Weekend Reel — Paddling in the Lagoon

Jun 26, 2021 | Journal, Lifestyle, Photo Diaries

It was a sunny day in mid-May. I had gotten up early and was feeling restless.

I cleared the drying rack, washed the dishes, and worked on repotting some plants and mixing soil for the balcony garden.

Ian and I chatted with his parents on FaceTime.

Then it was high tide, around 11ish in the morning.

Ian, sensing my restlessness, suggested we go for a paddle to the lagoon mangroves out back, and I immediately brightened up.

We would normally go to the beach in the front, but the trade winds were blowing extra strong which would make paddling with momentum nearly impossible. Besides, we hadn’t hung out in the mangroves in a long time.

I was getting hungry—we hadn’t eaten anything all morning—and started making an egg omelette (or a disheveled scramble, really) with onions, cheese, turkey sausage, and mushrooms. We packed the omelette in containers with a wooden spork, tobasco hot sauce, a bag of chips, a bowl of homemade hummus, a flask of juice and rum, and another flask with water. And we were ready to go.

Ian grabbed our stand up paddleboards from the rack behind the house while I lathered up in sunblock and changed into a bikini and lavalava and we got our boards in the water.

We saddled our boards next to each other to share our brunch picnic, then explored the maze-like mangroves, watching birds and laying on our backs to look up at the sky.

It felt good to get out of my routine and do something different.

When we paddled back home, I thought to myself: how lucky am I to live in such a beautiful place, have this sweet hunk of a man as my husband, and to be able to feel so free outside?! I truly am…

Here’s a reel I put together from that little morning adventure.

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Photo journal compilation from off the camera roll…

Friday Feelings: SUP and a Confession

Oct 3, 2017 | Lifestyle

Haven’t had too many chances lately to go SUPing with the winter winds in American Samoa.

It calmed down just a little bit on Friday and the ebb tide was just high enough when I got home from work so I grabbed my board, paddled against the current, and realized later that I forgot my board leash.

Floated back to shore just before dark.

I was just so glad that it was the weekend.

After paddling, and Ian getting back from checking out the surf on the stretch, we sat down at Tradewinds to say our goodbyes to new friends who were leaving the island, and came back home for fun game night with the neighbors.

CONFESSION:

Before I went to bed that night, I had a mini break down because I suddenly felt a wave of sadness that the only thing I was looking forward to lately was the weekend. And when I say I had a mini break down, what I mean is that I was feeling a little frustrated with my day to day routine… and there’s nothing wrong with routine, but I was getting bored with just getting up for work, spending hours at a desk, eating (and not exercising), binge watching Netflix shows, and spending more late night hours behind a screen. There’s a smattering of other fun things that I usually do in between all the routine that keep me going, but like I mentioned in another post, I’m still learning to live slow. Doing more meaningful things that inspire me and keep me motivated instead of crossing things off a list just because. I always feel better with my camera in hand so this weekend I’m going to cherish the moments and take snaps that make me feel. I want to live consciously and live my life with care. I’m sorry for blabbing, but now that I’m over it I just wanted to share… it’s not always rainbows and butterflies. Sometimes you gotta be the caterpillar in a cocoon, and eventually you’ll break free from the chrysalis and fly away.