It’s been (lawdamercyhowdidthishappensofast?) 16 years since I moved back to the area I grew up in and through that time I’ve had lots of questions about why I’ve chosen to make Wisconsin my home after having lived in New York, Los Angeles, Orlando, and for an all-too-brief, but absolutely glorious period, Paris.
There are so many reasons, beloveds!!! Family. Quality of life. Beauty. Community. I could go on and on and I will in subsequent blog posts. 🙂
Real quick before I get specific, Imma thumbnail sketch how I got to Wisconsin in the first place.
Twas the fates, methinks!
My dad was in the Air Force during the Vietnam War and met my mom when he was stationed at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines. He was from Brodhead, WI where his family had a farm and after he and my mom were married and had me, that’s where they headed. We moved to Milton, WI when I was 8 where I attended the middle school and high school.
When I was 18, after sowing some pretty wild oats at Beloit College which resulted in me jacking up scholarship opportunities with my increasingly shitty GPA (story for another time), my mom told me she thought I could pay for my education by being a model and enrolled me in the John Robert Powers School for Modeling in Milwaukee.
I’ll always be grateful to my mom for believing I could do that because it was never something on my radar and it led to me winning a number of awards at a competition in New York City which THEN led to me moving to New York City which THEN launched me working successfully in modeling and acting for over 25 years.
Never Say Never… Especially About Moving Back Home
One funny note. When I was living in all the cities I mentioned living in, I swore to GAWD I was NEVER gonna move back to Wisconsin. NEVERRRR!!!! EVERRRR!!!!!! It was mostly due to racist shit I endured when I lived here, tbh. And, well, in the spirit of further tbhonesting, some family stuff that went down, too.
But then the years passed. Robert and I moved all over the place and in between visits back to Wisco, we saw things slowly changing here. We saw more diversity. Relationships with family shifted. And when my honeypot and I had our first child, we didn’t vibe on Los Angeles, which is where we were living at the time as a place for us to raise kids.
In early 2008, my intuition started whispering something was off and quickly strengthened to an impossible to ignore roar telling me it was time for us to go RIGHT THEN AND THERE. I was getting a bad feeling about where we were living in North Hollywood, so we decided to sell our home and move back to Wisconsin because we wanted our son to grow up near his cousins in an environment of lots of natural beauty where public education was excellent. The timing was verrrry fortunate for us as that was the year of the housing crisis and we left just a heartbeat before it slammed into Los Angeles. Whew!!!!
Upon arrival, Robert and I took our time and were careful in our deliberations considering Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison before choosing Janesville as a hub that would allow us to hop over to any one of those other wonderful cities with ease.
Also, while I mentioned that we saw things changing with respect to diversity and inclusion, we still believe there’s a lot more work to be done, and back then we determined we wanted to be a visible part of how Janesville can be a great place to live because VISIBILITY MATTERS, BELOVEDS!
Huh. I think that was a both my thumbnails and alllll my fingernails sketch and maybe a skosh of soapboxing to share why I’m now living here. LOL!
Seems like a good time to pop on over to a few things I specifically love about living here in Janesville.
Hidden Gems in Janesville: Ice Age Trail Adventures Await!
First up. The Ice Age Trail. I’m so fucking mad I slept on that for YEARS!!!! Robert had told me how wonderful it was because he’d been biking it, but I didn’t take him up on his encouragement to check it out until the pandemic and, ohhhhhh, my goodness… SO MUCH BEAUTY!!!
The trail is like a priceless belt of jewels slung across Janesville because there are so many different lovely vistas around every curve. For miles and miles! As a matter of fact, The City of Janesville has more miles of the Ice Age Trail located within its city limits than any other Wisconsin community. Hellzyeah!!!
Prairie, pine groves, streams, playgrounds, cornfields, and parks. I’ve started naming some of the areas because, yes, I read the Anne of Green Gables series over and over as a kid and loved those books dearly and this summer I’ll take pics and share them with y’all. I’ve run, biked, walked, sat, cried, meditated, danced, and sang all along it. I invite you with all my heart to enjoy it for yourselves, too, if you’ve not yet acquainted yourself.
Library Love: Hedberg Is More Than Just Books
Next up, The Hedberg Public Library. Fun fact. Right before I went back to grad school I debated between becoming a librarian because I love books and knowledge so much or a mental health counselor because of my own experiences in therapy and my passion to learn about healing. Guess we all know how that turned out! Ha!
Anyways. I see The Hedberg Public Library as a sanctuary. And, you know what? The Milton Public Library. Okay. Alllll libraries are sanctuaries to me!!!
The nicest people. So much good information and opportunities. I’ve always loved the hush and peace in the main areas and the joy and exuberance where the children’s activities and readings take place. And, let’s not forget the instant digital downloads and apps that let me check out books to read on my Kindle in the middle of the night when insomnia visits. Truly a modern marvel that I always rejoice in!
Something that makes my heart sing about the Hedberg library, specifically, is their children’s library. It’s been a source of great joy to me to walk past the children’s books on display and see that they’ve been very deliberate in celebrating fun, beauty, and diversity with their selections. It soothes the pain from my past here and makes me so happy for our community’s now and future children to have these riches! Feeling compelled now… Shout out to you amazing librarians who cultivate these treasures!!! So thankful for you!
Why the Rotary Botanical Gardens Spark Joy (and Maybe a Hot Cocoa Addiction)
Just a couple of minutes down the road are the delightful The Rotary Botanical Gardens. They’ve got 20 acres with 26 garden areas including pretty, pretty internationally themed gardens inspired by Japan and England to name just a couple. And, in the winter, Holy Holiday Lights, Batman!!! The gardens dazzle with 1.5 million lights for visitors to enjoy on a leisurely after dark stroll. It’s so cozy and fun to go with friends and family. Especially when you grab a hot cocoa to sip along the way!
The Parker Arts Academy: Where Talent Thrives
Last, (just for this post, there will definitely be more to come about Janesville and our fab surrounding communities) is the Parker Arts Academy. We got RIDICULOUSLY lucky to have our youngest daughter be a part of their inaugural class as a freshman. The Hendricks Family Foundation generously provided a three year grant to fund it in the School District of Janesville within the Parker High School. It’s been awe-inspiring and thrilling to watch it develop and have our daughter be a part of it.
My family knows I’m just not a big theater person. Books are my jam. But I’ve been over-the-moon impressed and amazed with what the Parker Arts Academy has done in the past three and a half years! Their productions are top tier and if you’ve not gotten to go to one yet, I highly recommend that you do so! Not only are you supporting these wildly talented young folk and those who are guiding them, but you also get great entertainment right in your backyard! Go, go, go see a show!!! Grab tickets to their shows here.
The Parker Arts Academy, the local libraries, The Rotary Gardens, and The Ice Age Trail are a few of my favorite local gems here for us to enjoy and there are more I’ll be sharing, soon, about this city, its environs, and Wisconsin as a whole.
There’s just so much to love. If you check any of these places out, I’d be excited to hear what you think! Drop me a line if you’d like.
Tie it up with a bow, baby!
If there’s anyone looking for a tie in to well-being and mental health in what I’ve shared here. I say to you this… Listen to your gut. Live by your values. And cultivate joy and community wherever you are! One of my beloved clients taught me the phrase “Live where you land” and that’s EXACTLY what me and my family are doing here with exuberance, joy, and gratitude!
