Hello, my lovely readers, and welcome to my blog! I chose to call it “Practically Perfect” partly on a whim and partly because of an inside joke with one of my sisters. She used to tease me about having to have a life that was “practically perfect in every way”, just like Mary Poppins, and that was a pretty accurate description at the time!
I’m still fairly detail-oriented, but getting married, changing careers, and moving 6 times has taught me to ease up on my need to control the world around me. I’m organized, but I’ve learned that it’s OK to have dirty dishes, unfolded laundry, and to go outside without your make-up on. I’ve loosened up, and guess what? The world keeps spinning :-)
When I’m not blogging, I spend my time with my husband of 5 1/2 years, with friends and family, and working. I’m a 20-something ER nurse and I love what I do. We have recently made a very big move and I’m just getting back into the swing of work after taking a little time off to get settled. It’s been exciting to start working at a new hospital and see the differences between US and New Zealand healthcare.
That’s right – I said New Zealand! We made the decision to move to Auckland, New Zealand in May 2010. Since a rather surprising number of people seem to be confused about where New Zealand is located, let me show you…
New Zealand is made up of the North and South Islands, and Auckland is located on the North Island. It’s the largest city in the country, with a population of about of just over 1 million. New Zealand itself has a population of just over 4 million. In total, the square mileage of New Zealand is roughly equivalent to that of the state of Colorado.
We moved to New Zealand for my husband’s job. He’s a college professor {and a huge Gamecocks fan!} and was offered a position at a university with one of the better programs in the world for what he does. We talked things over and decided that if we were going to make a move, now was the time. We don’t have children yet, and we’re young, healthy, and financially stable. If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be living in New Zealand, I probably would have disagreed with you. God had different plans, and here we are!
As far as what you can expect on this blog – it’s a personal blog, and I tend not to be too political in what I write. I’m a Christian and that does influence my point of view. I started blogging in 2006, mainly as a means of keeping family and close friends up-to-date on what was going on in our lives. It’s evolved since then, and I enjoy the creative outlet that blogging provides as well as the friendships that I’ve formed. I don’t have any goals of reaching people on a large scale. If only 1 person reads what I write, that’s fine with me! And if that one person happens to be a family member, then that’s fine, too ;-)
I’ll be writing about our adventures in New Zealand and the changes we face. I’m happy that you’ve decided to check me out, and if you have any questions, be they related to life in general or something more specific, please don’t hesitate to drop me a line at mrs{dot}practicallyperfect{at}gmail{dot}com.
Please do not use or reproduce photos from this website without express permission from me! I work hard to take nice photographs, and I don’t appreciate it when other people claim them and misrepresent them as their property.
