.

blog change again

2013-03-18T03:19:00.003+02:00

hey guys, so i know i keep changing blogs, but im really not enjoying this one anymore so from now on i will not be using this anymore. my official blog page will forevermore be

www.kissingtherain.com

thanks guys xx

Blurb about the Boy

2013-02-27T02:13:00.000+02:00

It is true, I do have an American boyfriend- "he'll be my American boy....la la la... :p" so here is the boyfriend 411.

His name is Girish Harinath, His family is full on Indian, but he was born and raised here in New Jersey. He is 25, and works as a cancer researcher at a hospital in New York City. He lives like 10 minutes away from me though, it’s really cool. We have been together for a few months now and it’s honestly been such a joy ride. He is so much fun! His personality is 5 words would be kind, hardworking, caring, generous, kiddish. Ah man I so love this dude. Here are some of our fun times together (I’ll stop talking about it or some people might throw up it’s so cute :D).

date to natural history museum :)

comedy club :)

Chipotle in the city, taking the biggest bites we can and smiling :D

driving around on christmas looking at all the lit up houses

christmas morning coffee date

skiing trip with my (gangster)cutsie pie ^^

new years eve (me=sick) waiting for the ball to drop

our infamous dork faces

rollerblading

our starting point- ruby tuesdays

double dating :D

random city treks

yay okay so now you know a bit more about my man, hehe hope it was entertaining to read. xx

diary entry #?

2013-02-25T01:09:00.001+02:00

Dear followers, well I hope I have followers. I would like to say thank you. Thanks for joining me on this most amazing journey ever, today marks the thirteenth month of being in America, and as much as I miss my beauty, Cape Town, I am loving life in America. Every day I am still learning new things and growing, making new friends and being challenged. Ah I love it!

Anyways, the past two weeks were filled with my sister coming to America, Valentine’s Day party for Jill, and college college college! :)

Shelly came to America last Tuesday and it was cool, we went out for sushi with my boyfriend and best friend, and then out to a bar afterwards for dessert and drinks. It was a fun first night I think. Then during the course of her stay we went out for food a lot, went to a club in jersey which was cool, and went to Menlo Park mall. There they had a dine in movie theatre which we went to after shopping, it was pretty fun. Then we got semi locked out the mall and almost had to walk around the whole mall just to get to our car, but we found some opened door which was good. Anyways we also went to this restaurant at the mall which was like rainforest theme (I was convinced Africa themed). The chairs were like the bottom half of animals and the whole ceiling had like fruit clusters and coconuts and trees and stuff, it was so cool.

some SA and UK goodies...

drive down to the shore

a weird machine that dispenses ice cream:?

rainforest cafe

dine in movies :D

Last Friday I had (what has now become an annual tradition), Jillian’s little girls Valentine’s Day party. It was so cute, she had like 13 girls over and they all decorated cupcakes, made BFF bracelets and ate pizza. I love them so much; it was so nice to be able to do that for them.

Some exciting things coming up, are one of my best friends who went back to Germany, is coming to visit in 2 weeks, and she’s staying for a month! And I have almost the amount of money needed for my gran’s flight. Please pray I am able to sell my brand new still in packaging ipad mini and get the rest of the money :D

Chat soon, xx

Goals for the year

2013-02-01T17:43:00.000+02:00

Hey hey :)

so nothing interesting happened this week really. I've been trying to get into studying- so much reading oh my goodness!! I am however enjoying my class so much and really love what I'm learning.

I was looking through my old blog posts from when i first got here to see if i had any goals or like to do lists for my year in America, and all i found was this bucket list of places to go:

Hollywood

California

Los Angeles

Broadway

Disney world

Liberty stairs

Chicago

Philadelphia

Ohio

Missouri

Virginia

So out of all of these I have been to

Hollywood

California

Los Angeles

Broadway

Philadelphia

Missouri

and I'll be booking a flight to Ohio real soon for a little vaca at the end of this month

I'd say that's pretty cool :)

Here is my goal list for this year, well the 6 months until i go home

-Save enough to get my granny here

-Save some more for studies

-go skiing again

-Disney world

-Chicago

-Virginia

-see another Broadway show

-become a better version of me by growing and maturing more and more through whatever circumstances come up

we'll see what this year brings, but i hope all of you can set goals and reach them :)

This is my year!

2013-01-28T04:30:00.001+02:00

Hey, how is everyone doing?

As this year has been getting on its way, i have come to realize there are many exciting things happening! it is a year of great things and i would like to share what is coming up this year for me (God willing).

this is in order:

#1- my sister is coming to visit me for a week and a half and we're gana have so much fun! i haven't seen her in over a year and will be good to hang out with family and show her my home and friends and family here in America :D

#2-in March Ines (one of my best friends who went home to Germany) is coming to visit for 3 weeks i think-so cool so cool!!!

#3- my best best friend from south Africa is possibly moving to America for the rest of the year and is hoping to stay in jersey and Au pair like I'm doing!!! :D so excited about that, will be amazing to share everything here with my best friend! I'll never be lonely again!ha ha

#4- April, not only my birthday month, but my 21ST BIRTHDAY!!!!!!! yeah!!!!! only the biggest birthday of my life so far! cant wait.

#5-i am paying for my granny to come and visit me around April.... she has never been to America, and she is also my favorite person in the whole world so this will def be a big thing for me :D

#6- my friend Nassim, who also went home to Germany already, is coming to visit for a month in May! so cool!

#7- I am going back home in August!!!!! I cant wait! i cant wait to taste South African food and drive South African roads, ah man I cant wait for that!

#8- I am hopefully coming back to America on a student visa and will start studying social work full time....

