America Update

Here's the news everyone has been waiting for. Will we go or will we stay?
After a long time of weighing up all the pros and cons, we have decided not to go to the States at this time. We don't know if it will happen another year but at this stage its a no go. Without going into details we calculated what we'd need to survive the daily grind of living expenses and weren't able to balance the figures. With my medical history of Epilepsy I need to have health insurance which is rather expensive for an American Citizen let alone a non citizen. Yes we're a bit disappointed and feeling slightly foolish after saying that we're going. But wisdom prevails and we stay.
We do have a couple of other plans up the pipeline. One of them is actually happening for me. I am starting a Book Editing, Proofreading & Publishing course. This will provide me with a diploma and is NZQA, (whatever that means). It is recognised in NZ & Aussie. The course is a 6 - 12 mth one but depending on circumstances it is possible to do over 2 yrs. I wont need that long though.
Our close friends Scott and Rayminda came for a holiday from Eureka, Montana. They have been the 'go betweens' with our plans to move over there. It was so great to catch up. We were kinda hoping that we weren't going to have to say a proper goodbye, thinking that we'd see them in a few months. After a fun dinner together with Rach & Neal, we said our goodbyes and I have to admit, I wasn't feeling that happy for awhile after that. I'm not sure whether the dishes got washed with dishwater or my tears. I do hate goodbyes. We had such a cool time with you guys (Ray & Scott), I'm stoked that we got to spend the time we did together. Great how all the girls got on too. Cool to see that tape you made of Eureka and its unique youth group.:-) Which we still have by the way. You left it on top of our t.v. We shall work out how to get it too you.
Aimee is starting school at the start of June. Not far away eh!! Scary!!
Emily had her birthday on the 17th March. We went out to Woodpeckers on the friday night, nice food. Loud. Lots of kids. Figures seen as though its a family restaurant!:-)
We even saw another family that has a kid at the same school as the girls. The saturday was actually her birthday. Terry & I took her out shopping. Her face lit up when we went into a bike shop. We'd been teasing her about taking her shopping for fruit and veg! She thought we were taking her to buy some lollies! It took 3 shops before we found the right bike. She's over the moon, she had her bike stolen soon after we moved in here. It was really old and rusty so we didn't file a claim, but then we didn't want to buy her a new one if we were going over seas. At the same shop I got my birthday present (an early one I know). For me we got a Sara Ulmer road bike. Its really light and so easy and comfy to ride. Albeit I haven't had the chance to go for a proper ride. We took the girls down to the school grounds to ride so I tried it out there.
Well I think thats all the news for now. Remember to leave a comment.