Finding her Tongue

Marin recently discovered her tongue and it's showing up in her bright little smiles when she flirts with us!

One Month Old

We have survived our first month with a newborn! So far Marin is doing her best work at night sleeping in four-hour increments. She's all smiles this morning with her bear.

Birth Day is Here!

Marin Marie was born Monday, August 11, 2008 at 1:06 p.m. We were admitted into the hospital for induction Sunday evening and labored through the night with Marin. Early Monday morning Jenn repeatedly asked her labor nurse, "What time does the anesthesiologist's shift start?" Around 7:30 a.m. Jenn got an epidural and things started to progress. Around 11:30 a.m. Jason decided to go to the cafeteria for lunch and upon his return about 30 minutes later, there was a room full of hospital staff. It was "go time!" An hour later, Marin made her grand entrance into the world by peeing on our doctor!

The Baby's Growing... :-)

It's already almost a month after the last post and time for another baby update. When I came back from a 3-day trip to California this week and almost didn't recognize Jenn because the baby had grown so much, we figured we better take another picture and send out an update.

The baby really does seem to be visibly growing every day, and she's gotten big enough that both Jenn and I can feel her kicking. (Jenn had about a 2-3 week head start on me in that department)

We're almost to the home stretch Jenn has been feeling great (and looking great too if I do say so myself). :-)

Other than the baby's growth spurt, not too much is new with us in Austin. One of these days we're planning on getting serious about getting the "nest" ready for the new arrival. So far we've managed to collect 2-3 outfits that we've received as gifts and a bassinet from Jenn's family. I figure all we need to do is add a few diapers to the mix and we'll be ready. ;)

We'll keep you posted on how things progress from here.

Jas & Jenn

Long overdue pregnancy update

Just a quick post to say that baby & mom are both doing very well. These are pictures of Jenn at 23 weeks. We found out almost a month ago that we're having a baby girl, and the search for names we both agree on is raging on a month later. :)

We'll continue to post updates as we get closer to the big day, which is supposed to be right at the end of July or the first week of August.

Our Happy New Year Letter

Happy New Year!

January 2008

We hope each of you had a wonderful holiday season and are off to a great start in the new year. We'll try our best to give you a snapshot of our 2007 using the questions that we were most often asked.

Q #1.) Did Jason find a job after he graduated?

A: After about 4 months of grueling interviews, many leads and some dead-ends (and approximately 2 weeks before Jenn was going to make him apply to flip burgers at McDonald's), Jason found the perfect job. He landed a job with a small startup company, OpSource, located in California. His formal title is "Senior Manager of Client Services." (Don't be fooled, he's not that senior, small companies give out big titles.) :-) Fortunately, we didn't have to relocate for the job and Jason continues his reign as "Captain Underpants" working most days out of our home.

In all seriousness, OpSource has been a great company to work for. They provide "managed hosting" (super computers) for companies who want to deliver their software over the Internet, especially "Web 2.0" companies (for non-geeks… imagine all of the computers necessary to provide Yahoo e-mail or Google search… someone has to manage those servers. This is an example of what OpSource does for their customers.)

Q #2.) Are you two thinking about having kids?

A: Yes, we think about it. Thank you for asking. :-)

Q #3.) Jenn, since you're not a classroom teacher, what DO you DO?

A: This is Jenn's second year serving as an "Academic Coach" at Bluebonnet Elementary in Round Rock ISD. She works with teachers to help them improve their instruction, which ultimately helps kids learn. Some days she teaches the lessons, other days she "coaches". Part of her day is spent working with small groups of kids in grades 2^nd-5^th. She likes the variety and loves not having to write report cards quarterly!

Q #4.) Should I quit asking if you're going to have kids?

A: Yes, that would be fine. Please ask Kim, Gina, or Amanda instead of me! :-)

Q #5.) How about visitors?

A: Jenn's brother and his family made the long trek to Texas over Thanksgiving break. Conner (8) and Ashley (5) were wondering if "they were there yet" in York, NE. Fortunately, everyone survived the 15 hour drive with minimal trauma! We spent a day at Sea World (San Antonio) where we fed the dolphins, watched Shamu, and took in lots of amazing shows. It was a blast. Back in Austin . . . a tour of the Capitol, a visit to Build-a-Bear Workshop, eating Tex-Mex and BBQ, and playing the Wii until our tennis elbow would allow no more were just a few of the other delights we enjoyed while they were here.

