A little soul searching

This week one of my best friends Michelle came down to San Diego to stay with me. We're both in the midst of big life changes right now so it felt good to connect. This morning it was a gorgeous day, but there was no surf. We decided to go to the Meditation Gardens at the Self Realization Fellowship in Encinitas. The land there is beautiful: lush green plants, ponds with koi fish the size of baby seals, and lots of shaded areas. I felt like I was in Hawaii. I've now decided that I'm going to go there every day I'm in need of inspiration. It's simply beautiful.

On Sunday I plan to join the "Walk to De'Feet ALS" in honor of Michelle's father, who passed away two years ago from ALS. When Michelle's fathe r passed away she started a 'Never Give Up' wristband campaign in his honor. To this date she has raised over $100,000 for the ALS foundation. Michelle took something terrible that happened to her, and made something good out of it. She is one of my heroes.

If you never Try, you'll never know...

***Note: I came across this blog and realized I wrote it one year ago today.Enjoy. -LT**

This morning I pulled up to the beach and looked at the waves. I was a bit disappointed at how small it was. I sat in my car for 20 minutes debating whether or not I wanted to mentally muster the strength to put on my damp wetsuit and paddle out. I asked the old longboarder dudes in the truck next to me if it’s worth paddling out and they look at me like I’m some kind of wimpy freak. “Of course it’s worth going out,” one of the guys says. “Everyday is worth paddling out.”

The wisdom of the old men stuck with me. I put on my wetsuit, met up with my friend, and jumped in the water. The waves were much better than they looked—fairly small but perfect shape that was great for practicing some moves on a longboard.

As snowboarders, we are faced with decisions like this all the time. Some days it might be snowing so hard you can’t even see your arms as you place them out in front of you. But you know what, that day might be the day you score the best snow you’ve ever felt under your feet. My point is this—if you’re debating whether or not something’s worth doing, just do it and see what happens. Better to regret something you did than something you didn’t do.

I like people who say yes. Be a yes person.

2006 Orange County, CA Race for the Cure

*Taken from http://www.syrentha.org/events/index.php

Members of Thrice and SSE joined 40,000 people in the Orange County Race for the Cure (OC RFTC) 5K co-ed walk on September 24th, 2006 at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, Ca. Now in their third year of participation, team "ThriSSE" brought more than 90 people together on a sunny Sunday morning, including members of Thrice, their friends, family, fans, and SSE supporters.

Due to a glitch with UPS, the signature Thrice and SSE team shirts were unable to be delivered in time for the event. Everyone involved pulled together quickly and each team member was given a plain black tee to wear for the walk. Team "ThriSSE" had no problem getting noticed as the only group rocking black filled the streets of Orange County with SSE banners and signs. Team members will later receive their shirts in the mail.

Once the sun went down, everyone reconvened at The District Lounge in Old Towne Orange. As a special thank you to the team, Ashua, The Cold War Kids, Chuck Ragan, and Dustin Kensrue played a passion filled, acoustic only set for their fans. Thank you to all who participated and volunteered to help, you are what make SSE fly.

-LT