4 Years of GMail

It's now been exactly 4 years since I opened my GMail account. June 2004, in the height of engagement planning -- followed shortly by planning for our November wedding. In those days you had to either know someone at Google to invite you or pay $50 on EBay for an invitation to get a GMail account. I mentioned in an earlier post that I told Mr. Schmidt that GMail saved my marriage--that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure did help with planning a Sacramento wedding while living in San Diego. At that time, GMail's 1 gigabyte of storage was the most beneficial feature as I was constantly sending budget and guest list spreadsheets, my invitation and program designs, and pictures back and forth with Natalie & family.

This Google account has added many useful applications since then. In October 2006 I started this blog using that same Google account. Then Natalie and I started sharing our calendar online so we would actually know what each other are doing -- now I wouldn't know what's going on without it. Then there's Picasa web albums for the cool slideshows and Google Reader lets me know when friends update their blogs.

Over these 4 years I have racked up 16,411 total conversations (no spam of course, gmail doesn't allow that). Of those, I have sent mail in 3,456 conversations so by my guesstimation I've sent an average of 4.73 personal emails per day (assuming 2 sent mails per conversation and one leap year). I am currently using 1.75 GB (25%) of my 6.82 GB of available storage space and have never deleted an email. I still love all kinds of things about GMail, especially the speed, searchability, labels, custom "From:", group chat, conversation view, the April Fool's jokes, and even the targeted ads.

The Radicati Group says that the number of emails sent per day (in 2006) was around 183 billion -- 130 billion of which they say may have been spam and viruses so that leaves 53 billion legitimate emails sent per day. There are approximately 1.2 billion worldwide email users so the average number of emails sent per day per person is 44.17. Even if I add my work emails I'm still ~25% of average. How many personal emails do you send per day?

State of the Blog: 100th Post

So far this blog is serving its purpose, so I'll think we'll continue. Friends and Family (you) have been able to check in once and a while and see updated pictures and stories of what we're up to at your leisure. And we've been able to post updates about every 1 to 2 weeks on average without spending too much time on the computer.

Top 11 positive aspects to having this blog:
1. I think it saves us time compared to sending out emails and pictures.
2. Friends and family don't have to get as many mass emails from us. (Although we'll probably send one when the baby boy gets here.)
3. We don't run the risk of forgetting an important person on a mass email.
4. We can link to our friends blogs so we can more easily check in on their lives too.
5. I get a creative outlet to post my videos. (I still haven't finished editing our Europe videos; I hope to finish sometime in the next year.)
6. I get to write.
7. When we post about an event (most of our posts), we set the date to the actual date of the event so this doubles as a kind of diary/journal and we can go back and have nostalgic moments remembering things we've done.
8. It's fun to read your comments.
9. We've inspired others to start their own blogs, including our friends in southern Italy -- they even copied our name "Spuntini di Vita", which we take as a compliment.
10. When you Google "lifesnacks" we have the top 6 spots!:

11. It's free. We like free.

Thus I conclude my 100th post. I hope you had as good a time reading as I had writing. Let us know in the comments if you'd like to see anything change for the next 100 posts.

Christmas Letter 2006

Get ready to be amazed and entertained, it's time to read the 3rd annual Dave and Natalie Bradley Christmas letter...

Intro
2006 has been a relatively relaxing year for us. We only moved once and only flew up to Seattle 6 times. It was definitely time to settle down after last year's 8 moves so we signed a year lease on a duplex in Mountain View, a block away from 2 Starbucks and near a bunch of friends. Natalie is enjoying the backyard; her cousin Heather even flew down to help plant flowers--we found that Miracle Grow dirt lives up to its name. And we like the free internet service provided to the City of Mountain View by Google--speaking of, I just ran into Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google) last Sunday at Home Depot buying Christmas lights. He didn't seem to remember me from last time we met, but I was able to thank him for GMail.

Younglife
One of the blessings that came with moving back up to the Bay Area this year was being able to take 45 of our Younglife kids—many of them seniors that we've been with since they were freshman—to summer camp "Malibu" in Canada, an incredibly beautiful camp next to the Chatterbox falls northwest of Vancouver. We had an unbelievable week, as we always do at Younglife camp.
Last month Natalie and I got to perform a skit (see video ) for the Younglife banquet; we take advantage any opportunity to be on stage.

Church
Our church is 20 minutes north from where we live, Central Peninsula Church in Foster City. My friend from Sacramento, Justin Buzzard, was named Pastor of Young Adults this year and leads the twentysomething bible study group that we attend on Thursday nights. We have had a great time there and met many wonderful new friends.

