tres anos

Happy Anniversary, Tate! You are the butter to my toast.

This year we celebrated 3 years! Hip, hip, hooray! 

A lot has happened in 3 years- We got married. We swam with sharks. Went to Hawaii, New York, LA, Colorado, Georgia, and San Francisco. We whitewater rafted. We climbed to the top of the statue of liberty. We've hiked to 12,000 ft. We saw Rev. Camden from Seventh Heaven at Bacchanalia. We got a puppy. We moved. "We" finished 2 Ironman races.  We went to grad school...we got into the Ph.D. program. We got new jobs. We moved again.We bought a house.

A lot of good has happened in 1,095 days. We celebrated that goodness by taking a trip the weekend before our anniversary to the Gaylord Texan, where we also stayed the night of our wedding. Tate made reservations and surprised me...he's so sneaky, like a fox....and also so sweet like a lamb. He's a foxy lamb. We had a great time! It was a wonderful, laid-back weekend with sleeping in and spectacular food. My kind of trip. 

For our actual anniversary, 10.17, we stayed home. We cooked one of our favorite meals- Lemon Basil Pasta with grilled chicken, Pesto Rolls and Texas Sheet Cake. You should try it! I cooked, Tate grilled, and Wrigley chewed on sticks. Everyone was happy! It was the perfect low-key night, eating dinner on our screened in patio. We later watched our wedding video, which was fun. You should watch it too. I forgot what a FUN night our wedding was! I wish we could do it all again. Thanks, Tate for putting up with my snoring, bed-hogging self for 3 whole years. You are the most selfless, tolerant person I know...and that is the truth. I love and appreciate you more today than ever! Here's to 3, no 100 more years!!

I can't wrap things up without mentioning another monumental event that coincides on this special day. As many of you know, this is also the same day my sweet Grandma Jackie went to Heaven 3 years ago. She was the strongest, most admirable woman, and we are all better for just having known her. She could remember every detail of every person's life. She got Christmas cards from people like her insurance agents and mailmen- people that you normally merely say "hello" to in passing, she could tell you how many grandkids they had and where they went to high school. She was the best of the best. She taught me a lot of things- like how to make mashed potatoes, cranberry relish, how to laugh at yourself, tell good stories, and play Rack-o. She also taught me how to smile through the pain and find value in each and every person. She now has her work cut out for her- learning everyone's story in Heaven, but I guess she's got the time and I look forward to playing Rack-o with all of her friends one day. I love you Grandma Jackie and as Dad said at our wedding toast, today, 10.17, will always be "a day to celebrate life." 

on top of the world...literally

This week Tate added "guest lecturer" to his ongoing resume of:

-Full-time Ph. D. student

-Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor

-Ironman

-Designated roach killer 

-Featured gas pumper

-Strict budget enforcer 

-Skilled taco maker

Ok, maybe that is not his "official resume" but they are all equally important titles around this household. Actually, to be completely honest with you, I hold the later titles in much higher esteem than the others. Without him I'd have to squash bugs, pump my own gas in shady neighborhoods, and work off my potential unending debt to Target.

Anyway, I digress...

After word got out of his summer Arctic adventure, a world renown environmentalist  {a.k.a. his advisor} at a prestigious university {a.k.a. Baylor} asked him {or told him} to lecture {well, more like show a power point} to her class. He amazed them...no duh. He told them of how Baylor sent him on a grant to magical place called Barrow, Alaska. He spent his summer at the tip top of the Arctic Circle, the most northern North American city to be exact, in order to set up and run an air sampler for a research project. This sampler will measure carbon aerosols in the air {yuck}as well as serve as the hot topic of his dissertation. Now, I know what you are thinking, and yes, Barrow is the same city that is in that movie 'Big Miracle,' where Drew Barrymore and Jim, from The Office, save those three precious whales. Tate didn't save any whales, but he eat some. Here, I'll just let him tell you about it...

Barrow is unlike anywhere I have ever been in my life!  I guess you could draw some sort of comparison to Barrow and Amarillo, where I grew up, because they are both flat and in the middle of nowhere, but that is where the similarities end.  I left DFW and the 100 degree heat, and arrived in sunny Barrow, AK, which was 30 degrees.  I was the only person on the plane with a big jacket!

 The first stop for any visitor in Barrow is the local AC grocery store.  This is just like any other grocery store you have been to, other than the fact that a bag of Lay's potato chips is $11 and Tropicana OJ is a measly $18!  They also sell 4-wheelers and snowmobiles! Everything is so expensive because no roads lead in or out of Barrow, and everything must be brought in by plane.

