Holiday greetings! This 2022 newsletter is brought to you from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Nelson-George household is upholding our fifth-annual tradition.
Moving into a new year, we would like to extend our warmest wishes, virtual hugs, and all our love to our family and friends—the wonderful people in our lives that make these holiday good-feelings worth sharing. (You.)
Thank you for being an important part of our lives! We’re filled with love and gratitude for each of you.
2022 in review
MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS
- Well, the big one…Chad, Wally, and I moved from New Castle, CO to Milwaukee, WI!
- We’ve added several real estate transactions to our resume! Sold, rented, and bought in the past year
- Chad got a new job at Graef in downtown Milwaukee
- We celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary this September, followed by our 11th year together in November 🖤
WINTER
Winter started off with a bang. In a whirlwind matter of weeks, Chad and I decided to change our lives completely, pretty much on a whim. We were feeling a little stuck, so we jumped into an adventure that just seemed like the perfect non-adhesive recipe: we quickly made plans to move across the country once Chad went through a series of interviews and was subsequently offered a structural engineering position in Milwaukee.
After Chad accepted the job, we put our house on the market and got it ready to sell (kudos to our agent Haddie Lopez), started skiing at Sunlight as much as possible, and spent all remaining moments cramming in quality time with our family and friends, knowing how much we’d soon miss them.
In February, we decided to make a quick trip to Milwaukee (our first time ever visiting), where we instantly fell in love with the city. During our three-day visit, we were able to tour houses with our MKE realtor (Ginger Lazovik is the best of the best) and we went under contract on a beautiful Victorian house in Brewers Hill.
In between hours of packing and selling most of our things on Facebook Marketplace, Chad and I visited as many people as possible. We spent quality time with my parents, Tyler, Natalie, and Nora, and found out that we were going to be an aunt and uncle again. 🙂 We got to say goodbye to Chad’s parents and grandma (plus his old, trusty Jeep).
We did a farewell tour in Denver, which included a dreamy matinee showing of Hamilton (the best Christmas present ever, thank you Chad!) and cramming in moments with each of our 5,280-based loved ones one last time. It was really tough to say goodbye.
During these months, Chad and I also spent a significant amount of time with our neighbors—laughing, updating, venting. They kept us sane as we rushed into a major life change, always offering advice and beer at the garage door. Once, even gas when we ran out on the on-ramp back home to New Castle. (We miss you guys.)
We moved out of our New Castle home on February 28. I’m not going to lie: it was an emotional experience (exacerbated too, by a frazzling and horrifying moving company ordeal) that fueled a 22 hour-straight drive to our new city with no breaks.
A few favorite posts from winter 2022:
SPRING
We kicked off spring in a new city, living in a temporary apartment on the Milwaukee River. While we were initially worried about how our very large dog would handle living in a 600 sq ft unit without a yard, Wally adjusted nicely and it became a nice habit to take him on daily walks. We only lived in our apartment for three months, but we loved every moment. The location on the water was fantastic and it was walkable to a lot of fantastic places near us.
Shortly after the move, Chad started his new job at Graef and I was able to continue my business, maintaining each of my Colorado clients digitally.
Because we used a moving company and had issues, we unexpectedly didn’t have our things for quite some time. We mostly enjoyed our new minimalistic lifestyle, but the worst part was sleeping on an air mattress for three months. It’s affirming to know that if we could get through that, we could do anything.
Chad and I jumped right into exploring Milwaukee and familiarizing ourselves with the culture, especially the food and drink—taking in all the cheese curds and breweries at our disposal. (Note: there’s quite a lot.)
We met up with a Colorado connection, a friend-of-friends Haley, for a Saint Patrick’s Day pub crawl. This kicked off a really wonderful friendship for us in MKE, and we’ve been so fortunate to have Haley in our lives ever since.
For my birthday, I rang in 27 with a delicious dinner with Chad and a weekend involving beach walks along our ocean-like lake Michigan, bowling, and fun at the 3rd Street Market Hall.
In April, we crashed a wedding and found ourselves in Baraboo, WI for a night with our old New Castle neighbors, celebrating the love of strangers with a few familiar faces. Later, we got to see one of my favorite bands, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, at the Pabst Theatre. A few weeks after, we caught a full-house Charlie Berens show, which gave us a full introduction to Wisconsin from Milwaukee’s hometown celebrity.
In May, Chad and I took our first trip back to Colorado for a quick weekend. We went to a wedding (shout out to the incredible Mitchell and Rachel for such a wonderful time), saw my parents, spent time with my brother Tyler’s family, and got my first sunburn in months (the grey skies in WI are no joke).
Back in Milwaukee, Chad and I finally closed on our new house, and began painting and furnishing before move in. We got the keys to our historic Victorian home and have been loving every single moment with it ever since: it was built in 1888 and we are obsessed with its charm, character, and location! We’re about a mile from Lake Michigan, a five to seven-minute drive to any part of the city, and Chad can walk 25 minutes to work if he wants. (As a one-car family, we’ve definitely utilized this option more than once.)
A few favorite posts from spring 2022:
SUMMER
Summer kicked off in a big way and remained jam-packed and busy from start to finish. Blue skies emerged and Milwaukee woke up, buzzing with an unmatched energy of a city excited to make the most out of its beautiful weather—Chad and I included.
