Dawn Patrol at the Lane

There is not much that can get me out of bed at 5:30 A.M. but surfing Steamer Lane with glassy head high conditions with only 4 guys out is one of them. Here is a little video of me shot by Robyn on her iphone (hence the quality is not that great). I had been doing a lot of shortboarding earlier in the week, so this morning I went out longboarding with my brother-in-law Mike.

Whack the Cracker is the new Craze

Thanks to everyone who came last weekend to Celebrate our Birthdays. We had so much fun, but the highlight was playing Whack the Cracker. This game involves tying a Saltine Cracker to the back of you pants and running around with a rolled up newspaper or magazine and trying to break the crackers of others. The last one standing wins.

Silvia and I both still have welts from running through the spanking machine. It's pretty funny to watch. You can watch the video down below, but its a little cut off. Click here to watch it on youtube.

Pre-Easter Surf Session with the Family

We had Easter in Santa Cruz this Year. The day before we went to Cowells for a little surf session. Melissa had an interesting Skiing style on the Surfboard. Silvia was charging and Mackenzie was just getting warmed up for BYU Hawaii next year. Mike had another great wave at the end, but the batteries ran out. I surfed every day that week so I just took one for the team and filmed.



The right side of the Vid is a little cut off to view on youtube click here
To see more video of ours, type in 123mcleodjustin123 in the you tube search.

Dying for Easter

This year we dyed Easter eggs with some of my old silk ties. Here are some pics of some of our eggs
Here is the link to the instructions if you want to try it out yourself:
www.ourbestbites.com/2008/03/silk-dyed-eggs.html

Check out the Cowells Beach Video

Beach Day at Cowells

I love this photo of Naomi sporting her new little wetsuit. The flash went off and kind of blew it out and gave it a cool effect. Anyways. . . I guess summer is here so we made Saturday a beach day with 20 or so friends and family who live here in Santa Cruz.
El Nino has brought a lot of westernly swells that pushed in a lot a sand creating an amazing sand bar/beach at Cowells. It use to only break on a low or negative tide, but now it breaks a day long.It is perfect for the kids to start learning how to surf and boogie board. And it great for the adults who can paddle outside to the waves that seem to peels forever.

Our new niece Elle Suzuki Headrick

My sister April and her husband Matt Headrick just had a baby girl. She is the cutest little thing. That's a total or 9 nieces and nephews. Sil and I have to jump on this baby train soon before Jeff (my little brother who is 20 and on a mission in the Dominican Repulic) starts have little kids. We are getting smoked by everyone. Maybe we will have to have twins to catch up.

Point Lobos State Park

Last Thursday we took the day off work and went down to Carmel. We walked around Carmel for a little bit and found a cute little restaurant called Carmel Belle that we highly recommend.
After lunch we went to Point Lobos State Park and hiked along the coastal trails checking out the tidepools and sea lions.
Point Lobos name is Derived from the offshore rocks at Punta de los Lobos Marinos, Point of the Sea Wolves, where the sound of the sea lions carries inland, the Reserve has often been called "the crown jewel of the State Park System."

Closing Prayer Disaster

Ok so last sunday I was asked to say the closing prayer at the church. The first speaker spoke, and I guess I wasn't really paying attention to his talk. After his talk, the congregation started to sing the intermediate hymn, but I thought it was the closing hymn. I got up during the 2nd verse and started to walk towards the pulpit. This drew a lot of attention of a few families who suddenly started looking at me wide eyed like they were trying to send a message via ESP.

When I got up to the pulpit I sat down waiting for the hymn to end. I looked at my friend Iris and she was lipping, "It's not time for a closing prayer?" I didn't quiet get what she was trying to communicate. Bringing my hands together into the prayer position I lipped back, "Yes I'm the one saying the closing prayer." She lipped back very clearly this time "It's not time for you to say a closing prayer." When I realized that she was right I looked at the whole congregation and they were all smiling and giggling. I looked at the bishopric and they were looking at me smiling ear to ear. I whispered to the Bishop if I could just stay up there. He Gave me a nod of approval.

So the second speaker got up, and before he started his talk he looked at me and motioned with his arm towards the pulpit as if to say, 'Do you want to come and say the prayer?" The whole thing was pretty funny. Very embarrassing, but very funny

P.S. By the way that happened to me (Silvia).

BAREFOOT RUNNING Is Good for you Sole. TRY IT!.