Many atmospheric researchers flock to Barrow because it offers a place to study the atmosphere in an environment that is pristine and should be free of human impacts.  I went to Barrow to kick off a year-long sampling campaign trying to quantify the effects of black carbon on snow albedo and climate change.  We are taking week long air samples for an entire year, as well as collecting various snow samples for analysis back at Baylor.  I know this seems pretty boring to most of you, but these are very exciting and important things to people interested in trying to assess human impacts on the environment and climate change.  

There are only a handful of restaurants in Barrow, and the most famous is Pepe's, the northernmost mexican food restaurant in the world.  My favorite was the "Polar Haven" of Osaka's!  I ate there several times while in Barrow and became pretty good friends with the wait staff, which isn't very hard when you are the only person wearing a coat and beanie in the restaurant.  One of the best things I ate was reindeer sausage, that's right, Santa sure knows how to make a sausage link!  However, the reindeer sausage wasn't the most interesting thing I had in Barrow, more on that later...

Like I said earlier, Barrow is in the middle of nowhere, literally.  It is surrounded by the Chukchi and Beaufort seas on either side.  It is as far north as you can travel before falling into the Arctic ocean.  The picture above is a sign on the road to the research station where we set up our samplers.  

I was greeted at the airport by scientists who live in New Mexico but work in Barrow for a few months out of the year.  They told me that we were heading out to the research site because they don't like to stop working until the sun went down, the only problem is that during the summer, the sun never sets, it stays about 40 degrees all day.  The pictures above were taken outside of my apartment at midnight!  No wonder Alaska is know as the "Land of the Midnight Sun."

Danielle referenced the "Big Miracle" that took place years ago in Barrow, and the people of Barrow truly do care about their whales.  They, just like the rest of Americans, want to save the whales...they just want to save them for dinner.

The local Barrow culture revolves around the bowhead whale and the locals still use traditional methods to hunt the bowhead.  Wooden frame boats are covered in skins from seals and then taken out past the ice to the open waters.  Following a successful whale hunt, a festival is held and people from all over northern Alaska come to celebrate the hunt.  This festival is know as a Nalukataq and was going on while I was in Barrow!

The blanket toss is the main attraction.  The seal skin coverings from the whaling boats are held like a parachute and a person is tossed in the air, while doing flips and throwing candy to the kids.  The blanket toss is an homage to the traditional hunting ritual of throwing a person up in the air to spot whales out past the ice.  Once a whale was spotted, the whalers would travel out to the edge of the ice and the hunt was on.  I asked if I could take a turn, but for some reason they wouldn't let me.  The Nalukataq is also where whale delicacies are given out to the community. Luckily, I escaped having to eat them  at the festival, but I couldn't hide forever.  On the plane ride out of Barrow, I was surrounded by locals and offered, muktuk, which is a thin piece of whale skin an blubber.  To make it even more appealing, it was pickled in some various spices and vinegar.  I had no other choice but to pretend it was a big gummy bear, and choke it down.  I only gagged once, and promptly asked the flight attendant for a glass of water while all of the eskimos enjoyed their free entertainment!

I will be returning to Barrow later this year to collect some snow samples and to continue our air sampling campaign.  We are also working on a proposal to extend our campaign to coincide with the new drilling operations in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, so I may be spending a substantial amount of time in Barrow.  I will have to have Danielle come with me so she can write the next blog!

different school, same story

Hello world! It's been a while {I'm sure my numero uno fan, mi madre, can tell you the exact number of days} since my last post, but nonetheless, I had to vent update you on my life.

So, some of you may know I am working at a new school district this year {more on that later}. Some of you may also remember back in good 'ole Houston I was called many things: Heidi, Mrs. Barnett, Speech Lady...basically anything and everything except my actual name...which I still believe is not that difficult to pronounce.

