thanks mom!) I will surely find a way! Though I have a feeling it may involve being very selective about what clothes I bring, which means that I will probably have to do laundry more often, which really, if that's the worse thing about going to New Zealand for a year, sign me up! Oh wait... I already am!
But on a more serious note, as much as I am excited about going to New Zealand, and basically having the experience of a lifetime, I am not excited about leaving all my friends, family, and loved ones behind! A year apart from you all will be rough, but thank goodness for skype! This would be the ideal time for me to tell you my skype name, but I cannot for the life of me remember what is, so you're all just gonna have to search my name and find me that way! Also, I have no idea what the time difference is yet, besides being a day ahead, so eventually I will post that stuff as a reference for setting up skype dates.
Well, that's about it. Nothing too exciting, but I'm sure things will pick up the closer I get to leaving, and of course once I'm gone!