Intro and Thanksgiving Happenings, Pt 1

Howdy, all of you followers out there! I know you've probably been waiting a long time for me to make my debut. Your patience has paid off. Jessica has been carrying this blog on her shoulders since its inception, and I'm just now crashing the party.

A bit about me. I'm an Asian of average height, tallest one in my family. I have a penchant for mangoes and anything mango-flavored. I'm currently a doctoral student in aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University. Most days, I love what I do. All days, I love coming home to my beautiful wife (now married 56 days) and adorable pup (now almost 2 years and 9 months old).

For my first post on this blog, Jessica suggested that I write about our latest trip to see my family for the Thanksgiving holiday.

So here goes a list of things for which I'm thankful (in chronological order of the Thanksgiving holiday).

1. A working shock tunnel.

For the past few years, I've been put in charge of developing a shock tunnel facility for my professor's lab. I won't get into technical specifics here.

A lot of work has gone into the effort this past year to get the facility up and running in a permanent setup. This past Wednesday, my partner and I performed our first two shock tube runs using Mylar diaphragms. So, chalk up one victory before the holiday even started!

A lot remains to be done before real science can be done, but I'm thankful to have finally reached this milestone and "checked that box."

A burst Mylar diaphragm from a 2008 shock tunnel operation.

2. Loving Family

For Thanksgiving, Jessica, Zoe, and I visited my family in Fort Worth for a few days. I'm so thankful to have a loving family. My parents have worked so hard to have decent lives for themselves and for my brother and me. They passed on to me the principles of hard work and persistence, and I've been rewarded over the years with recognition and financial support. I'm thankful for my brother and my cousins who have provided me with companionship and sibling love growing up. I'm also thankful for the extended family of aunts, uncles, and cousins that I don't see on a regular basis (a few weeks every few years) that support me from afar.

Parents, brother, and myself on Christmas 2010.

Close cousins, my brother and myself on Christmas 2010.

3. Jessica and Zoe
You already know about these two leading ladies of my life. Zoe was well-behaved to what was a new place for her with all-new people. All of my family thought that she was adorable. She did, however, always barked at my dad whenever he came into the house. Strange. For the most part, she was her usual self.

Wherever she goes, no shame in waiting for food.

So there you have it, my first blog post! Stay tuned for part 2!