As 2012 ends, I will give a brief recap of my year. There were disappointments, successes, milestones, and more. The list is a reminder to myself of how fortunate I am.
In January, I launched a redesigned site with the goal of posting something interesting everyday. I’ll list official statistics tomorrow, but I shared some 580 links, commentary, and original writing. The site was visited over 25,000 times, with visitors representing every State in the U.S., as well as many from foreign countries. As I stated on launch, I had no goal for traffic - so I count this as a successful start.
That’s the good, but there were a few regrets. First, I didn’t post as much original content as I had hoped. Perhaps that was most likely due to Ph.D. time commitments, but there was also a fear of writing. Second, while a lot of the content was interesting, it was equally meaningless in the grand scope of life. In 2013, I hope to draw awareness to things that matter, such as lagging health and education in my home state of Oklahoma.
Also in January, I officially launched a new design for The Benefit Bash, a great cause that helps victims of weather-related disasters.
In February, I was able to take a Caribbean cruise with my lovely wife, where we visited George Town, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, Jamaica, and Cozumel, Mexico. The food was great, but the time with Larissa was better.
In March, I launched my company, Gibbz Inc. I have yet to decide on a core focus yet, but the future is bright.
In April, my wife and I completed the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. It was our first marathon - in fact it was our first official athletic event ever. Why not start big? While we trained for four months, my knees were in no shape to run the entire time. So we walked a majority of the 26.2 miles. In fact I finished 2653/2670. That sounds awful, but I was excited as hell with the results. First, I finished. Second, having never done anything like it, I didn’t finish last. More importantly, with what the race represents for my state, I was filled with great pride.
In May, I mainly focused on research for my dissertation. In that effort, I ended my two-year term as student representative on our department’s graduate studies committee.
In June, my wife and I celebrated out first anniversary. What a great year! I was also accepted to present at the Croatia-USA Workshop on Mesometeorology. I was able to spend five days in Zagreb, Croatia and two days in Belgrade, Serbia - where my friend Petar and his family hosted me. The food was some of the best I’ve ever eaten and the people were some of the friendliest.
Upon returning home, my wife introduced me to our new puppy, Riley. What a great puppy. Unfortunately, I had to leave the next day, where I traveled to Boulder, Colorado for the WRF Model Users’ Workshop. There, I presented work from my Ph.D. research. After a week in Boulder, I returned home for a mere one week.
Prior to the end of that week, I launched my company’s first app - Pediatric Black Book. It is a quick reference app for pediatric health professionals. It was created with consolation by Pediatricians from The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center. Sales haven’t made me rich, but were better than expected. I am very excited for updates planned in 2013.
The next week I flew to Boston, Massachusetts for the 20th Symposium on Boundary Layers and Turbulence to present more research. I spent a week exploring the city - what a great place with awesome food.
August saw the start of my final (I hoped) semester as a student. The month was mainly focused on Ph.D. research. We also enrolled Riley in training class, which went very well. The month flew by pretty fast.
In September, I released a big update for Pediatric Black Book, with a new UI, support for iOS 6 and the iPhone 5. Of course, I also bought an iPhone 5 that month.
I don’t really remember October or November, other than I bought an iPad mini. My wife was so supportive in the home stretch of the Ph.D., allowing me to work overnight. I’ve always been most productive from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. We basically didn’t see each other for more than an hour or two for over a month.
Then, on December 5th, I successfully defended my dissertation and was awarded a Ph.D. in meteorology. I did have to edit my dissertation, which was submitted to the University on December 14th. My career as a student was over. Wow! I am still very awkward about the idea of being called “Doctor”. Especially when I compare myself with Larissa, who works every day to save children as a medical doctor. So as Dr. Randy Pausch’s mom would say, I’m Jeremy Gibbs and I’m doctor, but not the kind that helps people.
Immediately after my defense, I flew to San Diego, California for two days to discuss future research plans with the United States Navy. It was a whirlwind trip, but very enjoyable.
Finally, I was back home without a damn thing to do. How glorious. I enjoyed the holidays with my wife and family. I didn’t do anything productive, which was awesome.
Looking forward to 2013, I will start as postdoctoral research scientist for the Advanced Radar Research Center at the University of Oklahoma. I have exciting plans for my company and additional goals to start a non-profit that focuses on education in Oklahoma. I also hope to make this site more meaningful. As for anything else, you’ll have to stay tuned. Thanks for reading. I hope you and your family have a great New Year!