Wedding Video

Hope everyone enjoys the short video I made of the fantastic wedding weekend in Seattle. Please feel free to forward on to anyone else who might want to watch it.



You can watch a higher res version of the video here.

The song is by Aqualung and it's called "Brighter Than Sunshine." It's from a CD Alexis sent me for my birthday a couple of years ago, so I was happy to be able to use it as the soundtrack for the video.

Meg and Alexis

The wedding was beautiful and wonderful. Alexis looked amazing and everyone had a grand time.

We're still in Seattle and really enjoying the Emerald City.

Trip to La Grange

Last Sunday, Mary, John, Meg and I drove out to La Grange, TX, a remote town about a 2 hour drive from Houston. Jim and Delrena, friends and neighbors of Pa and Nini, invited us to visit their son Barrett's weekend home. Our friend Cara and her daughter Mary O (we call her that to distinguish her from Mary F) also met us up there.

Barrett and his friend Nina were wonderful hosts. We went for a long walk to feed horses on an adjacent property. Delrena hid dozens of Easter eggs for the kids to find. And we all took turns driving Barrett's ATV over his expansive property. It was a wonderful way to spend a warm spring day. We were only a hundred miles outside of Houston, but it felt a lot farther than that -- in the best possible way.

The song in the video, BTW, is called "Free" and it's by the Zac Brown Band. We elected not to use the ZZ Top song "La Grange" for our video. But you can listen to that here.

Chris Ferris, PhD

Ten years ago, I started my PhD program at the UT School of Public Health. Since that time, a lot has happened. John and Mary were born. Meg completed her PhD. I changed jobs. Three World Cups were held.

Today, I completed the last step for my PhD. I presented my dissertation to my committee and a few others: Meg, Tom, Margaret and Keeta, a friend from my office. The presentation went well and afterward I was officially Chris Ferris, PhD.

Presenting my dissertation

I am feeling a combination of happiness, relief, excitement and gratitude. The gratitute is mostly for all my friends and family members who have encouraged and cajoled me along the way to keep going and finish. Everyone who said I would be happy when I was done were 100% right.

I want to say a special word to Meg, who has provided unwavering support the whole time -- even when it meant taking the kids on a week-long trip so I could take my qualifying exams. I would not have finished this without her love, assistance and support.

The graduation is in a couple of weeks and I'm looking forward to it -- wearing the cap and gown and the whole deal.

John exploring in La Grange