Category: Trips

My voice was heard

William 5 Comments

Kyllan’s sister Kim N. has setup a flickr page. With her permission, I have placed a link in the “Friends & Family” link section of the sidebar. Just in case there are some weirdoes out there, she has hidden her photos. So for all her family members, register for flickr and let her know so she can share them with you. (If you do, you can see Drew learning how to swim!)

Where did the week go? My parent’s will be in town this weekend. It will be their first time seeing New Orleans since the hurricane. My sister and I having both gone to Xavier, my parents are/were very familiar with the city. They will be in for a shock. I am still mad I couldn’t integrate a flash player directly into the page in a previous post (WYSIWYG screwed it up and there has to be a better solution than turning it off…) Maybe I will take some video of their tour and try again. It is really disappointing to see what little progress has been made since the hurricane.

…For anybody looking at the time of this post, I was catching on some reading for the lab. I’m overdue for questioning. I had something else to say, but I’m tired and forgot.

Get flickr Accounts!!! Maybe Skype

William 2 Comments

I guess the lack of post this past week shows just how slow it was. Progress was made in the lab, but nothing you would want to hear about. The power was out for several hours on Saturday, but that is normal here. I was hoping to have several photos to post from my trip to Dallas, but my camera stopped working after the first couple of pictures. I did manage to get a couple of the house and Kyllan got a shot of her toes while trying to fix it. She employed the “slap it really hard” technique. This was the only way I got the few pictures of the house. It only provided temporary results. They are on my flickr account. I didn’t post them because most of the work was wiring and plumbing so you don’t see much progress. (Que Kyllan saying, “What’s taking them so long?”)

I added Skype buttons to the site’s sidebar. I think Skype is great. After I get done convincing some of you use flickr, (Kim P., Kim N., Neil and Jamaal) I will start trying to get you guys on Skype. If you are not familiar with skype, think of it like instant messenger for voice. I know, most IM clients have a voice function. Skype is really a VoIP service. It is voice and webcam first, chat second. The others are visa versa. I won’t go into all the technical stuff. I think Skype is much better than the other options out there. eBay buying them for $2.4 billion says so too. Mom & Dad, you have no choice. Everyone else, take your time. I guess you don’t like sharing photos with friends and family. I understand. Trying things like flickr and Skype is quick and easy can be scary. Your parents want to see pictures of thier grandchildren and do video calls while the kid sits on your lap are happy talking to you on the phone long distance and hearing the kid in the background.

Oh yeah. Here is a picture of the new camera. Well, the new camera box taken with the new camera. I hope you guys have a good 4th of July. I’ll probably end up in the lab. Maybe I’ll go see the new Superman movie.

New Camera

Wedding Planning Weekend

Kyllan 8 Comments

William and I had a great time this past weekend during his visit to Dallas.  As usual, we ate at a few of our favorite restaurants in Dallas, Grand Lux Cafe, Maggiano’s and All Good Cafe (where we ate breakfast the day we got engaged…they have the best pancakes and peppered bacon!), and we tried a few new restaurants as well.  William had the opportunity to visit the Hilton where the reception will be held and is happy with the selection.  We also had the opportunity to meet with some photograpahy vendors.  We were both extremely impressed by one who we will more than likely book for the wedding.  I feel very confident that if we use him, William and I will have ZERO regrets about our decision.  We also had the opportunity to visit a local limo company to see their fleet of vehicles.  Again, we were impressed and seem to have found a vendor for that service as well…..so….. we are making very good progress on the wedding plans.  So far we have the church, reception site, and hopefully now a photographer and limo service.  Next big vendors are florists, bakery for wedding cakes, dj, and videographer and I already have some references for each.  So, that is the wedding plan update. 

The house is still progressing nicely (of course… never as fast as I would like as the excitement has consumed me) and the drywall process should be occurring this week.  I will update pictures as soon as there is something new to show.        

Move Date, Dallas & Vendors

William 2 Comments

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the move to Colorado from friends and family the past few days. The word is that we will move out of the lab on November 1st. Our start date in Colorado will be November 15th. I will keep everyone update as I continue to get information. My PI will be out of town for the next week, so information will be sparse. I will try to get some pictures he took of the new lab space on his last trip when he gets back.