Well, although dear, dear Waco is extremely different from Houston, one thing remains the same: 'Danielle Barrett' is apparently an impossible name to retain and pronounce. Here's the evidence:

Scenario 1: I got TWO letters last week from Speech Therapy-related companies addressed to 'Nicole Barrett' {what?}

Scenario 2: I walk into the front office to remind our principal, Mrs. S. of our 3 ARDs today. Just then the vice principal, Mrs. M., frantically leaves Mrs. S.'s office and beelines towards me. She says, "Mrs. S. and I need to have a briefing with you as soon as possible regarding a situation that occurred yesterday." {oh crap, what did I do...or not do...am I out of dress code...did someone report me for not been signing in...did Siri accidentally call them while I was venting in my office...is there a student missing because they wandered off after speech?!} Oh the possibilities! I couldn't wait until the end of the day; I had to meet now! I walked down to her office 5 minutes later to tell her I could meet then, if she could. She said that would work and got on the phone to call Mrs. S. As she tilts the phone away from her ear she casually asks, "I'm sorry and what is your last name?" "Barrett," I respond shakily. She says, "that's right...but I knew your first name is Kelly." {whhhhhhat? Mind you I have worked at this school 3 days a week for 6 weeks now...and I led 2 ARDs with her just last week.} 

3 days x 6 weeks x about twice a day= 36 interactions

"Ummm, no my first name is Danielle." She tilts her head to the side and replies, "Wait, are you the speech teacher?" "No ma'am I am the Speech PATHOLOGIST "Yes." Now I am already beyond offended considering: 1. She doesn't know my profession and 2. She doesn't know my first OR last name. She says, "Ohhh, ok I thought you were the Baylor Community In Schools Intern. Sorry, you both have blonde hair. Oops. I guess I don't need you after all, you're off the hook." Before I can get out the door to roll my eyes in solitude, Mrs. S. graces us with her presence. She starts on a lot of confusing things... Before I can get a word in Mrs. M informs her, "no, no, this is Mrs. BAR-NETT {said slowly and with emphasis to ensure she got it right}, the speech lady." They all get a good laugh and I get out of there. 

All of this to say, although I may be at a very different school district this year, in a different town, I feel riiiiight at home. 

Yours Truly, 

Kelly Bartlett, the blonde girl 

guat's up?

Hola! Como estas? Su nombre? Cuantos anos tienes? That's the extent of my Spanish and every conversation I had last week. I had the pleasure of going on a week long mission trip with FBC Allen in beautiful Guatemala. It was a great trip filled with humbling experiences, gracious people and thousands of fresh, homemade tortillas!

{the group on our first day}

{mi familia en Guatemala} 

A few people on the trip had been before, but it was my first experience. We worked with a small {very small, 5 people to be exact} organization based out of Guatemala City called Church on the March. COTHM works with local Baptist pastors and churches in Guatemala. Through this organization, we met Carlos, Jaime and Jennifer {our bus...all the buses have names} who took us a few hours to work with Pastor Benedicto, the pastor of a church in Santa Barbara.

{playing games at one of the schools}

{Jennifer and me...we spent a LOT of time together}

This church and it's outreach was absolutely inspiring. Although it's congregation consisted of only 80 members, they fully supported a handful of missions, pastor's family, and the school ministry, which is where we spent most of our time. The school ministry aims to change it's neighborhood from the inside out by teaching Godly values and Jesus' teachings to school aged kids. This team is lead by Pastor Benedicto, the composed pastor, Jaime, the young mentee/translator, and dear Ernesto {or Neto}, the most energetic, animated man I have ever met. In the words of Carlos, "he can move 200 kids like they are 1." The school program goes something like this: enter {or sometimes hike to} the school, high-five every kid in sight, sing/dance to songs like "The Lord's Army" and "If You're Happy And You Know It" in espanol, do a brief Bible story or devotional, play games and make a craft. Basically, its VBS...condensed into a hour...in Spanish...with kids who have never been to church. Mind you these are Baptist leaders going into very Catholic "public" schools so it could present a challenge. Despite the challenge, God is faithful to provide more and more schools each week. It has taken a big investment of both time and work on Pastor Benedicto and Neto's part to get their foot in the door, and after they are in, they are able to share with these kids on a weekly basis. Although some teachers are very hesitant about the message being shard, they are desperate to receive help with their students. Many schools struggle with the same things we do here- bullying, teen pregnancy, and violence. Unfortunately, the difference is in Guatemala they are allowed to share God's word in the schools to provide guidance in these situations.

{Pastor Benedicto sharing and keeping it weird}

{Ernesto and friends singing and dancing}

One of the schools we visited originally said "no" to the program, but after they saw kids' attitudes changing at another school that Benedicto and Neto go to, they called back and asked for them to come. To be completely honest, the first day or two into the trip I thought, "It sounds like they have it covered, why are we here?" I soon learned the main three reasons were: #1. Support: The local pastors in their work. Most of the time these men are doing this work alone, which I am sure can be discouraging. Teams like us bring a fresh of breath air and encouragement in their ministry. #2. Resources: We have far more resources in the U.S. than these little towns do and many of the things we offer are an answer to months and of prayer. On this trip in particular we were able to bring New Testaments to hand out to kids and make salvation bookmarks which were much appreciated. And lastly #3. Attraction: People in these little towns, especially the remote ones, will line up to get a peek at the crazy Americans. And hey- the more people that come to see the entertainment {or us with our thick accents and mysterious backpacks packed down with sunscreen, bug spray and snacks}, the more people that get a chance to hear God's word. As strange as it was, we drew people to the program...or maybe we were the program?

