One Year Ago

Its a few weeks late but we celebrated our first wedding anniversary on the 13th of November. It has been such an amazing year where we have both learnt a lot about ourselves, each other and how to work in an eternal relationship. We also thought up some of our favourite thinks from the last year.. In one year we have....

1. Started to save for a house
2. Finished another year of uni
3. Have yet to take a sick day at work
4. Tried over 100 recipes
5. Run around Lake Taupo
6. Got dressed up in our wedding gears again for another photo shoot almost 10 months after our wedding
7. Goodbyes to parents and hello to a new nephew!
8. And booked and all paid for a trip to the states in April of 2012

Yup its been an amazing year! We leave you with some photos. Something that we are going to do every year. When Pauly really tried to lose weight he gave up all junk food. He lives a Monday to Friday no junk food life style and allows himself a few luxury’s in the weekend. One thing he doesn’t not eat though is Fast food!! His favourite thing in the whole wide world is a McDonalds cheeseburger!! He allows himself two cheeseburgers a year. One after the Lake Taupo Run in Feb and another in November on our wedding anniversary. This is because on our wedding day we had cheeseburgers on the main table!! It may sound weird but that is just how we do!!

Do you have any anniversary traditions?

What a win!!!... oh and a birthday too!

Well the world cup came and what an event it was. The country really got behind it and really showed off what an amazing country we have. Pauly and the boys were too poor to afford All Blacks tickets so they took off to Rotorua to watch Samoa Vs Namibia. Obviously its not the most impressive game to go and watch but he can say he has now been to a world cup match. The final was crazy but the country was finally able to let go of all the pain and agony from the last 24 years as Captain Richie McCaw lifted the Web Ellis Trophy. Pauly got so nervous during the last 8 minutes of the came... he went outside for sprints. Shout out to Roon and Eth for decorating the lounge... it was blacked out!!

Also Kita celebrated her 23 Birthday with all her friends and family. We were even able to watch a highly entertain video of a family trip to Australia... Hahaha. Check out the amazing cake Lian made!

What has been your favourite birthday cake?? and also.. When have been most proud of your nation??

Where to start??

We are going to go against everything we have been taught about the blogging world and do a couple posts in the same day. The reason we haven’t been blogging as much is because Pauly told himself no blogging while exams were on. Two months and two passed exams later and blogging is back on the agenda. Where to begin is the question though.

Our friends Mandi and Tala tied the knot!! It was a beautiful wedding with a lot of laughs and good entertainment. Here are a few photos from their special day.. One thing that we always do at weddings is compare our wedding to what others do. I’m sure everyone is the same. Obviously no one can compare to the food Lian provided for ours! That’s our first comparison... Kita also loves to think of the venue and how nothing can beat that!



Question for the post is... (if your married) what is unbeatable about your wedding day??

Good Effort Lads

Last Saturday Pauly took his Young Mens to Whangamata for the Fun Run. Running is one of Pauly’s hobbies now. He’s been running almost every day since mid 2008. Last year he did the 21km run but this year he wanted to run with his boys so he ran the 10 km with them. It was an early start with a 5 am wake up. All the boys were loaded up with bananas before the run after after a last minute pee everyone was off. The first one is was Pauly in 53 minutes and all the boys followed after every 5 minutes or so. Everyone was really happy that everyone finished within 1 hr 30 mins. Kita and Crystal also helped out with preparing the lunches for the boys the day before so clap clap for them.

The Question is now... Who is down for this next year?? And what is one of your hobbies that others would most likely dread or hate?

Lights, Camera and Fashion

Nakita had an absolute blast last night at the Annah Stretton show for NZFW.

She went up to Auckland with a group from work to support her boss and see the brand new Viaduct Events Centre.

The show was superb – a tremendous effort from all the design team (Nakita’s now coveting a powder blue baby doll dress from the collection). After the show the group headed over to the Britomart Country Club for nibbles, drinks and lots of smoosing. Although they didn’t get home till midnight it was a great night and well worth the trip.



Diets on hold... Its Birthday Time

The birthday of Pauly came and left in such a hurry! What a wonderful day it was though. We both took the day off…Kita with work and Pauly with university. We both thought we deserved it too!

