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.
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).
From furlough mornings, basking in the warm sunrise at Coconut Point with my guy and our Yodi girl. It was almost completely flat in the lagoon and the waves were small and glassy. Ian went SUP surfing and Yodi followed him out past the waves for an hour while I hung out on shore reading and snapping pics of them on their way in. Can’t help but love on this moment – sun kissed and puppy kisses.
I’m so lucky to have this kind of love. You bring more love to my life than I ever could have expected. We’ve grown up a lot too. We’re that old couple that leaves the party early to go watch a movie in bed. I love you old man baby boy. Each year gets better with you.
There’s a storm brewing this week. We’re hunkering down to wait out this monsoonal trough. We moved some of our plants inside, and are securing our windows and stocking up on food JUST in case. I’m hopeful it’s going to pass soon but with another tropical disturbance affecting Fiji nearby (it could swing this way on Friday), we’re staying precautious.
Also in case you haven’t noticed, we changed up our apartment layout a bit! Last weekend, we decided to downsize and sell our rattan entertainment center, the blue spool coffee table, and one of our couches. We wanted to refocus our living area so that we are facing the window. That way instead of Ian drinking coffee in the morning and staring at the wall (yes this is every morning, he gets it from his mom haha), now he can look out at the lagoon and the mountains.
My little family has grown so much in the last few years. I met my boyfriend, he brought home a stray kitten he named Officer Scruffles, and more recently we’ve adopted our favorite pup Yodi. We’re head over heels paws in love with our unlikely family of drifters.
Yodi is a natural in the water. She grew up here at Coconut Point so she’s always swimming whenever we go out. And in case you didn’t know, Officer Scruffles does in fact swim. Photo or it didn’t happen? If you want to see him in action, check out my Instagram video here, where he jumps into the ocean for a swim.
Manuia Le Kerisimasi from our family to yours!
It was so fun to just hang out with my furry family under the sun.
Ian paddled out with Officer on the kayak
I took the stand up paddle board and Yodi swam
Ian jumped into the cool blue water
While I hung out with Officer on the flotilla
A curious Officer going back and forth between the SUP and kayak
Another family photo in action!
The brave Scruffles. Officer Scruffles.
Saw a shark(!!!) for the first time in the water (not pictured). And a bunch of sea turtles <3
Ian took this rad shot of us all heading home
Moffman and the Officer kayak surfing in the small waves!
It’s the week between two of my favorite holidays – Christmas and New Year – so it’s only natural that the best thing that happened this week was Christmas Day. It was just a perfect day. Breakfast on the balcony (my fave). And our last day of advent gifts. Bittersweet because it’s been so fun to give and get little thoughtful gifts daily!
And I just want to share… YOU GUYS, I got a BCD! It was hilarious – we opened our envelope of clues and I could not for the life of me figure out where my gift was. Ian gave me a hint. I could see it from where I was standing. I scanned the entire house and still nothing. Ian started laughing harder and I followed his eyes OUTSIDE – and finally laid my eyes on a gift FLOATING in the lagoon! I ran out and saw my gift was atop a boogie board tied up to a nearby mangrove. I kind of already knew what it was, and I was beyond thrilled when I tore it open right then and there. A shiny new BCD that fit perfectly! We already made plans to go SUPing so next week, I’m starting 2018 off with a scuba dive!
We joined our friends and neighbors for a community brunch. Ian made baby back ribs, mmm! Then we all gathered on the beach for a group photo to be shared with fam and friends near and far.
And probably the best part of the day was out on the water. I wanted to take a ‘family photo’ and since our pets are known for their love of the ocean, we grabbed our SUP and kayak and took Yodi and Officer Scruffles out for a swim. We hung out just beyond the reef. I saw a shark for the first time in the wild!!! A friendly black tip reef shark, so no biggie really, but it still made my heart pump. And swam with a bunch of sea turtles. Like I said, it was perfect.
And while I’m writing this, I want to give a shout out to the Man with the plan, the Reason for the season, Jesus Christ. Thank you for your life that gave me mine. And thanks for another beautiful day.
