Photos from earlier this month. The MSC Magnifica had just made its maiden voyage to American Samoa in the morning, and after a short 12-hour visit, left the Pago Harbor that evening. We just got off work, and the water looked too good not to get in. Ian and Paolo paddled out to SUP surf while I tied up to the buoy, and watched this glorious golden hour scene.
Click through to view the gallery.
I have been craaaaving days like these – bright skies and clear waters.
On Friday we SUP’ed out to the break. Small glassy waves called for Ian. He caught clean little lines and kept asking if he could go back out; I laughed and told him to go. I jumped in the water to cool off.
I’m always so much more appreciative of my landscape when I’m out on the water looking back and seeing it big picture. Like it’s crazy to think my life and my little home has anything to do with what I’m seeing out here, but it’s all interconnected. I don’t know how to explain it. Deep water and tall mountains tend to make me feel this way.
Wow. You guys. It has been absolutely forever since I last blogged or even just sat with my laptop to peruse the world wide web. I was using my personal laptop for work a lot (I was working as a consultant for the last 2 months) so whenever I was on my laptop I was basically just working away like a busy bee; and when I wasn’t working, I just wanted to chill out so hard. So that’s what I did during my downtime. I chilled. Or tried to… I also cleaned a lot. And worked on a slew of crafts. Oh my god, and I gardened a lot. I kind of turned into an obsessed plant lady for a solid 2 weeks. Not that I have a green thumb or anything. I just became really thrilled by plants, and plant pots (which, who knew, are kinda expensive!) and propagating my plants, and learning how to not kill them. But I digress. As I was saying, I usually blog on my laptop… and that’s the story of what I’ve been doing lately with my downtime. Because you needed to know.
But ANYWAY. Now that I’ve *mostly* chilled out, and settled into my new gig (more on that later), I’m back!Â
A lot has happened in just the last couple of months, and can you believe that it’s the end of 2018 already?! It’s nuts. The weather has been up and down the thermometer and so have my moods, but as soon as I’m done typing this up, I’m going to take a deep long sleep, get out of my head, do a little yoga, and remind myself of all that I’m grateful for…Â
Like this beautiful overcast Sunday afternoon when the tide was right, the water was becalmed, and Yodi joined us on the SUP then jumped back in the ocean because she knew Ian was trying to get her to go surfing but she wasn’t having it. She watched Ian catch a couple waves with a big smile on her face though and then swam back in with us. A dreamy reminder that this life is amazing and it’s all about perspective.
Now for the updates: the gist of it is that I’ve been transitioning into a new job, which I’m stoked on. It took a while to get my security clearance all done and dusted, which is why I was working as a consultant for the past 2 months, while waiting for paperwork to make its way up the chain. But as of this week, I can now officially say that I’m working as the Communications and Outreach Coordinator for the National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa! The job itself is great so far (it suits me well I think) and the people I work with are all wonderful and helpful. I’m really excited to have started together with my good friend Charity (who’s practically a sister to me on account of her and my sister being best friends), and being able to carpool and hang more often with my neighbor/friend Mareike; I’m happy to be surrounded by good peeps. And I finally have my own desk! Well, it’s a cubicle but I never really liked the word cubicle. I’m hoping to decorate it since it’s the holiday season (like, why not) and blast some Christmas tunes to bop to. I already got my yoga ball set up for ergonomics and now I feel like I’m working at Google or something.Â
Well those are the condensed updates for my life lately! Thanks for reading and catching up with me. Till next time xoxo
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 😉
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.
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:Â
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.