Wow what a good looking year ahead right? can't wait and I hope you'll enjoy hearing more and more adventures of my American dream!

xxx

365 days of a dream

2013-01-24T06:00:00.002+02:00

Hey all you crazy peeps :D

So today, as some of you may know is the first anniversary of my arrival in America :) Firstly I wanna say happy one year to all my fellow au pairs who I had the pleasure of meeting at the training school this time last year. I hope you all had an amazing year and whatever you decide to do this next year, good luck and God bless :)

Wow, the land of the free, the home of the brave, and now the home of Naomi :) this year has a rollercoaster ride!!!! I have had the most amazing, thrilling, adventurous, scary, independent, emotional, daring, educating, wild, eye-opening, relaxing, and courageous year of my life. It has truly been a year of all emotions and experiences and the best thing I can say about it is that I made the most of [almost] every opportunity handed to me.

Starting with the first week year, I was challenged to love these kids as my own, as well as discipline them, as well as encourage them, as well as keep them in check. I can now say being a mom is tough, I have semi first-hand experience :p but I can honestly say I feel these kids have taught me so much more than I could have ever taught them. They taught me how to love and trust, and to forgive and forget quickly. They taught me how to be young and free, and how to rely on others when you can’t do something alone. They taught me how to let go of the small things, and to try new things every day, even if it’s not a first choice preference. Mostly, they taught me about family. There are so many times when Jillian (the 5 year old girl I look after) will call me her sister; and so many times matt (the 8 year old boy I look after) will include me in counting the members of the family. Oh I do love them so much and couldn’t have been more blessed to be a part of this family.

I did not realize I liked travel as much as I do, until I started travelling. It is an amazing (and uncomfortable) thing to live out of a suitcase, and I recommend it to everyone! This past year I went to Niagara falls, Maryland, Washington dc, Amherst in Boston, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, Denver, Kansas city Missouri, Philadelphia, New York city of course, and obviously around Jersey… I have loved seeing every different place, and definitely plan on continuing my travels this coming year.

This year has been most significant for me because for the first year in the past 5, I have had a stable place to call home, amazing people to call family (Jess and Evan), and met the most amazing friends from around the world (Germany, France, El Salvador, Mexico, and England). Being away from home teaches you real independence and how to trust yourself. I have always said when you take yourself away from everything you think makes you who you are, that’s when you find out who you really are, what you really want, and what you believe in and stand for. This I have done, in one short and long year and it’s truly an inspiring thing. I now believe in myself, have strength and courage to do things I never thought I could, I know what I think is right and wrong, without a grown up telling me what to do, and have just grown in maturity so much.

All I have left to say is praise God! Praise Jesus for this past year, that I made it, and still love my job and life as much as I did in the beginning, and praise God for his faithfulness this year. Thank you to everyone who has followed me this past year, who have helped me and encouraged me to push on, and who have stuck by me the whole time. I love you all so much. I am truly excited for another amazing year of being in America and “kissing the rain” :)

Happy belated new year....

2013-01-12T23:29:00.001+02:00

Hey all, Happy happy new year, I know it's late but this year has just been so crazy, and it's only the 12th...

New years weekend was a long one for me and I spent it in NYC as well as the Poconos in Philadelphia...on the Friday I went to new York city and met my boyfriend Girish for lunch, then I stayed at a hostel in NYC. At the hostel I met 2 cool people and went out to an Irish pub with them in downtown Manhattan, it was so much fun.

Then on Saturday I went with Girish skiing at bareback mountain resort at the Poconos Oh my gosh it was the most amazing experience ever! The first slope we went on was the expert one, but we didn't know, so we're going up the biggest slope they have and there's only one way down. Oh my gosh it was so much fun, we both fell like a million times but it was such an experience. Then we went on the smaller slopes and by the end of the day I was an expert, Girish, ahhhhh not so much :p

Then back to NYC...That night I went to my friend Tracey's house to sleep over, it was so nice seeing her again, I really missed her, and we just went to mc Donald's and chilled.

The next day was new years eve, or old years day. Me, Svenja, Girish, and Svenja's two friends and two sisters ended up on 57th and broadway and in perfect view of the ball drop in times square. it was awesome we got there at 11, waited an hour and saw the ball drop. it was great. my new years resolution is to save money. :) what is yours?
xx

Merry belated Christmas :)

2013-01-10T21:42:00.004+02:00

Hey guys so I am back to using this blog, if you missed some posts they will be at my old blog (www.kissingtherain.com) but from now on all my new posts will be on this site.

So I haven't posted in a while, thus, I will start a series of updates starting from Christmas.

My first Christmas in America was amazing. Christmas eve my best friend came over and she cooked a traditional German dinner for us. Then we went to church, and then after church we went with some friends to another friends house and just hung out and watched a movie. It was really cool. Then Christmas morning I had to wake up early to take my bestie to the bus stop, and I also gave my host parents their gift. After I woke up properly, around 10, my now boyfriend picked me up and took me to Starbucks I hadn't seen him in 3 weeks because he was touring Europe, so it was the best present ever to see him after a while on Christmas. We hung out at Starbucks had some Christmas in a cup drinks, and then went to Michelle and James' house (friends from church). We had lupper (lunch/supper) with them and stayed there pretty much the whole evening. After we left we drove around neighborhoods looking at all the Christmas lights people had put up. It was amazing!

I really had the best Christmas ever, couldn't have been better.

Here are some photo's from the day :)

friends at church

my little christmas set up in my room

as we realised it was officially christmas, this was our merry christmas faces at 3am :p

part of my gift from my beautiful friend

starbucks lovin'

let there be lights!

Which blog?!

2012-11-18T06:25:00.002+02:00

Hey guys so I've noticed many people are still following this blog. This leads me to wonder if I should come back to posting on this blog as apposed to my new blog (www.kissingtherain.com). Leave a comment and let me know what you think... :) xx

goodbye blog

2012-08-06T01:00:00.000+02:00

hey everyone! so i am moving my blog to another domain, i will no longer use this as my blog. BUT, be sure to follow my ew blog (its the exact same thing) by following www.kissingtherain.com :) love you guys and hope that you will follow my blog still. xxx

a lil' bit of me-time

2012-07-04T01:18:00.004+02:00

Soooooo…. As you all may know, its summer in the USA right now. This means, long hot hot hot days! Shorts, tanks, bikinis, and a whole lot of sun tanning :) The kids are at summer camp every day from 9-4 so I get a nice break in the day and the summer so far has been super relaxing.