The day began with a much needed sleep in! 730 am wake ups were definitely not on the agenda for wonderful day of activities. We left mid morning-ish for Kita’s surprise outing in raglan. It’s strange to think that at the start of the week we had snow in Hamilton and by the end of the week the weather was deemed suitable for the beach. We had lunch at a place Kita has always wanted to go to and it was delicious. Lunch was topped off with a nice walk around raglan... to work off the fatty food. Even on his birthday he couldn’t give into the idea of not burning off fatty food.

Celebrations continued as we had a family (and friends) feed at the Warwick’s home. Ours simply would not fit over 7 people and because Pauly is so popular we had to find a bigger place haha. It was an awesome night with a lot of food, games and laughs. Thank you to everyone who came and everyone who helped out in any way. It was also good to get a phone call from both mum and dad.

One of the many things that kept a smile on Paulys dial was that the tradition was kept alive. Since he was about 13 years old  he has had a white cake with blue icing and m&ms. Even though mum wasn’t there, she provided the mix and Lian produced a monster of a cake.

It truly was an amazing day!

Questions - What is your most memorable Birthday? And do you have any traditions?

Wax on, Wax off!

We have been in the ward for almost 10 months but Friday night was our first actual evening activity with the Hamilton East Ward. The ward isnt slack.. we just have had something on every other time they have an activity. It was an international dinner and what a night! Every family was split up into different continents and were then assigned a different meal. Luckily We were assigned Pizza.. which we are getting quite good at. We stuck around the Europe and Asia sections as the US was only hot dogs, Africa looked dodgy and the Pacific Islands wasKFC and taro (which are not acceptable foods) Haha.
The evening was finished off with a variety show from the different auxiliary groups. Because we are both in the Youth Program we participate in their dance. For the past month the youth of the ward have been practising a dance to Kung Fu fighting choreographed by yours truly. Pretty good for our first ever time at making up a dance. It was very basic but really fun.

The Youth.. Look at Kitas leg.. strange!!

Simon, Pauly and Mandi!

Question.. What is your most memorable moment from a church activity? Be it a dance, feed or outing.

Goodbyes Parentals and We are half way there!!!

We said goodbye to Mum and Dad Ardern last week as they left for their new assignment within the church. Dad is now in the First Quorum of the Seventy and will no longer be there to check Pauls essays every minute. They have left New Zealand for the next 13 years and are going to be missed. We had several family feeds to just get in as many final minutes as we could. Highlight would have had to have been.. Pauly, Lian and Crystal emptying the once full pantry. The one item grab system was very effective and highly amusing! The low point would have been burying Tiger the Cat 5 days later. It was nice to share a few memories with Lian and Elle! R.I.P Tiger.

Aroha

Rosana

Onto a completely different topic.. New Zealand’s Next Top Model has reached the half way mark. This week will be the catch up episode. Its been a pretty good series. A lot more drama than the last two. Kitas favourite is Aroha. Pauly thinks a Maori has already won and she is just filling the quota! His pick is Rosanagh. Obviously Kita doesn’t agree with that. Friday is the best TV!!! Top Model at 730, Graham Norton at 830, the hilarious 7 Days at 930!! I hate TV3 news but their Friday line up is tops!

So here are the questions.. 'Who are your favourites for Top Model??' and 'What is your most memorable line-up of TV ever??'

p.s 236 days to go... thats about 33 weeks!

Goodbye Gryffindor

 It all came to a finish last night for Kita. Her love of the Harry Potter saga came to end when we went and saw the final instalment. Pauly didn’t really know what was going on because he had missed a few of them but none the less it was a great watch. We thought of taking a photo at the movies (just to add something to the blog) but we forgot our camera. So like all cool people do, we took one at home. I (Paul) think this is photography gold. I love this photo. Also found one that Kita took of me and Baby Preston. I’m a little hesitant to put this photo online. Crystal is rather obsessed with her child (Have you seen her blog and Facebook????) and may get angry if he is shown to others in a bad lighting.  He is a cute child though.

