Adventure continues....

It has been a very busy month and a half. And there's lots to report.

Eric and I have enjoyed the place we have been renting for the past 2 years. However we have been looking for a place that does not have any common walls, and we have found a cute house just down the road and will be moving on August 11th. We are very excited and are looking forward to the new space. We will post photos once we settle in. We will still have a great view and the ability to walk to work. As well as a spare room for those who have threatened to come visit.

Ian McKellen did an on stage performance here in Wellington to raise money to rebuild the Isaac Theater Royal in Christchurch. Eric and I went and it was delightful. Ian is an amazing performer and fun was certainly had by all in attendance. A lot of the Hobbit cast members were there, as was Peter Jackson.

I have just returned from a fabulous 3 week trip back to the States and Eric will be returning next week.
As always the time was too short and we did not get to see everyone. But it was great seeing those of you we did see. We love sharing our adventures and catching up with what is going on with family and friends back in the States. We think about you often and while we are enjoying ourselves here we do miss you all. The weather was fabulous and a great break from the cold winter weather back in NZ. And we definitely got our fill of missed foods. In N Out Burger was at the top of our list and I certainly lost count of the number of them we had over the 3 weeks. We also got plenty of good Mexican food. And I made sure to get plenty of the frozen yogurt that I miss.

While in the states both Eric and I worked San Diego Comic Con for Weta. It was a lot of hard work and great fun. Our booth was definitely one of the big hits of the show. We had three life size Trolls on display and everyone wanted their picture with them. I also did some work on a new iPhone/iPad App for one of our new collectibles - Barad-Dur. It was also a success and many people gathered around the piece looking through their iDevices to see The Eye of Sauron.

I will be off to China again leaving on the 29th. And then Eric and I (and Myztyc) will be busy packing and moving. Look for another update a photos towards the end of August.

Wishing everyone well,
Cheers
Stacy & Eric

Too Cool for Words

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsZ0qKX8uWE

The highlight of the week.

Check out Peter Jackson Video Blog # 7.

And another chunk of time goes by...

Wow - who would have thought?
It is getting harder to keep up on our posts.

Life is good, and life is busy.
And the adventure continues...

Since the last post, we have gotten new passports, re-done our fingerprints and filled out more paperwork. All with the aim of getting "residency" here. Our decisions to stay long term or or not have nothing to do with it. It is simply the easiest way to make sure we have the choices to make and that NZ can't make them for us by telling me I can't work.

Some friends took me to see the old St. Paul's Cathedral - I did not know it even existed here. But it was amazing to see, with all of the beautiful woodwork. We also took a two day trip up to Auckland to see the DreamWorks "How to Train your Dragon" Arena Show and a small side trip to Piha. The show was fun, but we were disappointed that  it was another re-telling of the original movie and not additional story content. So of the visual effects though were beautiful. We had purchased the tickets to the show back in 2011, when I was still working with DreamWorks on the iPhone App. The App has now been released and I think it looks great! Check it out. - it's called "Tap Dragon Drop". We also had a friend show us Piha while we were there. It is a great beach spot.

I got the opportunity to lend my voice to some background "screaming".  I'll never know if it will actually be used, but it was fun. We still can't talk about what we are doing or the films, but it is lots of fun to be a part of it. We have seen a lot, unfortunately we can't photograph most things so we will only have our memories for now. But it is worth it!

And I have once again  been back to China for 10 days and have returned exhausted.
It is a three day weekend here - The Queen's Birthday, so we are relaxing.

We have about 3 and half weeks before we head back to the States for our yearly visit.
We are really looking forward to it. It is winter here and it is cold. So a 3 week holiday where it will be summer will be greatly welcomed. We are also really looking forward to catching up with our family and friends. We have two new cousins to meet. ComicCon this year will be a lot of fun as well. I will be working the Weta booth and Eric will be helping with set-up and break down of the booth.
We will return back to NZ on the 17th of July and it looks like my next trip to China will follow closely after. Busy times indeed.

Work is definitely keeping me busy and I am enjoying it. Eric is also enjoying his work.
Myztyc, our sweet kitty is growing and has become a welcome, warm and cuddly family member. I missed her while away in China and will undoubtably miss here while we are back in the States. We have certainly been reminded of how much we both love having a pet(s) in the house.