Also, a few of Jason's friends, Heather & Stephan, that he met in Germany made it for a long weekend this summer. We treated Stephan to his first American baseball game in Austin (not exactly the Yankees, but a good start). The heat was stifling, so a trip to the water park Schlitterbahn was in order, which was lots of fun! We shared it with about 1,000 of our best friends under the age of 9. :-)

In-between visitors, Jason also found time to have LASIK surgery, which turned out to be a fantastic decision. 20/15 and no looking back!

Q #6.) Are you going to move back to Nebraska?

A: After being back in NE for two weeks of sub-zero temps and "sideways" snow, we think Austin is looking and feeling just fine for the immediate future! In fact, as of sending this letter, we just had our offer accepted on a new home. If all goes accordingly, we'll be in our new home by March! Here's our new address: 1303 David Cove, Cedar Park, TX 78613.

Q #7.) Did you make it to a Husker game?

A: In October, we watched the Huskers get beaten by the Texas Longhorns in what started out as a good close game. (You'd think we would have known better by that point in the season…) We ended up leaving early once the scoreboard started to tip out of our favor. Fortunately, a few stalwart Huskers stayed behind to cheer on the team! (See the picture…) :-)

Q #8.) Did you vacation anywhere fun?

A: Lake Tahoe, Nevada was our vacation destination this summer. Fortunately, we were there just one week before the fury of forest fires came. We hit the casinos, went on a boat tour of Lake Tahoe (some of the clearest water in the world), saw a grizzly bear (Arr!), blazed some interesting mountain trails, drove the 72-mile loop around Lake Tahoe, visited a vineyard, and attended a renaissance festival. (It was a very strange, yet enjoyable experience—see Jason getting fitted for a medieval bra below!)

Q #9.) Surely you would tell us if you were going to have a baby, right?

A: Of course! You can now stop wondering . . . we are expecting a little Cumberland in early August! We apologize for the little white lies that we (and our parents) told many of you at Christmas when you asked, "Are you pregnant?" We wanted to be sure we were "out of the woods" to share our news. Oh yeah, if you were at Johnny O's and saw Jenn with an adult beverage over Christmas break—it was filled with water! We had to do something to throw you off as you definitely had us figured out! :-) We will be calling on many of you for parenting advice and babysitting favors, so you may want to screen our phone calls in 2008!

We hope this finds you happy, healthy, and enjoying the new year!

With love,

Jenn & Jason

The Texas State Fair

Last weekend the family (Dad, Mom, me, Amanda, Nick, and Jenn, who served as the photographer for this pic) headed to the land of deep fat fried EVERYTHING... The Texas State Fair. Yes, everything is bigger in Texas, and in this case, everything is fried in Texas. Yes, everything... including fried Coke, fried cookie dough, fried latte, fried peanut butter and jelly (and banana), fried Snickers.... you get the picture.

This was our 'before' picture... after sampling about half of the list above, none of us felt incredibly photo-worthy. :-)

Rams @ Cowboys... Box Seats!

A couple of good friends of ours invited us to go to the Cowboys/Rams game in Dallas last weekend. His family has had box seats for several years and they were nice enough to invite us to enjoy them as well as a breakfast in the stadium club before the game started. It was a truly memorable experience. The slide show is below.

Click on the slide show to see a bigger version.

As Mr Miyagi said... "Paint the Fence"

Last weekend we embarked on what has to be one of the most awful jobs you could plan during the Texas summer heat... restaining the fence around our back yard. As you can see from the pictures, below, however, the fence sorely needed it.




Jenn has been asking me to help her with this job for about three years and now that school is over I was unable to summon up any equally worthwhile excuses... "It's going to be a huge pain in the butt" turned out not to be nearly convincing enough.

Jenn actually did the lion's share of the power washing work during her summer break, and then last weekend we embarked together on a two-day quest to apply the new stain and get the job done.

The next picture below is the final version of the fence shown above. Below that is another set of "before and afters." It was a miserable weekend, but I have to admit, the final product looks pretty good.

I don't know why we didn't do this two years ago... :-)

Glasses, I bid thee adieu!

In an effort to forego staining the fence for as long as possible, two weeks ago, I finally went in for LASIK surgery. I've worn glasses since grade school and have been considering the surgery for years, but couldn't ever bring myself to actually do it. (Those of you who know me well know my relatively low tolerance for pain...)