I have bore my Soles 7 times now and love it. I do feel little awkward running past people barefoot. I don't know if it's in my head or not, but some seem to look at me a little cockeyed. But, here in Santa Cruz there are weirdos everywhere. I'm just keeping Santa Cruz weird I guess. It has been fun trying something new. Usually when I start running on a regular basis, I am injured two weeks later due to shin pain, knee pain and/or hip pain. I have no pain now.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

When I tell people that I'm going to run barefoot in my next triathlon they look at me cockeyed and by their facial expression I know their internal dialogue is something like 'that is the stupidest thing I have ever heard.' Then they force an awkward smile and ask, "doesn't that hurt?". My answer is, "No, not really it actually feels good." If you run 10 miles the first day then, yes it will hurt.

You are using muscles that you have never used before. As you transition to barefoot running, you should start slowly. Ease into your mileage and listen to you feet. Most runner’s require 3-4 weeks before achieving ~80% of their regular mileage. Over the last three weeks I have worked up to 1.5 miles (yesterday) and everything feels great. I listen to my feet. As soon as they begin to ache (the arches usually), I stop.

I was introduced to barefoot running by my friend Sam Jones who was raving about a book called BORN TO RUN. This New York best seller seeks to dispel the myth that you need an overly supportive, cushioned, orthopedic shoe-boot in order to push the limits of human potential in running and exploring the world joyfully. I Highly recommend this book. I read it in a day and it helped me understand why I kept getting injured.

Barefoot running may not be for everyone (Eric Hanson who is a Pansy). But don't knock it, till you rock it! Let go of the stigma and set your feet free. You'll instantly run softer and your biomechanics will automatically change, by running more on your forefoot instead of heel striking (which cause more stress

and torque on your knees and hips). Besides.....its fun to be a hippie! Try it!

Top to Bottom on my Bottom

Justin and I went to Tahoe last week to do some skiing. Upon arriving at Sugarbowl, I was stoked to learn that they were giving free lessons which I took full advantage. It was only my second time skiing. Justin is a great teacher, but he always wants to push me past my limits.

After day one and two Justin was so impressed by my new ski skills that on day 3 he decided to ski with me. He took me all around the mountain. I was feeling so confident and having such a good time. But, then Justin seemed to forget that I was on day 3 and took me up to the top of the mountain. When the chairlift went over some cliffs I began to think to myself, "Great! Justin is trying to push me past my limits again. When will he learn what is fun for him is terrifying for me."

When I got off the chair and saw how high I was, I started to freak out. I felt my legs starting to shake and feel like jello. I felt like I was about to go number 2 in my pants.

I tried to think positively in my head "I can do this! I can go down. Everything will be fine." Despite my incantation, I couldn't stop thinking about how steep it was and all the possibilities of breaking my neck.

So Justin went half way down the ski run and signaled me to follow. I felt paralyzed and tried to slide down side ways. After 5 feet I started to beg Justin to let me go down on my bum. He would look at me saying "no! you can do it! Come down side ways." At this point I was so mad at Justin for making me do this that all I wanted to do was punch him in the gut.

Since going down sideways was not working, Justin had wrap my arms around his waste, guiding me down slowly, but that only worked for 30 seconds before we fell on top each other.

After 30 minutes we were only half way down. I got past the steepest and bumpiest part of the hill. The 2nd half of the hill didn't seem as bad which gave me more confidence. I started my incantation again, "I can do this, I am in control." 20 crashes later, I made it all the way down. Even though I hated going through that experience, I was proud that I was able to ski from top to bottom on my third day.

Feliz Natal

I was at work one day and left to get some lunch. When I came back I saw a piece of paper inside my laptop that read, "Merry Christmas, Love Lots Justin." I kept reading and realized that it was a ticket to Brazil. Justin surprised me with a ticket to Brazil to see my family over Christmas. Yahooooooo!
I was to arrive on Christmas Eve and wanted it to be a surprise for my Mom, but unfortunately, while my sister was picking me up at the airport a friend had called the house asking my mom if I had arrived yet. Here I am with my family and friends; Jorge, Bete, Mom(Maria), me, Rosa, Ana, Camila, Dani, Rosa, Yasmine ... Christmas dinner.


I went out to lunch with olds friends to catch up with new gossip. Love you girls ... Starting to the left is Aline, me Hannah and Mayra. I had an awesome day with them.


There is nothing liking hanging out with friends that you grew up with. They're like your roots, giving you the foundation to grow and be strong. I love them. Starting from the left me, Pri Bahia, Joyce, Vanessa and Camila. I had such a great day.


I love Brazil, but really its because Brazil has the people I love so much. Hope to see you guys soon. Beijos XOXO