Category: Friends

From Our Friends

William 1 Comment

The news from this past Tuesday still has not sunk in. I don’t know that I’ll ever again experience a night with as much historical impact as November 4, 2008. It’s been amazing talking to friends, family and even complete strangers about how this election has affected us personally, how it has made us feel about our country and what it means to the world as a whole. Below are some links to post friends and family have made on their own blog.

In no particular order:

Kyllan’s friend, sorority sister and college classmate on her Balancing Act post: Speechless

Friend, fellow Xavierite, former co-worker and anonymous blogging med student “med obession” post: My President Was Elected

Friend, fraternity brother, Colorado’s newest elected member of the Democratic National Committee and a National Obama Delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention for Colorado’s First Congressional District (who inspired me to go out and canvas neighborhoods before the election) Anthony post: Thank You America

Friend and high school classmate “Jos” post: A More Perfect Union

My cousin Robyn finally finds to make a post: Need to Post

Wedding Bells and Storks

Kyllan 2 Comments

I think I officially feel “grown” now since the mail these days frequently includes “Save the Dates”, wedding invitations, and baby announcements (not from relatives, but from high school and college friends). The trend of weddings and births is definitely in full swing. Here is he summary:

2006: 1 wedding, 2 births

2007: 7 weddings (including ours), 2 births

2008: 4 weddings, 1 birth, 2 pregnancies

2009: 1 wedding (already set) and I am sure more to come

It’s pretty much an even split between William’s friends and my friends, yet William is having the hardest time adjusting to us getting older. He will still be saying, “I can’t believe Neil has a kid” at Noah’s high school graduation.

10 Year Reunion

Kyllan 4 Comments

Well… obviously this week has been very exciting for me, and to top it all off, I celebrated my 10 Year High School Reunion this weekend! Wow… 10 years! The time has gone by very fast. Most of my classmates look the same (just more mature). No one was unrecognizable. About 40 out of the 97 other people who I graduated with came to the reunion, so it was great to see many people who I had not seen since graduation. The school has changed so much since we left. I went to an all girls private school, Hockaday, and it was always a step above the rest, but now…. it is incomprehensible how nice it is . The amenities and technology our first rate…better than some college campuses. I had the honor of sitting on a panel of 10 Year Reunion women who spoke to the senior class on what to expect after graduation from college. It was interesting how most of us on the panel had gone in a completely different direction than we had thought on June 6, 1998 (commencement). However, we were all pleased with where we were and our many successes. We were asked to talk about what Hockaday did not prepare us for. Two of the panelists were expecting their first child, which they explained was one thing Hockaday did not prepare them for. We were also asked to give career tips, which led to everyone discussing the importance of networking. At our reunion gathering Saturday night, we had a chance to look at a questionnaire we filled out during our senior year…”where will I be in 2008?” Here were my responses:

What will you be doing: Completing my 2nd year of residency (I wanted to be a pediatrician)

What will be your greatest accomplishment: Being a doctor

Will you be married: Yes

Will you have kids: Maybe If so, how many: 1

What will have changed most in the world in 10 years: more world peace (wow… was I in a beauty pageant?)

Who will still be famous: Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., LeAnn Rimes

Below is a picture of me with the 7 other African American girls who I graduated with. At the time, this was the largest class of African American girls to ever graduate from Hockaday. The second picture is the from the day we “officially became seniors”, otherwise known as “Ring Day 1997”. I have posted more pictures on my Flickr page.

A true Texan

Kyllan 6 Comments

Many of you already know I grew up in Texas (we moved here to Dallas when I was 9 years old) so this is pretty much home. Well… despite being raised in Texas, there are certain Texan experiences that I have not had yet. One such experience was riding a mechanical bull. I am happy to report that I have crossed this off my list as I have now ridden a mechanical bull. A coworker of mine had a birthday party last night at a country western club, and they had one, so I could not pass up the opportunity. Below is a picture. I must say that it was pretty fun. I didn’t stay on as long as I would have liked to because I was sliding down so far to the point that I was sitting on my hand and it started to hurt, so I kinda gave in and allowed myself to be thrown off. I’ll have to try again another time, maybe when William is in town 😉

Kyllan's Bull Riding experience

New Year’s in Jacksonville

William 9 Comments

As Kyllan mentioned, we spent New Year’s in Jacksonville. We arrived on Thursday the 27th and had dinner with my parents. On Friday we attended an annual ball thrown by the Kappas, Deltas and Omegas called “The Gala.” Saturday Kyllan’s parents arrived in Jacksonville and we attended the wedding of a high school friend of mine. Sunday my parents hosted a holiday reception where Kyllan and I were the guest of honor. On Monday my parents hosted a New Year’s Eve party for an organization they belong to, which has become a yearly event.

We had a great time in Jacksonville. Due to the blizzard last year, it had been over two years since I had been back. It was amazing to see how much has changed. As you can imagine, the weekend was packed. I got to see a lot of old friends, Kyllan meet a lot of new faces and we got to spend time with both sets of parents. The reception my parents threw was wonderful. My mom really wanted to give friends who were not able to make it to the wedding in Dallas to have a chance to meet Kyllan. So many of the of the people there I hadn’t seen in years. Even for those that did make the wedding, I see them so seldomly and talked with them so briefly, it felt like it had been years. Being in Jacksonville also gave the seven of us (me, Kyllan and both sets of parents and my grandmother, who was visiting for the holidays) the chance to bring in the new year together. Pictures from the weekend are on my flickr photostream.

Welcome 2008

William 1 Comment

Happy New Year Everyone! 2007 was a year filled with ups and downs.

We saw the blog turn 1 year old 

We saw good friends and family members succeed in their academic endeavors

We saw prayers answered again and again

We saw some awesome birthday presents

We saw good friends marry

We saw our own relationship hit the 5 year mark

and of course, we  married and had a beautiful honeymoon

We will make a post about  the amazing last few days of the year shortly. Christmas pictures are up on my flickr photostream. 2007 was a wonderful year, but Kyllan and I feel 2008 will be even better.

Fields/ Campbell Wedding Photos

William 1 Comment

As you know, Kyllan and I attended the wedding of two close friends this past weekend. I finally went through of the photos and picked out some to share with you. It was a packed weekend. There was a welcome party on Thursday, complete with dancing girls and a fire dancer. Friday morning Jamaal’s dad took the groomsmen and some close friends and family to play golf. Of course Friday also included the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The wedding on Saturday was beautiful. It looked like it wanted to rain, but as soon as Maya started down the isle the clouds went away. Both the bride and groom cried like a babies, causing me to lose a side bet I had with Neil. (He gave me good odds, I couldn’t pass it up.) The reception was crazy! People danced all night. Check out the pictures here.


A Beautiful Occasion

William 7 Comments

I remember sitting next to my friend Jamaal at a basketball game our sophomore year at Xavier as he pointed to a girl across the gym and explained that she was the one from his class that he had been telling me about the past couple of weeks. This past weekend, my parents, Kyllan and I were all in Montego Bay, Jamaica attending the wedding of Jamaal and Maya (the girl from the basketball game). I take full credit for event, seeing as back at Xavier I took it upon myself to harass him until he called her. Having watched their relationship develop during those years in undergrad, it was surreal standing next to them as they exchanged vows. It was an emotional ceremony with few dry eyes and the reception lasted long into the night. It was amazing just being part of their day and great seeing so many old friends. Hopefully I will get some photos up by the middle of the week.

EDIT: Apparently Kyllan and I took over 600 photos over the weekend. Looks like there will be a roll out of photos  through out the week.