Despite that, I put the money for the surgery into a flex spending account when I started my new job, and once it is there, it is use it or lose it, so there was no turning back. The results are truly nothing short of totally amazing. The day after surgery, I was seeing 20/15, and a week after, I was actually as good as 20/10 vision. Unfortunately, I regressed back to 20/15 in my appointment last Friday, but considering I was somewhere around 20/1600 (i.e. completely blind without my glasses), 20/15 suits me just fine. If you've been considering LASIK and have questions, let me know. It was an amazingly easy experience with almost no pain and incredible, immediate results.

Lake Tahoe Vacation

We're back from a great trip to Tahoe. Check out the slide show below!
(drag your mouse over the picture and click on the second icon in the lower-left to turn on the captions for each picture, or click on the picture itself to open up a new window for the slide show)

Goodbye Unemployment

An update that is a bit overdue, but good news nonetheless. About three weeks ago, I (finally) landed a new job with a company called OpSource. OpSource is a technology startup out of California and I am working remotely from Austin, which continues my long streak of working from home (and no, not in my underwear as my family likes to joke). :-)

After graduating in December, I had mixed success with UT's placement program. I had countless first interviews, numerous second interviews, a few third interviews, and a handful of offers. Unfortunately, after endless time spent on campus recruiting, the offers I received were very disappointing. Somewhat reluctantly, Jenn & I decided to turn them down and start the process over using non-UT connections.

Although it took awhile, in the end it was worth the wait. I am working with a few people I know from my former job at BearingPoint, and absolutely loving the company. The only problem was that I had to end my four-month stint of unemployment, which, looking back, wasn't all bad. ;-)

The MBA - Mission Accomplished ?

Well, after nearly three years, I finally graduated last week, and put the MBA behind me. Looking back, it was definitely a long road, but well worth it. I made a lot of good friends in the program, and managed to learn a thing or two as well.

Ironically, I went into my MBA fully employed and came out fully unemployed. If I remember right, that was not the sales pitch they sold me on originally, but it's too late to complain now, and I'm pretty sure it's too late for a refund. :-)

As many of you know, when I started my degree (going to classes at night), I was working at BearingPoint. About a year into the program, I switched jobs. I worked the new job for about a year and a half before that company was bought out by another firm who took them back to being a private company. In the process, they laid off a good number of people, including yours truly. Fortunately, it happened at a time that allowed me to go back to school full-time for one semester, and cut 6 months off of my intended graduation date.

So... that brings me to where I am today... unemployed, and sporting a flashy new MBA. I have several potential opportunities in the pipeline, but have put most of it on hold over the holidays while we celebrate with friends and family. When we return to Austin after the holidays, I'll put the job search into high-gear. Of course, if any of you have any leads for me, I'm all ears. :-)

Whistler, Canada - Summer Vacation

Below are some pictures from this year's summer vacation.The first picture is from our biggest hike of the trip (a 12K). We stopped at this lake for a picnic, what a memorable spot.


This is the same hike, a little later in the day at another stopping point along the lake.


This is Jenn posing in front of a raging river in the forest outside Whistler. Just a bit down this trail we stopped for lunch next to a huge waterfall.

The last picture is on our way up the lift to hike around Whistler's peak (~7,000 feet, so not quite as high as the Colorado Rockies). We spent a few hours in the afternoon hiking and then stopped on the way down at a barbeque at the Lodge on the top of the mountain. Another fun day! 

Visit to Estes Park

Jenn with her mom & uncle on a picnic in Estes Park, CO. Jenn went to visit our old stomping grounds during Spring Break of 2004.

Hiking in Vegas

This is Skip & Sara Hanlon with Jenn during last summer's trip to Las Vegas. We took this shot before a day of very H-O-T hiking in the mountains outside Vegas.

Teacher Party!!!

Jenn and two of her her good teacher friends posing for the camera at a birthday party this winter.

Welcome to our New "Blog"

Hi all,

Welcome to our new blog, thanks for dropping by. Please check back regularly for updates, we'll do our best to keep this more up-to-date than we've done in the past.

If you'd like to drop us a line, you can always find our current info under "contact info" on our main page at www.thecumberlands.com.

Thanks!

Jenn and Jason