About Us

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Welcome

to A Girl and a Kiwi! Thanks for swinging by. My name is Brooke, I’m a twenty something full time Speech Language Pathologist and full time wife to James.

How We Met

It’s a long story for another post, but it is important part of who we are and what we do. James and I met at the Otsego Club in January of 2010. He was traveling with the New Zealand snowboarding team training for the Vancouver Olympics. I was working as a ski instructor.

A friend introduced us, and I think it was love at first sight. Before I knew it, he was introducing me to his team as his “girlfriend” and flying me out to the Olympics to meet his family and watch him compete! After dating long distance for about a year, I moved out to New Zealand to go to University.  We lived in Auckland and then moved to Gisborne after I graduated. We were married in Michigan in January 2015, and made the move back to Michigan in March 2016.  We’re best friends and pretty much do everything together. You can read more of our story here!

He Loves

• Any outdoor activity – camping, kayaking, mountain biking, you name it, he loves it
• Severe weather – wind, rain, thunder, & cold
• Tobasco – on everything

She Loves

• Wifey things – cooking and decorating, but not cleaning.
• Most outdoor activities – skiing, hiking, sunbathing…
• POP Pilates
• DIY – crafting, sewing, gifting… You name it I’ll probably try it.

Our Home

We recently bought a house on 5 acres full of fruit trees and berry bushes galore! Our German Short-haired pointer, River, is a funny pup with quite the character. He certainly keeps us active. On the weekends you can find us having “coffee-time” in the morning, where we talk about our week, plans for the day and the future. It’s when we ease into the weekend. Then we usually have a project or two up or sleeve for the house. If we’re not doing that more than likely we are Up North enjoying all northern Michigan has to offer, or traveling somewhere!

Why “A Girl and a Kiwi”?

• a kiwi = refers to someone who is from New Zealand; also NZ’s national bird

This was our wedding hashtag that my best friend, Lindsay, actually came up with for us! I loved it so much, I continue to use it on Instagram posts.

Why DIY & Adventure? 

Easy! Our two favorite things. We do as much as we can around our house ourselves, to save money for more adventures. Plus, we love working on projects together and the satisfaction once it’s done and dusted.

Our Mission

James and I love coffee-time, DIY on a budget, traveling to new and familiar places,  and all things outdoors! We’re hoping this blog will inspire you to get creative, go explore, and be confident to tackle that project yourself. We also want to get people outside, go on adventures, and see the beautiful world God has made for us!

Cheers,

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*This post contains affiliate links. That means, I may receive a commission for some of the links in this post- at no cost to you. See our Disclaimer page for details*