Who would think things change so drastically in 5 months time. The first change was the announcement that the Mervyn's stores in Minnesota were closing. The timing of this could have been any worse. This announcement came a month or two before our wedding. At first Michelle was told that Mervyn's would be closing in mid July (a.k.a while we were on our honeymoon). The big wigs decided that they could draw out the closing until mid-August, so that gave us some time to plan things out.
We got married on a wonderful July afternoon. Everything went off without any problems. We got al the pictures that we wanted outside before the ceremony. That was a good thing because the rain started just as we were leaving the church. It was bad thunderstorms just a light drizzle. The reception was great. Looking back the night seems to be a blur. Michelle may think it was the gin and tonics, but I was not that bad. The food, the people, the dancing, everyone seemed to be having a good time. I don't think I've ever danced that much in one night. I had to take plenty of breaks to go outside to cool down. It was better than I would have ever thought it could be.
The honeymoon was down in Mexico. Playa del Carmen/Mexican Riveria/30 Mins South of Cancun, what ever name you call it, it was great. It was an all inclusive resort that had great reviews. My aunt and uncle recommended the place, the travel agency said that he heard great things about it. Another woman at work was sending her in-laws there for an anniversary gift. It was a great vacation. I haven't had many of those in my life, but this was the best. I had all intentions of going to the ruins and seeing some of the nature. But that didn't happen. Relaxing at the beach and the pool was more up my ally once we got down there. We did go to the "downtown" of Playa del Carmen. It was a street with a real nice shopping area on one end of the street and as you got closer to the ocean the worse it became. It didn't help that the temp was around 95°. It was only the second tim I've seen the ocean. I was completely amazed by how blue the water was. The imensity was also overwhelming. I am used to being able to see across the water, but not here.
The schedule we had was amazing. We would wake up around 8:30 am and head off to the breakfast buffet. We would go back to the room and get ready for the day. We would be at the pool or beach by 10 (just happened that that was the time the bars opened). We would swim/layout until noon. Stop by the snack bar for a quick lunch. We'd head back to the beach for another hour. By 3 we were ready for a nap. We would nap for an hour or two. Once we had awaken, we would get ready for dinner. There was a dress code for the restuarants so I had to wear nice pants and a polo. We'd each dinner and then take a stroll around the resort and walk down to the beach. After that we'd head back to the room and go to sleep. We repeated that for pretty much every day we were down there.
Once we got back from our honeymoon, we got a more definate closing date for Mervyn's. The date that was given was the middle of August. That gave Michelle a month or so to look for a job. Many people were already interviewing and going through the hiring process. Michelle sent resumes and got a couple interviews at other retailers. Her store team lead at Mervyn's passed her name along to Herberger's. She interviewed with the HR person at their headquarters. She was called back and interviewed at the Rosedale store. She got the job as a Sales Manager in the Kids department. We found this out at the beginning of August. The only downside was that her first day wouldn't be until September 1. This meant that there was a gap of 2 weeks between Mervyn's last day and her first day at Herberger's. Michelle had plans for these two weeks. Michelle said that the 2 weeks would be a great time to get a dog. She would be home to watch the dog and get her acclimated to the new environment. I started looking into breeds. I wanted to get a pug. Everything told me that the temperment of the dog was exactly what we wanted from the dog. Unfortunately, the price didn't match the budget. Michelle told me that a beagle was a match for what we wanted. I did my research and they did seem to fit what we were looking for. I thought I had two weeks to look around and find a breeder. All of a sudden Michelle said that we were going to go look at a puppy one night. So we hop in the car and head towards St. Michael. Forty-five minutes later we call the breeder and say that we are lost and we'll try again the next night. The second time we found the breeder and ended up with an adorable little puppy. We named her Anabelle.
That's pretty much the major changes. Other minor things, new car, lots of new video games, etc.
