a lucky penny.

For my Birthday a few weeks ago, my parents took me out to lunch to one of my favorite restaurants, and on the floor I found a lucky penny.
And you know what they say about lucky pennies don't you?
"Find a penny pick it up,
All day long you'll have good luck."

I figured that since I found it on my birthday, it probably meant all year long I'd have good luck... which so far, has been proven true:
(in other words, this is just a long-winded summary of my New Zealand getaway)

-First time I've ever been in a five story mall, conveniently located just two blocks away from our hotel in Australia. Dreams come true in buildings like that.

-Took a ride on one of the steepest railways in the world (in a rain forest located in Katoomba, Australia). Seriously, we all felt like Indiana Jones for sixty seconds.

-As was mentioned before, I tried vegemite: I was one of the firsts out in a game of mafia and consequently had to take a bite (luckily I avoided a whole spoonful) and it honestly tastes like pure salt. But looks like Nutella. And they put it on toast? I'll stick with Tim Tams.

-I was also almost kidnapped one night. When they say your life flashes before your eyes, I can similarly relate - except it was more like my unlived life: there goes my wedding, my future daughter Summer, my career on Fox News, my retirement at Turtle Bay... etc.
As a group of guys surrounded and approached the car (that I happened to be sitting alone in/in a parking garage/at 11 at night) I tried to listen to my iPod and look unaware of my unknown approaching fate: Most likely being stuffed in the back of a trunk, probably a Taken-like-movie-scene, minus the fact my dad isn't Liam Neeson. I would probably die.
But long story short: I lived.

-Did you know that out here they call the hood of the car the bonnet and the trunk of the car the boot? Did you also know that I was particularly smitten with a certain boy because of this? (okay, in all honesty it wasn't only because of this) But all I'll say is: 12 hour marathon date/doesn't like Megan Fox/insists on offering his jacket/picks me a flower/and he opens my car door every single time? Proof that life actually beats Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen movies... by a long shot.

-I was able to visit both Sydney, Australia and Hamilton, New Zealand LDS temples. So special.

-Harry Potter on Worlds Largest Imax in Darling Harbor + Ferris Wheel looking out over the Sydney Harbor + stroll through Hyde Park on a sunny afternoon? No words my friends, no words.

-Gold leaf brownies (twice) amazing margherita pizza (everywhere we went!) And I only gained 30 pounds.

-And finally, (and most especially) out of the millions of stories I could write about, what the real highlight has been is the people who I've been able to meet and the friends I've been able to make. It goes to show that relationships always mean more than anything else in the world, and that there will always be good people and kindred spirits who will cross your path, no matter where life takes you.

There really is so much I love about New Zealand (and Australia!) now, it's not even funny. I have a feeling that this time as I board my flight back to the States, a part of me will feel like I'm leaving home, rather than returning to it.
And I think my penny was pretty dang lucky.