One Journey's End

I have spent 29 days in Wisconsin.  I left Miami 31 days ago.  This fact astonishes me.  My life has changed dramatically in those few weeks and it is just going to change again after we get to our new home in Seattle.  J and I have accomplished so much in such a short time.  I didn’t think it was physically possible to do it all… in fact, tears were shed over how overwhelmed I was with everything on our to-do list as well as the things that popped up (like both cars needing repairs/attention). 

Here was the original list I posted awhile back (I crossed off what we did do):

1. Join this century and get an iPhone
2. Visit Greenfield News and Hobby with Dad
3. Madison (we saw the Farmer’s Market, State Street, Arboretum, Campus, Chazen Art Museum, Bluephie’s, Alchemy, Cooper’s Tavern, Genna’s, and the Old Fashioned with our friend Abe)
4. Make a trek up to MN to see a very special friend and her very adorable baby
5. Check out the Rusty Quarters arcade while in MN (instead we went out the night before)
6. Visit with J's high school buddy in MN
7. Go to my family's cabin
8. Brewer's Game (for J)
9. Go back to my old sanctuary: The Milwaukee Art Museum
10. Comet Cafe for Old Fashioneds and oh-so-bad-for-you-but-oh-so-good food
11. Sprecher’s Brewery Tour
12. Red Raspberry Frozen Custard at Kopp's
13. American Science and Surplus
14. Date at Alterra and Discovery World  (instead we saw Monster’s University and Despicable Me 2)
15. Dentist
16. Girl Day with my future sister-in-law
17. Treat our newlywed friends to dinner
18. Meet up with an old friend from middle school
19. Bake a Rhubarb and Raspberry pie with my grandma
20. Special Dinner with the 'rents
21. Enjoy time with my new puppy-sister
22. Barbeque with the Z's
23. Makin' stuff with Mom
24. Visitors! Emmy and her boyfriend in WI
25. Dream Items: karaoke, paintball, and/or laser tag!

I also managed to fit in a lot of family and friend time that didn't originally make that list.  It made for a very packed July.  Here is a sneak peek at the things that required scheduling... it doesn't show all of the impromptu errands and events.

Instead of writing a insanely long post regarding each and everything we did, here are just a couple of pictures of fun places and fun events:

I have always loved these giant, pink plastic snails in Coral Gables.  They added some humor to my time there.

I have a thing for funny statues.  Can you tell?  This orange moose was spotted on the way up to Minnesota and we made a point to stop by it on our way back to Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Art Museum is one of my favorite places on earth.  We spent hours there.  It was a windy day, so the "wings" were in, but our guests still seemed to enjoy the art and the architecture.

Madison!  Specifically the view from my first dorm.  I miss it a lot.  I kept reminding myself that I didn't miss winter, though.

A favorite stop for me and my dad: Groppi's Italian Food Market on the South Side of Milwaukee.  I'm not Italian, but I love the old-world feel of the place.

A new favorite piece for me at the Chazen Art Museum.  It is L'Amante by Beth Cavener Stichter.

A view from a farm off of "M" road.  This was one of the few places we had cell phone coverage at my family's cabin.

Speaking of their cabin... isn't it just the cutest?

Beautiful flowers from the local Farmer's Market/Amish Market in town.

Two of my favorite things in this picture: the hubs and oodles of books.  This is from my favorite used bookstore in town.

My mom and I went to the opening party for this bookstore a couple of years ago and they had a live band play.  It was really neat and the atmosphere was very welcoming.

Food from the local co-op.  New Glarus is a Wisconsin brewing company that only brews locally.  I'm not a big beer drinker, but their Serendipity, Raspberry Tart, and Apple Ales are amazing.  The kombucha is my weak way of bringing some health to my cheese-heavy diet.

We saw a lot of fun things while antiquing in town.  I bought an old camera.

The drive to Seattle is going to be rough, but my friend Miss E made me the sweetest care package to keep me occupied for the four days on the road!

So we didn’t get to go to the Rusty Quarters Arcade, but we did get to go out with a good friend.  And we didn’t get to go to Alterra (just the two of us) but we did get to go to some movies.  I didn’t get to see my middle school friend either, but I did get to see five girl friends from college and a Miami friend came to visit.  

Our stay in Wisconsin thoroughly covered friends, family, and terrain.  We did a lot in Milwaukee, a lot in Madison, and we even made it to Minnesota and spent some time in southwestern Wisconsin.  We did a lot of driving… and we are about to do a lot more.  

We are excited to take the next step in our lives.  I’m also a bit nervous too.  We have a lot of responsibilities to take care of as soon as we hit Washington.  I also should detox from the amount of dairy food I’ve consumed while in Wisconsin.  Thank you for joining me on this journey from Milwaukee to Miami and back again.   Maybe I’ll write about my life Seattle, but if I don’t, this was a fun project to chronicle what I’ve done and seen.  This Midwesterner is still adventuring…

Girl Reading by Johann Georg Meyer

... while she studies for her Master's in Library and Information Sciences.  Wish me luck!