{pumped up about singing at the all girls school}

{finished bookmarks in one of the classrooms}

Every school we went to, parents and small children lined up around the school yard or poked their heads over the fence to see what was going on. At the end of the week we saw anywhere from 2,000-3,000 kids. Seeds were planted. That is 2,000 families that received Spanish Bibles maybe for the first time ever. One of the things I learned while in Guatemala- Americans love to plan and love to follow schedules. Carlos continually told us, "flexible" or in his Spanish accent it was more like "flex-ee-ball." This became a running joke all week and was a tough lesson for some of us.

{hiking to one of the more remote schools}

{chicas with their New Testaments we provided}

The one day our "plans" were completely thrown off was the day more kids than ever were reached. We woke up on day with news of a bus driver strike taking place on our route to the school. Plan B consisted of us going to a different school, one that had never been seen by the ministry team while Pastor Benedicto and Neto saw the school that was on our original schedule. It was one of the best programs we had that week, visiting with the kids and hanging out. All in all, we ended up seeing around 500 extra kids! Good things come to those who are "flex-ee-ball."

{playing a game with Amanda}

{ladies cooking mosh at the school}

So many inspiring things happened over the week we were in Guatemala. I relearned the power of prayer. My dad planned on going on the trip, then had to cancel. Pastor Benedicto told us when they found out Brother Bill {or "Brother Beell"}couldn't come, they began praying everyday that we would make it to Guatemala. Some very unfortunate events occurred in order for that to be the case, but he ended up leading the trip. These men not only asked, but asked and expected God to do great things. I also learned  what it looked like to take delight in spiritual responsibility. Carlos referred to working in the schools as "a privilege to be doing the work of angels." A church of merely 80 members outreaches to over 3,000 kids weekly! In the states a church of 1,000 outreaches to 1,000 kids in a summer. Not only is it my responsibility as a believer to share the Good News, it is a privilege.

{Guatemalan women know how to mulitask} 

{missionary Ted at one of the new churches}

And lastly I learned to be "flex-ee-ball."  It is evident God is working in Guatemala and in the heart of us Americans as well. As we left, Carlos told us now that we have seen the work with our own eyes and directly taken part in the ministry there, it was now our responsibility to pray daily for Guatemala. I will continue to pray for the work of Church on the March, Pastor Benedicto and Ernesto, and I hope you will too. Adios mi amigo! Thanks for stopping by.

coming full circle

There are a few moments in life where you feel you've come full circle- you know like when your parents move in with you in your tiny apartment {cough...mom, dad, Lynley}. This week I got to experience one of those surreal moments. This summer, I was honored to be a graduate supervisor at Baylor's Camp Success. Camp Success is a wonderful, intensive 4 week program focusing on teaching language and literacy to kids with deficits in these areas. It is amazing. I got to meet with each of my 12 client's parents this week to report progress their child made, and more importantly, be graced with reports on how their lives have changed over the past month. One mom told me, with tears filling her eyes, her son made his dad take him to the library to get his own library card because he WANTED to read for the first time ever. Another parent reported he overheard his 4th grade son reading aloud for the first time. The gains were huge; some kids made up to 3 years of progress in only 4 weeks! There's no denying it- Camp Success lives up to its name. But with big strides come lots of work behind the scenes. Our entire month of June was is filled with paperwork, smiles, reading rocks, sleepless nights and even some tears {graduate tears that is...I don't cry}. Ahhh {sigh} the memories. This is also is the same camp I worked 3 years ago as naive 1st semester graduate student. It's the same camp where I interacted with my first client and conducted my first therapy session. FULL CIRCLE. Look at me now- a wise, seasoned professional {or something like that} included as {very temporary} Baylor Faculty. 

A few perks of being Baylor Faculty, in no particular order...

1. Faculty ID = legit

2. Primary parking with a faculty/staff parking pass

3. Getting out of 2 parking tickets because of #1 on the list

4. Eating lunch on a weekly basis with fun people in the McMullen Faculty Dining Hall...fancy

5. Getting paid to do the same gig I paid good money to do 3 years ago