Closure!

Remember when I told you about my jury duty? You can find that here

Well, The Sentencing has finally happened.
http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2011/03/21/1928555/whatcom-county-woman-gets-28-year.html#disqus_thread

I always find it interesting to read people's comments. Some can be pretty rude. But it's nice to read that the community felt we, they jury, did a good job. Little did they know, we had no idea of her previous conviction during the trial so it really wasn't a no brainer as they would like to think it was.

Glad to know that Judge Snyder gave her the maximum amount of time and she will be in jail for 28 years.

Just for the record....

...Amber plays a bassoon!

That's Amber on the left.

Over the years we've heard interesting comments regarding her choice of instrument. Most of them normal comments like "I've never heard a bassoon before" or "What is a bassoon?" or "Wow! That's an unusual instrument". One that makes us laugh is "Is that a really BIG oboe?"

Here's an oboe:

The oboe is a soprano-range, double-reed woodwind instrument. Think of the size of a clarinet. Amber did learn how to play the oboe in high school and played it in concerts at times.

Here's a bassoon:

It has a bass range and its normal range is about 3 octaves. It also is a double-reed instrument. And measures 4 ft. tall.

A few weeks ago (at one of Amber's concerts) someone said to us "Amber plays her bazooka really well". Trying not to laugh in this person's face, we just smiled and politely corrected her. It didn't work! She just kept calling it a bazooka.

Hmmm, bazooka:


Bassoon:

BIG DIFFERENCE!!!!
Once we were out of sight we all busted up laughing and now tease Amber about her bazooka playing.

That was until we were recently at the Middle School band concert where they now have a 6th grader that is playing the bassoon. I swear Amber was going to have a heart-attack the way this student was holding and playing her instrument. We think she actually thought it WAS a bazooka!! She was seriously holding the instrument like this!!

But without the strap! She almost nailed the band director, hit doors and other students completely unaware.

And Amber was ready to do this:

And will be going into the Middle School on Thursday to teach the newbie bassoon player how to hold, carry and play the expensive instrument properly.

Personal Sunshine

Even though the sun in the sky is hiding behind clouds, we received our own personal sunshine today. In the form of getting a date when Robert will be coming home from Iraq!! He and his unit will be home before Easter!!! Woohoo!!!


Here's a picture of Robert being silly. But showing us a coin he was presented by a 3-Star General. He "got coined"!! What is "getting coined"? Here's a brief explanation "In the military you get "coined" by leaders who feel you did something well, went above and beyond, or for whatever justification they feel makes you worthy of getting coined." And that happened to Robert! We are very proud of him!

We asked him what specifically he did to receive this coin. Here was his answer:
"Well, he had a computer issue, and I just happened to be around. So I fixed it and then every time he was around he always made it a point to say hi to me. When he left I drove him to the helicopter and helped him pack all his stuff in the bird. After that he told me thanks for all my help and held out his hand and there was a coin in it! It made my day for sure!"

Woohoo!! Hooray for Robert! Just goes to show you that even in a war zone it's the little things that make the difference.

Happy First Day of Spring

My view this morning heading out to Ferndale to attend church. Yes! Please spring = more sunshine and days like this.

I'd say this girl is having fun!

Being here:


Here:


And eating this:


Yes, Tabitha is IN Hawaii!! A well deserved spring break visiting her sweet friend Lanea and her hubby, Chase. She's already looking relaxed after just 2 days in paradise.

Nothing makes life better...

than having a skype conversation with my beautiful little Lizzie :D

Such a pretty little thing :D

Is this an "oh, silly grandma" kind of look or what?


"My Daddy comes home in 3 weeks"!!!

And she's very happy about it too!! So are we!!

It's been a rough week...

...and trying to not get overwhelmed and discouraged in all of life's shock and surprises. And the hard things that come into our life. But I just have to say this...

I wish I could remember where I snatched this photo to give proper credit. Just know, it's not of my own creations. But it touched a deep part of my soul to know I (we) have done the right thing in the things we've had to do this week. Along with my new motto:

Brave Girls (and boys)
do hard things!!

Can we just say....

STICKER SHOCK!!!

And go to Costco to get your gas before 11 am!! It will be interesting to see how high prices go on our gasoline. I will be documenting with pictures!

Jury Duty

I think I should be set for serving on a jury again for the rest of my life!!! I tell you this was one of the most difficult things I have EVER done in my life. (Well, except for having to send my son off to Iraq). It was a good experience in the fact that I got to watch how our legal system works. But the case itself was extremely difficult.

The Tuesday after President's Day holiday we started the jury process bright and early by having to be there at 7:45 AM. At that time about 250 of us were given instructions and watched a brief film about what to expect. We then were told names would be selected at random for about 75 of us. I was the second person called. We were required to fill out an additional questionnaire with questions regarding this specific case. The case was MURDER!!

I filled out the questionnaire and listed every single legal and police connection I had. Thinking it would for sure get me dismissed. I mean really, I personally know a court commissioner, a DEA agent, border patrol agents, police officers AND my Mom used to be a police dispatcher. I later found out that is exactly what got me chosen!!! We were seated on the jury and sworn in and told to report back on Wednesday for opening statements.

Wednesday started at 9:30 am and we put in a full day. At least I got to have lunch with Rob!! That was a great perk. But I knew right away this was going to be extra difficult to see and hear about. We had the rest of the week off. It seriously took me that entire time to recuperate.

This past week we were there for full days 9:30am - 4:30pm. Almost like a full time job except I was only getting paid a whopping $10 a day + mileage. On Wednesday afternoon the jury was given the case for deliberation and the sequestering began. Thank goodness we were able to go home at night but we had to spend lunch and our breaks together. We finally came to a unanimous decision on Friday, early afternoon. GUILTY as charged!

This was difficult for me personally. I was one of the hold outs. I couldn't vote guilty unless I KNEW without a shadow of a doubt she did this terrible act intentionally. And we did work through this together as a jury. The other 11 people I served with were amazing!! We weren't without our differing opinions but we talked them out and listened to one another's concerns. That's why it took us almost 2 days to deliberate.

After the verdict was entered the judge told us we were excused but if we wanted to stay in the jury room, he and both attorneys would come in to speak with us. So I stayed. Boy, was I glad I did. They gave us more insight to the case and why certain things were done and not done. The biggest thing was when we asked if the defendant had any prior convictions. The answer was YES!!! In 1994 she was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree for a similar crime (yes, someone was murdered) with a 5 year sentence. Let me tell you, that information clearly lifted a weight from all of our shoulders knowing that we really did do the right thing. We interpreted the evidence properly.

I had my 90 minute swedish massage that night! Now time to readjust into normal life!

What the week looked like

I told you I would be having a hot chocolate every single day this week!! And I did! What is it about hot chocolate that helps to soothe and relax? And boy, did I need it this week.

MONDAY:

While waiting for Rob to arrive so we could have lunch

TUESDAY:

With Rob

WEDNESDAY:

On the way home

THURSDAY:

With Amber

FRIDAY:
Jury duty is O.V.E.R.!!! So I had the BEST hot chocolate in town! Rob's!!