Laid Off

We were delayed getting back from our honeymoon, because Chicago was having a HUGE snowstorm. We were supposed to get home around 6:00pm Sunday night and didn't end up getting back till about 2:00am Monday morning. I had taken Monday off work, because I am always so tired after trips, but Russ had to work. We arrived at the airport, picked up our luggage, went to our car and headed home. We didn't get home till about 4:00am due to the snow etc. Russ basically took a shower and headed into work. I spent the day sleeping and doing laundry. Russ came home around his normal time and said we needed to talk. He told me that his company laid him off due to a lack of work. Russ had know that his company wasn't doing the greatest, but he thought he was safe, at least for a while. I was wondering if Russ' company was going to get us a wedding gift, and I guess they did, it is called unemployment.

Russ said that they company wanted to bring him back, but they just weren't sure of how things were going to go. Russ decided that he couldn't wait around for them. The job hunt begun, we would move anywhere at this point, and do anything. I had a pretty good job, but Russ really needed one too. So he got on unemployment and started looking. I knew that he probably wasn't going to find anything until after the holidays, but I also didn't know how long we could make it and how long we could take the uncertainly.

It was not easy only being married for 2 months and just getting back from our honeymoon when this happened. We were being tested for the first time in our marriage and we were going to have to figure out how to pass.

***Looking back on this now (in 2012) this was just the start of what would happen with our economy as it would continue to worsen. It is still bad today. However, at the time it is happening you are just thinking of you not about the economy in general.***

Waking Up In Vegas (Honeymoon)

We decided to do our honeymoon a few months after our wedding. We had paid for our wedding ourselves and needed to be able to save up the money. We also had a lot of people visiting from out of town when we got married, since Russ and his family are from Montana. We wanted to spend time with our guests and recover from all of our partying before going away on a trip.

We decided we wanted to go to Las Vegas for our honeymoon. I had never been, but Russ has been there a lot and really liked it. We flew out Wednesday to return on Sunday. This was also Thanksgiving weekend, so a great time to go when it wasn't so crowded. Russ surprised me by having a limo pick us up from the airport, so I could see the sights of Vegas in style.

We stayed at Treasure Island in one of their honeymoon suites, it was really nice. We went to Toby Keith's I Love This Bar and Grill, Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, and tons of other buffets. We toured almost every hotel to see how incredible they all really are. We went to Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, and Old Downtown Las Vegas to all of those casinos. It was fabulous, there were not a ton of people, I think to do it being Thanksgiving weekend.  It wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold either. They funny part was Las Vegas actually broke a record in the amount of rain they had gotten. They got about 1/4 inch in a day and they couldn't deal with it. It was nothing being from Chicago, I hardly even noticed it was raining. :)

Mr. and Mrs.

Of course all of you are reading this in 2012, but in order for you to know our story you have to know about us. September 27, 2008 we became Mr. and Mrs. At the time it was the happiest day of my life (it would remain the happiest day of my life until Avery was born). We had a small wedding just immediate family and very close friends. This day was the culmination of our whirlwind romance. We met in January 2008, were engaged in May 2008, and married in September 2008. Probably, one of the craziest things I ever did, but so worth it. Almost 4 years later, although a lot has changed, our love remains a constant.