Charles at Fatu Ma Futi
Photos from a few weeks ago with Gabs and Charles.
Playing around with poses at Fatu Ma Futi right before we got shoo’d away because we didn’t realize it was sā lol
Quarantine Diaries: Saving money during coronavirus frenzy
The coronavirus is causing catastrophe across the world, affecting people’s health, livelihoods, and even entire economies. On the vein of financial impacts, I’ve luckily been able to save money from this whole ordeal.
First of all, I am so fortunate to be able to work from home. I’m truly grateful for a supportive work environment that’s allowed me to find safety and solace in both my income and my health.
Normally, in any other given month before the coronavirus, I’d spend money on: groceries, eating out maybe twice or thrice a week, little knick knacks that I probably don’t need but buy on impulse when I’m browsing through a store, online purchases, and gasoline for our truck to commute. Now that I’m at home 24/7, and apart from our other basic monthly bills like rent, utilities, and internet, I’ve only been spending money on food supplies to sustain ourselves. Oh, and I did buy one new e-book too for $9.99, but that’s about it.
Ian and I are on mandatory home quarantine, and are not allowed to leave our home, minus the occasional swims and SUPs to get exercise and fresh air. So we really can’t drive anywhere, saving us money on fuel, eating out, and the random impulse purchases.
Through this all, I’m still mindful of my local economy. I prioritize buying locally grown produce like Taputimu Farm eggs or Tutuila Greens’ lettuce, and buying local from businesses that keep money invested in our home economy, versus buying online where my money leaves the island and likely never returns.
Another way we are so fortunate is to be surrounded by a very supportive community. Ian’s supervisor at work has been so gracious and kind to do our groceries for us the last two weekends. We gave him a list of our essential food staples, which he’d buy while he was out doing his groceries, and then he dropped it off to us in reusable bags which we’d then disinfect and return. Our neighbors are also always checking in on us when they make the occasional grocery run to see if we need anything. It’s such a blessing to have people you can turn to, and of course we would do the same for our community members in need.
Photo from this weekend, after we got our groceries and deep cleaned our kitchen.
Celebrating my birthday in quarantine, social distancing outdoor movie night with friends
March 18, 2020
I just want to start by saying that every new day is worth the effort. Despite the craziness happening around the world, it has always been important to me to make every moment count, whether it’s in celebrating a milestone, resetting, or finding healing.
That being said… yesterday was my 28th birthday! …also my 6th day in quarantine… BUT we made the best of it!
Being in quarantine made celebrating my birthday a bit tricky because I hadn’t left my village in almost a week, and hadn’t even gotten in my car to get groceries or see friends/family. Luckily, I have a great community of neighbors and friends around me, and we got together for a pandemic-social-distancing-quarantine themed outdoor movie night. We watched Contagion, which was intentionally ironic because that is essentially real life events right now. We stomached it without too much cringe though.
Initially, I had zero plans for my birthday. I’d been spending most of my quarantine evenings either blogging (so much time to blog these days, I love it!) or watching movies on our rad new projector that Ian’s parents gifted us for Christmas. I thought it would suck to not do anything at all, and asked Ian if we could do an outdoor movie night. He discussed with our friend and neighbor Traci, and we were a go! Ian sent out a message to a few neighbors that we share our yard with so it would still be considered a “stay at home party”. Plus we all practiced social distancing and situated ourselves at least 6 feet apart.
The view, and our cute simple set up: white fabric and string lights taped to a shipping container
Traci and Ano’s cozy couch set up, with Officer up on top
Made some bomb fish lumpia, which Ian was mmMmm-ing so hard lol
Ian was even disinfecting the camp chairs with Lysol hahaha
Photos of me and Ian taken by Traci
Can we all have your immunity, Matt Damon?!
The friends/neighbors all keeping their distance from us hahah
Thank goodness WHO let the dogs out… Yodi snuggled so hard with us during the movie
From earlier that day
I was in the middle of a conference call for my annual employee performance review–which I’m pretty sure I nailed–when Ian came in with this lovely brunch spread for me! I waved him away while I finished up my call, then Ian came back and snapped this cute flick and told me to open up my sweet gift… also pandemic themed, organic patchouli soap! I’m definitely the type of person that truly appreciates handmade natural bar soaps, so I love that Ian gets me.