That should bring you up to speed at this point.
Warm Regards to all! See some of you soon.

Stacy & Eric

Where does the time go?

So another month and a half between posts. I had no idea I would get so caught up in the new job and everything else that so much time would go by before I could come up for air again. But I will say it has been a good month and a half.

The new job is going well. I am enjoying it very much and being kept very busy.

After only one week at the office I was was off to China for what was supposed to be a 4-5 day trip. It turned into a 9 day trip. I spent the last 4 days there without by boss. It went well and since there will be future trips where I will be solo, it was great being able to get my relationship established so quickly.

It had been about 6 years since I was last in China and it was very much the same as I remember it. I can say that the food I had this time was much better.

In addition to being busy with the new job, Eric has continued to be busy at Weta as well. And continues to enjoy the work and the people.

The big news is that we have adopted a new kitten. About a month or so ago a neighborhood cat tried to adopt us. We began feeding her and letting her into our place. As we were starting to get attached to her, we decided we better make sure that she did not belong to someone else. Long story short -she did and we could not keep her. We realized that we missed having a pet around and started looking for a cat we could rescue. The photos above are of Myztic (mystic) she was 5 month old when we brought her home (born Oct 16th) and weighing only about 2.5 lbs (1kg). She has been eating better and growing and is now up to 5lbs (2.05kg). She is really cuddly and very playful.

As far as other activities, we spend time with our friends regularly. We have seen Hunger Games and enjoyed it. And I got together with some friends and walked through the Terrace Tunnel for charity last week. This is a tunnel that normally has traffic going through it at about 100 kph (65 mph), but was shut to traffic for a few hours to allow the public to pay and walk through it. The money went the Children's Hospital. It was lots of fun and the department of transportation was there to talk to the public about all the safety features that have been newly installed through the tunnel. It was very cool.

We are looking forward to a 4 day break for Easter here. We have no real exciting plans other than to relax and hang with friends. We have both been working hard enough that we want to take advantage of some down time. Coming up I will be heading back to China again in May. And we are starting the planning for our return visit to the States in July. It will be a shorter visit this year and I will be working at San Diego Comic Con full time this year. We are really looking forward to getting our fix of In N Out Burgers and Mexican food! As well as a little shopping for those items that they don't seem to have down here.

Cheers for now, hope to update again (sooner)

Stacy & Eric

Yes, it has been awhile.

Sorry for the long gap between postings.

I have been holding off posting until I had something to actually post.

These last seven weeks have been a bit crazy. So much was in flux that Eric and I really did not know what we were doing. Staying or going...

So just to recap, my job at Sidhe was ending and the status of our Work Visas was

up in the air.

Over the last seven weeks, I have been interviewing and waiting and waiting (not very patiently I might add). I was finally offered a position - Yay! BUT then found out that my Visa was not a simple "transfer" procedure, but a whole new application procedure. After several meetings with an immigration advisor, more paper work, and some more $, it took another week to get the Visa approved and then I was able to accept the job offer. In the midst of it, we needed to get new Visa and Passport photos taken. So Eric has now had his hair returned to something closer to it's natural color. (photo to come soon). He should also be commended for helping me survive the time.

So I start work next week as the Product Development Manager at Weta Ltd. and am really looking forward to it. It has actually been 4 years since I first entertained the idea of moving to NZ and working for Weta. I won't be able to talk a lot about what I am working on, but suffice it to say I will be working on the fun stuff. Eric and I will be able to walk to work together and occasionally have lunches and breaks together.

Eric(pending the unknown) and I will also be able to head back to Los Angeles and San Diego in July to see family and friends as well as to work SD ComicCon.

Summer here has been a mixed bag. We have had some beautiful days as well as some more rain and clouds. I was hoping for better, but oh well. The cicadas can be heard daily now and we really enjoy hearing them.

We are both very happy and relieved that things have worked themselves out and are happy that we are staying here in New Zealand for the foreseeable future.

More blogging ahead.

Cheers,

Stacy & Eric

Happy New Year!

And another year has flown by.

I have to say, all in all, it was a great year.

It truly has been an adventure and we have enjoyed it immensely.

Our holiday card seems to have stirred up some fun.

Apparently Eric's hair has been quite the conversation piece.

If you have been following the blog, you know that he decided to bleach it for Halloween.

Now the roots have grown out quite a bit and he has this inverse skunk look going on.

