Santa Maria and Hunninton Beach

On our way down to San Diego to meet our new renter and stay at "Cupid's Castle" we stopped in to see my good friends Dan and Dave, their wives, and their kids! Even though Dan was getting ready to go heli-skiing in Canada with Tony Hawk the next day he still let us stay at his place and we all went out to breakfast the next morning...

After we had our fill of breakfast we headed down to Hunnington Beach to enjoy the afternoon with Alyssa and Jason--and we snuck in a little surfing.

That night we had dinner in San Diego with Doug and Jenn and reminisced about being neighbors.

Full House

Remember this view from that old show "Full House"? I picked up Natalie after a conference in San Francisco and couldn't resist stopping by Alamo Square for this view...

Woman seeks shelter in Mobile Home(?)

From an Accuweather article on March 13. 2006

"...A twister reported to be a half mile wide cut a 16 mile long path of destruction through the town of Sedalia, Missouri, killing a woman as she sought shelter in her mobile home. Tornadoes also touched down in central Illinois and Arkansas, but there were no reports of injuries..."

Today's lesson: Mobile homes are not made with the structural elements necessary to protect you from tornadoes. Seek a shelter that you cannot push over by hand.

Friends' Websites

POPULAR
PayPal Peter Thiel's little money exchange company that he co-founded in 1998--aquired less than four years later by eBay Inc. for $1.5 billion.
Clarium Capital Peter Thiel's next venture.

BitTorrent Ashwin Navin's business acumen is turning this little company into a media powerhouse--it already accounts for more worldwide web traffic than any other company.
Ashwin's blog

Google Okay, so they're not technically my "friends", but I did talk with Sergey and Larry a couple times at their company parties before they went huge. Since they are multi-billionaires now, I'd like to get back into that circle. I think by mentioning them on my website, they'll invite me over for dinner again.

BANDS
Shane Dwight, the #1 Blues band on the west coast. They were also nice enough to play my wedding.

RobbyZ was my neighbor in Capitola who lives the rockstar lifestyle.

735 Institution Rick Russo plays guitar for an up and coming band.

THREE 5 & 6 Urban A Cappella at it's best. These guys rock; get the CD or better yet, catch a show if you're in the area, what they can do with their voices has to be seen to be believed.

PRODUCTS
One Way Board Shop Buy your surf and skate gear here! Dan and Dave Pankratz are not only stellar individuals, but they run a thriving business and are actively involved in their community as well.

PowerFlare Troy Edwards designed and manufactured a great new product that is saving us money for law enforement and military expenses.

PicoPad Alan Regala innovates in everyday ways.

Panta Systems Tung Nguyen and Fred van den Bosch are excellent people to work for.

Lizzard Clipz I did the design work for Nick Banfe's cool eyewear product.

SERVICES

Dave the Horn Guy Featured on Jay Leno and star of America's got talent, my old friend Dave from church in Sacramento has hit the big time with an entertaining act. Hire him for your next big event!

NxRev Nils Wydler heads the #1 Pro/E reseller in the world.

The Nebo Group Ryan McCarthy, business strategy and technology consultant. Ryan also started Metro Free Fi, which he sold to AnchorFree in 2006 (it's the place to go if you're searching for a free hotspot).

Adventure Out Cliff Hodges is changing lives one adventure at a time.

Extreme Productions Hire Matt Brys to DJ your next party or wedding. North America's #1 DJ Entertainment Company.

CBL Accounting Claudia Low runs an excellent accounting and tax consultancy in San Diego.

First Covenant Church The Sacramento church family I grew up in.

Date My Friend Dre Madden's realization that most people meet through friends of friends.

PERSONAL
Kaleem Aziz, a fellow Santa Clara M.B.A., has some well thought out theories on everything.

Adam Corkins is a good friend from PBC south.
Sarah Adam's creative wife.

Dustin-Leigh, friend from church in San Diego, was Miss California 2005 and starred in the Amazing Race, season 10.

Andrew Bradley, my bro.

Castle Rock State Park

These hikes off Skyline blvd. are awesome. You can see all the way to the ocean in the distance.

I think this is called Goat Rock, good for climbing.

2005 Year in Review

Merry Christmas! We hope this letter finds you in good spirits and ready to read yet another exciting Christmas letter!

This was a wonderful first year of marriage for Natalie and I—jam-packed with fun and adventure. We fulfilled our dreams of backpacking Europe with the one we love (each other) and relaxed on a cruise around the Caribbean with the family; we even bought our first home—then decided to move to the Bay Area a few months later… Anyone want to buy or rent a new condo walking distance to the beach in San Diego?

Top ten highlights from Dave and Natalie's 2005:
10. Surveying the beauty of Paris from atop the Eiffel Tower (and the beauty of Vegas from the 1/2 scale version).
9. Coming within a few feet of the new pope in Vatican City .
8. Fleeing the flooded waters of Interlaken by bus (the lakes rose 1.5 meters in one night!)
7. Standing in the actual prison cell were Peter was kept before his upside-down crucifixion around AD 64.
6. Kissing wild sting rays in the Caymans.
5. Discovering the Mayan ruins of Cozumel .
4. Swimming through caves off the Amalfi Coast.
3. Braving the cliffs of Capri and the Cinque Terre on some of the best hikes in the world (in our opinion).
2. Singing 'O Sole Mio in a Venetian gondola, accompanied by a guitarist, 3 Japanese tourists, and 4 musical gondoliers.
1. Walking in the stillness of night past all the lighted sights in Rome starting with a romantic dinner in Campo de' Fiori to the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps.

Natalie built a house from the ground up in Tijuana with 20 high-schoolers and cofounded a non-profit to help women with eating disorders. I got to eat octopus, jellyfish, kim chee, and other interesting "foods" while working in South Korea and studied abroad in Prague and Munich as part of my MBA program.

Now we're temporarily living in a 2 story, 3 bedroom 2 bath guest house in Los Altos Hills. I'm working at a server startup and Natalie is working at a church and searching for the perfect job.

We wish you all the best in 2006 and hope to see you soon!

Love, Dave and Natalie

San Diego Condo

heading home...

Today we toured St. Peter's basilica (and hiked all the way to the top
of the dome) and went inside the actual jail cell where Peter and Paul
were imprisoned. We head to the airport at 3:30am tomorrow morning so
please pray that all the connections, shuttles, and flights go
smoothly.

We saw the pope!

As I write we're a block away from the Trevy fountain in the middle of a great night walk across Rome on the pedestrian only streets past all the sights that are lit up at night--led by Rick Steves of course. This morning we heard that the pope was coming out so we headed over to the big square where everyone in town was going and had to have reservations to get in, but somehow we ended up within 10 feet of him. Then went through the sistine chapel with no lines. Enjoyed a good pasta dinner with everyone at our hostel up on the roof overlooking the colosseum, pretty good location for a dinner..

Amalfi coast...

We really like Sorrento!


The afternoon we arrived the whole town seemed to be closed. We made the short walk from the train station to our B&B and no one was around. We were very happy to have air conditioning for the first time since Interlaken (and we didn't need it then). And happy that
there was a dumbwaiter to lift our bags up the 4 floors to our place. When we went back outside after getting settled the whole town was out and about. I guess they were all having their afternoon siesta. By 10pm the streets were really packed and closed to cars. All the shops
were open and we had a great italian meal down a nice back alley.

At dinner we met a southern italian couple that we could hardly communicate with but had a great time nonetheless. We ended up dancing the night away with them and the old-timer italians in some kind of huge outdoor ballroom dance\line dancing event. Lots of fun. Today on the beach and tomorrow Capri--gotta go, dave and nat