Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Moving!

In case you hadn't noticed, we moved. Next door. Our house has mold spots in the ceiling and walls, so we moved into the vacant house next door while ours gets fixed. It's the house where the Speichers, the Browns, and the Percivals lived. And now it's our turn. It looks identical to ours, but the counters are beige. Not much different, but a change, and I crave change. Even if its just next door.

Here's our working crew.

We took about a week carrying loads next door. On Saturday our guy crew carried the heavy stuff, and we slept in the new house. We paid for the phone and internet to be changed over before Monday, but of course "customer satisfaction" doesn't translate, and we had no phone or internet until Thursday.

Almost Empty Old House:

New House:

The good thing is my phone number and PO Box number are still the same. And we knew exactly where to put everything already.

Not So Good Good Friday

Good Friday was not such a good Friday. Well, it was good in that:
-I got my first ride in an ambulance.
-My skull isn't fractured.
-I learned something about myself. I shouldn't do yoga.
-I had a whole long weekend to recover.

So now I'll tell you what happened.

i spent the morning in the ER. after breakfast i did a 10 min workout video with the kids. in one of the moves i was bending over and then slowly rolling up. but the next thing i knew i was waking up on the floor and my head hurt.

ella came over and asked if i was okay. then ephraim came and asked what happened, but i couldn't remember what i had been doing. apparently i had passed out, fallen, and hit my head on the tile floor. i was getting a bump on the back of my head, and when i turned my head i felt dizzy and sick. so i couldn't really go anywhere.

ephraim called our neighbor who is a doctor, and she came over to help. she recommended going to the hospital to get scans. i was very worried because head injuries can be very serious, and our hospital doesn't have a neurosurgeon to help if there were problems with the brain. plus i was worried about swelling, infection, a fractured skull, draining fluid, etc.

i was pretty emotional, but our kids were just encouraging and helpful. we called an ambulance which really made isaac's day. later when i came home again the first thing he asked was if i enjoyed my ride in the ambulance. i said no. our roads are bumpy and swervy, so riding backwards in an ambulance with a head injury wasn't really fun.

at the hospital they did blood tests (i'm not anemic today), urine tests (not pregnant), an x-ray (no fractured skull), and an EKG (i don't know what they told us). with ice and rest the bump has gone down some. we stayed a few hours for observation and rest, and then they sent us home. i came in on a stretcher and left walking, so that's good.

we looked so funny leaving the ER. i was still in my exercise clothes, with a blanket wrapped around me, wearing ephraim's big slippers. he was barefoot.

now i know that yoga is too dangerous for me. no more downward dogs! i'll be doing only upright exercising.

the doctor recommended i see a cardiologist. he says he suspects that my blood vessels don't contract the blood to my head efficiently.

And this is how it makes me feel!

Owen is 3

This post is almost a month old! Owen's birthday was in March. But I've been too busy to notice it hadn't been published. Oh well. Here it is.

Owen is three. I remember when he was born! (Obviously) But it doesn't seem that long ago.

King Koa was here for the occasion. Hats=power.

I love Isaac's expression in this one.

Owen requested a "Bear Cake". Not sure what he meant, but this is what we came up with. (I felt some pressure with Koa there since his wife Charity has a professional cake business in Hawaii! But he assured me he's not a dessert snob, so all I really had to impress was Owen. Easy.)

We love this boy!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Easter 2012

For Easter this year we had a lovely activity at church on Saturday where the kids visited stations to learn more about the Atonement and Resurrection of Christ. It was really nice.

On Sunday we decorated some eggs. My two big kids took charge of the project. (I love when they do that.)

Then we headed outside around dusk for some fun egg hunting in the yard.

These two little cuties from next door joined the fun. They're our newest neighbors.

Happy Easter everyone!

Cop Steals Stolen iPod (Allegedly)

This is a ridiculous story. I had to share it. Thanks Samoa News.