Blog
We gave in to the peer pressure this year and started a blog—it's where we post pictures and videos for friends and family to see what we're up to. The blog's name, "Life Snacks" stems from one of Natalie's nicknames from San Diego. Check it out, you'll see Natalie doing a 360 on her wake board, Dave riding up the fastest elevator in the world in Taipei, video of Ryan and I driving to Arizona and back in one day for spring training, and coming soon… clips from last year's Europe trip—including our brush with the pope and our interview of a friend of Prince Charles. And while you're there, be sure to leave your comments and click on the ads on the right side of the page about 50 times per week =), that will help us pay for Christmas presents this year.

Condo
We found a renter for our condo in San Diego so that helps with a little bit of the mortgage. We're looking forward to selling it so we don't have to be long distance landlords. Sales pitch: Brand new, near UCSD, between La Jolla and Del Mar, walking distance to Torrey Pines state beach, beautiful sunset views...

MBA
I graduated from Santa Clara University this June! After four years of no sleep I finally get to go to bed before midnight. Thank you Natalie for putting up with the many late nights, the study groups, and for being a constant support through it all.

Work
I've been a program manager and mechanical engineer at Panta Systems for one year now and it's treating me well. The best news for us this year was our historic victory over IBM and HP for a world record Oracle benchmark. We shall see if that translates into increased sales.
Bradley Mechanical Engineering took a break this year to concentrate on the MBA and the startup, but may ramp back up again in 2007. If you know anyone who needs a product designed and manufactured, maybe I can be of service.
Natalie is doing very well with First American Title, she's a natural saleswoman (the trustworthy and hardworking type, not the shady type). Everyone in her office loves her and all her clients want to do more business with her. She's enjoying working from home in her robe and is growing attached to her treo.

Travel
Natalie and I celebrated Canada Day (July 1st) in Victoria before heading down to Seattle to celebrate our own country's independence 3 days later. While in Victoria we were able to visit the Bouchart Gardens, watch fireworks with hundreds of people dressed (and painted) in red, and ride a horse drawn carriage around town.
We drove down to San Diego for a 3-day weekend to stay in a bed and breakfast Natalie won through work. It was... interesting; a house in the middle of nowhere poorly converted into something resembling a "castle," and the innkeepers were the 'Renassainse Fair' type. Good thing it was free.
I went to Taipei for 2 weeks to meet with our manufacturing partners there for work. In my spare time I was able to travel around by train and subway, sample the great foods, and even get on TV marching with a bunch of protesters that wanted to depose the president.
For Christmas this year we're skiing in Whistler, celebrating Christmas Day with my family in Sacramento, then off to Park City, Utah for more skiing. Looking forward to that.

Conclusion
Natalie and I have been especially blessed by our friends and family this year; you are in our hearts and prayers this Christmas. Please keep in touch and let us know what's happening in your life.

Merry Christmas!
Dave and Natalie Bradley

2005 Year in Review

Merry Christmas! We hope this letter finds you in good spirits and ready to read yet another exciting Christmas letter!

This was a wonderful first year of marriage for Natalie and I—jam-packed with fun and adventure. We fulfilled our dreams of backpacking Europe with the one we love (each other) and relaxed on a cruise around the Caribbean with the family; we even bought our first home—then decided to move to the Bay Area a few months later… Anyone want to buy or rent a new condo walking distance to the beach in San Diego?

Top ten highlights from Dave and Natalie's 2005:
10. Surveying the beauty of Paris from atop the Eiffel Tower (and the beauty of Vegas from the 1/2 scale version).
9. Coming within a few feet of the new pope in Vatican City .
8. Fleeing the flooded waters of Interlaken by bus (the lakes rose 1.5 meters in one night!)
7. Standing in the actual prison cell were Peter was kept before his upside-down crucifixion around AD 64.
6. Kissing wild sting rays in the Caymans.
5. Discovering the Mayan ruins of Cozumel .
4. Swimming through caves off the Amalfi Coast.
3. Braving the cliffs of Capri and the Cinque Terre on some of the best hikes in the world (in our opinion).
2. Singing 'O Sole Mio in a Venetian gondola, accompanied by a guitarist, 3 Japanese tourists, and 4 musical gondoliers.
1. Walking in the stillness of night past all the lighted sights in Rome starting with a romantic dinner in Campo de' Fiori to the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps.

Natalie built a house from the ground up in Tijuana with 20 high-schoolers and cofounded a non-profit to help women with eating disorders. I got to eat octopus, jellyfish, kim chee, and other interesting "foods" while working in South Korea and studied abroad in Prague and Munich as part of my MBA program.

Now we're temporarily living in a 2 story, 3 bedroom 2 bath guest house in Los Altos Hills. I'm working at a server startup and Natalie is working at a church and searching for the perfect job.

We wish you all the best in 2006 and hope to see you soon!

Love, Dave and Natalie