Surfing my fears

I've lived walking distance from the beach for 24 years, spent every sunny day I could baking on the sand and swimming in ocean, but because of an old fear I never learned to surf. When I was 6 years old I witnessed a young girl getting pulled out of the water with a chunk of her leg missing from a collision with her surfboard fin. Apparently, that image was the only thing that came to mind every time I attempted to surf. But life is all about facing your fears, and after 18 years it turns out all I needed was a perfect day at San Onofre. 

Because I visualized myself sanding up and surfing for so many years, once I was in the water with my board, I knew what I wanted to do...

1st wave of the day- I was up and rode it all the way in.

2nd wave I was determined to angle- so I took a right all the way to the shore.

3rd wave- Jeff and I rode it in together.

It's official, I'm a surfer.

After a great day of surfing we packed up and were off to Murrieta to celebrate Clay's birthday.

the best adventure car EVER...my FORD Explorer. 

we chopped our own firewood 

had our own wine tasting

celebrated Clayton's birfday

and hiked through Hoover's 10 acre property. 

Once you face your fears, anything is possible.

Life is About the Journey, Not the Destination

It's time to live your life and follow your dreams...

The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered "Man. Because he sacrifices his heath in order to make money. then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived"

We live in a fast paced society, and forget to slow down & truly appreciate each day. Every week or month set your goals, and learn to be present in every step it takes to get there. 

The goals I set for 2010-2011

host on E! Entertainment

host on Fuel TV

write, co-executive produce and host my own show about the MLS

work with X-Games

travel around the world for work (covering the World University Games in China for Fox College Sports)

be a cover girl

Life is about the journey, not the destination. 

Austin- Music to my Soul

My bullet trip to Austin started out wet…I now understand why it’s so cheap to fly out of Long Beach instead of LAX. Yes it was nice getting through security and to my gate in a record 8 minutes from arriving at the airport, but the whole walking a half-mile to your plane and waiting outside in the rain…not really my thing.

Being my first “business” trip, I had 2 nights and 1 day to experience Austin, while still putting in 15 hours of studio time…totally doable. The first night I was in heaven walking down 6^th street listening to live blues and rock pouring out of every bar, it was instant love. After hours of dancing it was off to bed to prepare for my 12-hour studio day in the morning.

(bands were playing to the street)

The studio was another first, but in a business where you always act like you know what you’re doing…I was mentally a pro at in-studio commentary. Later that evening to celebrate my 12 hours of great studio work, we headed to the warehouse district,  had a mouth watering seafood meal and found more rocking music.

Thank you Austin for musically feeding my soul. 

these 3 heads=Texas

The Old Hometown Fair

The glorious weekend began at 7:30am with my debut in the Manhattan Beach 10k (that Jeff and I finished in 53 minutes). Seeing as this was my first “long distance” race, I was damn proud of myself, so we rewarded ourselves with pitchers and mimosas...Who said 8:45am was too early for a cocktail…NOT Manhattan Beach, seeing as the entire race had the same idea, and filed into Shellback, and every other place open downtown for breakfast and a drink.

The day really kicked into high gear around 1pm, when we headed to only spot to be on Hometown fair weekend, the beer garden. Everyone who lives in Manhattan Beach is there, and everyone who grew up in MB comes back into town.

Hometown fair weekend was another successful reunion…and it’s a true gift to be raised in a town with the pride and community that the Mb locals have. 

New Swoop, New Bikini Rock

If you're Hollywood this Saturday night and want to see beauties rocking the runway in this summers hottest bikinis, then head to The Colony at 9pm for SWOOP Magazines Bikini Rock.

Click here for ticket information----> Buy Tickets

Day 5 in China

Day 5 in China was Taekwondo day...it was our first time spending an entire day with a team, and our first authentic Chinese meal. We started our day filming the teams practice and doing a spotlight interview with one of their star athletes Shaina Kruse. Then we jumped on a bus to the Water Balance factory for some food and fun.

The spinning table of food, and we chose fish ball soup, full shrimp and fish with bones and eyes included...we ventured out.

At the Water Balance factory, a title sponsor for team USA.

The Taekwondo team's version of "say cheese".

Day 5 at The World University Games

Day 4 in Shenzhen, China

It was day 4 for our crew in Shenzhen, but for most athletes it was day 1 of competition. Our day began with the usual routine...wake-up, make-up, cafeteria then shoot the morning stand up, but this morning we started shooting 3 additional shows: My Campus, The nightly recap & Spot light interviews. So day 4 was our first day of shooting 4 different shows a day. 

After finishing our morning shoot, we ventured outside the athletes village and headed down town Shenzhen for our first city tour. We ended up at the Shenzhen mall, which is more like downtown LA/ Mexico on crack. Everything was a knock off, and we soon learned that Shenzhen is known for the best knock off's in the world. They knock off everything from TOMS to designer handbags to iPads...it was insanity. 

We continued our tour to the Main Media Center, AKA the brains behind the broadcast operation. Then concluded our day with men's basketball's first dominating win against Mexico.

shooting 1 of our 4 daily shows

Shenzhen mall

the Main Media Center-the brains behind the broadcast

closing out at the men's basketball game

Day 4 at The World University Games