So for the Holiday party he decided to have some more fun and add purple to the

bottom layer. As it continues to grow out he will be pondering whether to cut it short,

re-colour it back or continue to experiment. Stay tuned....

We had a wonderful holiday break. (and technically are still on it). Eric is scheduled to go back to work on the 11th - but has the possibility of being called back sooner. And I am still unemployed, but hopeful that I will get something by the end of the month.

We had Xmas dinner with some close friends and then took a few days to drive up north to Napier and explore the Hawke's Bay area. The Pohutukawa trees are in full bloom this time of year. Because of their holiday coloration they are iconic here. Hawke's Bay area looks very similar to Napa, CA and is indeed wine country. The weather was absolutely amazing for about 4-5 days, before the rain came back to remind us where we live. We went to the top of Te Mata Peak for a grand view of Hawke's Bay - would have been even better on a clear day. We also went to the National Aquarium of New Zealand, explored the elegant Art Deco town, visited The Silky Oak Chocolate Company and discovered dark chocolate covered black licorice! And after spending about $45.00 NZD there were told that they have another store in Lower Hutt (about 25 minutes drive away from where we live - We are doomed).We walked along the waterfront, and had some good meals. I found a new favorite wine . (Hawke's Bay) Boundary Vineyards Matapiro Sauvignon Blanc Pinot Gris - very fruity!

We were back home before the New Year and spent a quiet New Years Eve together watching movies at home. It was very wet and the Wellington Fireworks had been cancelled. Apparently I am still trying for the "truly NZ" New Years Eve (see last years post) - or maybe that truly is a NZ New Years.

I hope that our blog is still entertaining and we will continue to post as regularly as

we can. Our hope is to both be working and to be able to visit the States again in July.

Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy New Year!

Stacy & Eric

Where Did November Go?

So it is now the first weekend of December! ONLY 20 shopping days left til Xmas.

Where did November go?

It was a whirlwind of a month. And packed with fun and adventure indeed.

We got to see a special Weta screening of the movie Tin Tin which we thoroughly enjoyed and recommend. Guy Fawkes Day came and went but with nice weather and fun fireworks.

Then things got interesting. The company I came here to work for has had to "restructure" and I have been told that I am likely to be made redundant (laid off). -What?!!! And as I am trying to wrap my head around this AnimFX was looming. This is the conference that I attended and spoke at last November and was attending again this year. An industry conference bringing together a lot of local and overseas talent for 3 days of presentations and networking. Needless to say I now had a lot of "networking" to do.

The conference was a lot of fun, met a lot of great people and caught up with some existing friends from last year. I came away tired, but feeling good and optimistic that I would be able to find another job so I could continue to stay here in New Zealand.

The conference finished on a Thursday night and Saturday morning we left for Rotorua to meet up with some good friends that had flown in from Seattle to visit for a few weeks. - no rest for me.... Eric and I spent Saturday exploring the Thermal "wonderland" taking some great photos and enjoying the sunny weather. (and enduring the lovely aroma - it bothered me much more than Eric). On Sunday we all went Zorbing! well not all, 3 of the 5 of us, Eric's back was bothering him and Nyssa thought she'd get motion sick from it. It is an absolutely silly activity that I absolutely LOVE! Rolling down a hill in a giant rubber beach ball with water in it. The ultimate in water sliding/tumbling.

I then found a nice internet store where I was able to watch my niece Casey's Bat Mitzpha. I felt horrible for not being there in person, but was glad I could watch and hear the whole thing. What a beautiful ceremony it was and she did amazing. I even got to read a poem via cell phone connection that my mother wrote, so everyone knew I was there in spirit.

We then drove back to Wellington and had a mixture of work days and days off to spend with our friends before they moved on to the South island. And I continued to follow up with the job leads I had gotten from AnimFX.

So that where November went....

Now it's early December and I am looking forward to getting into the holiday spirit and enjoying some down time and trying not to worry too much about the job front until January.

Eric is still working at Weta and that is showing no signs of ending anytime soon so we are thankful for that. We are trying to figure out our holiday card for the year and hope to be sending those out in another few weeks. And if we feel really brave we may even take a few days over the break to travel up north and explore some more of this country we still have yet to see. I suspect December too will fly by and 2012 will be here before we blink!

Cheers for now,

Stacy & Eric