South Korea Bound...in 4 weeks

To say the least, Kelly and I have had to make a lot of important decisions in the past couple of weeks. Once we landed in Omaha after our honeymoon, we only had about 6 weeks to find a place to live, work, change names, transfer bank accounts, investments, life insurance, selling cars, repairing cars, traveling for the holiday season and last but not least preparing to move to Korea. Kelly and I have about 2 weeks left at ACR, a company in which we have invested a combined 4 1/2 years of our lives at. The job has offered amazing experiences for the both of us, as well as has been our source of income which has served us well. It is bittersweet to leave ACR, as we are excited to start something new with our lives while at the same time sad to leave a job in which we were so familiar. The few weeks that we have left are stressful in themselves because we are constantly reminded that we will not be able to see everyone for at least 14 months.

It has been nice to ease in to the transition of being married while in America. Our original intention was to leave for Korea October 15th, 4 days after our honeymoon in Ireland. Yah, we were stupid. We have enjoyed experiencing the fall, especially not having to go to school. We have been trying our best to see everyone we can before we go, but we have realized seeing everyone is just impossible. We have been able to take part in many things such as our traditional "Valley Scare", carving pumpkins at my brothers house, visiting Stillwater with the in-laws and watching the Vikings win.


(the carvers; left to right, Pete, Kelly, Elizabeth, Dave)
(Stillwater Bridge)

Even though we have hit the ground running after our wedding, once we are done with our jobs in 2 weeks we will begin sprinting. After our last shift on November 20th, we will have approximately 19 days to pack all of our stuff, drive to Iowa, drive to Chicago, meet with the Korean consulate in downtown Chicago, celebrate Thanksgiving in Chicago with my family, fly to St. Louis, MO to visit Kelly's grandma and family, fly back to Chicago, drive to Michigan, drive back to Minnesota, pack for Korea, then fly to Korea. The newly wed buzz might (will) be put to the test.

This morning, in order to keep our sanity, Kelly and I walked around the Rosedale mall area because it was uncharacteristically nice out for November 9th. We stumbled across an REI store ("accidentally") and perused for a good hour or so (my weekly fix). Other than all my other visits to REI, we actually had an intention to buy something. We wanted to buy a duffel bag and I knew REI sold duffel bags that were big enough to fit humans. I went directly to the XXXL bags. Even though it was about $65, we decided it would be sufficient for the both of us to pack 14 months worth of clothes (4 seasons remember). Needless to say, once we got home I demanded Kelly to sit in it, and naturally I zipped it close with her in it...you would too if you had the chance. When I was in 5th grade, I convinced a girl to sit in an empty tuba case, and I latched it close with her in it. Don't gasp. She was alright, until the pounding stopped.