Madison Weekend

One of our final adventures in the Ertel sistsers' apartment!

MSN Airport with Lyssa!

After our last official class I had a quick weekend trip planned to go back home and visit with family to refresh before the big boards study binge.  I flew back to Madison after class, just in time for my parents and Lyssa to pick me up at the airport.  From there we went to Becca's apartment to freshen up for an important family meeting.  Mom, Dad, and I were contacted by one of Joel's recipients and he was going to be in Madison for a routine post operative check up.  We wrote letters to all of the recipients, and received a few responses, but were delighted to hear when one family wanted to meet.  You can read more about meeting David on Up North At Peace.

 

What a wonderful gift and story...

Our families united by our bond with Joel - another sign of comfort from above.

 

Curty & Deb join into the roomie party - they were a big Kendall factor!

After meeting, Mom, Dad, and I sat down to talk and waited for friends to come over from Becca's apartment.  It was a regular Kendall Ave reunion!  We all gathered at the Great Dane to start the night until Curty and Deb went to visit the Helberg's just outside of Madtown.  After they took off, we decided to take the rest of the crew to the Essen Haus and finish with some wild polka!  We finished the night we a generous tip to the polka band and spent one of our last nights in Beccas apartment!

The next day, we made our way home and spent Saturday and Sunday in Seymour which was a nice break, and I was able to catch up with my Grandparents.  After my quick break, it was back to Pittsburgh to start in with hard core USMLE Step One studying...  Definitely worth it.

Lindsi, Jeanne, Stacey, Sarah Nahnsense, Lyssa, Me, Becca, and Emm! 

Madison Roomie Reunion

After much debate of where I would fly home from - it was decided that Madison, WI would be the last fun run before I returned to Pittsburgh.  I am so happy that we made the trip!  The morning after the Packer scrimmage, we brushed the foul taste of Toppers Sticks out of our mouth and jumped on HWY 151 back to Madison - one of my favorite Wisconsin cities.  Every time I'm in the Madison area, a rush of memories from undergraduate flood my mind.  We had so much fun together during those few short years.

We spent the afternoon catching up on the Olympic games at Becca's apartment and then pulled ourselves together to go out to dinner at a restaurant near the Wisconsin Capitol. I of course ordered tomato soup (one of my favorites) with cheese curds (ultimate favorite) piled on top as a garnish.  You really can't get more Wisconsin than that...  As a side, I had a grilled cheese.  Cheese, cheese, yum yum.

Cheese curds instead of croutons, and grilled cheese. Yum.

We spent the rest of the night migrating down State Street and checking out some of the new places that have gone up.  It's funny how much the city changes, yet how so much of it stays the same.  Madison is a wonderful place to live!  I was also really excited about potentially returning to the city at some point in our careers because they just started construction on a new GI Health center! Nice!

Jera, Lyssa, Me, Lindsi and Becs!

The next morning we met Windpants and his fiance out for breakfast at Perkins along with Sarah and Mike to hear all about their latest adventures!  I couldn't have asked for a better Madison roomie reunion, the only question is, when is going to be our next one?!