Living the WI Life 4/26/2022

 Living the WI Life 4/46/2022

I'm BACK!  I stumbled upon my old blog purely by a serendipitous "accident".  A friend posted on Facebook about Googling herself and found a wonderful photo memory of her mom and her that was published in a local newspaper.  So, being the curious one I am, I Googled myself.  Low and behold my blog showed up!  I have not done an entry for many years and I suddenly realized how much I missed it and how cathartic it was for me to write it.  I love writing and this was always a wonderful outlet for me and my many musings about life.  I thought about what I might write and decided it was very appropriate to write about my life in WI.

Back in 2013 Artie, my sis-in-law Sue, brother-in-law Vince and I came to Green Lake to spend a weekend at Miller's Daughter Bed and Breakfast.  The B & B was so charming, as were the owners.  When living in Janesville for a short stint of 15 months we discovered Green Lake and the Heidel House and loved the area.  We began dreaming about a second home - and that was all it was - a dream.  Little did we know how one weekend can change the course of your life down the road.  

We did a lot of shopping and ended up in Princeton (which turned out to be prophetic for Sue and Vince).  We entered a lovely shop called "Johnny Crow's", a very eclectic vintage wares store. Sue, knowing how much I love vintage homes (our home in Janesville was a Painted Lady Victorian home, restored lovingly by the previous owners)came rushing up to me with a flyer and said, "I found your home!"  I looked at it and saw it was a real estate listing for our current home.  I showed it to Artie and we both agreed we wanted to see it if possible before we returned home.  We called the realtor (the Biermans) and we were able to get a showing.  Much like my reaction to entering the Janesville home, my heart skipped a beat.  It was charming and we both fell in love, not only with the home but its proximity to Lake Puckaway and the size of the property.

We did not take any action on putting a bid in, choosing instead to mull it over.  After two weeks of thinking about the house and not being able to get it out of our minds, we called for a second showing.  We drove up and made our decision to place a bid.  In typical WI fashion, we did not hear back for several days. Not being used to this style of real estate negotiations.  After some back and forth phone calls, we settled on a deal and our dream was in its infancy.

Because we were in IL we drove up for the closing, which was on September 11, 2013 - Artie's birthday.  We brought Guinness along and he even came with us to the closing.  The bank employees were enamored with him, bringing him treats and coming in to pet him. We had rented a truck that contained as much as we could put in it, including our mattress, and our WI adventure began in earnest.

Much about our lives changed from that day on, mostly good, but peppered with some sadness as well.  We lost Guinness at age 14, my mom passed away, and I had a couple surgeries, as did Artie.  But in general, we were blessed with more happiness than sadness, a lot of it due to our little white house in the tiny Village of Marquette.  Beau came into our lives in 2013 and became my world. Because Artie could work remotely we could spend a few weeks at the house at a time.  A lot of renovations took place and we reveled in the many changes that made the house our own while maintaining its valued integrity, something we both felt passionately about.  We added a second amazing Standard Poodle when we rehomed our sweet and crazy Feuers. 

We also discovered we shared our home with a special "resident". Strange goings-on kept occurring with no practical reasons for their happening.  Clock arms sticking straight out, clocks on the floor when we would come up, items moved, and more.  Because we were students of the history of the original owners and those who followed, we decided our "roommate" was Georgia, a previous owner.  Having nothing other than a photo that showed a devilish smile and twinkle in her eye, we accredited the harmless shenanigans to her.  Georgia has had her fun with us, but thankfully has never appeared nor has done anything harmful.  We decided to simply co-exist and are still dealing with her playfulness to this day.  While an owner of this home she would come from Oregon to spend summers in it.  She LOVED the house and she was responsible for the screened porch that was added (and has since been removed during one of our renovations).  Georgia didn't want to leave her home and we can see why.

Our focus and the "outsiders from IL" was to assimilate with the village residents and what a joy that became.  We met so many awesome people and with several, we became instant friends - hanging out at the old Pub 'N Prime supper club, which has since closed.  Pete and Laura's fabulous restaurant became our weekend place to go (sometimes two evenings on the weekend). Pub 'N Prime is responsible for most of our friendships and we are eternally grateful.  Through our visits to the supper club, we joined the Marquette Historical Society (where we are now trustees/directors) as well as becoming active in the village in general.  Artie was asked to fill the position of Village President which was being vacated.  He accepted and filled the remainder of Pete's term.  Recently he was re-elected by ballot.  Artie has given his all to our village and spends hours weekly trying to write grants to help our little community.  He serves on many local county committees as well.

In September of 2013, we became permanent residents of the Village of Marquette. It was my husband's dream to retire here and we made it happen.  Not gonna lie.  While we love our WI friends it was a gut-wrenching move for me. Artie flourished in his new environment.  Leaving our children and grandchildren, our many friends, and our "old lives" was much harder for me.  Because I am a creative junkie our area provides so many artistic experiences for me that it eased my transition and allowed me to accept we would now be a 2.5 hour drive back to IL.  There are more days that fill my soul with happiness and the beauty that is WI, than days when my heart aches for "home".  My Nikon gets a workout and my studio hums with the vibes of creativity coursing through my veins when the painting urge strikes.  Thank you, Grandpa Rossi and Mom for your creative DNA that made its way into mine. It has been a lifesaver for me.

I am not quite a "Cheesehead" by any means, will NEVER not be a Chicago Bears and Chicago Cubs fan, but I have embraced what it means to be a Wisconsinite.  People are "MIDWEST FRIENDLY" for sure.  Can't wait to see what our future holds.  ON WISCONSIN.