Christmas 2008

I started my Christmas in Rancho Bernardo and ended up in Lake Arrowhead at a cabin in the snow. Christmas 2008 is a good one to remember. My sister and I spent Christmas day with our mom in RB and with precious baby Darby. Good food, gifts, family and lost of love. And of course you can't forget the traditional Christmas Vacation movie. We then met up with our Dad in Irvine and headed to a colleague's mountain cabin in Lake Arrowhead. The trip was highlighted with a fresh foot of power on the ground, plenty of firewood to stay warm, and a box full culinary delights that set the atmosphere to just staring out over the lake from the comfort of the cabin. The following pictures highlight some of the adventures from Christmas 2008.

Windansea Through the Eye of My Lens

Windansea is such a beautiful place. One of my projects while living only steps away from the beach is to capture the beauty of La Jolla through the eye of my lens. I am just starting to get into photography and find myself fortunate to have so many beautiful landscapes in my backyard. Windansea is the closest beach to my house and is where I drink my coffee in the morning and watch the sunset in the evening. The image of the shack will forever be ingrained in my memory and bring me back to this period in my life.

Imperial Beach

Imperial Beach is the most southwesterly City in the US and is where I find myself starting my professional career. The community is situated between the southern end of San Diego Bay (South Bay Wildlife Refuge) and Tijuana River and Estuary (Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve). Environmentally speaking it's a unique location for being centrally located between two regionally important open space preserves and an opportune place to start my post graduate career. Additionally, the environmental issues related to sharing a border with Mexico is sure keep my hands full as I manage the environmental programs for the City.

Baja: Desert Colors and Surf

When the routines of life start bringing you down then it is time for an adventure south to the wild west of Baja. Once you get past Norther Baja it is like stepping back in time before the era of urbanization. The beauty of Baja is in its undeveloped coast, miles of dirt roads, the fishermen who live off the ocean, and great surf.

Different Perspectives of Windansea

This past summer saw some beautiful days at Windansea. The white sand beach, rocky shore, and clear blue water makes this place my own summer paradise. The reef also picks up south swells more than anywhere else in San Diego. It is not surprising to learn that Windansea is at the center of the La Jolla surf culture and the "shack" pictured below is the focal point where generations of surfers have experienced the unique life style of the area.

Dakota and Brent Wedding - Catalina Island

The following weekend after Josh and Erin's Maine wedding adventure, our same group of Bren friends met up again for another wedding. This time we were on Catalina Island for our good friends Dakota and Brent who were tying the knot at the summer camp where they first met. The camp was on the south end of Emerald Bay and just around the point from the BSA Camp that I attended as a youth.


Appropriately, the theme for the wedding was a weekend getaway at summer camp. The whole wedding part caught the Island Express ferry from Long Beach to Catalina. The boat ride across the channel was just the beginning of the new friendships and stories that were to be made with everyone who attended the event. Summer camp was everything you could imagine: bunk beds, communal meals, swimming, kayaking, snorkeling, camp fires, volleyball, soccer... It was just like being a kid again except with alcohol. The whole weekend culminated to the main event for Brent and Dakota's wedding.














My three days at summer camp was an adventure to remember. I have a whole lot of respect for Brent and Dakota for putting on a wedding that brought together a group of strangers, who represent the different periods in their lives, and over a weekend creating a single cohesive group of friends that will now share and remember the joy of the occasion.

Erin and Josh - Maine Wedding

I've never been to Maine or the Northeast so there was no way in the world I was going to miss the wedding of my two good friends Josh and Erin. The wedding was held on Bar Harbor Island where both the bride and the groom's families were from. Surprisingly though, for an island you can drive around in one hour, Josh and Erin and the Meyer-Maderia families never formally met until later in life. The wedding was a two day event hosted with the highest New England sophistication; yachts, waterfront estates, lobster, and whole lot of really good people.

Fruit of the Soul 2008

My sister Rachel hosted a gluten free baked goods booth at the annual Fruit of the Soul event held at Specialty Produce. The event brings together over 30 of San Diego's finest restaurants, local musicians, and artists to raise money for the Monarch School for homeless youth. The event brought together my whole family to enjoy a night of food, drinks, music, and fun.

Dad

Mom and Hammy

Julia was down for a visit too

Moving up in Life (La Jolla)

I moved into my new apartment in La Jolla with a good friend and old house mate from Santa Cruz-Alexis Rojas. Alexis moved back to San Diego to start medical school at UCSD and I have to admit he did all the work finding our super epic apartment. Our new apartment is about a 30 second walk to Windansea beach. It is also within walking distance to 3 other fantastic surf breaks. For those of you who know me, this location is about as perfect as it gets for surf or any other beach activity. It is also an easy walk or bike to bars, restaurants, coffee shops, farmers market, public library, and friends.

I am continually amazed in the direction my life takes and the opportunities it brings. I like to say I have everything going for me in life except the job.

San Diego Wedding, Amand and Colm

My long time high school and college friend, Amanda Gaeto, finally tied the knot with her Irish bred lover Colm Kenny. An occasion of this magnitude brought all my close friends to San Diego to celebrate the wedding and to have a few wild and crazy nights of partying. Amanda had her wedding at the prestigious Thursday club in Point Loma. The following photos provide a better description of the wedding than me writing a wordy description.

Colm and Amanda

Santa Cruz gang together again

I got myself a pretty nice suit

The fun began before the wedding