Back Up and Running

When I started this blog, I meant for this to be a place where I could store all my favorite memories and things that I would surely forget like family outings, funny things the kids have said, etc. Clearly, I let this thing tank as it has been damn near six years since I have posted ANYTHING. I am actually 100% shocked that I was able to keep this URL handle. I do not want that to happen again. I plan to actually give this blog thing a go and work at it. I don't want to lose these awesome memories, and I'm afraid to say that I probably did over the past six years out of sheer laziness.

So... this is the first post in what I hope is many to come, and I am going to lead with the question: what has happened in the past six years? A whole hell of a lot, that's what.

Married Life: Jae and I are coming up on 11 years together and 8 years married. It has not been without its ups and downs, but at the risk of sounding cliche, our life is still full of love, laughter, and friendship. There were certainly times when we probably both questioned whether or not to continue moving forward, but I am happy to say that we have stuck through for the better. I absolutely love my life and am happy I get to wake up every single day and share it with a wonderful man who happens to be my best friend.

Careers: Both Jae and I have shifted gears in a big way as it relates to our careers. A few years ago, I made the decision to go back to business school full-time, pursuing my MBA. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. I am happy to say that I treasured my time in the program and have come out on the other side to a career that I am excited to go to every day. I am challenged, constantly learning, and interacting with incredibly intelligent individuals daily. Jae has moved to commodity-management, something that he is very talented at. In his current role, he really loves the team he works with and is able to excel with everything he does.

Kids: There will obviously be more to come on this front. In fact, I plan on completing one post per kid since so much has happened (that's a lot of posts). This year, we completed our family. We are officially Chong, Party of Six. It's a wonderful thing. There are now four of them. Kaeden (13), Bennett (6), Mila (3), and Kai (almost 4 months). They are so unique in every way and keep us on our toes. Life is crazy with all these kids, but I wouldn't wish for it any other way.

Home: When I graduated from my MBA program, I was offered a position at Land O' Lakes. Given the HQ is in Arden Hills, the commute from Chaska would've been WAY too crazy, so Jae and I sold the house and moved to Maple Grove. We live in a beautiful neighborhood that is perfect for raising our family. Sometimes we feel a bit like outsiders to our neighbors, but I would like to believe that if anything happened, we could reach out to them and they would be willing to help.

So that's that. Here's hoping that I actually keep it up this time.

MCC