Annual Metro Co-ed Charity Pool Tournament CHAMPIONS!

Yeah, that's right. This year was sweet redemption. My only regret is that we weren't the team that knocked Kevin and Bridget out of the tournament, as a matter of fact, we didn't play them. Like last year, they went to the losers bracket and then the newcomers, Jeff and Lauri tainted the new Metrodome by puttin a whoopin on them. After that, we eventually played Jeff and Lauri and won a hard fought battle to redeem last year's disappointment.

There are some really great photos of the tournament on Josh and Lisa's blog so go take a look!

Look What I Can Do!

So, we went out to eat at P.F. Chang's for Lauri's birthday last weekend and we took a few nice pictures outside afterwards. This just happened to be one of them. I had asked Josh if he could snap a shot while I did this cheesy jump as if I was doing the Jig. Turned out to be a pretty funny shot. I'll be looking forward to your comments.

We all kind of seemed to think it looked like I was suspended in mid air or floating like a genie. Incidently, this is Cory after two beers, and I can handle way more. You know you want me at your parties.

HawKI Certification!!

I just found out today that I officially passed my final back room simulation and will be certified to support Internation Space Station operations as soon as some paperwork gets signed. I've been working towards this for the past two years and now will start another series of training.

For the most part I did an effective job in my final simulation, it wasn't my best and everyone knows it but on this day I did enough to pass the evaluation. It is a big relief. Now I am really looking forward to the first time that I get to send a command to the largest and most expensive space vehicle known to mankind!!! It should be soon. I will also be working the next Shuttle mission to the International Space Station that launches on March 15th.

Home Improvements

We really love our house, but there are some things about it that we are looking to change in the very near future. For Christmas we asked our families to give us some gift cards to Home Depot and we have already used almost all of it.

The biggest change we've made so far is painting our kitchen. A few months ago we took down the detestable wall paper border that the previous owners were compelled to hang in the kitchen, and with our new found Home Depot money we picked out a nice color and repainted the kitchen last weekend. Just a couple days after repainting, we made another trip to Home Depot just to spend some more of our gift cards, not really knowing what we wanted to buy. It turns out that we really like the idea of getting a new light fixture for above our kitchen table. So, here's our new kitchen.

Erin's parents got us this awesome picture of the Ohio State vs. PSU game that we went to in 2005. It was the best sporting event I've ever seen and the atmosphere was incredible. We have a dedicated Penn State room in our house and we hung all of our Penn State pictures in it along with the new one from Erin's parents. If you look closely, there is a blue "S" in the student section that is unmistakably all white, we were part of the "S" zone that day.

I am currently trying to run some speaker wire in the living room of our house that is driving me nuts. The wires are just not cooperating when I try to fish them into the walls. Our next big project will be to paint the exterior of our house, the original paint is still out there and it's looking a little rough.

Catch Up Blog II

Ok, so I've been a bit of a SLACKER. In my defense, we've been doing a lot of work around the house, so I've only been a slacker in blogging.

I would like to first wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Our holiday break was very busy back in Pennsylvania, it's nice to see family but there's a lof of family to see in a week.

Speaking of family, check us out with my nephews and our new Penn State fuzzy hats. How awesome are they!?

My dad, finally loosened up enough to buy something fun for himself. If you knew my dad you would understand. It turns out that he went and bought himself a CORVETTE. It's not a new one, but it's pretty friggin sweet. Man did I have fun driving it over the break, it really goes.

In work related news, my back room certification final simulation is next Wednesday! I can't wait to pass and start working real mission shifts and sending real commands to the Space Station. I'm a little nervous, but I think I'm ready.