Also during my conference call, my supervisor wished me happy birthday and asked for my favorite order from Ruby Red Cafe. Apparently my coworkers were planning to get food from there to deliver to me! I love that my team always celebrates birthdays, regardless of how busy we are, or if we’re not at the office, or even during a dang pandemic haha. That was so so so sweet. Sefa and Bel stopped by a little later, and Sefa cracked open his door covering his nose and mouth with his shirt all cautious, and I busted out laughing. We are in quarantine and so it was good that he did, but if you know Sefa, he’s simply hilarious. He put the food down (and brought my yoga mat from the office) and backed away slowly back to his truck. I thanked them, laughing and waving goodbye. They got food for both me and Ian, satisfying our power bowl craving from Ruby Red! ahhh
After clocking out from work, Ian and I head to the beach for a little fresh air. Ian went SUP surfing while I hung out in the hammocks under the pier with a bevvy for a bit. Then I swam around, and Ian was showing me his swimming techniques because I told him I wanted to get better at swimming.
I’m truly so grateful for this man coming into my life, loving me the way he does, accepting me for who I am, and wanting to grow old with me too.
Happy birthday to meeeee!
Life Lately: My birthday, Ian’s home, Yodi’s heart worms, and Coronavirus
It’s been a little while since my last life lately update. Everything has unfolded just so in the last few months since 2020 rolled around, and let me just say, what the heck 2020?! I was expecting 2020, the new decade, to bring something big, but what I didn’t expect was that 2020 would bring a big crazy global event.
For now, here’s just a few updates of life lately:
My birthday is coming up! For me, birthdays are always an excellent time to reflect upon personal progress. Making a list of things to move the needle farther. It’s also a great time to take stock in my feelings and pulse check that everything is going to be okay, because it really is going to be okay. Sometimes I just gotta reinforce that in my life. I’m not necessarily a worrier, but I do worry sometimes and there’s a lot happening in the world that does make me nervous. More on that later. I don’t have any specific birthday plans yet, but I’m just glad my fiancé is back on island to spend it with me.
Ian’s back home! When the coronavirus travel advisory came out for American Samoa, I was shattered to know Ian would have to do an additional two weeks in Hawai`i to quarantine. After the advisory came out though, and unfortunately for Hawai`i, there was a confirmed case of COVID-19 on Oahu. In a scramble to get AS residents back home safely, our government issued a new travel advisory which removed the 14 day mandatory quarantine in Hawai`i, and instead returning residents were subject to 14-day home quarantine. So he arrived back home just a couple of days ago, and I’m so happy he’s here! I missed him so much while he was gone. He keeps me calm and centered, and I feel more relaxed to have him home safely.
Yodi is almost done with her heart worm meds! In case you didn’t know, Yodi wasn’t always our pup. She was born here at Coconut Point to a family that lived next door. When the family moved away and left her here, she became kind of a community dog and we all collectively cared for her. But then puppy paw-litics played out and she started getting aggressive to maintain her turf, her territory. At one point, she almost bit a visitor and it was decided that she needed a home, and that’s when Ian and I adopted Yodi. She was about 3 years old at that point. She was healthy, but we knew she had heart worms because she would have random coughing bouts. We’d been wanting to get her treated earlier but it was scary to think that her quality of life would decline during the medication period, and she could still die from it. Plus, we didn’t have a qualified vet on island anymore, so we just made sure to give her the best life we could. Thankfully, one of my favorite nonprofit groups, Coconut Mutts, was able to sponsor our friend who is a vet to come down, and we were able to get her the proper shots and medication. During this time, we have to limit Yodi’s physical exertion as much as possible, and it’s been slow going but we’re almost there. Just a few more days actually before we can start reintroducing her to high activity, and she’ll be able to go swimming with us again soon.
Now about the Coronavirus… it is crazy and I feel like it’s changing the world in so many ways. People are more aware of their health. Economies and industries are toppling. People are dying. Travel is slowing. But also, the environment is working on healing. True colors are being shown. People are slowing down. I honestly don’t know how to articulate yet how I feel about this global pandemic. I am fortunate to feel safe from it all as of now.
There’s a really great post on instagram by @thegreylayers that got me in my feels. She wrote:
“I can’t help but think about all that’s going on in the world. Maybe the world is trying to tell us to go back inward. Maybe our earth isn’t trying to slap us in the face. Perhaps it’s an awakening shake to put us in order. A correction in our own values. maybe because we’ve forgotten and just lost our way too maybe times. Maybe mother is saying, “you’ve lost your way too far from home.” We are literally being forced to stop and slow down by the force greater than all of us. Reminding us we are nothing but human at the end of the day. Let’s take this leisurely stagnance as a time of reflection. To think about what kind of world we want to live in. What kind of person you want to be. All along, our earth has been quietly telling us to take these crises as signs of opportunity. For us to stop and be better. To actually think of what matters. For us to be good again. For us to come home. And remember, not everyone is built for isolation, call your friends, your parents. Check in.”
