SurfWriter Girls Thanksgiving Greetings!

Happy Thanksgiving from SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to the following copyrighted material. For permission to reprint or excerpt it and/or link it to another website, contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com.

Wishing you and your family and friends a time of togetherness and joy. Some of the things we have to be thankful for are:

Turkey with all the trimmings

Good smells filling the house

Sweet potatoes with marshmallows

Cranberry sauce

Green bean casseroles

Pumpkin pie, apple pie and any pie 

Egg nog and spiced apple cider

Java Jaws Surfer’s coffee

Leftovers

I am VERY Thankful to be ALIVE everyday! enjoying my ohana, sunshine, surf and a PRIMO beer is just a HUGE PLUS!

- Devin Keoni Ryan

I am grateful that our Founding Fathers helped us to be free enough to continue this family tradition and didn't create committees to eat the turkey.

- Diana Gallagher

I am thankful for my family, good health, and wonderful job teaching at Cypress College. On the lighter side, I am thankful for bacon, chocolate, sea salt and red wine (all at the same time is even better).

-Lisa Clark

Family and friends

BFFs

Hugs and laughter

I'm very thankful for dear friends who go the extra mile.  Spreading "sunshine" is a treasured gift.  Thank you!

-Helena DeCoro

At a time when many families are experiencing great challenges, I am thankful for the bounty in my life with regard to basic needs we sometimes take for granted.  I appreciate that I have a warm place to sleep, food in my stomach, good health, and a wonderful network of friends and family that I love and who love me.

-Jade Martner

I am very blessed and thank God every day for my many blessings, including just being born in this country and my wonderful family and friends.

-Doris Hart

I am thankful that my home was spared in the Reno NV Caughlin Fire this week.  Prayers and wishes of support go out to the 35 families whose homes were destroyed or damaged.  I am also thankful that my wonderful 96 year old father is so healthy and active.  He is a true blessing to our whole family.

-Mary Gibson

The Reno Fire from Mary's House

I'm thankful, in this economic disaster, to have a good full-time job that pays enough for me to live comfortably and pay all my cat's vet bills. I'm also thankful for a sweet, old kitty to keep me company, a great boss, and wonderful friends who care about our wildlife and environment, like you!  Happy Thanksgiving!

 -Dana Michaels

I would like to give thanks to my family for always supporting me since the day I was born and also, to my boyfriend, David Moon, for making me feel like a princess every single day! :)

-Kathleen Peng

Hope everyone have a great holiday, and enjoy turkey's day with yours family and relatives, happy holidays......best wishes to all.

-Phuc Tran

Football games all day long on TV

Children playing

 

I would like to thank my children Chris and Katara for keeping me on my toes, and God for giving me the many gifts of my life: Family, children, and a wonderful circle of people who I have  had the pleasure and honor of learning from.

 -Rhonda Slade

I'm thankful for my happy, healthy family and my two sweet little grandsons, Sean and Alexander.

-Lynn Cristina

  

There is so much to be thankful for in 2011!!!  Instead of thinking globally I will think locally....my son married a wonderful woman in August and my daughter had a third healthy baby this year also.  Tony and I have been happily married for 30 years and we stay dry when it rains and never miss a meal!  Happy Thanksgiving!

-Barbara Melum

Barbara's Grandchildren

Brightly colored autumn leaves

Being able to be myself

The measure of a man is not the amount of zeros in his bank account or what kind of

car he drives, nor is it the size and location of his house. The measure of a man is not

defined by his occupation or his status in society nor can he be counted by his conquest.

The true measure of a man is defined in his relationships with others. I count my blessings

this Thanksgiving to find I am the richest man in the world.

May God bless you and keep you this holiday season.

-Pastor Dave Williams

I am grateful everyday to have the freedom and good health to choose what I would like to do.  My goal is that the choices I make reflect my appreciation for these blessings.

-Barbara Ramsey

I am thankful for great times I had with my best friend my dad before he passed away a year ago.

I am thankful for my mom being cancer free for about 15 years.

