Jury Doodie

I know, two posts in one day, crazy, right?
Anywho, I had jury duty this week. Or as my crazy sister calls it, jury 'doodie', because it stinks hehe. So 100s of us reported on Tuesday (not Monday because it was Labor Day), and they told us some rules and talked a lot, and then assigned us to cases. The 40 or so people in my group got assigned to a case on Wednesday at 10. We reported back to the courthouse and they did the whole jury selection process, and what do you know - I got picked! After I got over the initial 'damnit I can't believe I got picked' reaction, I accepted it and actually found it pretty interesting! It was sort of like what you see on tv, accept the Judge was super nice and explained stuff to the jury, and the lawyers were much less articulate. I actually really didn't like either of the lawyers, and it kind of helped me understand why everyone hates lawyers. They were almost demeaning in the way they talked to us which was irritating.
The toughest part was going back in the courtoom when the judge read the verdict. It's hard knowing somemone in that room is going to be really upset with your decision! Our jury only deliberated for a half hour though. We all agreed pretty immediately; so I feel we made the right decision.
Two things I did find extremely annoying:
1. The only witnesses actually present were the defendant and the plaintiff. The one witness was a doctor, talking about injuries that the plaintiff incurred in the car accident that the case was about. He had a videotaped deposition!
2. The defendent wasn't there on the second day. Yes you read that correctly. I guess their case got pushed up and the judge told us that she had something that she couldn't miss. SERIOUSLY?
So you're telling me that it's basically impossible for me to get our of Jury Doodie, but the witnesses can tape their answers, and the defendent doesn't even have to show. Here's my idea. Next time I have to sit, how about you tape the trial and send it to me, and then I'll watch it and give you my verdict ;)
Really though, overall it wasn't that bad. So next time you get that jury summons in the mail, you don't need to dread it as much as you think!

Bachelor & Bachelorette Party Weekend

Almost two weeks ago already, Cory and I had a bunch of our closest friends come to Houston to celebrate with us! We hung out as a group mostly and had tons of fun, but on Saturday night, the guys and the gals parted ways and had our own fabulous parties.
The girls planned a Penn State style pre-party for me at the house, and then a limo came and picked us up for a night on the town! I had some fun bachelorette attire and we all had our penis straws in hand! Here are a few of the more tame pictures from the night. Missing are my dear friends Carolyn from PSU and Jaime from H-town, who were sadly unable to join us for the festivities. But don't worry gals, we had enough drinks to cover you ;)

Here's me with Heather, Alicia, Beth, Allison, Lisa, Lauren, Nujoud, Jody, and Lauri. Not surprisingly, these are some of the only blog-appropriate pictures ;)

Thanks for such a great night ladies! I truly couldn't ask for better friends!

These wonderful ladies also had a bridal shower for me, so here's a pic from that of everyone (except Lauren because she took it), plus Jen who wasn't at the b-party, and Sydney, Beth's too-cute daughter.

Of course the guys didn't take any pictures, because, well, they're guys. But we hear they had a great time too, with lots of alcohol had by all. Here's a pic of all the out-of-towners who were staying at our house. From left: Dan, Jody, Lauren, Ben, Allison, and Heather. You know those weirdos in the front ;)

Thanks so much to everyone for celebrating with us! We can't wait to do it again at the wedding!!!

Fun-filled PA weekend

Last weekend, Cory and I went up to PA for a bunch of fun events! My friend from high school and college, Geoff, got married on Saturday night at Penn State! It was a beautiful ceremony and super-fun reception, and great to see a bunch of old friends from high school. And of course it was great to be back at Penn State, because in case you didn't know, we really like it there ;)

Cory's going to show me how to load a slideshow later, so here's a few pics for now!

Here's me and my sister Heather at the Saloon on Friday night, drinking Monkey Boys! Mmm!

And here's the four of us, me, Cory, Heather, and her husband Aaron, at the Lion Shrine between the wedding ceremony and reception.

On Sunday we got up and headed back to Lancaster to meet almost my entire Dad's side of the family for a surprise 85th birthday party for my Grandma! There are nine of us cousins on that side of the family, and only two couldn't make it. Everyone else was there, including the 4 great-grandchildren, none of whom I had met yet! So I was really glad that it worked out that Cory and I could make it. And Grandma was really surprised! :)

And here's one of everyone that was there, and then all the cousins that were there with Grandma.

On Sunday evening we got to see Cory's family! His mom picked us up and we went and saw his sister Amy, and her family. Here's Connor (he's 7), Blake (3), and finally a baby sister, Jayden (1 month).

Monday we went to Cory's dad's house at the river and enjoyed the sun and some wakeboarding. No pics of that unfortunately! It was a great weekend!!

A new blogger at the C-spot

I finally decided to join the blogger world, so I had Cory add me as an author on his page; or should I say 'our' page - aww :) He even changed the name of the blog to 'the Sholls'! Less than three months and we will be!!!

Since I'm just learning, I have to put some pictures so I can learn how to do that. So here's a picture of what we had for dinner:

Yummo! Homemade pizza with pesto, fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Wow it was good!

And here's a few of how we're sprucing up the yard:

We bought everything last weekend and planted the grasses and the flowers. Today after work we planted the bushes in the front. We liked the bright colors, they reminded us of fall in PA. The guy at the plant-store said they'd stay like this year round, so hopefully he was right!!

Stay tuned for more updates from me - hopefully this won't be a one time thing!

Cosmo's New Toy

As one of our gifts for our couples shower, Erin's parents got us a Penn State toy for Cosmo. Needles to say when we gave it to her when we got home, she quickly fell in love with it. And by falling in love with it, I mean she ripped it a new one. Take a look at some of the photos below. FYI, in the photos for day 3 Cosmo got herself in that predicament, Erin and I only assisted to get her out of it. She never fails to amaze and entertain.

Our Couples Shower

One of the additional perks of getting married is that you can have parties where family and friends give you gifts for your home. On June 21st we had a couples shower at Erin's home in Pennsylvania. Not only was the weather perfect for the entire weekend, but we got cool gifts and we got to see our families again. Yeungling, cool weather, family, food, gifts = awesome weekend. Below is a slide show of pictures from the event.

Big Week

We've been planning to go to Penn State this year since about January, and since January I knew I was going to have a suprise for Erin when we went there. Last weekend our immediate families went with us to State College, Pa to watch PSU whoop Iowa as well as watch me propose to Erin. If you know anything about us, you know that Erin was waiting for this for quite sometime. Actually, she's been waiting ever since her twin sister Heather got engageed last year, so thank you Heather.

Coincidently, my final flight controller evaluation was pushed right up until we left for PSU last weekend and I passed! Passing my final just made the engagement weekend so much more enjoyable and carefree. Here are a couple of pictures of my great weekend.