A visit to Jean P. Haydon Museum in American Samoa
A little throwback photo journal from October 14, 2019, which was Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Ian and I both didn’t have work because thankfully, it’s still a federal holiday (I need all the holidays I can get!), and since there was a cruise ship in town, we decided to play tourist and finally visit our island’s only museum, the Jean P. Haydon Museum.
About the Jean P. Haydon Museum
Located in Fagatogo, across from the US Post Office, the museum was opened in 1971 and named after the wife of the governor at the time, John Morse Haydon. His wife’s name was Jean P. Haydon. It was dedicated by the famous anthropologist Margaret Mead, who had written the book “Coming of Age in Samoa” whilst living in Ta’u, Manu’a.
The building is recently renovated, which has some controversy behind it, because the old building (listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1972) was fully demolished last year for a whole new rebuild. And as a historic building, that didn’t play out too well with some people. Anyway… while the renovation has since been completed, the museum is still not officially opened to the public, according to a museum board member who we had talked to a few days later. At the time of writing, the museum is only open when there are visiting cruise ships in port, which is about once a month depending on the month. The museum has free entry, and accepts donations.
Inside the museum, you’ll find old traditional artifacts on display that include va’a (canoes), tatau (tattoo), NASA mementos dating back to the Apollo missions, and natural resource items like coral and turtle shells. One of my favorite things to look at is a moon rock, which was gifted to the territory during the Apollo lunar missions, as well as the American Samoa flag that was taken to the moon by Apollo 11 in 1969, and gifted back to the territory by President Richard Nixon. I didn’t see either the moon rock or the moon flag when we went to visit the museum, but it makes sense that they don’t have it out just yet since it’s still a work in progress.
After the museum, Ian and I walked over to the cruise ship vendor stalls and I bought some handmade Christmas ornaments for my sister, then we went to the National Park office to finally get our NPS passport stamped after all these years, and sat at the park across the street to hang out for a bit. It was a full on tourist-y staycation day for us, but I loved every bit of it.
4 easy tips for a sustainable home
1. Add greenery.
Literally make your home more green by adding your favorite plants. You can start an herb garden so you always have fresh herbs for mealtimes. Succulents are super cute and easy to care for if you’re the type to always forget to water plants. And there are a number of houseplants that thrive in low-light areas. My favorite right now is the golden pothos vine that drapes beautifully around my window frames.
2. Ditch harsh cleaning chemicals.
I used to have a spray bottle for every area of my home like the kitchen, bathroom, and the living room. They all claimed to do different things, but all I really needed it to do was clean. Now, I literally have one spray bottle that does the job without being too harsh, and is safe for pets and kids. The secret concoction? Water, vinegar, and dish soap. Yup, it really gets the job done and cuts grease like NBD. If you’re not keen on DIY though, try Meyer’s multipurpose cleaning spray made with plant-derived ingredients and doesn’t contain parabens and phthalates.
3. Make reusable cloth napkins.
Seriously, go grab an old lavalava right now, and cut down into small squares, or whatever size/shape you want. And voila. This is the easiest DIY project of all time, saves you money on sad-looking single-use napkins that end up in the trash, and makes you look and feel classy whenever friends come over and they’re like “how cute are these!” And you’re just like, “yeah I made them”… yeah, you did that!
4. Clean, declutter, and minimize your stuff.
We all have a weird attachment to STUFF, which makes it easy to amass junk along the way. I’m not saying you need to fully go KonMari on your house if that’s a little too intense for you. But go through your stuff, make a pile of stuff you don’t care about, and donate it or figure out a way to reuse it for a different purpose. Try your best to not buy anything else that might take its place.
(in love with the natural light in our home)
Life Lately: Back from travels and trying to catch up
Hello hello!
It hasn’t been too long since I last blogged, but a lot has happened, that’s for sure.
One of my recent life highlights is the 3-week travel around French Polynesia with Ian and his parents. I started blogging about it, but I have a bunch more to update on! We visited 4 islands in 3 weeks, and spent 5 days sailing around Raiatea and Taha’a. It was an epic vacation-slash-engagement-moon!