I have taken this opportunity to have some me time. So far I have been reading, scrapbooking, and working on my songs! I finished a song by the way J its like a worship song, ah so happy about that! I also have no choice but to have me time because my two best friends have finished their au pair years! :( boooo….but its been fun!

I will show you guys some of my scrapbooking and maybe I will record my song and put it in a post for you guys to hear if you want, maybe :) oh and I’m teaching myself French with this all audio course thing (http://www.livinglanguage.com/products/french/)

Some other things I want to do this summer:

· Study (I’m doing an au pair course on the 20-22 July)

· Travel (going to Niagara falls next weekend)

· Travel some more (maybe Ohio to visit my friends)

· Find suitable clothes to wear to Christina and Andrew’s wedding

· Finish at least 3 books (this sounds little but it’s a huge thing for me!)

· Master French (yea right)

· Relax and soak up the sun….

Ok I love you guys, thank you again for following my blog! I’m looking to upgrade to a better blog site soon so it’s exciting and I’m gana make my blog bigger and better. Big hugs and kisses, xxx

good-bye Nitti :)

2012-06-27T04:18:00.001+02:00

Ah the time has come to say good bye to Benita, she left for her travel month yesterday morning...so sad. These are some pictures of only a few of the best days of our lives.... (in sporadic order...)

here when every store was closed we roamed home depo...

we were always at Starbucks, ah our second home...

We had a rad little farewell party at cheesecake factor :)

mc donalds and its 20 nuggets for $5 deal was also one of our second homes, loved those times when we were like the only people in the micki dee's at like 11 30pm

my first party experience in the city was with Nitti :) those were fun nights...ah the red top and turquoise skirt :P

and guys hitting on us till we lost count :D

we really bonded over play dates, the park, our basement, and then some more park :)

i remember this time i got lost in the city, but i saw you so it was fine :)

and then like a huge american highlight, SUPERBOWL!! :)

We had the best times ever and i know that one day we will be able to have many more memories together! i love you Benita, as you move on in life, don't forget me :P and be safe!

and get together with UNNI!!!! haha,

i love you sweet friend :)

So many adventures!

2012-06-18T16:15:00.001+02:00

I know I haven’t written in over two weeks, I feel so bad, and so much has happened! Ahhhhhh, ok I’m ganna give ya’ll a crash course style update on my life for the past 2 and a bit weeks.

Ok first cool thing is I went kayaking with some friends at this magnificently beautiful lake, and I met some more American friends. The one friend David who I’m pretty close with plays piano and he and I are working on writing at least one song by the end of the summer. It’s so cool, I feel like such an artist! I love it! I will most certainly upload it on my blog once it’s done :)

Then last weekend I went out partying for the first time in 4 months! I went to Webster hall in New York City, and it was so so so amazing! It’s a 19 over club and it has like 3 floors and it’s relatively clean and was just so much fun! Met some more American’s and just had a blast. (http://websterhall.com/)

Then last week was Jillian’s graduation from pre-school, so we did that on Monday and went out for lunch. Oh I took some pictures of the mall in case anyone wants to know how regular American things look :P

Then this past weekend I went out with a friend to her friend’s house, met some more new people, and we just hung out. Then Saturday I went to Webster hall again cuz it was my friend Benita’s last weekend in the city so we had a long awesome night of dancing again! Then Sunday I was supposed to go to the au pair meeting to a baseball game, but I way overslept! :( oh and i saw the naked cowboy in times square! its this dude that walks around singing in his undies! :P

So yea those are my adventures so far, still loving the US!

I have a few random things I wanna tell you guys though. Firstly, I always have such happy and exciting blog posts, and life here is exciting, and I wish for everyone in the world who can, to take this opportunity like I did, but I feel like sometimes I don’t share enough real things like hard situations. It’s difficult to do though, talk about the sucky things, cuz I don’t want anyone to get the wrong impression of me. But what I will say is, life is tough here. You have to make all your own decisions, do everything for yourself, no one waking you up in the morning, no one helping you find a bank, you get lost, frustrated, you feel lonely and exhausted and there are days, yes, everyone has them, where you just want to go home! I want people to know this so they don’t expect the American au pair life to be all roses and fun. It does get hard sometimes but I can promise you one thing: it’s so worth it!

Second thing I wanna say is does anyone know how/ have suggestions as to how I can make my blog better? I wanna have like I wall type thing where all your messages can go and I can reply to them cuz the more my followers grow, the harder it is to follow what’s going on in the au pair room page, it’s looking a bit crazy right now.

And lastly, I wanna encourage you all to stay following, I love knowing that my life and my stories can help or inspire or just make you laugh :) you guys are the best! I love you all!

xxx

about time...

2012-06-01T04:19:00.001+02:00

hey all, i am so sorry its taken me so long to get you guys this video, but this week has been crazy! i love you guys, thanks for the patience and support. let me know if you like the video :) xxx

life tastes good

2012-05-14T06:14:00.001+02:00

This week was a really weird week; i felt really down and run over, like i wanted to give up on things. i was losing confidence in my ability to do this year, but then i thought to myself, even if i don't feel like I’m doing a good job at anything right now, let me just keep going, keep trying. So that's what i did, even if i didn't feel like my life was productive or good, i just kept going and didn't give up. i started organizing my life with budget, goals, and schedules...it felt good to get things sorted out a little, and by the end of the week i felt like my confidence was raised :)

In terms of work, the kids were the best they'd ever been this week, which was really nice for me. i did like fun stuff with them, like painting, a little treasure hunt thing, and just fun playing around with them. i think after 3 months, I’m getting so much more used to everyone, and everyone is getting so much more used to me.

I hung out with Qarla more this week, we went to a Texas Mexican restaurant in freehold with her two friends, and i had real Mexican enchiladas which were very cool, i always have fun with her. The week before we had Chinese food in freehold and i tried new stuff there too. i find myself being so much more adventurous this year, like trying everything before i say i do or don't like it. It's actually lots of fun being crazy and adventurous.