I am thankful for all the teachers at Cypress College that go out of their way to help students.

I am thankful for my dad's 15 years of service to the Seal Beach Police Volunteer program.

I am thankful for the journey throughout my life,  who I have met, what I have accomplished and being able to see all the beautiful things that surround me.

I am thankful for valuable resources like water and electricity so I can drink water and turn the lights on and off, a roof over my head, lawn that I can mow, windows that I can clean and driveway so I can have garage sales because it means I have a home.

-Vanessa Sundusky

Meaningful work to do

Getting our beaches clean

I am thankful that there are so many people that put forth so much of their time and effort to try and improve our planet.

 -Don MacLean

Surfing when the wave is all yours

I'm extremely thankful for my health and being able to continually do something I love so much- SURF!!!

-Jeff Deffenbaugh

Surfrider Foundation Huntington Beach/Seal Beach Chapter Ambassador

Jeff Deffenbaugh with Brett Simpson

We’re thankful for our family and friends, for Patti’s husband Greg, who is the love of her life, Sunny’s mom, who always beats everyone at cards, for being writing partners and BFFs., everyone at Cypress College, for Smokey, the world’s most adventurous cat…the Surfrider Foundation and our SurfWriter Girls followers.

May all the joys of Thanksgiving stay with you throughout the year.

Love,

Sunny and Patti

Islands Restaurants – A Taste of Hawaii

Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel hold the exclusive rights to the following copyrighted material. For permission to reprint or excerpt it and/or link it to another website, contact them at surfwriter.girls@gmail.com

If you’d like to take a trip to the islands, but are short on time or money, then visit Islands restaurants.

The tropical décor, surfing movies and colorful birds will make you think you’re in Hawaii.

There are lots of locations to choose from in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado…and even Hawaii. Just go to www.islandsrestaurants.com

Along with their regular menu, check out the lunch specials – served until 4:00 p.m. SurfWriter Girls Sunny Magdaug and Patti Kishel ducked into the Islands at 12320 Seal Beach Blvd. in Seal Beach just under the wire and ordered the Two Tacos special, which was big enough to share, along with the tortilla soup.

 Islands’ tortilla soup is one of the best you’ll ever taste. This hearty soup includes fresh vegetables and chicken and is topped with jack cheese, big chunks of avocado and tortilla strips. You can get the “Endless Bowl” (610 cal) and spend all day here. Or go for the small bowl (310 cal) and enjoy a mini-break.

Other menu items include: Wiqui Wagui BBQ Chicken Salad, Kaanapali Kobb Salad, Moa Kai (albacore tuna) Wraps, Tiki Tenders and Beachside Sliders appetizers. Plus there’s a large assortment of hamburgers – the Big Wave, Longboarder, Hula, Hawaiian and Bleunami (with a tsunami of bleu cheese on top). Veggie burgers and tacos are available, too.

If you’re really hungry, order a side of “Endless Fries.” Forget the calories and cholesterol and just dig in.

Leave room for dessert because you’ll want to indulge in a Lava Fudge Brownie, Kona Pie (with mocha almond fudge ice cream) or Mango Sorbetto (served in a natural fruit shell and topped with whipped cream and a sprig of mint). If you’re with a crowd, order them all…and lots of spoons! 

    
The beverage menu is no slouch, either. For something exotic, there’s the Shipwreck – made with Parrot Bay coconut rum, Midori melon, orange and pineapple juices and grenadine. Of course, there are mai tais and mojitos. And, if you feel like having a draft beer, ask for the Islands Golden Ale.

There are plenty of non-alcoholic choices, too: strawberry lemonade, passion-fruit iced tea, sodas and more. Or splurge on a Trade Wind Smoothie (made with coconut cream, banana and chocolate – and worth the 420 calories).

SurfWriter Girls thought it was cool that Tony DeGrazier, the founder of Islands, opened his restaurant in 1982 to recreate the dining experiences he had with his Navy buddies when he was stationed in Oahu.

You can really feel the Aloha spirit!