Flashback: An Unexpected Arrival

I woke up on the morning of April 19th, trying to blink away the remnants of the previous night, which had perhaps included too much beer and too little water. I had an appointment scheduled for that morning with someone who was going to show me her apartment up for rent. Since Dejan was going to come in a few weeks, I was going to try and secure a place for us to stay.

I checked my phone and saw it: a message from Dejan. He had been in Amsterdam for the weekend, so I hadn't heard much from him lately. But then he sent me a couple pictures that most certainly were not taken in Amsterdam.

"I'll see you in a bit," he wrote.

I sat straight up in bed, suddenly wide awake. He was here? Could this actually be real?? I looked at the photos again. The last one definitely said "Wellington" on it. Dejan had actually flown all the way to Wellington from Slovenia - without me noticing! I immediately sent an email cancelling my appointment.

I wanted to scream and cheer, but unfortunately all of my roommates were sleeping off the previous night. I ran upstairs, got a cup of tea, informed Mariah and the Breakfast Club of what was happening, and waited impatiently in the TV lounge for him to arrive.

And then there he was, walking through the gate to our hostel. He was really here!!

Without going into detail about my boyfriend's Nicholas Sparks-worthy surprise arrival, I'll just say this: I was overwhelmed with excitement and happiness.

Dejan joined the crew of hostel-mates with ease, and we were all soon hanging out together. Life was amazing.

He knows he's clever.

Getting Our Life Together

Once he'd arrived, things started falling into place. Mariah happened to see a van parked on the street that was selling for a really cheap price, and Dejan and I spontaneously decided to buy it. It's a 1992 Toyota Emina, and it looks something like this:

It came fully equipped with a mattress in the back and camping supplies, so sometime after this winter (which is when the Northern Hemisphere has summer, by the way) we will be able to drive around New Zealand and freedom camp all over the place. I had been wanting to travel this way for a while now, so this is the perfect opportunity.

Mariah modeling in the new ride.

The three musketeers checking things out in the back.

I also managed to secure an after school care job with the YMCA! I somehow hadn't even realized it was international... But with my background in child care I was awarded an Assistant Supervisor position, so I'm now working with kids every day at a nearby school for several hours. 

Not only that, but Dejan and I secured an apartment before we left for our North Island Tour! We would be paying less per week, and would finally not be surrounded by hostel mates all day every day. Things were coming together, and I now had a future planned for the post-Mariah era. Although I was dreading it coming, the days were unfortunately moving very quickly.

Luckily there were quite a few adventures to come before Mariah took off across the ocean. Stay tuned!