Our "date nights" hehe

metro cafe:

Texas Mexican restaurant

I also bought my plane ticket to Missouri this week, which felt cool. It’s the first time I’ve ever bought a plane ticket for myself anywhere!!

i found a really cool thrift store in freehold called second hand rose, http://freehold.patch.com/listings/the-second-hand-rose, and bought some really nice, inexpensive clothes.

today was mother’s day and i went to church feeling a little sad and bleak cuz i missed my family back home, and my family here was having like a big lunch with all their family around, which to me felt like Christmas, so i missed being with family. But at church i met amazing people and Godly woman who were just so friendly to me and so loving and generous and inspiring, so that made me feel a lot better.

Like i said, this week was a bit crazy but overall it was a good week.

Oh my gosh, almost forgot to tell about the baseball game i went to! I went to a Mets verse Arizona something team, it was AMAZING to say the least. There were like thousands of people, in this phat ass stadium, loud and buzzing and just such a vibe. i know nothing about baseball so i'm not sure how the actual game was but it was an unbelievable experience! enjoyed it so much.

Love to you all!!! xx

Its the weekendddd baby!

2012-05-02T03:44:00.004+02:00

Sooooo.... last week was really cool, i got my drivers on Monday, it was really easy! Then i got some birthday gifts in the mail which was nice....but my weekend was the best. On Friday I went to the movies with my German friend Nassim, and we watched the lucky one (which was really average), and went to the mall. Nassim is really cool, I like her a lot. Then on Saturday I woke up at like 2 40pm :P my bad….and I went out with my Brazilian friend Emile, we went for like Italian food, and then went to this cool outlet type store, ahhhh I’m ganna save money just so I can spend it on all the cheap stuff there. Then on Sunday I went to church and Karla, my Mexican friend, came with me. After church we went to this amazing park with like a lake by it and we had a mini picnic and photo-shoot and we just sat by the lake pretty much all afternoon. Then we walked around freehold downtown (a very pretty town) and then ended up having sushi with Karla’s friend Johan (also Mexican), and lastly we went to café 360 for chai lattes. What a great weekend right?

Nassim and I

Emile and I

Karla and I at the lake

Sitting by the lake on Sunday got me thinking a lot about life and how the beauty of life is really in the eye of the beholder. So many girls just want to leave home and come to America to follow the American dream, and then when they’re here they just want to go home. I believe very much that America does hold the dream that you can be whatever you want to be here if you work hard enough. Like simple things like travelling for me is so easy (well easier than back home), and maybe if someone want to become famous they could do it easier here than back home. But I think that it is important to always be happy where you are. I feel like if I just stayed in Jersey and visited dc and nyc the whole time I was here I’d be happy, cuz for me the fact that I’m in America is enough for me. I just love knowing that any part of America is good enough for me. I feel like as long as I have great people around me who make me laugh, I’m happy and content with life. And sure I miss home, but this is where I wanted to be and this is still where I want to be. Sorry super random blurb :)

And my latest thought is if today was your last day, what would you do with it?

I love all my friends and family back home, who read my blog, and to all my new friends here, you make being away from home doable, and to any new followers or random readers, I hope you enjoy reading and keep following :) Don't forget any questions, just post them in the Questions page. xx

Happy birthday to me...

2012-05-01T04:02:00.000+02:00

I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA on my blog this month. I find that I like to write long detailed posts so I end up prolonging it so I can do it properly, but then just don’t end up doing it. I always wonder to myself, what do I do during the day? I mean the kids are at school and I have like a couple hours off and I feel like at the end of the day I haven’t accomplished much.

I’m finding it much better with the kids now and like that routine is going great, but I feel like the next challenge is to try work out a personal routine, which let’s face it, I’ve always struggled with. But this week was pretty cool. Ok wait I’ll start with last last week, my 20^th birthday!

silly i know but my first picture as an official adult :)

My birthday was Monday, it was great, I got so spoilt I thought it was Christmas. From “Matty” I got a foldable easel, paint, and paintbrushes, and 5 canvases, from “Jill” I got a whole bunch of really cool scrapbooking stuff and an actual scrapbook book. From my host dad I got these amazing chocolates, and from both my host parents I got a CAMERA!!!! Can you believe it?! I was like shut up! That was the best gift ever. Then I chilled in the day, the kids were back at school after spring break, and I went to gym with Benita. In the evening we went to cheesecake factory for dinner (it’s an actual restaurant) and the food was insane. Then I went home and we had an awesome ice cream birthday cake and then after that some of my girlfriends came over and ate cake and coffee with me :) it was a great day, really. I missed family, but I was so busy with here that it didn’t matter that I was away from them.

the yummyness i had

my ice cream cake

my rad gifts!

So then, wow my short term memory is terrible. Then I guess the week just went by as usual, got back into the swing of things after break. Then on the weekend I went to six flags again but with my two guy friends from church. They’re really cool. And this time I went on like all the rides, it was insane!!! I couldn’t believe how crazy scared I was of the rides but how fun they were! There was one where you stand up on the rollercoaster, on where then lift you up so you’re in like a flying position, and like a ton other cool ones. They were all cool and different. and on Sunday i went out for lunch with the girls, Ines, Lia, and Karla. then Karla came back to my house and we watched In Time (really good movie)

Lia and Ines up top, Me and Karla down below

It was an amazing birthday in the states, i really loved it!

Spring break!! :D

2012-04-16T05:11:00.000+02:00

So the past two weeks have been spring break, hence the absence to my blog. I have been working almost every day all day, doing things with the kids. It’s been tiring, but super fun! This has been the time to do all the things with the kids we wanna do, but that the school week doesn't allow us to do.

In this week the kids woke up late, and I got a little later start than usual :) yay :) we got to hang out, relax, and also do some fun things. Oh and in the middle of it was Passover, which was cool for me cuz I have never been part of a Passover service before. Ok so from my fail memory Monday to Friday there were some play dates, relaxing, games, park adventures, and ice cream, oh and photo-shoots for Jillian’s modeling.

