We're Back

We haven't posted in awhile–we found out the hard way our camera wasn't waterproof. So we got a new one. Here's some shots of us, guess what, surfing. It was a pretty small day, but fun nevertheless. Elizabeth's getting quite good at it. We've pretty much got a routine down–work and surf. An average Saturday or Sunday is us getting to the beach mid morning, surfing for a few hours, coming in and eating lunch, then going out and surfing for a few more hours. Oh yeah, then crashing at about 9 PM. Fourth of July was CRAZY. People literally parked like 5 miles from the beach and walked. We lucked into a close spot. Look for our next post, you'll see what a wetsuit tan line looks like. It's pretty embarrassing.

Two daze in Texas

Well we finally made it back to Texas. After a 5 hour flight delay and a bumpy flight, we arrived in warm and humid DFW at about 3am. We slept for a couple of hours and then began the race to see as many family and friends as possible. All the while, taking part in a good friend's wedding—Tim Tam that is. Here's Elizabeth and I with a former coworker and spouse at the rehearsal dinner. Family, friends and the wedding were all good. Shrek 3, however, wasn't. Don't waste the cash. Elizabeth got some good time with her old roomies and me with my Mom. Saw some friends at church and BAM! we're back on a plane to San Diego and surfing a few hours later. On a sad note, my ribs have been hurting really bad and I haven't been able to surf for what feels like an eternity. And Elizabeth gashed her hands open after she beached (and extensively dinged) the longboard. She'll be back in the water in no time.

Wheels Off

So we had our first visitor from Texas—Nathan Wheeler, our good friend who hails from the United States of Canadia, eh. We just kind of hung out for the time he was here and introduced him to a couple of staples in San Diego. Those being fish tacos from South Beach Bar and Grille (amazing by the way) and In-N-Out Burger (equally as amazing). We also surfed a little bit. Being from Canadia means either you are impervious to cold or just plain crazy as Nathan went without a wetsuit in the 58 degree water. The first day was a little rough as I paddled out only to look back and see that Nathan had been washed about a quarter-mile down shore. Day two was much more successful with Nathan surfing like it was second nature. And he earned some respect from the locals by going suitless.

Everybody's surfin'

Up top is my brand new board. It's a 6'8" Egg made by a local shaper called Tee Dee Kay. I've only been out on it twice, but it's awesome! Also, you might note my lovely wife is surfing too. Here she is her first time out riding like she's been doing it her whole life. She did freak out about the cold water when she first got in, but got used to it quickly.

Balboa

A couple weekends ago, we went and hung out at beautiful Balboa Park. It's fields and trees and hills as far as the eye can see. Plus a dog park for Max. When you cross the highway on a ginormous bridge, you get to a row of museums, one right after the other. And here's Max drinking from a water fountain. Kind of gross, but all dogs do it.

Baseball Tonight

Went to our first Padres game and we sat on the very last row of the outfield. Can't complain though, because the tickets were free. Elizabeth got them from her work. We parked at my office for free and walked about 10 city blocks to get to the stadium, which is beautiful by the way. We did leave the game quite early to go home and watch the Mavericks. What's up with those guys anyways?

Our Domicile

Here are some pictures of our apartment and the view from our balcony.

Max is driving now

They grow up so fast.

Getting Settled In

San Diego is starting to feel like home. We are slowly learning our way around and getting to see some of the great sights the area has to offer. Speaking of great sights, here's a picture I took of Elizabeth at the Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma.

San Diego

Well we made it. Work for me has been hectic, Elizabeth just accepted a job starting tomorrow and I've been surfing. That's me there dominating the white wash. Elizabeth's going to start surfing soon too.
Elizabeth is going to start surfing when it gets warmer here. Ross failed to mention it was as warm in the water as it was on the beach, which made it about 58 degrees but add wind to that and it was a lot colder. I was huddled up on the beach in a sweatshirt, trying to stay out of the wind. I couldn't understand why there were over 50 crazy people out there including my husband!
Here is a picture of Max at the beach making friends. I've had a lot of fun taking him to doggie parks and doggie beaches. We've tried to go pretty much every day! He's in for a rude awakening tomorrow.

Week Two

Elizabeth started her new job Monday. On Tuesday she started looking for another one. She hated it. Wednesday, an auto shop tried to scam me on the smog check. They started my car up, hooked it up to the emissions tester and plumes of smoke filled the parking lot. Coincidentally, it hasn't smoked since. I'm gonna take it somewhere else next week. Oh, and did I mention I got a job. That's right, in sunny San Diego at an agency called VitroRobertson. I start March 1st and we have to move, again. It's been a good two weeks in LA. Elizabeth gets to quit her crummy job and our apartments are cool with us moving out with no penalties. It's also a great opportunity at a great agency. And people there SURF! We spent the rest of the week looking for apartments and movers. And we found a great apartment that's 5 minutes from everything.

California: Day 6

Not much going on today, just a picture of a cool donut shop.

California: Day 5

Went and hung out with Katharine McPhee and some of her closest friends today. And when I say closest friends, I mean stalkers. We watched the recording of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show with musical guest McPhee and some crazies came out. One 60ish-year old woman had been waiting over seven hours for her performance. She took three days off from her job and drove down from Washington with mutliple posters in hand and clad in a McPhee t-shirt (homemade). She claimed to have McPheever but Elizabeth thinks she had a different type of fever. Nevertheless, the show was cool. Also across the street at the Chinese theatre, the premier of Music and Lyrics was happening where we saw some seemingly important peeps on the red carpet. Oh, and Dr. Geek put our names into rap songs.

California: Day 4

Don't hire movers. We do at least have a TV stand with one detachable leg. No beach today, it disappeared. Fog, fog and more fog. Drove to Venice Beach today, not much doing. Only a few weirdos out.

California: Day 3

Thought we'd change things up on day 3 and walk to the beach. The top picture is the view from the front of our apartment complex and the bottom is the view once you've climbed that Everest of a hill. Don't let the pretty picture fool you. I put my feet in the water the day before and they almost went Mr. Deeds on me (frostbite if you haven't seen the movie).

California: Day 2

Naturally, on our first full day in LA, we headed to Hollywood. We saw stars on the floor, hand and footprints in concrete and a big sign on a hill. Add to it, the world's worst Elvis. Then we saw Peyton Manning whoop up on "da Bears." And we went to the beach for a little bit, by way of walking. Thank ya, thank ya very much.

California: Day 1

Ok, we actually started the day in Vegas, baby! After Utah-ing the buffets, one night in a swanky although suspect hotel that made poor Max sleep in the car while we slept surrounded by paintings of naked folks and a modest $10 jackpot won in The Orleans casino, we scooted to LA. All the while fighting traffic and the movers (too long of a story to tell here). We found our new casa and walked, that's right, walked to the beach just in time to see the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Did I mention we can walk to the beach.