I really want to move to New Zealand (or Australia) from the US but it seems like there's a whole lot of steps to go through to make it legal. Could someone give me in list form all the steps required to move to New Zealand? MAybe someone who has moved from NZ to the US? Thanks.

If you don't have any family in NZ or AUS, perhaps you should try to find a job there first... you can start with work visa and apply for PR later.