One of the coolest things we did in this week was go to six flags. i know i post a lot of links, but just go check out six flags' website to see first hand how cool it is!http://www.sixflags.com/greatAdventure/rides/ThrillRides.aspx but here some pictures of my experience of it when i went with the kids.

these pictures are taken off the Ferris wheel:

this tall thing standing up above evrything else is called Kingda Ka, its the worlds tallest roller coaster

the yellow one that you see here is Nitro, it was one of my favorite ones

we had to do the kiddy rides, for obvious reasons, but to be honest they were actually fun :) no suprise

Then Friday night was Passover. This was the first night of Passover, which to me just felt like Christmas. There was lots of family, lots of food, and a spiritual aspect to it. I met a whole bunch of my host dad’s side of the family and his one uncle I think, has a farm with horses, so hopefully I will get a chance to go horse riding. So the Passover Seder was pretty cool, and interesting to learn about a different religion.

Saturday afternoon we took a 3 hour drive to Baltimore, Maryland, a different state in America where my host mom’s family lives. We went there because the second night of Passover was at this big country club with like 50 member of my host mom’s extended family. It was crazy! The night was pretty much the same as the one we had before but just more people. It was cool.

Then on Sunday I went to church with my friend Fraser, who lives in Baltimore too. The church there was really cool, I enjoyed it so much. Then we met up with my host family at a deli which there great great grandparents opened up in 1915 and is still there today. Check out the website: http://www.attmansdeli.com/ . Anyways it was very cool to go there, and then after that Fraser and I spent the day paddling in the harbor, going up a world trade center memorial (27 floors up to see the whole of Baltimore), and going for a drink, and then a pre birthday dinner. It was so cool to hang out with a friend who I've known since I got to America!

this is Fraser

these are pictures taken while driving around Baltimore

here is the deli :) my host mom's mom satnding outside it

the Jessica special on the menu is named after my host mom :)

this is where you sit and eat

we went "backstage"

this was my unbelievably large Jessica special!

this is the view from the memorial tower thingy, and the following photos are taken from every side of the tower so you can see the whole of Baltimore :)

here we are doing a paddle boat trip, we called our dino boat dee, after our friend danielle hook :)

Then on Monday I went with my host mom’s mom and step dad to the Maryland zoo. That was awesome! I saw some African animals, and it was just cool cuz it was my first time at a zoo in America, and ever! I had never been to a zoo before that, cuz back home there’s like one zoo in the city and its probably lame compared to any American zoo.

the entrance

stag

an actual mammoth head!

this is the worlds biggest tree i'm sure, i thought it was fake! you can actually walk in and around inside it!

here's a slide coming out the tree

farm animals!

rhinos!

zebra!

cheetah!

this is just a statue :)

So the rest of spring break was pretty much the same as the beginning... we went into new york city on one of the days cuz the kids had casting calls, and we went to the M&M store, and the Hershey store. that was fun.

a really cool burger place in the city

hot chocolate comes in a bowl! niiiiiice

the treats the kids got

i tried to make brownies with the Hershey kisses we got, but the were like rocks! oops :P

So spring break was awesome! over the weekend, i was fortunate enough to hang out with my friends at six flags again, so i went on all the roller coaster and they were amazing!!!! mindbogglingly fantastic!!! then today i just chilled.

i'm finding life easier and easier to adjust to here. many times i think to myself what the hell did you get yourself into, cuz its hard work and it takes a lot out of you, but i enjoy every minute of every day!

i feel like the kids are accepting me more each day, they respond better to me and i can tell i'm rubbing off on them. my job is becoming more rewarding :) i miss home and my boyfriend a lot, but such is life. OK time for sleep, and tomorrow its my birthday!! :)

moving along happily

2012-03-25T00:02:00.000+02:00

The more I live in America, the more I love it! Wow, it’s unreal to describe how good this could be for a person! Being completely independent from anything that you thought made up your identity (school, family, and/or friends), being completely away from anything you know, just BEING is exhilarating! It’s scary and nerve wrecking and daring, but so so incredible! Here’s why: you don’t know who you are independent from what has made you who you are for the past 19 years, so every day you are learning how to create yourself, and any grown up will tell you this is really tough.

So this week felt really unproductive, but any person who knows me will know that for me to sit at home and do nothing productive in my off time, for a whole week, is incredibly difficult but necessary. So without even knowing it I feel like this week I refueled and relaxed and just had some ‘me’ time. And here’s a tip to anyone working with children, if you are relaxed, your job will be easier, because children pick up off your vibes hectically!

So my post isn’t that exciting in terms of things that I’ve done here, but it’s great in terms of the little things I’ve accomplished! I’ve actively grown closer to God, I feel like I’ve become better at my job and the relationships with my whole host family, and I’m learning how to get over hurt that was caused by a season change in my life.

I remember like 3 weeks ago writing a normal blog post and not feeling it, but instead feeling like I was falling apart and not dealing with things as well as I should be, but now I feel on top of my game, its really cool :)

Oh one more thing, if you’re a future or new au pair and follow my blog, don’t forget to facebook me cuz I wanna do something cool on my blog specifically for au pairs…. I’ve already had some responses from girls asking for advice which I feel honored about! :)

Chat soon guys, and thanks for following my blog! I love support!

love this! :)

2012-03-21T18:11:00.002+02:00

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Happy st paddy's day!!!

2012-03-20T04:30:00.000+02:00

The st patrick's day parade by jersey shore:

Hello all my followers, how are you today?

The past few weeks have been interesting, goods things happened and bad things happened, and a lot was learnt.

After my grandfather passed away I felt very sad and trying to carry on with work was trying. I was a bit depressed for a few days, but then just started focusing on other things and putting energy into that. I want to start painting as a way to let out my emotions, so hopefully you’ll be seeing some cool pics up soon.

