Well, hello, again! It’s been nearly two years since I last posted, and a lot has changed. Let’s catch up!
In 2022, I dated someone who moved to a rural area that was only 20 minutes from my house in Superior. While the relationship didn’t work out, I was really intrigued by the area – in the foothills, stunning mountain views, but not too far from Boulder / Denver / civilization. I set up a Zillow search with alerts for the area, and passively reviewed homes that came up.
In October 2023, an alert popped up for a STUNNING custom-built home, built for someone else but which seemed absolutely perfect for me. Amazing views, a massive chef’s kitchen and a second kitchen for entertaining, stained glass windows depicting the mountains and local streams (specifically “Beaver Creek” that runs 1/2 mile from the property, no relation to the ski resort), a home gym, and even a special “dog hallway” leading out to a fully enclosed dog run for Sadie and Sam. I called my good friend Elisabeth, a local realtor, to see if she would take me to tour it, even as I cautioned her that I wasn’t really looking to move and it was just an incredible dream home. And then after seeing it… I put an offer in that night, got my Superior house ready for photos and listed it on the MLS four days later, and officially moved to the mountains in January 2024. I know a lot of you have been reading my blog since my Manhattan days, and I still marvel at how far I’ve come – from a city girl living in a 600 square foot apartment on the Upper West Side who absolutely HATED the outdoors, to a mountain girl who lives off-the-grid on two acres and starts most mornings with a trail run. And I love my life so much more now!
Me getting the keys to this dream home after closing
In February 2024, I dated another guy for a few weeks, who’s only really notable in this post because of one now-hilarious conversation. At one point he mentioned to me that he had moved in with a previous girlfriend after six months, and I replied with something along the lines of, “good for you, but not for me.” Privately, I thought it was way too impulsive to move that quickly in a relationship, and out loud, I told him I’d want to date someone for at least a year before moving in together or getting engaged.
And then I met Mike in May.
We matched on Hinge on a Tuesday, and set up a first date for the following Monday. While I usually stop messaging at that point and wait for the date to happen, I recognize that there isn’t any clear standard for online dating etiquette, so I didn’t hold it against Mike when he kept messaging me. On Thursday, when I said I was going to run club at a brewery, he asked if I wanted to meet up for a drink afterward. No way; I’d be sweaty and already one drink in with my running buddies. On Friday, he offered that he was heading up to the mountains, and that his house there had a hot tub – did I want to join? Absolutely not; that sounded like the start of a true crime podcast. On Saturday, he suggested, “I could come back from the mountains and take you hiking?” But I had girlfriends staying with me for the weekend. And on Sunday night, as my friends and I were comparing online dating profiles and swiping left and right on various other guys, he texted once more: “I’m meeting up with friends to plan our two-week trek around Patagonia in January; I get a plus one if you want to come on the trip!” At this point, Caroline and Lindsay told me that these were DEFINITE red flags and I ought to cancel the date. I agreed that he was definitely overeager, but figured going for a drink wouldn’t hurt, and then I could check him off the list of potentials and move onto the next. (Spoiler: that is NOT what happened.)
I had insomnia that night, and then a rough day at work – so when I was driving to the date, I was wishing I had taken my friends’ advice to cancel. But it was too late now, and I told myself it wasn’t fair to show up in a bad mood for this poor guy, so I put a “Feel Good Happy Mix” on Spotify as I drove, and was singing along to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” as I pulled into downtown Golden. I lucked out with prime parking right in front of the restaurant, and as soon as I got out of the car, I saw Mike waiting for me on the front steps. Friends, I will remember that moment for the rest of my life. Mike’s face was glowing in the afternoon sun, like something out of a movie, and he was smiling at me ear-to-ear. My bad mood was totally forgotten, and I started beaming right back at him. “Ooh, this is going to be a GOOD one,” I remember thinking.
We clicked instantly, and our conversation flowed effortlessly from the usual discussion of our shared Colorado hobbies (running, hiking, skiing), to our mutual love of pointers. While I had Sadie and Sam, two German shorthaired pointers, Mike had Bridger and Boone, a pair of German wirehaired pointers. We also both served as Board President for our respective nonprofits, and shared a dream to focus on nonprofit work in retirement. We both love being busy, productive, and helping others, and as we chattered nonstop, we kept finding more and more things in common. Gone were my plans to go home early; instead, we ordered a round of old fashioneds (another shared favorite) as an excuse to stay longer, and eventually shut the restaurant down. It was 9pm, but we still didn’t want to go home! Mike suggested a wine bar down the street, but when we arrived, it was closed for a private event. Apparently I had given off the impression that I was fancy (ha), so Mike skeptically asked me if I liked dive bars. My excited response – “I LOVE dive bars!” – sealed the deal as his perfect woman, and we headed to Ace Tavern to keep chatting. I eventually looked down at my watch and realized it was 1am! I reluctantly said good night and headed home, giddy about the potential between us and the second date we had planned the very next night.
Well, things moved VERY quickly… and I’m a little embarrassed to admit that in two weeks, we were already discussing getting engaged. “This is crazy,” we told each other, but I also knew with certainty that this was it and Mike was who I’ve been waiting for. I kept trying to explain to him what you readers know: I’m the girl who makes Excel spreadsheets with complex formulas to weigh the pros and cons of minor decisions, not someone who makes impulsive decisions. (Well, move to the foothills aside. Maybe I changed in 2024?) But one night, Mike and I curled up to watch When Harry Met Sally together, and suddenly I was all in. “When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible” was exactly how I felt.
I’ve been working on boundary setting, so I laid a firm line down: two weeks in was way too quick to go ring shopping. Instead, we waited until our one month anniversary of meeting – HAHAHAHA! Mike moved into my new house around the same time, and then proposed two weeks later (I need to tell you that story another time). I DID end up going on that epic Patagonia O-trek circuit with Mike in January 2025, and on June 28, 2025, we got married. When you know, you know, and I am so excited to spend the rest of my life with Mike as my partner!
I love this photo of us outside the amazing barn where we got married!
It was honestly a whirlwind leading up to the wedding. As you might expect, I was pretty over-the-top with wedding planning, with lists and spreadsheets galore. And since we had a lot of friends and family flying in from all over the world, I planned seven days of activities to maximize our time with everyone in Colorado. We did a “familymoon” to a river resort in Crested Butte the day after the wedding, and we’ll go on our actual couple’s honeymoon in September, when we’re planning to hike Kilimanjaro and go on safari in Tanzania. In the meantime, I finally took the four week sabbatical from work that I earned way back in 2018, so I had a few days to unwind at home before my 40th birthday on July 10. This post has been long enough, so I’ll save the story of my birthday celebration (and the running catastrophe I had that day) for another time, and I’ll also share a recap of all the wedding details once I get all the photos back – we did a lot of unique things that I just loved and would be excited to share with all of you 💕
So that brings me to the present. Today is another momentous day for me: I just resigned from the company where I’ve worked for the last fifteen years. Although I’m really excited about what’s next (more on that soon), it was really hard to hit send on my goodbye email this morning. Fortunately, I’ve been greatly moved by the responses flooding my inbox from colleagues sharing memories and gratitude from our time together, and I’m feeling confident that our relationships will continue long beyond my company email address, which will be shut off tonight. (Goodbye, late-night Teams pings!)
But while that door closes, another is re-opening with the return of this blog. I’m looking forward to once again sharing my journey here, both catching up and also sharing what’s next.
To new adventures!