Summer fun!

The 77 Square miles blog began when we first moved to Madison, and I was trying to keep family and friends from MI, NC, even all the way to Seattle, updated on life in our new city. Now it's been four years.

Four years--that's right! Tom just passed the four year mark at his "new" job this month. That's hard to believe, actually, but the calendar says it's so.

Some days, because I don't post often, I think I've wasted the 77 Square title for someone who could really be using this blog for awesome Madison things... DAILY rather than a few times a year. Because... Madison is awesome... daily! Alas. I beat you speedy bloggers to it, and now I've bogged it down with non-Madison info as well.

I used to think that there would never come a time when the sight of the Capitol would no longer make me feel giddy. But sometimes when I drive in on ridiculously early mornings for various downtown engagements, I forget how cool it is.

But then there are other times, like last night as I was driving through the country on the way to drop off my "little sister" when we saw the Capitol glowing brightly in the distance, I remember how cool Madison is all over again. Or when I get called into the hospital (as a chaplain) in the middle of the night, and get to drive right through Capitol Square at 3 AM and gain a whole new perspective. Or when the nephews come to stay, like they did last week, and we have so many things to enjoy we start making next year's list of things to do half way through this year's week because we already know we won't get to do everything fun.

Yesterday, I got to hang in the Dells with the Diefs, my uncle and aunt and two of my cousins, with my "little." We wave-pooled ourselves out and enjoyed some roller coasters and water slides along the way. The Dells are so tacky and so fun all at the same time. And even though part of me cringes as I drive by one obnoxious billboard after another, I'm thankful they are in our backyard.


And tonight with the Diefs, the crème de la crème of cheese curds and beer: The Old Fashioned. For those of you that read this blog because you are searching for good Madison spots, do not miss out on their amazing selection of WI microbrews and cheesecurds with tigerblue sauce--yum! 


So four years out, and we're still having a blast. We joke that because every WI town--large and small--seems to have a cute little downtown and its own calendar of fun, WI has two seasons: winter and festival.


Let the festivities roll on!

2011 Highlights

So I’m back to unemployed again, which got me to thinking about blogging again since I have some more free time. And that’s when I saw this abysmally sparse blog for 2011—one picture of snow. Ridiculous. (Though 2012 me is seriously jealous!)

It has been a pretty busy year, admittedly. So here are some highlights to catch up on 2011.

·        Europe—Tom and I took another vacation of a life-time in September touring northern Europe on a heritage tour with his dad and about 50 other elderly folk from the Bentheimers International Society (BIS). BIS is group of people from the county of Bentheim, Germany—either currently residing there or connected by heritage. We visited Prague, Salzburg, Geneva, Strasbourg, Bentheim/Nordhorn, and Amsterdam along the way. While we have vowed to never again take a bus tour, it was a pretty amazing way to see so many beautiful places. Our Christmas card below gives an overview. We worshipped in the church where Tom’s great great great grandparents had worshipped as well as visited the Scholten farm, saw Bach’s baptismal font, visited the Reformation museum, worshipped at the World Council of Churches on the International Day of Prayers for Peace, biked through the Dutch countryside, and enjoyed Prague perhaps most of all. 

·        I completed my first interim ministry gig. This included preaching every week, which—turns out—I love more than I thought I would. It also included moving a church from a historical downtown building to a new facility. I concluded this position the end of December, and I confess, it was such a whirlwind of an end, I am still remembering things I didn’t get done. I am absolved: as I continually reminded myself and the congregation when we weren’t completing things as hoped—we moved from one building to another. No pastor should have to do this more than once ever, but it certainly was an adventure!

Well, this is sounding like one of those cheesy Christmas letters, so I think that’s enough for now. Hopefully, I’ll have something more profound or at the very least somewhat humorous to write about in the near future. For now, back to catching up on the long list of to-dos early unemployment brings and a new book on the Nook.

All the best in 2012,

Jess