I can’t believe we are a few days away from 2024. It is crazy how fast time flies, but looking back at 2023, it was jam packed with adventures. I am on PTO until January 2nd, so I wanted to sit down and recap the year as I have done previously (2021 and 2022 recaps). 2023 was the most I have ever traveled in a year and it was manly due to work trips. Unfortunately, leadership changed priorities midway through the year and cut the travel for the Program Managers on the team (like myself). The change certainly added additional challenges to my role (for example, planning events and no longer being able to attend to help run them). On top of the challenges, I always viewed the travel as a perk, and it was the perfect amount to not get burned out. Nevertheless, I still have fun travel plans for 2024 and one very cool work trip. With that, let’s get into my 2023 highlight reel.
January:
I started the year off with two work trips this month. The first was to Sandusky, Ohio which was nothing to write home about. Towards the end of the month, I headed to Boston for a quick two day trip and even brought Paul along because he had never been before (check out my 48 hour in Boston recap). Similarly to previous years, I spent more time this month blogging and trying out new recipes, which I shared here and here.
February:
February was so fun and I started the month off in NYC for an awesome work event I planned and hosted. I decided to go a day early to explore the city and work remotely. One of my good friends was able to meet up with me and we explored the city and had a few yummy meals together in between working. Random disclaimer: Any time I extend a work trip, bring along a plus-one, splurge for food and drink beyond the allocated guidelines per day, etc, I always pay the additional expenses on my own dime.
On Valentine’s Day, Paul had to head out for a work trip, but we had an early dinner at Wildflower in the Highlands. This restaurant is a must if you live in the area or are visiting
March:
The snow let up a little this month and we were finally able to play a round of golf. I also went to Orlando, Florida for a week for a team offsite. Looking back through pictures and my blog, I must have been extremely busy because I didn’t blog once and I have very limited pictures from the month.
April:
This month began with a work trip to Atlanta, GA (check out my hotel and travel recap) followed by one of my long time best friends visiting. We explored Boulder, got pedicures, watched all three High School Musical movies, and hung out like old times. I also went back to my hometown with my mom to visit my grandparents and great grandma (who just celebrated her 103rd birthday in November)! We capped off the month with dinner at Water Grill (another favorite of ours) to celebrate one of our friend’s birthdays.
May:
The weather finally started to warm up and this month was full of family time. I played 9 holes with my dad, had a great visit from my grandpa, went to a crawfish boil (I couldn’t get myself to partake in eating a crawfish), and celebrated Mother’s Day with a yummy brunch. I ended the month with a trip to Minneapolis for work and hosted a birthday party for Paul/Memorial Day BBQ.
June:
June-August are my favorite months in Colorado and in general. I love the warm weather, long days, and plenty of activities to keep us busy. In June, I went to see the Straight up with Stassi show, traveled to NYC for my last work trip of the year š , went to a happy hour at 54thirty roof top for Paul’s work, played Father’s Day golf with my dad, Allie, and Paul, and attended a western themed party after a golf tournament Paul played in.
July:
July was fabulous! We went to the Era’s Tour, celebrated my birthday by playing golf with my family, hosted a Barbie party for my friend’s 30th birthday and departed for our two week vacation to Tahiti and New Zealand. I’ll add pictures from the first part of our trip in the August section, but vlogs 1 and 2 from Tahiti can be found here and here.
August:
Tahiti and New Zealand were a dream. Our two week trip was the longest vacation we’ve ever taken and it was so worth it. If you missed the vlogs and blogs, check out vlog #1, vlog #2, vlog #3, vlog #4 and the blog post recaps for Mudbrick Winery, Hilton Moorea Lagoon & Resort overwater bungalow, and our stay at the Intercontinental Tahiti Resort & Spa.
When we returned from our trip, we spent time with family, played a lot of golf, and went to Casa Bonita with friends.
September:
We jetted off to Palm Springs at the beginning of September with some of our close friends whose parents own a beautiful home in La Quinta. I love the Palm Springs/La Quinta area and we’ve been fortunate to be invited back a few times now for a relaxing long weekend. The rest of September was filled with golf, Rex’s 5th birthday, and hanging out with friends.
October:
We had our final match in the summer long couple’s golf tournament consolidation division, which we lost in extra holes š¢ We honestly played great, but with the other couple’s many strokes, they ultimately won. The rest of the month was spent with friends including my annual fall frolic and a visit from my first friend in Denver. My grandparents also visited for a few days and we hosted everyone for a taco night at our house including grandma and grandpa, my parents, Allie, and my aunt, uncle and cousin. The end of the month took a sad turn when we lost our family dog, Jake, after 13.5 years. He was the best dog and lived a very long and happy life ā¤ļø
November:
After a few year hiatus, we finally had Christmas card photos taken this month by one of our friends. We also had a few extras taken of just me and Paul since Rex was losing his mind. We decided last minute to whip out our cowboy hats for some pictures and I think they turned out great š¤
Thanksgiving this year was spent with my parents and to keep our tradition alive, we headed on a quick trip to Cancun the day after. I have yet to do a travel review of Le Blanc, but it was by far our favorite resort we’ve ever stayed at. I vlogged our five day trip so you can check those here and here.
December:
December flew by! Partly because right after we got back from Cancun, Paul had a “work trip” to Texas to watch football with clients. When he returned, he came down with COVID and ended up passing it along to me. Honestly, I preferred to get sick when I did rather than a few weeks later during the holidays like we did in 2021. Plus, I still had sick days that I thankfully hadn’t needed to use all year. Later in the month, we had a delicious dinner at Capital Grille with Paul’s customers. The holiday festivities began with decorating a gingerbread house, and thanks to super glue it turned out better than we anticipated. A few days before Christmas, we baked cookies with my family and then topped off the celebrations by spending Christmas Eve with my side of the family and Christmas Day with Paul’s side.
Cheers to 2023!
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xoxo Olivia
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