And so we did: a major highlight was the several days we spent lakeside, both at Lake Michigan (Atwater Beach was an instant favorite) and other lakes spread out inland, as well as beer gardens at local parks. We went to our first Brewers games and loved our experiences at AmFam Field (though you might want to call it Miller Park around the locals, lol). We added two weekly routines into the mix: first, Chad’s work softball league, and second, trivia with Haley.
Chad turned 28 and to celebrate, we spent a weekend in Lake Geneva. We had a blast touring the area, learning about its rich Chicago-influenced history and their incredible mail jumpers.
Our own Brewers Hill neighborhood blossomed and we were blown away by the lush beauty of our surroundings. Everything turned green. The Sanger Gardens, a tucked-away public garden, became an immediate favorite.
Over the summer, Chad and I traveled back to Colorado two more times. In July, we went to Gunnison for Chad’s 10 year high school reunion. We had SUCH a fun time connecting with old friends (shout out, especially, to our dear friend Emily for being such a fantastic rock and coordinator) and riding in the Cattleman’s Day Parade (I got to, too, lol). We squeezed in time with Chad’s family, my former softball coach, D, and even my parents drove two hours to see us for a few minutes between festivities.
Chad and I came back to Colorado for a week in August, this time for a family reunion. We split our time between Grand Junction and Denver. We saw my grandparents, my brother Spencer and his family visiting from Turkey, my aunts Mary, Becky, Stacy, my uncle Jess, and my cousin Lindsay. I also was able to see my brother Tyler’s family and meet my new niece Vivian. It was also great to spend time in my favorite place (my parent’s pool, lol), and take a hike on the Grand Mesa.
In between our travels back to Colorado, Chad and I tried to make the most of our time in Milwaukee. Some fun events included Summerfest, the Brady Street Festival, and the Wisconsin State Fair. We were also happy to host our friend Megan, who traveled all the way from Denver to see Haley and us.
Summer went by fast! Thanks to our proximity to Lake Michigan, temperatures never got too hot for us, though Chad spent many of the warmest hours doing bridge inspections all over Milwaukee and beyond. On our best days, Wally and I broke up our work-from-home afternoons with walks to the river.
Some favorite posts from summer 2022:
FALL
The fall months came in a similar busy-but-fun fashion.
The season began with yet another trip back home to Colorado, this time staying in Grand Junction and attending a wedding (shout out to Taylor and Nick’s gorgeous Montrose retreat!), celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary, going to Winefest with my parents, and spending a few days with our best friends Alexis and Jessica (and meeting their wonderfully adorable baby, Kai). This was an incredible trip and we came out of it with many memories—a few of us, new tattoos.
Shortly after arriving back home, Chad and I played host again. This time, to my parents for the first time. We spent a lovely week playing tourist in our city, exploring the best spots: the Mitchell Creek Domes, a Brewer’s Game, all the beaches, brunch favorites, the Milwaukee Public Market, and all of our go-to spots in-between. We did a city tour, which was a great decision to learn history and view local landmarks. My parents seemed to especially enjoy Vagabond, an Airstream-themed taco joint on Water Street (one of our favorites, too) and the incredibly cool Harley Davidson Museum. It was an incredible week! Thank you, Mom and Dad, for coming to visit!
Later on in fall, Chad took the Professional Engineering exam and passed! This was a huge achievement for him in his career, and I could not be more proud.
Fall had several amazing social opportunities for us; I met up with new groups of friends, Chad and I hosted a margarita night (shout out to my childhood friend Annie for driving from Chicago to attend!), we had an incredible Friendsgiving meal (thanks to Brittany and Adam for hosting!), I made a scarf at a girl’s craft night, I started taking classes taught by a new friend at The Barre Code, and Chad and I had so much fun at a Hallmark-dip-chili-pajama party (kudos to Amanda, Jaci, and Denver!). SO much fun.
The autumn colors lasted for several months in Milwaukee, and Chad and I loved every moment. We tried out the famous “apple pie in a paper bag,” along with apple cider donuts, hay rides, and pumpkin-picking at the Elegant Farmer with Haley and were not disappointed by all the seasonal festivities.
As the temps started to drop, Chad and I started taking the fun inside with house projects. We finally painted our basement and furnished it, which has made for a cozy additional space to relax. We also took a few staycation opportunities around Milwaukee and Sheboygan (“the Malibu of the Midwest!”), to mix things up.
I had an amazing opportunity to meet up with my mom in Minneapolis for a long weekend, which so, so nice! It was a quick visit and I loved spending time with her. I also got to sneak in a very quick and wonderful meal with my cousins Jaime and Lily. Later in November, we gained another nephew! Congrats to Anna and Steven and welcome to the world, Holdyn!
I’m rounding out the year with my same Colorado-based clients, a few blogging collaborations, a magazine feature, and a new goal to submit a creative writing short story to a literary journal in 2023. I’ve continued contributing to Glenwood Springs Magazine and was honored with several cover stories in their Summer/Fall 2022 issue.
For the holidays, Chad and I opted to stay home and see what the midwest has to offer (which might’ve been influenced by the four trips to CO in under four months over the summer, lol). For Thanksgiving, we had a wonderful Chinese food meal and painted our basement; for Christmas, we’re hosting Haley for a festive Mexican-themed meal at our home.
A few posts from fall 2022:
Onward to 2023
As we celebrate the beginning of a new year, Chad and I are thankful for all the joy and love that 2022 brought to our lives. It was an incredible year of change for us, and we’re looking forward to see what comes next.
Overall, this has been a year we never could’ve expected. Who knows what’s in store for 2023? Cheers!
Lots of love and light,
Savannah, Chad, and Wally
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