Arrest warrant executed on DPS Officer for allegedly stealing ipod

Wed, 04/11/2012 - 12:42pm By
Joyetter Feagaimaalii-Luamanu
reporters@samoanews.com
The Criminal Investigation Division (CID) with the Department of Public Safety served Police officer Si’ufa’alele Sai yesterday with an arrest warrant that was issued by the Attorney General’s office.
Officer Sai, who was in uniform, was apprehended by police detectives when she was on duty at the West Substation and was taken to the Tafuna Correctional Facility.
The police officer will make her initial appearance in the District Court today in connection with allegedly stealing an IPod which was brought into the police station for a stealing from a store case last year.
Officer Sai is held on bail of $10,000, and is facing charges of Stealing and Embezzlement, as well as a Concealing Offense.
There is a second police officer who is a party to this case, but is off island. According to a police official, the second police officer charged will be coming back to the territory later this month; and will then be served with the arrest warrant once he returns on island.
According to the government’s case, a store filed a complaint with police last year about two female juveniles, who allegedly stole two iPods from the store and police were contacted. The minors were taken in for questioning along with the iPods. It’s alleged that when store officials followed up with the police on the status of their case, it was discovered that there was no record of a case of stolen iPods.
Each iPod is estimated to cost close to $200.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Ephraim's Article about QUEST in Samoa News

QUEST: A course where students cheer

Thu, 04/05/2012 - 9:49am |

ASCC Marine Science and UH Sea Grant partner with many agencies

Ephraim Temple, UH Sea Grant

ASCC students prepare to gather data from the sea as part of the ongoing QUEST Program. [Photo: K. Anderson-Tagarino]

Students don’t often cheer when a teacher walks into class, particularly on a test day. However, this is exactly what happened in one Marine Science class at the American Samoa Community College during the first class meeting after spring break.
Eight students had given up their spring break to participate in the Quantitative Underwater Ecological Surveying Techniques (QUEST) course held from March 12-17 in Faga’alu, and could only express their excitement over QUEST with applause.
One of their instructors, Kelley Anderson Tagarino, stated, “QUEST went better than I could have imagined. Students all reported that it was their best collegiate learning experience, and my class cheered as I walked in to give them their post-QUEST species identification exam, which to me says more than words!”
Charles Miller, a student at QUEST, said, “I assure you that I learned more this past week than in some of my classes over a whole semester. Because of you guys I am looking forward to studying environmental studies.”
The course known as QUEST is modeled after the successful course of the same name offered by the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The American Samoa QUEST has students using snorkels and masks rather than SCUBA gear as UH does, and although the gear is different, the methods and science learned are the same.
Students spend a week studying methods for counting fish, algae, corals, and other invertebrates such as snails, crabs, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. After studying each method, they work in two groups to practice the use of these methods in the water while collecting data to answer the research question each group comes up with.
These data are then analyzed and presented by each group at the end of the week. The intense workload leads students to push themselves to learn many new techniques in a short period of time. Instead of staying up late partying over spring break, students stayed up late analyzing data – and enjoyed it!
QUEST partners from the National Park of American Samoa, Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, Department of Commerce, Coral Reef Advisory Group, Fagatele Bay National Marine Sanctuary, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service assisted in teaching the methods, and in conducting in-water practice sessions.
Several local businesses and agencies donated time, materials, and services to make QUEST possible. These included the Office of the Governor, Department of Parks and Recreation, Ace American Industries, Samoa Springs, Friendly Car Rental, and the Federal Aviation Administration.
On behalf of the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program and ASCC, the QUEST instructors sincerely thank these sponsors for making QUEST possible. The impact it is having on students is incalculable but already evident in their response.
The QUEST course will continue to be offered every year, with the next course taking place either during the upcoming Christmas Break or Spring Break 2013.

Original Article here.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Palagi Beach

This was our hike to Palagi Beach. I hadn't been here since 2008, but it's one of my favorite places on the island. You start at Amanave on the southwest corner of the island. You go west until you round the point and see Poloa.

We had footwear issues. Koa was wearing Ephraim's Converse All-Stars but they weren't working well. So he went barefoot until he found a surprisingly sturdy boot! After that he was on the lookout for a right-y.