TJ!

My friend TJ who I always stay with when I go to New York for the NYBB pro came to Cali yesterday which was cool. We have lots of plans while he is here but I just hope the waves get good soon! It has been small, windy, and cold. Will have to go on a road trip for sure in search of waves. My knee is slowly but surely getting better just been resting it and doing what all the doctors have been telling me to do. So pray for that if you could remember
When TJ got here we went straight to my place and got are grub on, cruised to downtown LB, went to seal beach to walk the pier, and went to church to watch the end of the year slide show and eat at the food and fellowship! Busy!


TJ

Christmas!

I really can't put this christmas in words it was that AWESOME! It was my first time home since two years. Just being with the family was unreal. We opened all the presents we got for each other and everyone just got sooo hooked up! God really blessed are family. I got a system and speakers for my van for all my road trips, and a NEW camera to document it all! I've been saving up to get a new camera and almost bought one cause the deals have been really good but my dad convinced me to wait and man oh man was he "Wright" haha
My parents went off and made a feast! It was awesome and we were all stuffed to maximum capacity! We ti-voed the Lakers game so we could watch it after we went to the movies. My other brother Bobby Brown came with us too which is always sweet! We saw "Bedtime Stories" with adam sandler it was pretty funny.
We then came back and finished the night off eating Emmas delicious cake she made and watching the Lakers beat the celtics!
I hope everyone had a great CHRISTmas!


The christmas tree


Cassia and Jas (check out her bib!)


Cassias firt christmas


My mom is beautiful


and my dad is amazing!!


FOOD!

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve was so sweet I got to deliver some presents I got for my friends, make some phone calls to relatives and just cruise. My friend tony got to stop by our house and he got me such a cool watch (minus it being a brand I usually dont support though) but it was a gift and a good one at that! It tells the tide, has a heat timer, wave counter, etc... So sick!


The Alternative Surf window! How rad santas getting barreled on southside!


My friend tony and my new watch! So stoked! Thanks tony!!

Old man Wayne

Wayne Doggie Dog

Just wanted to let everyone know that wayne is giving his photos away for FREE until the new year. So check out his site at www.corefotos.com and start snagging away.

Waves???

With the waves over 3ft being pretty non existent in my neck of the woods I find myself going a little crazy. Ive been putting some hours in at the shop which has been cool. I also used the time I would normally be in the water to study for Finals! I am soo stoked that they are done and I took my last final for LBCC on Friday! WOW so happy thats done with. I really believe that I wouldnt of done as well in school if it wasnt for my counselor Mrs. Freeman who truly pushed me to be great in all my subjects and kept me going in the right direction with all my school related things. I awarded her with one of my old trophies and gave her the "Best Counsleor" award. It was so cool and I really can't thank her enough.


Mrs. Freeman!

I got accepted into the University of Phoenix, the all online school and start January 6th. So pretty much I get to do my homework and get my degree while I am on the road! How cool is that! This year is looking jam packed and gonna be awesome. My new website will be up the first week of the year. The calendar section will be updated frequently so be sure to check it out
Last week required a lot of get togethers with sponsors and everything. The Alternative Surf Christmas party was awesome! We had some pizza, ice cream and gift exchange. Ron is filled with stories and insight about everything and he is definetley one person who keeps me motivated. We talked about sick waves in Peru and future moves that I want to try this year!


Ron and some of his photos


Puerto 1979 haha jk


AS crew


Claudia won some comfy socks!


Me and Ron Dog!!

Also I have been trying to stay as fit as possible by Running, stretching, biking, etc.... But playing Tennis as been taking the cake!


My buddy Jake beat me a few times this day!

