Update from Minnesota

Basically, Tim and I left Chicago a little under a week ago. We've kept it under wraps until now (or rather, as much as possible) simply because we didn't have the time to explain it fully. We gave our notice at work, packed up our stuff and high-tailed it to Minneapolis, MN. And we did all of this in a little under 2 weeks. Between the first call (June 9th) and our last day of work (June 20th) we had done nothing but plan, pray and hope to God that it would work out in our favor.

We left Chicago with no jobs, no house and very few possibilities, however we've had people on the ground in the area looking for us and helping us with job leads. This has been helpful. The last week has been an absolute drain on us, and we're still recovering.

As it stands today, Tim and I are renting a room from a friend's parents for short term, meaning about a month or so until we get jobs and enough money for a deposit and such. Tim has a job interview this afternoon, so I hope he gets it. I have a good chance of getting a job at another chain bookstore in the same area. I'm handing in my application today.

The issues we're facing right now are daunting, but we are well equipped to handle them. We've been crashing on the floor of a friend's house for the past few days, and they have been legitimately surprised by our drive to Get Things Rolling and to move on and up. I don't think a lot of people really understood our decision to move here. I'll try to explain.

Graduating college in 2008 was going to be a struggle. The economy, while still not at choking point, was starting to tank pretty bad. Graduating college in Michigan in 2008, with the expectation of getting a job was impossible. I can count on one hand the number of people who had jobs starting after graduation. None of them were instate. This was one reason why we moved to Chicago. We had hoped that the Michigan Unemployment/Job Bubble stopped just short of Chicago, and that we'd get jobs. As you know, this was not the case.

So after a year of working part-time minimum wage, we had a choice, thrust upon us by the rental company. Sign a new year long lease, or get out. Since our jobs were ending in December anyway, we got out. Minnesota's unemployment rate, while still high, is actually under the national average, and there *are* help wanted signs in the windows of stores and places where people work. Now, they're not great jobs, but they're jobs.

So we're in Eden Prairie. Jobs, while not overly plentiful, offer us some more stability than what we have had in Chicago. Once we figure things out a bit more, we'll update again.