Happy 2008!

Happy 2008! In case you missed it, here are some significant "Bradevents" of 2007:

- Returned from Austria Jan 17th, and promptly moved into Kraettli Apartments on the OU campus (a 5-min bike ride from the National Weather Center, 10 mins from the student union [my other campus office], and 2 mins from the frisbee field)

- Took my final two courses for my ph.d., one in renewable energy and the other in global warming

- Attended Jason and Leslie Douglas's wedding in Durham, NC, in Feb.

- Enjoyed the first of two "Brad Christmases" with the Barretts in NC, opening my presents in Cary with my parents, brothers, and grandparents

- Said goodbye to Paw Paw in person in February

- Served the children of Escuela Integrata in Antigua, Guatemala, with Mission Discovery over spring break in March

- Explored northern and eastern Guatemala, and western El Salvador and Honduras, in a small rental car with Matt Haugland, after the spring break project ended

- Improved my ultimate frisbee skills by not only playing on Fridays with a new cast of characters, but also practicing regularly with Thaweesak on our "days off"

- Hung out weekly (Wednesday nights) with my roommate in what would become a great regularly-scheduled "roommate time" in Kraettli

- Narrowly missed a major (100+) tornado outbreak storm chasing in early May (day after the EF-5 ravaged Greensburg, KS) in southern Kansas. Saw a few mesocyclones that eventually tornadoed but missed everything.

- Headed west with Charles and Rebecca to explore LA, San Diego, Las Vegas, and my personal favorite, the Joshua Tree National Park. We even got into (and out of) the park for FREE by entering after 5 pm and not spending the night. Talk about a great deal! Of course, our real goal was to see one of the final episodes of The Price is Right with Bob Barker, but tickets were hard to come by

- Joined up with the OU club ultimate team in June and July and kept improving my skills

- Helped Chris and Emily Crowder's wedding guests find their seats at the downtown OKC Methodist Church in June (I was an usher for them. And Chris paid for the tux's. Wow. Of course this means I will likely not stay in touch with them... because of course the rule is if you are in someone's wedding, you have to stop talking with them within 3 months of the ceremony. Did that happen? ...)

- Enjoyed weekly bible studies / pot-luck dinners with my good friends from Thailand and Taiwan (and the USA too!) We ate lots of great food (I really love their Thai cooking, plus the fresh fruit of summer!) and studied the sermon on the mount in Matthew chapter 5. We capped the evenings off by playing hours of "Slave", a fascinating card game that involves both skill and luck (don't all card games involve both?)

- Went back to NC for 2 weeks for Paw Paw's funeral and family vacation at Emerald Isle

- Began writing my dissertation, in earnest, in July

- Joined in my absolute favorite time of the year, the "welcome back" week, in Norman, for year # 10 (yes this was my 11th year in University ... 4 yrs at UNC-CH, 3 yrs for my masters at OU, and 3.2 for my ph.d. at OU)

- Climbed the tallest peak in CO, Mt. Elbert, with Matt Shipe and Cory Mottice over Labor Day

- Buckled down and gave my final dissertation draft to my doctoral committee Sept 14, a full four weeks before my October 12 defense date.

- Celebrated my 28th birthday in style: a t-shirt at the Mont for lunch and dinner with my frisbee boys after our weekly contest

- Attended the OU-Texas game with my good friend, and former roommate, Xinan Li. He got us the tickets, even buying them!, and we enjoyed watching the Sooners whoop up on Texas. (Do not remind me that these are the same Sooners who later this year imploded against an outmatched West Virginia team)

- Successfully defended my ph.d. on 12 October 2007. Awkwardly dealt with people calling me "Dr. Barrett". It remains awkward!

- Prepared a manuscript for submission to Monthly Weather Review and submitted at the end of Nov. Again answered awkward questions from my friends when asked "why are you still writing? I thought you finished?", to which I responded, "the work of a scientist is never finished". :) Haha, okay, I don't think I ever said that exactly.

- Flew back east for 2 days to attend my 10-yr high school reunion on November 10th. D.H. Conley high class of 1997. Whoop! Had a nice visit with friends I hadn't seen in years, although before the reunion had to endure watching N.C. State whip up on my Tar Heels (okay, they won on a last-second goal-line stand). It was nice to have the entire family there at the game.

- Enjoyed a very nostalgic and heartwarming month long series of "goodbye's" with friends in Norman

- Packed up and drove a Penske moving van east Nov 18th. Dad flew west to OKC and helped me share the driving. 24 long hrs later, we arrived in Greenville

- Shared Thanksgiving and "Brad Christmas", part 2, with the Barrett family in Greenville and Cary. Had to endure another dreadful N.C. State football game, this time against Maryland, where the Wolfpack imploded for a 30-something-to-zero loss. Again, though, it was good to be there with family

- Packed my overloaded bags and headed south to Santiago December 2nd

- Have been learning spanish, trying to avoid the stray dogs, and figure out life in this city ever since!

Hope your 2007 was both significant and eventful! Here's to a blessed and prosperous 2008!!