The Fight

Sunday was pretty sweet. I got to get a quick 2 hour session at HB with old man wayne before I headed to Costa Mesa to watch my friend Aaron compete in ji jitsu competition. He did really well. I got to watch a bunch of fights that day and it was just gnarly! The guys in that sport are really dedicated and take it seriosly. It really motivated me to keep at it with my bodyboarding and never slack cause there is always something to improve on. Like when its flat or raining just go to the local pool and do some laps. Put on a Yoga video, etc.. Really stoked I got support my friend. I headed down south to get another quick session in before I had to meet up with photographer Bryan Pezman for a photoshoot for the next Crysis Magazine. The shots came out UNREAL probably one of the best sunsets I have ever seen and I wish I could post them but we gotta wait and see what they use for the mag. The magazine looks like it will be out New Years! You can always get them at Alternative Surf!

Estrada Christmas party

My good friend Bryan Washburn and I have not been able to bodyboard together in a while because of his commitment at school but on saturday the 12th we got to get a quick 3 hour session at Newport, it was a bummer that the waves werent that good though! It was only 1-2ft pretty weak. We just stayed out and got our grovel on. Since Bryan will be graduating on Friday we were planning what we are going to do for this big celebration and just getting so amped that he will be DONE with college! and be able to spend more time in the water! I am so proud, stoked, and happy for him and cant wait to see what he will be doing in the future!
I worked up a good appetite. Got home, cleaned up and was off to the Annual Estrada Christmas party! (The Estradas is my mom side of the family) Man ohh man was it a blast! I got to see uncles and aunts that I dont get to see too often. Eat some amazing food, and have some of the best fellowship! My brother Jason even played some Worship it was soo cool and Emma made some good desserts that everyone demolished!


Aunt Nancy and my mom


Christina and Cassia


Uncle Greg is gonna kill me! haha


Food!


Check out my brothers music myspace page and be blessed; Jason


Anything out of the ordinary?


If you were wondering who the kid on my voicemail is rapping; Here he is ETHAN!


Uncle paul and fam


My unlcle paul has the best DVD collection and always up to date with the newest gadgets


My cousin Paul just got home from Iraq and will be going to school in January!


Amping on the book collection! Just borrowed Losers and Winners Saints and Sinners should be good!


The tree and some family


Uncle Jeremy and Cassia!

Bixby Ranch

On the 12th my my family and the Christinas parents went to the Bixby Ranch to get in the Christmas spirt and it was a lot of fun! They had the whole 1920 theme going and it was rad. After that we cruised down to second st and ate at my favoriet Crepe place! I got the romeo and juliet dessert and it was delicious! They had live Jazz and those guys were just owning it! It is such a blessing to be home for the holidays and I am loving it! But I really do wish the waves were better haha


Family


Christina helped the ladies who were singing


Hot cider was perfect for the cool outside air temperature


My dad and I after eating till we were stuffed!

FIRE PREMIERE

On the 11th I worked at Alternative Surf all day from 10am-6pm. The Fire premiere was going to be shown at the Gaslamp at 7pm and doors were going to open at 6pm. The whole day I was just thinking about how sweet the premiere was going to be and with more and more customers calling the shop and stoping in to buy tickets I knew it was going to be a big success. By 3pm we sold all the tickets that we had at the shop at had to start telling customers to get them at the door. A lot of people stoped by the shop throughout the day but the best was the God father of our sport Mike Stewart himself. Mike shared about his recent trip to the Canary Isaland for the IBA world tour event. Being 45 years old and still being in the top 10 in the world is a pretty crazy achievement and freakin AWESOME! (I really hope he wins his 10th world title next year before Slater, that be sick!)
After I got off work I bolted home to get some food in my stomach, change, and get my camera. There were over 350+ people at the premiere and it was by far the funnest premiere I have ever been to, and the most people ive seen at one too!
A lot of my friends from Long Beach where there along with the old school Seal Beach crew and wedge crew some legends and just everyone it was sooo sweet!
The coolest part was probably catching up with everyone. All in all the night was fantastic and Scotty Carter and Mike Stewart gave all the ticket proceeds to Ron Ziebell to help with his medical bills and everything. Seriously how AMAZING is that for ron dog!
It looks like we will be getting the DVD this friday so be sure to order them from ALTERNATIVE SURF


Ron, Mike, and Claudia


Me and Brian Press


Me and STEWART!


