I was able to spend five days in Wisconsin this past weekend! It was wonderful to see friends and family again, for the first time in months. I was sent home by my FOCUS Regional Director in order to fundraise more. I’m just short of the minimum amount FOCUS would like all their missionaries to raise, but I jumped at the chance to spend a few days at home. It was difficult to focus on work, when I was surrounded by friends and family all weekend. I did get a little bit of work in, but I think I spent most of my time socializing!
One week ago, on Friday, I spent the day in Madison. My sister made me breakfast—homemade cinnamon rolls! We ate together and then went to daily Mass. It was absolutely wonderful to be back at the UW, hearing Fr. Eric give a homily. I have a wonderful priest in Virginia, but it was a nice change to hear Fr. Eric telling jokes on the altar during his homily!
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I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with old friends—classmates, roommates, women who were in my Bible study. Although I try to stay in touch with everyone back home, there’s something different about talking to people in person. I definitely enjoyed hearing about how medical school was going for my friend Betsy, how St. Vincent de Paul Society was taking off for Mykenzie, or how Krista was adjusting to life as an intern. I loved being back, but it also made leaving more difficult than I thought it would be, knowing that I wouldn’t be back in Madison for another two months at the earliest.
I stayed the weekend in Kenosha, WI at the Holy Rosary Rectory. I had never stayed in a rectory (the building where a parish priest lives), and it was incredibly generous for the priests to allow me to stay there! I had a whole suite of rooms to myself—a bedroom, sitting room, and bathroom! It was so much more than I was expecting. It was a little disconcerting when I would hear creaks in the night. The rectory is a huge old building, so it wasn’t unexpected, but I still jumped a little bit.
On Saturday, I got to visit my friend Ellen, who was my roommate last summer, in Milwaukee. We ate lunch in the Milwaukee Public Market, which was really cool! The Milwaukee Public Market has a bunch of food stands—bakeries, a candy stand, a coffee shop, and a lot of ethnic foods. I got chicken curry, which was delicious! We also went to the Milwaukee Art Museum, which was really cool! There were some really beautiful pieces, but also some that were a little strange. The building itself is a work of art—it’s built to look like a ship, and is located right on the shores of Lake Michigan. You can see the shoreline with trees, which were all in color for fall. The man-made art was great, but nothing can beat the beauty of nature! We would have walked along the shore a little, but it rained the whole time we were there.
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I came home to Green Bay on Monday, and spent the afternoon with my Mom. It was so nice to see her, and spend time with her. Talking on the phone is great, but, again, there’s nothing like a face-to-face conversation. We made my favorite foods for dinner during the week—taco salad and white chicken chili! I love being home, where I can eat good food without having to put in the work! Although, I don’t really mind cooking when I have to!
I left Wednesday morning, but on Tuesday, I was able to see my friend Rachel who works in Appleton. Rachel and I were both religious studies majors at Wisconsin, and are now both doing work for the Catholic Church. Rachel is working for Spiritus, and organization that puts on retreats for confirmations and other students in Green Bay and the Fox Valley. It was wonderful to see her, and hear how her work is doing. We found that are jobs are really similar in some ways, but very different in others.
I’m back in Virginia now, unpacked, and ready to get back to my normal schedule next week!
