Places I Want To Go

Places I Want To Go

Hoping, wishing, praying, manifesting…

My most immediate places of interest are to visit LA and Phoenix to be reunited with family. And to explore the city together.

The Philippines… specifically, I want to visit my family’s lands, and see where my mom and dad and their family grew up in old historic Vigan and Manila.

Go see the 1 square foot plot of land in Ireland that bought for my husband years ago… is it even real? Was it just a gag gift? I want to find out, and I want to explore the beautiful green country with him.

Scotland as well. My husband is Scottish Irish, so anywhere we have ties to… I would love to see it in person and connect with it — to keep our heritage from fading, and to gain an appreciation for what our ancestors went through, leading us to where we are today.

It would be super cool to go sailing in Europe as well. I know very little about which islands I’ve seen photos of, but Mallorca, Santorini, and the Azores look incredible, and I would love to bask in their spring or summer season.

And, to quote Susan Sontag, “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.”

Snorkeling; Two Pipefish and A Blenny

Snorkeling; Two Pipefish and A Blenny

Sharing some photos from when Ian and I went snorkeling in the front yard last week.

March 23, 2021

Do you see the tiny blenny??

Well, look again…

It went into hiding in this coral!

These really nice photos of the pipefish were taken by Ian

After a little research, I think they were performing a courtship display dance!

They’re super cute

I’m not sure what this fish is called

Nor these… but I’m sure my husband knows, so I’ll ask him!

And below is a cutie fish! x

I think this is a snapper

I really gotta practice my fish ID

More of the pipefish, pictured by Ian

Just doing their own thing

A surface photo because it was a beautiful day

Did you know pipefish are from the Syngnathidae family, and are related to seahorses and seadragons? I just learned this.

Me, snapped by Ian

And the pipefish again, because they’re so dang cool with their one dorsal fin!

This one looks a little annoyed by all the flash photography

Oh yeah, and I tried my hand at three prong spearfishing! I just did practice aims at some algae

I asked Ian for a three prong spear so I hope I can get better and learn to catch some dinner!

Ian says may aim’s pretty good! As illustrated by me catching floating algae lol… next time, a moving target!

And that’s all for this little photo journal!

xoxo,

Nerelle

2021 Farm Fair at Fagatogo Market

2021 Farm Fair at Fagatogo Market

March 26, 2021

Snaps around the Fagatogo Market during the Farm Fair

Gabs got us each a fresh cold niu sans straw because we’re good earth warriors over here 🙂

It’s always hard trying to snap ‘street photography’ photos, but they’re forever some of my favorites… even if they aren’t properly focused.

Gaby bought a necklace from this lovely tinā (older woman). I asked if I could take her photo, and she told us her name is Maria Shimasaki…

Gabby was chatting with her, and it turns out that they’re actually related!

Got poke from Dustin’s shop, Fagatogo Fish Market.

My fave is the Cali poke, but I do love their baja fish tacos too.

Our lunch spread, featuring the new orange lavalava Gabby bought, and the fetau wood cutting board Traci bought.

/sp

I’m 29 now, wow.

I’m 29 now, wow.

The days, weeks, months, and years seem to go by faster as I get older. I still feel like a young 23 or 24, but tack on a few more years of life experiences and I guess I am exactly where I’m supposed to be… still young, but wondering what “old” will feel like one day. I’m so grateful for my health, and the health of all my family and friends. It’s a cheesy sentiment too but I hope we can all find happiness and peace as we take life day by day.

I am 29 years old now. Just a few hundred days to go until my third decade, wowwie.

My birthday this year was full of love and special moments, which I mostly didn’t photograph, but I did get snippets of it on my iPhone. These pics are just a few from my SLR camera though…

My actual birthday was a Thursday, and I was working from home, but my co-workers thoughtfully gifted me with gift cards to a local eatery and spa treatment. And my best friend Gabby surprised me with a picnic on the balcony for my lunch break. My husband also gifted me with my very first army knife with “Relli” engraved on the wood. Later in the evening, my husband treated me and my parents out to dinner at Maliu Mai, where we ate by the beach, laughed, and toasted our drinks and pancit ‘to long life’. Then we came home and played a few rounds of bananagrams with friends to end the night.

Friday was a busy and exciting day. I had a lot of work to close off, but got a chance to connect with all our pacific team, which was really nice. I did a super fast kine pack for our weekend camping trip, but luckily Ian came home and was able to finish up our packing, because I had to head out to Samoana… I was invited to the Finafinau Sustainability Summit to give a presentation on sustainability strategies for greener living — and I think the students vibed with my presentation! When I got home, Ian and Ano loaded our truck up with our camping gear and food for the weekend. We got to Maloata, met up with Traci, Gabby, and Tulaga, and then we set up our tents and spent the evening hanging out. It rained all night, and our tent got some puddles in it, but luckily I was conked and only woke up once barely bothered.

Saturday morning, everyone looked a little worn for wear after the night of heavy rain. We took it slow, and looked longingly at the choppy waves in the bay, wishing it was calm so we could get in for a swim. Traci wanted to set eel traps in the stream so a few of us followed along and not too far up the stream, Ian saw a huge eel and he speared it! It was the biggest freshwater eel I’d seen, so I was both excited and terrified. The victory smiles didn’t last too long though because the eel got away after some very frantic attempts at trying to put it down. We played games, thanks to Aina who planned a few fun yard games, and all helped to prep a delicious shared dinner spread. After dinner, we hung out and started a bonfire on the beach, then called it a night around midnight. Thankfully, it didn’t rain too much.

Sunday was our last day of camping. Traci caught an eel in a trap that was set the day before, and the boys filleted it and prepped it for our last lunch. We packed our stuff, and when we got home, I was so exhausted after unpacking and putting our stuff away, and melted into my comfy bed for the rest of the afternoon. I am definitely so thankful for the fun weekend hanging out with everybody camping, and for another year added to my life!

That is all for now xx