New Favourite Love

Its been a while since our last post but we think this one is something different for our huge fan base. Our new found love for.... Griffin's Collisions - Hokey Pokey Squiggles collided with delicious Chocolate Chippies

Heres the description provided by Griffins. "Griffin's Collisions blend two of your favourite biscuits into one to create the Ultimate Chocolate Biscuit. Hokey Pokey Squiggles collided with delicious Chocolate Chippies.  Crunchy Hokey Pokey pieces and flavoured creme on top of a delicious Chocolate Chippie biscuit covered in luxurious milk chocolate."

 

How amazing does that sound. They are so good. Our question for the fans.. What would your cookie mix be??

 

Ours...Double Coat Tim Tam and Pink Squiggles.

280 Days to go!!

Well its exactly... well not exactly.. but its 280 days until we head to the US of A!!! The plan so far is to hang with family in Utah.. especially Dad and Mum as they are huge contributors to the trip and also see Wade. It will actually be Kitas first time meeting  Wade and his family. After Utah we will head to New York City. We plan to see everything in New York in 3 - 4 days.. to round off the trip we will head to LA to spend a couple days at Disney Land. Thats our trip.. Im starting off a list of things to do in New York.. Please add to the list if you want to... Only Crystal will most likely add though but her thoughts are much appreciated haha.

1. Street Hot Dogs
2. Statue of Liberty
3. Empire State Builing
4. Ground Zero
5. David Letterman Show (fingers crossed)
6. Catch a Yellow Taxi
7. Go to a late night Jazz Club

Nice Photos KIMMY!!!

Yes.. two posts in two days but we have to catch up. We recently had photos with the Wairepo family ( I know..two Wairepo activities.. step up the cool activities Arderns). Our cousin Kimberly Farthing took them and this is Paulys favourite. Mainly because hes at the front, but he says because it looks like a 'Twilight' photo. Does anyone else have 'Paramore - Decode' playing in their head when they see this photo? I think it must just be Pauly!

Haere mai te Pikitu Marae.

Haere mai te Pikitu Marae.

Our Queen’s Birthday weekend celebrations were highlighted by a trip to Pikitu Marae in the heart of the Waikato; the land of pork bones and puha and the home marae of our Nanny Wairepo.

It was great to have all the cousins, aunties, uncles (and a few extras including our BFFs Mandi and Tala) make the trip out to the marae which is located halfway between Putaruru and Tokoroa near Waotu.

When we arrived it was raining which meant we couldn’t explore the adventure-filled surroundings like the haunted house or gully but we were determined to make the most of the experience especially as it was Paulys first time there.

The reason for the trip (and we only found this out when we got there) was to celebrate the 21^st birthday of our cousin Peter Dehar. Don’t think I’ve ever met the guy in my life but it was choice to share in his special day.

We started off with a welcome by the kaumātua and then Aunty Ruthana proceeded to explain our whakapapa. It’s amazing we all didn’t all turn out with extra fingers and toes with all the cousins marrying cousins that went on (well, some of us got off luckier than others anyway). Big ups to Uncle Gary who, after Aunty Ruthana was done, made sure we were all aware of the importance our ancestors and Pikitu Marae played in the early days of the church in New Zealand. Chur.

It was fun going round the mattresses saying our names and who our dad was or who brought us along for the ride. Mandi was too much saying his little spiel in Maori impressing all the nannies and kaumātua.

After that we collected our shoes (big mistake wearing white sneakers on a rainy day to a marae) and made our way into the whare kai for dinner. All our crew took up a whole long table and swapped the dozen Lion Reds we were allocated for Jolly soft drinks – we did have a long drive home after all. The kai was pretty av as I’m not the biggest fan of the smoky infusion of hangi food but the custard and steamed pudding for dessert was amaze.

Uncle Rex did us proud as the impromptu MC for the evening. Even though his jokes ultimately failed he did a great job keeping things flowing and making sure the aunties didn’t go overboard with the waiatas.

We ended the evening on the dancefloor (yeyeya) getting down to a live band and even made an appearance in the conga line.

Kia ora Pikitu for a choice night out. We’ll definitely be back soon.

P.S – Thanks to the drunken man who nearly drove into us on the way out. I hope you parked in mud so you couldn’t drive home.

Number One!!!

We're so pleased to start our very own Pauly & Kita Ardern family blog. As our lives are so freken entertaining (or at least we think they are) we're looking forward to posting such memorable moments as Paul's graduation, going to New York, marathons, babies and water fights in the summer time.