There’s so much to say so I’m going to divide this post into like sub sections:

The kids (my job itself):

As I just mentioned this has been the toughest part to keep doing and doing well cuz of personal struggles with my gramps, but I feel like out of everything in my life this is the only thing I’m doing really well at. Like there’s a lot to remember on a daily basis and the kids can be testing of one’s patience (as all kids are), but I feel like I’m learning every day how to do my job better and how to work with kids in a way that works. It’s very fun, my job. When the weather is good I take the kids to the park and we have picnics and go for ice cream and lunch and I watch them ride their bikes outside and they have friends over and stuff, it’s really cool. And like ya sometimes I get tired and wish I could go home and not work, but that’s life, ill always have days like that. The kids are really cute, which makes it impossible not to like them, even when they are naughty… :)

Boyfriend and family:

Wow, who would have known it would be this difficult to leave the nest? I have always wanted to go off into the world and do my own thing, but now that I’m doing it, I appreciate my lady’s cooking and the freedom and laughs and weirdness of my family back home much more! I’m missing out on being there for my gran during this difficult time, being there for my boyfriend as he starts a new season in life with work, and on my sisters wedding… I’m also missing most of my friends’ 21^st’s which is not cool… but I am learning a lot by being away from friends and family: you learn who you really are, apart from the things you thought were your identity, you realize that many people who were in your life for one season, don’t always stay in your life for every season, and that life moves on and God provides for what you need all the time. Its really good for me I think.

Faith:

Staying in touch with God has been particularly difficult this year, as before I left, my mind was consumed with working my way to get here, and now that I’m here, my mind is consumed with settling into this new lifestyle. Also nobody around me shares my faith, which means I have little accountability and it’s easy for me to compromise my morals and follow the crowd. But I am finding new ways every day to adapt, and my new goal for life right now is to pursue a relationship with Jesus, cuz “put first the kingdom of heaven and everything will be given unto you”. Thankfully I got my amazing boyfriend keeping me in line.

AMERICA:

I have seen so many new things lately! The parks in America are way cool, I know I’ve said it before, but the more I go to them, which when the weather is good, every day, I love them more! Speaking of the weather, it’s been really cool and sunny lately, actually humid, which is weird cuz when I got here it was snowing….Then I saw some cool new places in new York city this weekend when I went there for the st Patrick’s day parade. I saw central park, no way you won’t believe, it’s EXACTLY like in the movies! It’s crazy, and you can go on like horse cart ride and hire bicycles and ride around the park, and there’s an ice rink in the middle of it, very cool! Then we saw Donald trump’s tower and his KFC, it’s really good!

The parade was actually super sick, there were bands and drummy girl type things and the navy and the fire fighters and everything…..I went to the parade in long branch which is by jersey shore last weekend, and then the one in new York city this weekend. There were many drunken people dressed in green-BLAGH!

Ok things I’ve noticed different so far is they have no steers, lindt is cheaper than back home, the indicators are like part of the brake lights so sometimes it’s difficult to tell when someone’s turning, the average speed limit in residential areas is like 30 or 40 km per hour-no joke. Their French toast is like think, and predominantly sweet, like it’s made with cinnamon, all the bread and rolls and those sorts of products have a natural yellow tint to it, the eggs are white, they have deer like we have rabbits, schools are just like in the movies, colorful, casual clothes, all the sports teams have like those branded bomber jacket, and cheerleaders everywhere!

Its so cool being in America and I’m feeling more and more like it’s becoming home. I know this has been random, but I hope you enjoyed it.

Something I want to start is blog posts aimed specifically at new or future au pairs, so if you’re a new or future au pair and think my day to day stories could help you find out more about how your life will be her in America, then comment on this post or sent me a Facebook message at Naomi Antonette Groenewald.

Much love!!!

Oh, here all my adventure pics :)

While at the parade, we gambled a little in the arcade :)

i won that fro trace :)

and the infamous jersey shore:

Then fun at the park with the kids:

me on a scooter, can you believe it :P

the kids with ice cream all over...

Then random fun :)

this is our back garden the view from the porch :D

this is daisy, our doggy

tea party!

the best frozen yogurt place ever!

a little coffee shop

our waitress's attempt at south African iced coffee :( not too good, but she tried :)

ok so don't forget, if you're a new au pair or a potential one, and you follow my blog, comment on this post or facebook me... xxxx

In Memory Of...

2012-03-03T20:26:00.000+02:00

"Allan Joseph Mc Owen, sadly passed away on Thursday 1st of March, An amazing man that lives on in all of us. He will be sorely missed by his grandchildren Naomi Groenewald, Shelly and Nevern Mc Owen. His children Garth, Miles and Alethea Mc owen but mostly by his wife Helen Mary Mc Owen"

I started writing a big long spiel about this event in my life, but at the moment, it's actually a little bit to difficult. But I want to honor him in my blog, so I will keep it short and simple.

On Thursday morning, my sister called me to tell me the news that my grandfather, who was a father to me, had passed away. He had been struggling for a while (maybe the past 6 months), and just last week he was in the hospital. But this past Thursday morning, he was lying in his bed, with his favorite socks on, and his beautiful wife of 56 years close to him, and he went peacefully in his sleep.

While this is a very traumatic experience for me, and I feel pain I have never known before, I want to tell you the good things about him, and the things I will never forget, because I think he would like that very much.

He was a family man, all his life he was successful, and he had the cars and the houses and the clothes and the whole works, but when it came to family, he would (and did) give it all up in a flash. So the first thing he taught me was that nothing matters more than family, that's why I couldn't have asked God for a better way to take him. I mean the most important people in his life were happy and safe and he could leave this earth knowing that the most important thing to him, his family, were happy. His wife was right there with him, and his two beautiful granddaughters were out following their dreams, both together with men that love them and will take care of them when my gramps couldn't anymore.

