I'm leaving my heart in Wisconsin

It's natural for people to forget about me but I will carry you with me wherever I go. My last day at WISC is June 17th and it is truly bittersweet.

When we moved to Madison three years ago, we thought we would likely make this our home for several years, if not indefinitely. We are from the Midwest and this genuinely felt homey. We drank the Wisco kool-aid, cheering on the Packers and Badgers and eating cheese and cheese and cheese. And beer. And ice cream. And sausage. 

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13 pounds later, I found myself immersed in the Sconnie food scene, chatting about the latest restaurant openings, asking questions about sustainability and writing about it in Madison Magazine. I will really miss the food... the pounds not so much.

We became true wannabe Wisconsinites. We embraced the cold. We fell madly in love with the summers. My mom even said I picked up a slight accent.

They say Madison is a place where you can achieve your dreams and we certainly believe it. My husband went back to school full-time (thank you Madison College) and is now working as a developer for a news corporation. He had so many mentors here and I know he will miss the friendships he made working at UW or going to school at MATC.

This community is full of smart, progressive and creative people. Thanks to you I became a more thoughtful journalist and believe I worked smarter as well. I am incredibly proud and humbled of the work we did. I'm indebted to Madison for helping me be more comfortable in my journalistic skin.

Jim and I are leaving with heavy hearts. We have already wondered if we'll ever be able to capture this experience again. That part is scary.

At the same time, we know that life is about moving forward. There are few places that we'd want to live outside of Madison but we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move to one of them.

At the end of June, we'll be moving to Seattle. I have accepted a job at KING-TV.

KING has a reputation for leading the industry in storytelling and news excellence. I am humbled and honored (and sometimes baffled) they picked me to be a member of The Home Team. My new boss even expanded my role to include reporting, anchoring and working on company wide digital projects. It seems there are lots of opportunities to tell meaningful stories on several platforms.

READ: Deleste, Lewis to take on new roles at News 3 

If you remember, my sister Hyun Jeong and her husband Glenn moved to Wisconsin a year after we did. My sister has graciously volunteered to help us for a while in Seattle while Glenn continues his studies. It makes me giddy.

I also can't wait to see my friend Joanna, who works for KIRO, the CBS affiliate. She is the one who started it all, asking me to come to Seattle for a visit and "even meet my news director." I won't be working with Joanna again but she has helped us make this move work. Thank you, Joanna.

We're very sad to be farther away from our family in Missouri but we know they're happy for us and we can't wait to show them around Seattle. My parents are already planning a trip! Plus we do have some family in the Seattle area so it will be nice to catch up!

Thank you for everything, Madison. You have not heard the last from me but I do hope you'll stay in touch on Facebook. We weren't here long but you certainly left a lasting impact on us. We'll be back!

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