Holiday greetings! This holiday newsletter 2024 is brought to you from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where the Nelson-George household is upholding our seventh-annual recap 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 that make these holiday good-feelings worth sharing. (You.)
Thank you for being an important part of our lives! We’re filled with so much gratitude for each of you.
2024 in review
Table of Contents
We’re trying something new here! Feel free to jump through the sections with this table of contents.
Major highlights
Winter
Our second Wisconsin winter was one for the books! Even with mild weather (okay, more grey skies than we’d like), this season still came with a bang.
Wiffle ball was a major part of winter, especially as my team dominated and took home the championship (again). Tuesdays at Broken Bat Brewery with LeftySwagBats Wiffle Ball Club are a high point of our week, year-round.
In January, Chad and I had a blast celebrating our friend James’ birthday with a third shift-themed bar crawl. This meant braving the bars at 6 a.m. with the regulars—what felt like a uniquely Wisconsin experience. This was a highlight, compared to the day I broke my front tooth in half while chewing on a slice of pizza. (Don’t worry, it was quickly fixed!)
Around this time, Chad also went to Madison, where he took a week-long class on leading bridge inspections. Then, his company hosted their annual holiday party late in the month, taking us to the beautiful Ivy House.
I’m not sure how to describe February other than using the word “unexpected.” Many things took us by surprise; first, when Chad said he wanted to get matching tattoos (and we did!), and later, when Chad’s cousin Luke passed away unexpectedly and we found ourselves in Colorado for his funeral.
Even with such a loss (and subsequent grief), the rest of our winter was still full of glimmers, too; family and mountains, a Galentine’s Day dinner, a Buck’s game, a tiki crawl (and hosting our dear friend Annie from Chicago), PubPass adventures, and a Super Bowl watch party were all reminders of how good life can be to us.
A few favorite posts from winter 2024:
Spring
Spring brought new cheer and warmth to our household, though we remained busier than ever.
March came as a whirl—insane, chaotic, stressful, fun, and wildly busy. Most of the month was dominated by magazine deadlines (I think I wrote 15 across three publications, with late nights to prove it). There were also bar crawls and restaurant launch parties and lots of wiffle ball.
And as a pièce de résistance, Chad shocked me with a surprise trip for my golden birthday, complete with a guessing game.
In Scottsdale, we met up with our best friends Alexis and Jessica, and enjoyed much-appreciated time together (much spent by the pool, of course).
Later in Spring, Chad and I did a 5k race with our friends Kelli, Leslie, and Jackson on Milwaukee’s lakefront! Chad did a great job, beating his PR! We also began playing in a sand volleyball league with our friends Amanda, Jaci, Sam, and Kelli, in addition to my weekly wiffle ball games.
For us, the Art in Bloom exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum was incredible, I got to see a tulip farm, we became novice WWE fans, and Wally turned 4. We also went on our first Lakefront Brewery tour (an exciting Milwaukee bucket list item)!
May continued centering fun. We attended a derby party (Laura and Ryne were lovely hosts), went to several beer gardens, and co-hosted our own extravagant Bridgerton party. Our talented friend Kelli made all of the delicious canapes and treats, and our guests showed up in their Regency Era best.
I ended spring with a quick solo trip to Grand Junction to surprise my dad for his birthday! It was a quick visit that was well-worth the secret-keeping. 🙂
A few favorite posts from spring 2024:
Summer
In true Savannah and Chad fashion, our summer 2024 was packed in all the best ways. We made the most out of Milwaukee’s best time of year! This meant doing our best to enjoy the fresh air, blue skies, and fresh water surrounding us.
Summer kicked off with a special event: we celebrated Chad’s 30th birthday! A group of friends went to Camp Chad—a summer camp-themed romp in northern Wisconsin’s lake country. We had a wonderful time ushering Chad into his next decade. 🙂
Summer had countless highlights, including:
- Our first trip to the Wisconsin Dells (the waterpark capital of the world!) to celebrate our friend Sam’s birthday
- A margarita crawl
- Kayaking on the Milwaukee River
- A beer tour
- Weekly sand volleyball games
- The 4th of July spent on the beach
- Our work softball league
- Brewers games
- Summerfest concerts!
Like I said, packed to the brim.
Up next, we had a blast at our first-ever Renaissance Faire. Then again, when we grabbed a bucket of beers (a Chad bucket list item) with our friends Amanda and Jaci before they set off to Arizona (we miss you!).
We then set off for some travel. First, to Sioux City for my grandpa’s 90th birthday party and reunion with extended family. After, I went along with my brother, nephews, and parents to Wisconsin Dells and Door County, before hosting everyone back in Milwaukee.
The rest of our summer was typical. We filled it with beach days, an inflatable pool in our backyard, baseball games, and lots of memories made with friends.
A few favorite posts from summer 2024:
Fall
Par the course, our fall remained booked and busy. We kicked off the season with a visit to the gorgeous Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve, and enjoyed highlights such as square dancing, an Avril Lavigne concert, fall wiffle ball (which we came out as 4x champions!), and celebrations of our 7th wedding anniversary and 13th year together.
In September we took a week-long trip to Colorado for our anniversary celebration. While there, we enjoyed quality pool and family time, a trip to Gunnison, and the Colorado Mountain Winefest. Alexis, Jessica, and Kai were able to join us for a weekend, which was such a treat.
A major shoutout goes to our dear friend Haley! She watches Wally during our travels and makes it all possible. 🖤
As fall progressed, Chad and I enjoyed lots of quality time with friends (many fun theme nights and events), a festive trip to Basse’s Farms, a rousing (jousting!) dinner at Medieval Times, and a beautiful showing of Coco at the Milwaukee Symphony. The two of us took a weekend trip to Lake Geneva—a special reward after Chad had his wisdom teeth removed (like a champ!).
Additionally, our nephew Emmett came into the world in November – congrats to Tyler and Natalie!
For the holidays, Chad and I opted to stay put again. Chad made us a delicious meal of our favorite Thanksgiving foods, while we decorated our house.
December has been full of festive activities around Milwaukee, including our second-annual holiday bar crawl tradition, a 1920’s themed murder mystery party, and festive displays around town. We’ll be spending Christmas with Haley once again.
I’m rounding out the year with a large client project, the first pages of a novel written, and dreams of another wiffle ball championship. Chad has cinched his reading goal for the year, became a bridge inspection team lead, and has mastered several new recipes. We’re excited to continue loving and spoiling Wally, playing pickleball as often as we can, and making travel moves in 2025.
A few posts from fall 2024:
Onward to 2025
As we celebrate the beginning of a new year, Chad and I are grateful for everything 2024 brought to our lives—excitement, growth, happiness, fortitude, friendship, and beyond. It was an incredible season of life for us, and we’re looking forward to see what adventures lie ahead.
Thank you for reading our holiday newsletter and recapping the past year.
Cheers!
Lots of love and sunshine,
Savannah, Chad, and Wally
Established in 2018, Sunshine with Savannah is a catch-all blog with an emphasis on weekend travel, millennial-style marriage and fun, reflection-based musings, outdoor adventure, home design, and all things lifestyle.
Though the content is diverse and varied, the heart of this space stays true to a single, guiding principle: a simple pursuit to find sunshine, wherever I go.
Cheers to a very grand 2024 you two!!!!!
And same to you! Thank you so much for reading.