and my hopes to see the Supreme Court in action are dashed once again....

because the Badger Catholic lawsuit has definitively ended!

I had the unique opportunity to be involved, in a small way, in these lawsuits with my alma mater during my college career.  It was a special, albeit somewhat crazy, glimpse into the constitutional law process and one that I would not trade.  I am grateful that the law has prevailed and that our First Amendment rights have been upheld, although I would be lying if I didn't say I am somewhat disappointed to not have an opportunity to travel to DC to see the Supreme Court in oral argument!  

When we discussed this tonight, B and I decided to travel there soon regardless, to watch an argument and to see the Justices in action (probably in the fall).  Hopefully we follow through on our plans!  

a presto 

pinch me, i'm dreaming

Seventeen years ago, my team went to and won the Granddaddy of them All.  Among the hundreds of thousands of spectators were my parents, who attended the festivities with my dad's side of the family.  Upon their return to the heart of the Midwest, my sister and I were regaled with stories of the famous parade and the amazing game in which our boys prevailed against the hometown Bruins of UCLA.  We were gifted with teal and yellow UCLA pompoms and enjoyed immensely the entertainment that they provided for the next several days.  The game and the ensuing victory were a big deal - it had been decades since their last Rose Bowl appearance, and it was the very first win by our alma mater.  

Looking back on the week following my parents' return from Southern California, I am certain that I felt a bit left out of all the hoopla surrounding the bowl game.  My sister and I were very young and understandably, too young to attend the festivities and instead stayed home with my aunt and uncle.  I'm fairly certain that this "left out" feeling contributed to the conversation my father and I had not long after they arrived back in Wisconsin.  

"Do you think they'll [the team] ever go back to the Rose Bowl?  And do you think that we'll get to see them there?" I said.  


"I tell you what," my father began.  "If they ever go back to the Rose Bowl, I'll take you there with me."  


Little did my father know that our team would go back just six years later.  Little did he also know that our team would go back the following year as well!  And as I recall those incredible back-to-back Rose Bowl runs, I know that I was much too young to have appreciated the experience at that time.  Our boys played in Pasadena on New Year's Day 1999 and 2000, and, understandably, we were not there to root for them.  It was, quite simply, not the right time.  


Fast-forward to fall of 2010, when perhaps the best football team our alma mater has ever had enjoys a thrilling run to the conference title.  Over the course of a few short weeks, we witnessed our boys upset the #1 team in the country, score 70+ points on more than one occasion, and be gifted with bright red roses following their final victory of the season.  A week later, it was decided: they would return to Pasadena, to the Granddaddy of them All.  


And now, more than ever, I wanted desperately to be there.  Sometimes there come these unique opportunities in life, where one wonders, "will this ever happen again?"  I know that those types of thoughts were running through my head as tickets went on sale, travel packages sold out, and it appeared as though every person in my fair state was headed to California without me and B.  I remember the night after our boys formally accepted the invitation to play in the Rose Bowl that I fell asleep with tears in my eyes, afraid that once again my team would go to Pasadena and I would be in Wisconsin instead, rooting them on from afar.  (I realize all of this probably sounds insanely self-centered, and I'm not quite sure I can word this in a way that won't sound remarkably selfish.  Bear with me.....)  


The next day, my dad called me.  He inadvertently secured four tickets to the Rose Bowl, two more (obviously) than he and my mom needed.  He phoned that night to call in his chips on the promise he had made 17 years earlier.  It was time to go to Pasadena.  B and I had to promise a whole host of things: a victory and our firstborn son, for starters.  After we scoured the internet for reasonable airfare out of Chicago and a cheap hotel in the greater LA area, it was decided: we were going to Pasadena!  

And 24 days later, a lifelong dream came true, and we went to Pasadena to cheer on our boys, who fought valiantly against the Horned Frogs but were unable to return victorious.  It was a gift, borne out of the incredible generosity of my parents, for which I was and remain exceedingly grateful.  Regardless of the outcome and despite the score not being in our favor, it was an amazing 36 hours, and an experience I won't soon forget.  

When we received these during our family Christmas, it all became amazingly real: we were actually going to Pasadena!  

We're HERE!

 On New Year's Eve, after a four-hour bus trip to Chicago, a four-hour wait in the airport, and a four-hour flight, we arrived in the City of Angels, around 11:30 local time.  After we rented a car, drove 40 minutes northwest to our hotel, needless to say, we passed out.  Fast-forward to Saturday, when we rose bright and early, grabbed breakfast, and sped off due east to Pasadena, cruising the Ventura Highway and giving the thumbs-up to fellow Badger fans on the road around us.  In the picture above, we're at the Rose Bowl official tailgate - about four hours before kickoff, soaking it all in.  

 The view from my parents' seats, about 45 minutes before kickoff.  Exceedingly surreal.  

The best band in the land!  

 Traditionally one of my favorite parts of the Rose Bowl - the sun setting late in the game, paired with the view of the San Gabriel Mountains to the north of the stadium.  

