2010 Christmas

Merry Christmas. Every family has their holiday traditions. These annual routines may be ridiculous but are another reason why Christmas is my favorite holiday. This Christmas we celebrated our annual gluten free Christmas eve dinner at my sister's house in Point Loma. We put on the National Lampoon Christmas Vacation movie and reminisced about past Christmas holidays. I got my annual Christmas morning surf with my dad and cooked up a pancake breakfast using the as seen on TV perfect pancake pan. It was another successful Helmer Family Christmas.

Christmas in OB

Christmas is my favorite holiday. We celebrated Christmas for the whole month of December around my house. We got a Christmas tree, decorated the house, and I had a fire going in the fireplace almost every night. The cool crisp air, ambiance of the fire, and aroma of the xmas tree set the atmosphere for the month.

Ocean Beach also puts on an annual Christmas parade and the whole neighborhood seems to hit the street for the event. The Christmas parade and neighborhood spirit reminded me a lot of the holiday parade in Santa Barbara.

Moving to Ocean Beach

This fall I moved into a new place in Ocean Beach. I'm sad to leave La Jolla and all the beauties and amenities of living a stone's through away from Windansea, but I am actually excited about living closer to work and in a quieter neighborhood. Ocean Beach is also a pretty cool place to live. My new place is an actual house about 1.5 miles from the OB pier and 4 blocks up the hill away from the ocean overlooking the north end of Sunset Cliffs. It has a large kitchen, fireplace, and backyard.

Big kitchen and a loft that is directly above the kitchen that is out of the picture.

The whole house has a wood decor and a craftsman feel.

I will be using a lot of my fireplace this winter.

We have two basset hounds named Lola and Bones who dominate the backyard.

Fall Colors 2010

I took a few days off of work to get away from the hectic pace of life and reconnect with myself and nature. I took a solo road trip through the southwest and hit it perfectly to experience the fall colors and changing of the seasons. The air was crisp, cool, and had a hint of winter. It also rained a bit which added to the adventure. I brought my camera, backpacking gear, and a road map and left the rest up to spur of the moment decisions.

I retraced the path from previous trips and discovered some new places. My route took me though the hills of Las Vegas, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Escalante, Hells Backbone, and Torry. For most of the trip I camped in my car with one over night backpacking trip up the Escalante River. It felt rejuvenating to spend some time alone in the wilderness and to see some spectacular fall colors.

Friends + Surf

It's a topic always talked about but rarely followed through on with action. I'm talking about taking surf photos of your friends. When the waves are good, who in their right mind would be on the beach taking pictures. Here are some of the few that I have taken over the summer.

Hard to make it look bad

I am having a lot of fun with my digital SLR camera. It is hard to take a bad picture in La Jolla. I shoot with a Nikon 60D and enjoy taking pictures of landscapes and other outdoor activities that I can also relate to. Part of the intent of this blog is to share some of my photos online.

Summer Fun at Playa del Norte

Living in La Jolla is like living in a bubble. The weather is warmer, waves are better, the ocean is more enticing, and I can fully enjoy all my hobbies. It takes effort to leave a happy bubble and that is why the summer of 2010 will be remembered as the good times in La Jolla, because I hardly ever left. Give me my beach cruzer, a surf board, a fishing pole/spear gun, and a BBQ and I am a happy man.

Graduation Day

My Dad is a college graduate. After getting me and my sister thorough school, my Dad was compelled to go back to university and finish his college degree. We are now a family of college graduates. The graduation was in the City of Orange where we have some family roots. After the graduation ceremony we visited the old family house on Shafer street, which is now a historic building.

Another Bday

Happy 29th b-day, have an ice cream cone. I definitely feel like I am growing up because my wild party days are getting fewer and far between. My 29th b-day was no exception with an exciting day with little kids, BBQing, and ice cream cones. Actually, the ice cream cone photo is from a few days after my b-day at the San Diego zoo where I got dressed up in my Jimmy Johnson shirt and pretended to be a tourist with a bunch of tourists.

Fileds of Gold

Fields of gold is more than just a Sting song. The central coast hills stretching from Tehachapi to Mojave come alive in the spring with the annual California Poppy bloom. Antelope Valley is where the most ridiculous poppy blooms occur. This was my first time seeing this phenomenon for myself and it took my breath away. Fields of gold are another reason why I love California.