To me it just seems like he had had a crazy great life, lived 82 and a half years, and he wanted to live some more, but his body wouldn't let him. He had such an energy-filled heart, full of drive and enthusiasm for life, but it feels like the world had become an unworthy place for him. He was full of life and passion, but his body was full of ailments, so he had to move on to a life where he could run free forever, and his spirit could be wild and beautiful and untamed by the ways of this world. He needed to go somewhere where their was rest for his soul, and where he could be taken care of in the ways that none of his family, or doctors here were able to.

My heart is filled with much grief and pain and a heavy burden of worry for my family. My gran is now widowed and I am thousands of miles from home, unable to give her even so much as a hug, and my sister cared and loved my grandfather as deeply as I did, and that brings my heart pain to know what she feels and not be able to comfort her. Equally to the amount of ill feelings I feel, I am also comforted and put to peace by the thought that he lived good, and he passed by well, and now he is happy, peace filled, and resting. If he were here he wold be struggling, but now he is in a better place where God can take care of him.

I have learnt so much about my Oupa, as we always called him, in his passing, and as I've tried to deal with it. And I know that I will never forget anything about him, the memories, the laughs, the strict discipline, the bed time stories, the keenness for learning, and the love that he gave an knew every day of his life. He knew that I loved him and even the last time I saw him, at 19 years old, I sat on his lap and whispered in his ear that I loved him more than anything. He will live on in my life, and through my life forever, and not a day will go by where he is not part of my life.

Oupa, this is for you, I love you and you were the most amazing person to have in my life. Thank you for everything you did for me, and all the things you gave and taught me, that have made me the person I am today. We will always love you and remember you, but I know you do not want us to be sad forever, so I will laugh and enjoy life, but always with you in my heart, and I will always live a life that you'd be proud of, I promise. I love you.

diary entry-week 5...

2012-02-28T05:34:00.000+02:00

So last week was an amazing but long long week. It was long because I worked a lot, the kids were off school on Monday and my girl was off Tuesday, but it was a good week nonetheless. I am definitely getting used to life over here and loving it more and more. The more I do it, the better I get at it, the whole schedule and driving and currency difference. Here are many random thoughts about life right now:

The whole of last week I kept thinking to myself, I cannot actually believe this is my life right now! If I think back to 6 months ago, I was stressed about my future not sure about whether I should even follow my dream of going to America to au pair, and thinking even if I wanted to how on earth would I afford it?! How could I manage to get here? It amazes me! My own story inspires me to always follow my dream. I remember day when going to America was as hopeful as a Cinderella story, and now look at me!! If you have followed this blog right through you will know what I mean.

So I feel like somehow I should keep telling people to always follow their dreams! I have so much faith in God to make things happen, and in myself to make things happen. Someone once said, if your dreams don’t intimidate you, they insult God, and that is so true! My dream was big, and for a less than fortunate girl like me, it was a dream too big. But look, it came true and now I look outside the kitchen window at the beautiful pine trees outside, or sometimes I sit on the porch and breathe in the icy morning air and think to myself, this is all I ever wished for and more! I am living my dream come true!

And while I’m on my little tangent, I just want to thank anyone who has contributed in any way to this travel adventure of mine, THANK YOU! I appreciate it more than words can say.

Ok second random blurb thought: people have been asking me lately, like what’s the biggest thing that is different for you or that shocks you the most? The culture, the driving, New York… So I thought you reading my blog might be interested :)

I think among the biggest difference for me is definitely the driving. Driving on the right hand side of the road, jug handles, and lack of circles, not to mention the obnoxious drivers!

Then the food is crazy! Its yummy, and the candy is soooooo good! And the portions are so big I always share with a friend, or order the starters! My favorite thing in America so far is a chicken wrap. Simple I know, but really good. AND THEY HAVE UNLIMITED FRIES!!!

The other thing is the houses and the areas I have seen so far. The houses are extravagantly big and they rarely have fences around them! Seeing a house without like 10 meter high walls around it is crazy to me, just crazy. And people have like garden furniture outside! Isn’t that weird? In S.A. that would never happen.

The other big difference is the food- like my stomach took for ever to get used to the food here! Its just totally different and many things are convenience orientated, and calorie conscious! All the menus have the calorie count of the item before they even have the price of the item.

The biggest thing that shocks me is the amount of stuff people have and have access to here. A simple ting like the park is crazy different. At home the parks have over grown grass, and maybe one jungle gym on it, and barely any children use it. Here, the parks have like games at them, multiple jungle gyms, and they are crowded with kids all the time. And the variety of clothes in clothes stores, and the different types of clothes and just everything is like home upgraded… but it’s pretty cool to experience all this I must say.

So there you have it, a crazy blurb about my thoughts about my life… hehe :)

Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question :)

xxx

diary entry-week 4...

2012-02-25T22:34:00.000+02:00

Diary entries are like random blurbs and feelings about my week…

Ok so because I haven’t written in a while, cause the past two weeks have been pretty busy, this diary entry is about week four of my stay in America, as in the week before last.

Ok last week was a little crazy because it was valentines day on Tuesday and I decided to throw a little girls tea party for Jillian and her friends…. So I had lots to plan and get in order and all that…so Tuesday after ballet Jill and I went home after ballet and got everything ready, it looked so cool and she had like 5 girls over, and I baked pink cupcakes that they could all decorate themselves, how cute!! :) :) After they played for the whole afternoon in the playroom…it was mad but I really enjoyed it cuz I know I would’ve loved that kind of thing as a child…

Here some pics :)

Then Wednesday and Thursday were pretty normal, but Friday the kids were off school fro presidents weekend…how crazy is that? Presidents weekend?! In South Africa we would never take a Friday and Monday off long weekend to celebrate our president, its just weird to me, but none the less we did…So I dropped the kids at their friends house in the morning and I went to the mall to go shopping! oh my word it was so dangerous, everywhere I look I just see things to buy for people! It’s insane! Nonetheless I felt the need to first spend some money on clothes for myself so I can look pretty for work…. FOREVER XXI!!!!! This is South Africa’s Mr. Price, except better!!! Its insane and huge and inexpensive, so I bought some shoes, tops, skirt, and socks! yay…

Anyways, back to the kids, so they had their play date and I picked them up and then we went home and chilled and then Jessica’s sister came over and they hung out and I kind of got off a bit early.

