Travel, nerdiness and getting things done

Jen had a number of awesome adventures this year as well. Along with the Cayamo cruise fun that's detailed in Randy's page, Jen had a chance to return to the SXSW Interactive conference in March and attend the Online News Association (ONA) conference in October.

Jen's focus as KOMU.com's new media director and associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism has been on social media and community building. So the SXSW conference in

Austin, TX was a great way to meet more people and learn about additional tools available in this tech-based world. She considers the event a work-related nerdy retreat. Jen's trip to Washington, DC for the ONA conference was a great way to narrow down her focus on technology-based journalism with others who "get" it. (She also got to spend time with her brother Jon during the trip. They explored all over the city using its new community bikeshare program. It's a really cool way to see the nation's capital.) Jen also helped launch the second annual Twestival fundraiser in Columbia, MO where they raised hundreds of dollars for an international school-building charity.

Jen also had a chance to help Jordan build a new helper arm and took both kids to Chicago for many adventures. She made all kinds of new friends at this year's St. Louis Camp No Limits. It's exciting to see that camp grow. With the many stories about the kids, Jen continues to blog at Born Just Right and added a Facebook page for the blog earlier this summer. Jen reaches out to families of limb different kids through the blog and the Sammy's Friends groups. She's also helping Cameron with his blog.

Along with nerdy news and kid adventures, Jen continued to enjoy running. She and a team of friends ran in the St. Louis Marathon Relay in March. This was Jen's longest distance (a little more than 7 miles) and she averaged just under 11/minute miles. Not too bad for someone who wasn't running two years ago. But not long after that, her knee started bothering her enough to see a doctor. It turns out she's been running on a completely blown out ACL and a torn meniscus (it was actually torn in two places) in her left knee. Jen decided the only way to continue running was to get it fixed. So in July, she got the job done and is officially back to health. Her doctor says Jen is able to excercise at 95 percent and should be 100 percent by January. Who knows how speedy Jen can run with a real, functioning knee!

If you want to get in touch with Jen, visit her on Twitter, her nerd blog, Facebook or email her!

In the coming year, Jen is helping launch a mom-blog/journalism site called Investigative Mommy Blogger and is looking for ways to extend her mom blog world. She's also looking forward to the big family Christmas holiday trip!