I got back from that trip in early July, and was home for just a week before embarking on a different kind of adventure, sailing on the research vessel E/V Nautilus! I also just returned from that trip earlier this week. It was actually a work trip that both Ian and I got to be a part of (me, from the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa, and him, from the National Park Service in American Samoa). That was a super cool thing to be a part of, and I’m so excited to share some photos and takeaways from that experience soon.
Other life updates that I don’t remember mentioning yet:
I got a new camera! Well, I actually got it a few months ago right around my work trip in April but I don’t recall mentioning it yet. It’s a Sony A7III and it’s name is “Three” (don’t ask lol). I used to be a Canon shooter, and I hesitated a lot before finally deciding to switch to Sony’s mirrorless system. My thoughts on mirrorless? I’m a huge fan. It’s so much more compact which is great for traveling, the build-quality is great and feels sturdy, and the focus and clarity is impressive. I got a silicone rubber skin for Three and it makes it feel more rugged and weatherproof which I like.
We also got a drone – the DJI Mavic Air. It was a bit of an impulse purchase because I was preparing for our sailing trip in French Polynesia, and convinced Ian we needed to get one (because when else are we going to be sailing in French Polynesia, and don’t we want to get some cool aerial photos?!). Hahah, turns out we only used it a couple times while we were in French Polynesia because the tradewinds were extra strong and we didn’t want to risk losing the drone. I’m too much of a wuss to lose another drone, and now Ian’s really the only drone pilot.
And other than that, I’m still snapping away. I’ve done a few photo shoots in the last couple of month: a portrait session with Mareike, and some lifestyle-product shoots with Pacific Elegance. I’ll try to upload them soon. But for now, I’m binge-watching Versailles, reading Siddhartha, and trying to get my motivation back on track!
Idyllic Beach Camping
It’s been a while since we’ve gone camping…
This island will always and forever be my home, so camping is one of the best ways to celebrate my surrounding environment. Still, it sometimes seems too small and like Trevor says, “because we’ve got A/C”.
It was a long weekend, and our friends made plans to camp in this isolated cove, which for the sake of everyone involved will remain a secret (for now). I couldn’t say no because it’s been on my bucket list for the last 4 years! It felt almost unreal to finally be there, and to just be away from it all – we were pretty remote, even though a couple of tiny fishing boats did pass through.
Val started the fire, Dustin caught some fish to roast later in the evening, the kiddos Eve and Sam jumped off rocks into the shallow waters, and a few of us paddled out to explore the caves and check out the coral life.
As the sun was setting behind the Pola islets, I realized yet again the magnificence of nature in its raw form, and let out a grateful sigh as the sun kissed the horizon good night.
View more photos of our adventure here.
A Little Big Island Adventure
LABOR DAY WEEKEND 2018
We went with a group of friends on a little adventure… scratch that, it was a big island adventure. Something we’ve been wanting to do for the last 4 years. I was unsure I could leave work early but I promised to work over the weekend. Then Ian picked me up with his kayak and my SUP already strapped to our bright green truck, and a huge smile on his face, and we drove north. Thank God for Ian too because he packed all my stuff and prepped food and carried our vessels onto the truck, which he later offloaded in the bay, and then we paddled out to sea…
I used to be scared of paddling out in deep waters because of the sensible/irrational fear of something ominous beneath the cerulean sea.
I became so much more aware of the beating of my heart.
It took repeated familiarity and a good amount of hand holding before I learned to quell those fears and am now more excited than scared.
And thank goodness I overcame this because if not I would not have been rewarded with idyllic lush mountains and isolated beaches.
Photos taken by Nerelle Que and Ian Moffitt – but on the GoPro, mostly by Ian 😉
Ian and Paolo surfing
The weekend before Paolo said tofā soifua American Samoa.
Pua trees surf session looking dreamy at 7am, and my camera was all misty from the morning air.
Photos from before and after their surf because I was shooting videos in between.
Green Goodness
I’m making another attempt at re-growing green onions.
The last time I grew scallions, it sprouted a full head of green goodness.
But I admit – after 3 weeks, I kind of forgot to change out the water and it went bad.
This time, I’ll try growing it in soil after a few days soaking the roots.
What’s keeping me wide eyed and bushy-tailed lately?
Matcha Green Tea.
I make myself a nice hot cup while at work and it keeps me hyped up and productive for the rest of the day.