Me, randy, and torie (dont worry its tea)


Me and Joe Grodzen


Crowd shot


Seal Beach grom Raymond who is going to be ripping soon and Mike Stewart


Me, Mike the manager at Harbour Surfboards and my best mate Kuch

Jacob and Jimmy

On the 8th I planned on going up to Ventura to get some waves early in the morning with my friend Jimmy and catch up with my coach Jacob Reeves.

Jimmy and I got some really fun waves, and it was so cool to hear how good he is doing and how the LORD has just been blessing his life. Jimmy just got home from Australia for his brothers wedding and got to share with me about his time there and what his next year is looking like for him. It sounds really exciting and I will definetley be praying for him.

After are surf session I called my friend Matt Meyer and asked where I can get some grub and he told me about this Mexican restaurant to hit up, and it was good! Thanks Matty!

I took a power nap in my bed that my dad built in my van and headed to Jacobs work to catch up and talk about how my 2009 year is looking and how he is going to be able to help me out this year! I am really stoked on how the meeting went and Jacob always has the best advice for me and encorages me to stay on the Gods path for my life and to keep seeking Him and when I do that, all things will work according to Gods plans.

Here are a few quotes that Jacob said that I thought were awesome and want to share with everyone!

"If you plan things right you can do just about anything"

and

"Future favors the diligent"

Brunch and LA

I woke up super early today hoping the waves were going to be a lot better than they were and they weren't! Haha Sometimes when the waves aren't the best I try and give myself mini goals to accomplish for that session. Like instead of being content with just a roll I try and do a roll to spin to roll, etc.. It keeps you stoked and challenges yourself in the gutless conditions.
I got home and took my Unit 3 exam for my Poli Sci class online. The test was 2 and a half hours long! So crazy but I feel I did really well, so pretty stoked.
After that I got to get some brunch with my friends Bobby Brown, Big Nick, and their wives plus Jarrett. It's really cool to meet up with older friends that have helped me throughout my life and see how everything's going! Bobby and his wife just got home from a Caribbean cruise last night so they are still buzzing on that, and Big Nick and his wife are going to be having a baby girl soon! So they are doing awesome too!

Bobby, Big Nick, and their wives plus Jarrett
Right after that I headed to LA to see the homie DJ Swype and some of his Patternz threads. They were super cool and I was stoked I was able to support him and check out his stuff.


Traffic wasn't too bad


Dj Swype and his wife


Some of his stuff

Operation Christmas Child and SD

My church got a group of about 30 people to go help out at Operation Christmas Child on December 4Th and it was a total blast! We started at about 7pm and didn't end till 11pm. There were many jobs but I got to inspect the boxes with my brother Jas and most of the youth. We would make sure there were no chocolate, liquids, or food and then tape the boxes up and send them out to make some kid super stoked!
I got a text to go down south since the waves were gonna be good, I was a little hesitant since it was so late but once I heard how the conditions were looking I didnt care what time it was. I got home around 11:45pm that night packed my stuff and got everything loaded and was on the road by 12:30am. I arrived at my friends place around 3am took a two hour power nap and woke up at 5:30am and headed to the beach. The waves were really fun, crowded with people but with the sun out and off shore conditions it was worth it. We all got fun waves and a couple fun sections too! The session lasted about six hours cause of the lack of food I had (none) and since I only had two hours of sleep haha We checked a few other spots but decided to go home because I had a big test that I didnt really get to study for. All in all it was a great Thursday and Friday and a cool adventure

Training with Bruce Gaims

My dad started my morning off with a delicious smoothie

Bruce!

The waves have been really fun, consistent, and just keep coming so I have been bodyboarding a lot lately which is always great! With my two month Hawaii trip coming up I definetley want to be ready physically for those big wave beat downs so Bruce from Gaims Fitness in Van Nuys decided to help me out! Bruce is really into bodyboarding and is in the process of developing an ALL bodyboarding workout specifically for me. WOW this should be unreal. It will not include all the machines because they cant fit in my suitcase haha but should be awesome!