Dear Wisconsin,

I want to have a chat with the State of Wisconsin.

I have lived within your state for 4 years, nearly 5 now. I was originally here back in 1999-2000 knowing it was a temporary station in my life, but also relishing my first "big girl job." I liked WI, a lot. Except for the cold and very long winter. I relished the outdoor activity, loved the fact that we could go to Minneapolis on a spur of the moment. It was just fun. I, however, knew I was moving on and joining a volunteer service the following year, so I said good-bye and moved on. I have lived in 5 states in my adult life. Wisconsin is the only one that I have a volatile relationship with.

I moved back to Wisconsin in 2008 for grad school. I had no idea where I'd be after grad school. I stayed. I have never lived in a state that does construction on the exact same roads every single year... Wisconsin, do you duct tape the roads or something? I don't understand how the same road needs construction every year? I also don't understand why you have so much road construction... it really seems like a WI thing. Makes no sense to me. I guess you're providing jobs to people... I don't know. Maybe if the train would've actually happened there would be more jobs, less construction.

That's another thing. I have never lived in a state where people are so afraid of change. Like the high-speed rail. Why is WI so against public transportation? Things move at snails pace here. It reminds me of the church I grew up in. Every year we have a conference and every year important issues get tabled. That feels like Wisconsin. I don't like what Walker did to the state, and the changes he made kind of set us back like 50 years, but at least changes were made... and it made people realize that there needs to be change so they stood up. Let's see what happens next week...

Now onto the summers here. I love the weather here. Yes, it gets freezing cold in the winter (well, usually), but that can be dealt with. The summers here are beautiful. They are amazing. However, every summer since I've lived in Milwaukee I have had turmoil of some sort. Today is June 1. Not really the beginning of summer, but the beginning of summer months. I hurt myself earlier this week, it was getting better then I did something stupid and re-injured my back. I woke up today in EXCRUCIATING pain. All week I've dropped everything I pick up. It's also just in general been a crappy week. Please don't give me another crappy summer! The first summer I was here I got in a terrible bicycle accident, the second year I had knee surgery, last year I was looking for a job. I deserve a lovely summer.  Today I came into work and found out that insurance has gone up. So now I'm making even less money at work when I'm struggling already to pay bills. This summer, at this point, does not look favorable to me. I can easily laugh all this off and say that yes, I'm clumsy. That yes, I may have some bad luck but in so many ways I am very blessed. But I'm, right now, blaming it on Wisconsin. So, dear Wisconsin, please start making my life easier... there are 49 more states I can move to if you don't.

Thanks, :)