Oh man it’s been a hectic past few weeks! Ever since I got back from my trip in May, all of June has blurred by with non-stop general busy-ness and a crazy lead up to my next trip. Which by the way I’m leaving for tomorrow!! Here are a few updates of my life lately…

Haaaave you met Courtney?

Courtney is a Hollings Scholar and summer intern for the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. Ian and I are hosting her for the summer, so we’re doing our best to show her a good time. She’s so young (she just turned 21 two days ago and we woke her up on her birthday with mimosas!) but she’s also basically an old fart like me and Ian so we think she’s the bee’s knees!

#PlasticFreeJuly Challenge Accepted

I learned about this green movement online and never thought I’d try it out. From the start I just thought I would make more conscious choices, but these days I feel like I’m so much more involved and I’m trying to improve my lifestyle by going full fledge sustainable. So when #PlasticFreeJuly came around, I was looking forward to 31 days of saying no to single-use plastic, opting for naturally sourced products, and learning more about how waste affects the environment. I’m also really enjoying being crafty during this challenge… so far I’ve made another batch of deodorant (in a cute little travel size container), cloth napkins, a bento bag, and a coconut bowl! Earlier this week I shared how I prepared for #PlasticFreeJuly, and soon I’ll be doing a round up of lessons learned in my 1st week of this challenge!

Adventures Here and There

It’s trade winds season in American Samoa right now, so my little beach bum has had to chill out topside… usually curled up with a good book in the hammock set up in the treehouse. Other little adventures when weather permitted were hiking up to Mt. Alava with Yodi, kayaking the mangroves with Courtney, SUPing over to Pua Trees to watch Ian surf, a hot buti yoga balcony session, back of the truck cruising around the island, and probably some others that I’m forgetting right now. But the whole point of even mentioning these is that while I’ve been very busy, I’ve also filled my life with a lot of the good stuff too. It’s this stuff of life that makes me happiest.

Work and The Works

In case I didn’t mention this elsewhere in previous blog posts, there was a fire at work a few weeks ago. Fortunately it wasn’t too serious and everyone was safe, but it was just bad enough that we had to evacuate and temporarily relocate our workspace to our technical center, which is already a tight fit. That set my work back by just a bit, but things quickly ramped up again and I found myself working late at least a couple of days out of the week to meet quick deadlines. Plus, we just co-sponsored a big fireworks event in celebration of 4th of July yesterday (an overall success), and I feel like I haven’t slept properly in days. Ugh look at me now, typing up this blog post in bed at 2am. AND I HAVE TO BE AT THE AIRPORT AT 6AM. My priorities are wack.

Travel plans

I’ve been so busy with work that I haven’t really made any solid travel plans other than to spend time with family–the main purpose of my trip. I’m so excited to see my nephew and niece again soon, be in the same place as my siblings, and have my parents and us all under one roof again, even if it’s just for a few days. After chaotically packing last minute and making it to the early check in, I’m finally feeling like vacation is here… I’ll probably let out a sigh of relief once I get on the plane.

Till then, I’ll be backing up my laptop and phone, and will try to go to sleep and wake up ON TIME for my flight!

Good night from American Samoa!
xoxo