June/July update

Been a couple of reasonably quiet months for us but I thought it was time to put some thoughts together.

Chirst and I spent most of June apart as she has committed to house sitting for a family friend some time ago. It was weird not spending as much time with her and having to travel across to the North Shore to visit again. It was also a window into pet ownership (Particularly dogs) and how much work they are. The house was home to a cat and a dog. This particular dog was pretty needy and moody and even in the few days I spent around her I quickly lost interest in having one as a full time commitment especially after the little tart broke into a locked plastic box and ate all the toffee pops!!

Around this time Chirst also had an interesting job opportunity come up when she was contacted by a former customer at Noels to see if she would be interesting in applying for a role with Xero. After a few sneaky social media checks to see if this was a legit offer she applied and went into what can best be described as a vigorous recruitment process. Several video and in person interviews later she was successful and is currently counting down to her last day with Noels and starting her new role as a internal client support engineer. It's a really good role in a fast growing progressive company with good money and stock options as well. I couldn't be happier for her or more proud for sticking through what was a pretty tough process. Exciting times.

We also had a nice trip up to Whangarei with Chirsts parents to visit her brother and the site of their new house that building starts on soon. It was a nice day and we got to meet James new partner who was very nice and (humble brag) we played a PlayStation quiz game which I won (quite handily). It' always nice to have an opportunity to get to know Chirsts family better. They've really accepted me which makes me feel a lot more relaxed.

Food wise we've done quite well. We took a ferry a cross to Devonport and went to Dixie Browns. Their portions could best be described as generous. I had a huge steak topped with Scallops which was amazing and Chirst had ribs which was so big she only got a third of the way through them and had to take the rest home. Dessert was also delicious and I think its safe to safe we'll be back.

We have quite an eventful August coming up. Chirst starts her new job on the 9th and I have the Noel Leeming managers conference in a couple of weeks that I'm quite looking forward to.

We're also exploring the idea of buying an Apartment in the city. We have found a couple of very nice options but need to do some homework as the are leasehold and we don't want to get stuck with an asset we can do anything with or get rid of down the road. Exciting times though as I never thought I'd own my home and especially in Auckland. Amazing how things and mindsets change over time really.

Thats all for this update. I'll be back with more soon.