Getting Old!

Okay, time for my first necessary blog update.  Guess what…………..I’m 30! That’s right, it’s official that I’m an old lady. L  I didn’t really think that turning 30 was going to be a big deal. But ughhhhh, seriously.  I decided I didn’t want to do much for my birthday, no need for a big blowout or anything; not really my style.  For some reason, I decided to go into work for a half day.  I had a great group of friends/co-workers who organized a birthday lunch for me at my favorite place. And they even brought along a cookie cake for me!  After getting back from lunch, I knew there was no way I was going to get any work done, so I headed home.  Jordan and I threw our suits on and headed to the pool for a bit. But oh my, it was scorching hot outside in mid-June and we were literally melting away. Needless to say, we didn't last long.

We had planned to go down to the Harbor for dinner and drinks to celebrate that night. But only after I fulfilled one of my major sisterly/matron-of-honor duties first. I had got to go with Katrina while she took her bridal portraits.  Yeah, it sucked that I had to go do this the night of my birthday, but honestly, I’m glad I was able to be there for her.  She was breathtaking and the pictures turned out amazing!  After getting home around 9:30 and getting our babysitter settled, we had to modify our plans since it was getting late (it was a Thursday!) and just headed up to our local Chili’s instead. Give me a hard time if you want, but I don’t need much, and Chili’s was just fine for me to relax with my love with some appetizers and cold beer.  Just what I needed!  The following day, our foursome (me, Jordan, Kat & Lo) grilled out and relaxed at Kat & Lo’s pool for the afternoon.  It was a mellow birthday celebration, but it was just my style.  

Hello?!

Hello, everybody! Well, that is, if I still have some readers out there.  Hi, my name is Jen, and this is my blog........I think. It's been quite a while since I blogged last, and even before that it wasn't nearly as often as I would have liked. So, here I am, ready to start some updates again. I apologize for my absence, just been living life.  In the next week, I'll hopefully provide all necessary updates on what's been going on in the Hougham world recently. So much has happened, I don't even know where to begin, but I'll get there.  Some topics that I can't wait to share........

• My new position (still at KPMG)
• Jordan's new position (still at AT&T)
• I turned 30!!
• Kat & Lo's grand wedding! (still waiting on pictures to be released from the photographer before I can blog though!)
• I've become an avid reader, and am apparently the founder of the JHo bookclub with a few followers :)
• Mine & Jordan's 9th wedding anniversary; almost made it to a whole decade!!!!
• Chase is 19 months old now, nearly 30 lbs, and such a little lovebug!
• Austin is nearly 4 (going on 16) and is quite a miniature version of his Daddy!

I promise to bring everyone up to speed on everything, just be patient!  Here are just a couple pics to tide you over. :)

Me and the Hubs at Kat & Lo's rehearsal dinner

My boys at lunch the day after Kat & Lo's wedding

Me and my silly boys!

Happy Birthday to my Love!

I know, I'm super behind here. I've been off work for two whole weeks and haven't done a single blog.  Kat & Lo's wedding was amazing and I can't wait to blog about all the details and show off some pics. But I'm trying to enjoy the last few days of my vacation relaxing before I start my new adventure at work on Monday. Hopefully many blogs to come in the near future!

In the meantime, I'm going to relax with the birthday boy today! We both have off, and it's parents' night out, so we're going to see how much trouble we can get into! Starting with some indoor rock climbing. I bought a Groupon a few months ago and thought today would be a great day to experience it. I haven't been rock climbing since high school, so this should be interesting.

Anyways, happy birthday to my love!  Hope I can help make it incredible! Love Love!

I improvised last night at midnight with Austin's birthday crown. :)

That's It! I Give Up!

So much for the blog/photo a day challenge; I completely fell behind and can't catch up.  Let's chalk this month up to a loss and call it a day.  June is just too busy. With my trip to Vegas, my birthday, wrapping up my duties at work before transitioning, and running around doing a million last minute tasks for the wedding, I just can't commit to keeping up with a blog a day. In concept, it was a great idea.

So, I'll leave you with a few recent pics of my handsome fellas!

Who can resist these handsome blue eyes?!

This boy loves to eat!

The best part of baking with Mommy!

Playing first base and concentrating so hard!

And a bonus pic of me and my favorite sister (okay, I only have one sister anyways).

Eleven: Junk

I don't have much junk in my house. I'm probably the furthest thing from a pack-rat.  I typically go through closets and stuff every few months to get rid of items that we haven't used in awhile.  Keep the memories; get rid of the crap!  That's what I always tell Jordan, anyways. :)

One piece of junk we do still have is our desktop computer. Jordan got that thing for me our first Christmas that we were married, so that makes it way too old in computer terms.  We hardly ever use it anymore, as I typically use my work laptop for fun while I'm at home, too.  Well, that all changed when we obtained an iPad a few months ago. I didn't really understand what all the hype was about wasn't so sure that I would use it much. At first, Austin played on it all the time, watching cartoons or playing games. It's crazy how easy a 3 1/2 year old can navigate a iPad! I decided to take my turn, and I love that dang thing! I have the Kindle app on there and have read so many books on it! Does that make me cool now that I carry an iPad with me for when I go get a pedicure?

Speaking of the Kindle app (I'm getting off-topic here), I guess knows a good time to share some of my recent reads.

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
Fifty Shades Darker by E.L. James
Fifty Shades Freed by E.L. James

(Let's be honest. I had to see what all the hype was around these books.  Interesting!)

Thoughtless by S.C. Stephens
Effortless by S.C. Stephens


Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan
Barely Breathing by Rebecca Donovan

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Anyways, these are some of my faves! I've read a couple of other mediocre ones too, but didn't feel the need to list them.

Ten: Secret

I was still in Vegas on the 10^th of June.  Let’s see……..that was Sunday. My secret for that day was that at 6:30am that morning, we were still up from the night before!  And the sun was up already! I never thought I would be able to hang like that again.  I’ve been out of college for too many years, and let’s be honest, having two little ones at home doesn’t allow for very much party time. Needless to say, we made the most of our time away.  Not all of our pictures from Vegas are blog-appropriate, so I’ll just share a pic of the group of us out on the town!

Nine: Money

Money…………it’s not everything.  I make a decent amount of it. We’re not rich by any means, but we live comfortably. I didn’t go to college for five years, busting my butt for nothing!

One of those luxuries of having some extra money is being able to take vacations.  This past weekend, I took my first ever girls’ trip, for my sister’s bachelorette party.  We headed to Vegas; neither Kat or I had been before, but the other three girls had been before.  I really had no idea what to expect, but just rolled with the punches.  It was a fabulous time! I’ve been home for three days and I’m still trying to recover.  I don’t even know how much this trip ended up costing me, but it was worth every penny and I hope my sister had the time of her life!  Here was the view from our room.