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…

Weekends Living LifeProof

Oct 12, 2019 | Lifestyle

Next to dogs, smartphones are a modern man/woman’s best friend.

And more likely than not, you’re probably just a wee little bit addicted to your phone.

Am I right or am I right?

In my family, I’ve been known as the person who always breaks or loses their phone. Yeah, I’m that person in the group… my dad especially likes to make fun of me for losing phones (well, and a Canon DSLR camera… oh and a DJI Phantom drone) to ocean-related accidents… Okay, so maybe I deserve the banter.

I used to get the cheapy waterproof bags, or was too trusting of those “water resistant” phones, and I would still lose or break my phone because of water damage.

I can’t help it, I’m in and around the ocean a lot.

But, not anymore!

I mean, not that I won’t be in the water as often, but I mean, I won’t be known as the person who always breaks or loses their phone any longer! I got LifeProof’s waterproof case for my iPhone and it’s miraculously kept my phone safe from all elemental harm.

Here are some photos that my fiancé snapped of me and our pup Yodi in the Pala Lagoon a couple weekends ago.

Also, how sick is this backpack? Also from LifeProof. I stuck my tiny fins and snorkel gear in there, and of course tucked some agua in there to keep me hydrated.

If you’re in the market for a wateproof phone case, I highly recommend the LifeProof FRĒ case. It’s water proof, dirt proof, drop proof, and snow proof. Or their Squamish 20L day bag, great for adventures.

Just a disclaimer: All thoughts and words are my own. I’m a #LifeProofAmbassador, which means I was gifted with these items in exchange for photos, and I was not paid to write this (though that would’ve pretty cool lol).

LIFE: Scuba diving Hole in the Reef and travel plans

Jul 28, 2017 | Lifestyle

2

NOV 2016

Culture

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. What’s new?

Last weekend was my first official dive outside of my scuba certification. Some friends and I went diving at Hole in the Reef, which is supposedly a pretty difficult dive – and it was awesome! The coral was spectacular!

Although I did have some *minor* difficulties… specifically, my mask fogged up every thirty seconds AND (I didn’t realize this until we were packing our gear into the truck BUT) my BCD had torn and the inflator hose completely detached just as I was tugging it off the tank. I couldn’t believe it. It made sense afterwards because I could not for the life of me remain buoyant at the surface. But good news is that I did a pretty awesome job of not freaking out at all. And I’m learning that my SAC rate is really good! I started the dive at 2750 psi and ended the dive with 2000 psi. I think we were down there for about 45 minutes and between my mask fogging up insanely and the receding tide, I think I could have stayed down for probably another 45 minutes!

More updates:
I booked all my tickets to see some friends in Hawaii for a couple of days, then a week in Arizona with my siblings, then to California really quick to see Ian’s family, and then YOU GUYS… I’m going to BALI!!! I’m so excited to see my family in Arizona and spend time with my baby niece and nephew especially. But I can’t contain how excited I am to go to a new country!