I will be in Dallas this weekend. Kyllan and I are going to meet with a couple of photographers while I am in town. Kyllan will also give me a tour of the Hilton, which is where our reception will be held. (Please send all complaints on lack of wedding and house updates to Kyllan.)

Cody Reunion Wrap-Up

William 12 Comments

Kyllan and I had a great time at the reunion this past weekend in Memphis. I really have to thank my parents for inviting her up. So far this year we have managed to see each on about the monthly basis. Hopefully we can keep this up. My parents and I hung out at my grandmother’s house on Friday until it was time to pick up Kyllan from the airport. Saturday was the Civil Rights Museum and the family banquet. My mother’s mother and her three sisters still live in Memphis and joined us that evening. (My parents met as college students at Memphis State.) In between we checked out Beale Street. We also caught “The Da Vinci Code” movie. The book was much better than the movie. (I’m not sure what all the controversy is about. The book has never claimed to be more than fiction and one of the overall themes was that faith is worthy of its’ own sake.) Sunday was church and an afternoon cookout at my grandmother’s house. The air conditioning was out at my grandmother’s house and it was HOT! As always, you can check out more pictures on my flickr site. Most of my pictures are of my immediate family, which now includes Kyllan, and Beale Street. My Dad took a lot of pictures at the reunion events, so we will all have to wait for him to upload those… if he ever does.

At B.B. King's Resturant on Beale Street

 

 

Cody Family Reunion- Memphis, TN

Kyllan 1 Comment

This past weekend, William’s parents invited me to Memphis, TN for the Cody Family Reunion. I got the opportunity to meet both of William’s grandmothers (from his mom’s side and his dad’s side) and well as several aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends. I already feel like part of the Cody family. My favorite part of the trip was getting the opportunity to visit the National Civil Rights Museum, which was constructed around the former Lorraine Motel (site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s assasination). The museum does a wonderful job of telling the story of the Civil Rights Movement and prominent persons involved. The exhibits are extremely well put together and provide great historical experience. During the trip, we also visited Beale St. and some other tourist attractions. William took lots of pictures that I am sure he will post after he gets some R&R after the long drive back to New Orleans from Memphis.

To top of the weekend, I returned back home to Dallas to find the house framed! Below is a view from the front of the house. As always, you can view more construction photos on my flickr site.

Front View of Frame

Cody Family Reunion

William 3 Comments

Kyllan and I will be spending Memorial Day weekend in Memphis, Tennessee where my father’s family is having a reunion. I probably won’t be updating the blog while we are there, but I should have plenty of pictures to share after our return.

Ithaca is Cold

Kyllan 1 Comment
Ithaca is Cold, originally uploaded by Kyllan.

So those that have been to Ithaca before know that Ithaca is known for having the “Ithaca is Gorges” shirts and bumper stickers everywhere. (by the way….if you don’t know what a gorge is, it’s synonymous with canyon and the ones in Ithaca usually have waterfalls throughout these canyons. It is actually very pretty…. when it’s warm that is). Anyway…. people are now creating spoofs of the “Ithaca is Gorges”. Above is a favorite of William and I. We think this best defines Ithaca. While I was there this past weekend, the high on Saturday was in the low 50s and the low was in the 30s… IN MAY!!!!

St. Boniface Haiti Foundation

William 5 Comments
St. Boniface Haiti Foundation, originally uploaded by William Cody Jr.

My father received the “Haiti Hope Award” for providing health care to the people of Fund-des-Blancs, Haiti. The actual award is a statue of a slave blowing a lambi, the Haitian Creole word for conch shell, which was blown as a horn and used during the slave rebellion against the French colonialists in 1791 to alert the slaves to impending danger and the need to assemble. The symbol of the lambi represents the Haitian people’s hope, strength, resistance, and struggle for self-determination. Kyllan and I went to Jacksonville last weekend for the reception. For more pictures of the reception check my flickr photostream. Check my Dad’s photostream for pictures he took in Haiti. (Warning: A few of his medical pictures are graphic.)

At the Reception

The trip also gave Kyllan time to discuss the wedding with my mother.