Ok so my weekend was amazingly cool and so chilled… I woke up on Saturday morning at like 12, so Saturday afternoon: P yay! And I skyped Calvin and the family went out and I skyped Calvin some more, and then when I had finished skyping Calvin, It was nighttime and I went to bed: P so it was a pretty cool day! Awful I know, but I think I deserved it.

Sunday was so awesome! I woke up early, went to breakfast with some cool au pairs at a friends house, went to church, and then went for an au pair get together at the movies with some different au pairs and we watched the vow. Ok to anybody reading this, if you are fairly similar to me, DO NOT WATCH THE VOW, unless you want to cry like an injured baby! It was just so sad, and I cried like a baby! The whole movie I cried the whole way through, it was mad! I have never cried so much for a movie before!

But my day got better cuz after the movie my friend and I went walking around the mall with her boyfriend and other friend, and we randomly got our ears pierced at the top. We walked past this piercing place and my friend was like ahh I wana get one and I was like ok, not like I’ve ever wanted to get that, but spontaneity got the best of me and I was like ok cool lets do it! So I got it, and my friend got one, and it looks cool…

This is Wurushkah, my friend that i met here, and she's from Durban :) SA power!

This is her friend, shoot i forgot her name, awkward...

we went to bobby's burger palace for fries after our ear piercings

Then I went home and relaxed and went to bed earlyish…

It was a crazy week though, like emotionally and mentally, just trying to figure life out, and figure out things on my own, like its so many firsts here. First time in a new country, first time with a full time job, first time all alone, first time to make ALL my own decisions, first time living with a family I work for, first time having to pay for absolutely anything I want with my own money and getting no extra money from parents, first time having to wake myself up every day, first time choosing which things in life I think are ok and which are not, first time doing long distance friendships and relationships, first time experiencing a drastic season change (spiritually and literally), and I’m sure I could think of a ton more…

So trying to learn how to manage my life with regard to all of these, and just learning to handle life by myself. It’s been crazy and stressful and trying to also manage maintaining contact with people at home and make time for skype dates and family time here and me-time and everything. It’s been bizarre! But you know what? This past week has been really cool and much better and the more time goes by the more I learn and the more I see things in a different light. And I’ve also got amazing people in my life that help me every step of the way and I know I am never alone.

Wow, so what a trip it must be reading this, haha how about living it :P it’s been an incredible adventure so far though.

Oh i forgot to mention, Calvin totally spoiled me for valentines day :) He sent me a like devotional book, roses, chocolates, a 48 piece make up set, a pamper like bath kit with like bath gel and lotion and hand cream and a rose shape loofah, and a silver diamond heart shaped necklace...he's the best and it definitely made me feel so special :) just thought I'd put that in there...

Yay :) ok bye, miss and love all my South African fans, :) , and love all my American newbies :)

xxx

Lets go team America :)

2012-02-10T18:28:00.000+02:00

So I know I haven’t written in a while, and I’m sorry, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, it’s just been super crazy settling in here in the USA!

So lets start with the fact that I’ve been sick, which sucks, cu the weather here is freezing, literally. So because of the sever climate change, I’ve had a running nose for two weeks- blagh!

Settling in with my family’s schedule has been tough because I’m over tired, and there’s a lot to remember, but the more I do it the easier it gets, so I’m not complaining…

My daily schedule is something like this: everyday except Tuesday I get the kids ready for school, take them to school, do random chores, chill until they finish school (in this chill time I like to skype cape town.), fetch them from school, do homework with them, take them to their extra mural activities or play dates, fetch them from their activities or play dates, and then give them supper, get them clean and in their p.j.’s, and then by that time their mom is home and I’m off (I usually pack their lunches and get things ready for the next day before I actually go to my room or go out). Then once I’m off I either can go out, have a friend over, or just chill alone…whatever I feel like.

So in the past two, almost three weeks that I’ve been here, I’ve met so many new people. Lots of girls, some guys, and lots of names to remember… but of all the people I’ve met, I think Ines and Benita are my good friends. They’re both German, and 19, like me J (The 19 part, not the German part obviously J) hehe. So with my friends I go to the mall, which is AWESOME!!! It’s huge, and we go for coffee and stuff, but lately I’ve been trying to save, and not go out as much, and also just to rest so I can get better and be hundreds!

So highlights of things I’ve done so far:

I went to New York with Tracy- my awsome friend that I met in Cape Town, probably my best friend in America... we're pretty tight.

And we had T.G.I. Fridays in Times square

Then I slept at her house in Queens, awesome times, and went on the train :D

Then come sunday, the biggest T.V. watching day of the year for American, it was the Superbowl....some football something or other :P. So I went with Benita to another au pairs house and we watched the Superbowl (by watched I mean glanced at it a few times in between our never ending conversations ), and had pizza. it was a cool vibe, and I met another South African girl, that was cool, made me feel at home.

This is Benita...

I also went to Carlo's pizza with the kids, and to Mc Donald's...which looks so different to South Africa Mc Donald's, and the chips aren't as good... and I went to Duncan Donuts again... :)

And then of course it SNOWED!!!!! holy moly it was amazing!!! the poor kids must have thought I was a crazy lady!

At first it fell kind of fast and small, then later on heavier and bigger and fluffier J. It really was the highlight of my life… So obviously, as soon as I got off work I played in it, and made a snow angel dedicated to Cape Town, the place I’ll always come back to!

I went to Johnny Rockets again, with Ines, which is like this super cute vintage/ retro restaurant which makes the best milkshakes ever! its amazing, and relatively cheap...

This is Ines...

OK well that's all for now, be sure to leave a comment if you wanna know more... and to check out my Facebook profile (Naomi Antonette Groenewald) for more pictures... and sorry they're bad quality, I'm using my iPod touch at the moment.

Love to everyone at home, missing you all so much! and love to my friends in America, you are making my stay here more pleasant every day!

BIG HUGS!!!