 Sad, sad, sad Badger.  We were bummed about the outcome (they came so close!), but dancing around to the Fifth Quarter songs with the band was a welcome consolation and a great way to leave the stadium!  One of my favorite memories was of the student section chanting "Go Pack Go!" as the Fifth Quarter ended - Green Bay was to play Chicago the next day for the right to be in the playoffs.  Looking back on it, it was a great rallying cry to an amazing playoff run by the Green and Gold!  :-)

 The iconic south facade, all aglow as we departed the stadium.  Miraculously, after a 20-minute walk around the bowl and a quick intercessory prayer to St. Anthony to help us locate our car, we found it, with little searching involved!  

 Fast-forward to about 26 hours later: following the game, we located our car, crawled with the rest of traffic on Linda Vista Drive toward the Ventura Highway, and then battled that crazy Los Angeles traffic back 40 minutes due west to "our" suburb for the night.  After a glorious stop at Red Robin (we were RAVENOUS), and a quick stop at a grocery store for a few breakfasty items for the airport the next morning, we arrived back at the hotel and passed out, only to wake around 3:00 local time, fill up with gas, and drive the 40 miles back to LAX.  After a 6:00AM flight back to Chicago, a four-hour return bus ride home, Holy Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany, and dinner, B all but passed out on our couch as we waited for my parents' plane to land at the local airport.  

And, as quickly as it began, our whirlwind 36-hour trip to "Wisconsin West" - the Granddaddy of them All - had come and gone.  

On Wisconsin :)

Praise to thee, our alma mater....

Three years and nine months ago, I embarked on my collegiate journey, which started with awkward conversation, memorable late nights, and the promise of four academic years in which I could study what I wanted in preparation for eventual further studies. Today, that journey - complete with all the uncertainty, all the anxiety, and all the triumph - culminated in the one hundred and fifty fifth Commencement Exercises at the University of Wisconsin, in which I participated. Everything seemed so surreal leading up to today - taking the last exam of my undergraduate career, picking up my cap and gown, celebrating my imminent graduation with family and friends at a small gathering outside of town yesterday afternoon. The most surreal part of all of this was the walk to the Kohl Center today with my roommates - three of us clad in caps and gowns, ready to partake in the upcoming ceremonies. There were times walking the bike path to the arena where I took a deep breath and thought to myself, "This is all actually happening. I'm walking to my collegiate graduation - is it even possible?" And then, a mere two hours later............it happened. I took to the stage and shook the Chancellor's hand and just like that, it was over. As the graduates piled out of the Kohl Center to meet their families, Professor Mike Leckrone led the UW Band in playing "The Bud Song," better known as the catchy tune from the Fifth Quarter that ends with the famous line, "When you say Wisconsin, you've said it all!" As the band played and the graduates left and the arena cleared out slowly, I stood to the side of the exit, taking in that last hurrah as an undergraduate, listening to that famous anthem that I've heard time and time again in my nearly four years as a student here. And that's when the nostalgia kicked in and I realized how much I will truly miss the four years I spent here as a student. "When you say Wisconsin, you've said it all...."

Two UW-Madison alumni - Grandpa (Pharmacy Class of '56) and me (Letters and Science Class of '08)

What exactly is the "and then what?"

Hello all, and welcome to my feeble attempt at a blog. 

It is my hope to keep updating this blog somewhat regularly, so anyone who might read it (friends, family, random people from the blogosphere) can get the frank, candid update about what's going on in my life. So often I'm asked that fateful questions: "What are you doing? What do you plan to do? What's on your plate for the next year?" Well, it's with this blog that I hope, however indirectly, to answer some of those questions. 

I thought I'd start off the blog by actually explaining its title, "Beginning the 'and then what?'" The phrase "and then what?" comes from one of my high school teachers from my last semester of senior year, Mr. McCaffrey. He repeatedly shared with us a story of taking his wife to a restaurant in my hometown, where he proceeded to strike up a conversation with the waitress. Eventually, she informed him that she was a dance major at the local state university, to which he (rather dryly) replied, "Oh, that's nice - and then what?" - meaning, great, you're a dance major....but after college, what do you plan on doing with that? It probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense; you probably would need to have met Mr. McCaffrey to have the total effect of the story. But it was hilarious when I first heard it five long spring semesters ago, during my last hurrah in high school. 

I'm calling this blog "Beginning the 'and then what?'" because that's exactly what I'm doing. For eight wonderful semesters (and five weeks abroad one summer) I have studied two subjects very dear to me - political science and Italian. But then the question comes - what exactly am I going to do with that? That's what I'm out to discover - it's a little scary, but it's also really exciting at the same time. I wish I could write more, but in order to start the "and then what?" of my life, I have to finish off two papers for an Italian literature class that are due to be consegnati (handed in) tomorrow.  

A presto, tutti....a presto! (Until later, all!)

UPDATE: In February of 2011 I changed the title of this blog to, quite simply, "The 'and then what?'"  It had been almost three years since the inception of the blog, and I felt as though the "beginning" stage (interning, getting married, beginning my vocation) had concluded and now, I'm squarely in the 'and then what?' - that fateful ether of life where, quite frankly, I am attempting to figure out just how God might be calling me to serve Him in this world.  Sorry for the confusion (if any)!  

And for those souls of the blogosphere that are stopping in, whether for your first, second, tenth, or perhaps last, time - welcome.  It is good to have you here.