Nikki

I think it's very rare to find a "best" friend. Friends come and go but it's those true friends who stay for the duration. I've been lucky, not only do I have one best friend but I have TWO!

Adjusting in an foreign country isn't easy any of my friends from the American-Kiwi group will tell you. It's hard to make friends and the culture shock is just....well...shocking!

I arrived in NZ in June 1999, I had a made few friends, mostly co-workers who were super nice and we got along quite well, and a few that were Brendon's friends that took me under their wing and they are all wonderful people; but it wasn't until 2003 that I found "Best" friend number two.

Nikki came into my life in a pretty funny way. My step-daughter's grandmother met her while working and made mention that she knew of another American living here. She managed to give us phone numbers for the other one and we finally got to talk on the phone. What I thought is the funniest twist was that Brendon knew her husband and talked to him frequently at work!! Neither knowing the other was married to an American woman they had met on the internet. It wasn't long after we met that Brendon and I moved to Morrinsville. So we now only live about 2 minutes from each other.

Nikki has been such a wonderful friend. We complain about the trials and tribulations of living in New Zealand, being married to stupid men, and the joys of motherhood. We talk on the phone nearly everyday, much to the bewilderment of our spouses. They just don't understand what we could possibly talk about all the time. If we aren't on the phone, it's emails or chatting on the American-Kiwi group message board.

Nikki is very talented:
She's a poet, she can pull a poem out of thin air.
She's a terrific mom, loving and caring and you can see that come across in her children.
She's brave! Don't dare her to do anything you just might regret it.
She's fun to be around, and has a wicked sense of humor.

I could go on and on but then it might go to her head (I know she's going read this) :-P

So if I haven't told you already Nikki, thank you for coming into my life and being my Best friend.