Nearly three years ago, on May 1st, I arrived at Denver International airport with no job, no place to live, one backpack full of clothes, and one husband.
I can vividly remember waiting outside of the airport, looking around and the realization hitting me that I was here for good. I was not here for a few days as part of an extension of our trip around the world, there would be no next destination. This was it.
I remember noticing that the air felt so different, so clear and dry. The sun somehow felt even stronger and brighter than it had felt in Arizona, the place we left en route to Colorado just that morning.
There were no honking cars, no tall buildings — just long empty stretches of nothingness. Far off in the distance, I squinted at a low horizon of white mountain peaks that somehow looked smaller and less impressive than I had remembered. It also hit me in that moment that up until this point, I had only spent a total of four full days in Colorado. And here I was, apparently ready to call it home. Thoughts like; what was I thinking?What is this place? Is this the right decision? floated in and out of my head.

I remember FaceTiming with my Dad in those early days of living here and telling him that the land was a lot more brown than I remembered. I also told him I found myself feeling homesick at night. This was bizarre for me because in the last several months Al and I had been traveling the world, regularly moving from one unfamiliar destination to the next — and during all of that I hadn’t felt homesick once.
Colorado sometimes seems to be painted as this utopia, a place for so many of us to flock to (much to the disappointment of Colorado natives) in search of better lifestyles and more opportunity. After three years here, I have definitely found those things to be true. However, the other important thing to know about moving here is: Colorado is still just a place. It has all the good, bad, ugly, boring, exciting, and sometimes traffic infused characteristics of any other city in the United States.
Part of me felt guilty for not falling in love with Colorado right away in those first few months. But over the years, what I can now see about my relationship with Colorado is that it’s been a slow burn. A little bumpy at first with a some hesitations, but as I got to know Colorado more and we found our groove, I finally came to realize for myself what all the fuss was about.
There are times now when I will be going about my day and suddenly realize out of the blue how happy and grateful I am to live here. I’ll think about how I spent the majority of my day looking at and being in the presence of mountains in some form. They’re there when I’m on a run, outside my car window as I’m driving to the chiropractor, while I’m sitting and eating breakfast at my kitchen table. No matter how many times I look up to see them, the awe never wears off.
There are more than just mountain views that have made up these incredible three years in Colorado, though. Living here has allowed me to live a more full and content life on a day-to-day basis, rather than living most of my life waiting for that next day off, or my next big trip.
In honor of my first three years in this beautiful state of ours (and in honor of my appreciation for a good list) here are my top three favorite things about living in Colorado:
Biking and Triathlons
I’ll never forget the feeling I had the very first time I got on a road bike in Colorado. I had music blasting in my ears, mountain views at every turn, and I just could not wipe the smile off of my face the entire time. It was a feeling of pure elation and joy, I could physically feel my heart lightening with every pump of my legs.
Biking in Colorado opened up a new world to me, a unique and fun way to explore the outdoors, ride through different towns, and discover beautiful back country roads. Each mile I covered on the bike with the Colorado scenery flying by gave me the time I desperately needed to think and process all the changes that were going on in my life.
It also gave me the confidence to feel like I could maybe, just maybe be one of those crazy people who did triathlons. My best friend and I were both interested in doing it, and decided to dip our toes in. We started out by trying the Divas sprint triathlon, a shorter distance race that was exclusively open for women participants.
We loved it. From there, we graduated to the Boulder Sunset Olympic Triathlon. Spending the past two summers training for these events have honestly been some of my best Colorado memories to date.
It feels good to know that a sport that once intimidated me so much is now something that I find so much happiness in.


Family and Friends
Each year of my life that goes by, the more certain I am that where you live can never really outweigh the people that you’re with. We moved here knowing that Al’s brother and sister-in-law were here, and two of our best friends moved here one month before we did.
A few months later, Al’s parents and his other brother moved here. A few months after that, my oldest sister and my brother-in-law moved ten minutes away from us. We’ve also been lucky enough to have my family visit frequently, and have even started a winter cabin tradition with some of our very best friends who live in different states.
Family and friends are the most important thing to me, and I don’t take for granted that we have been lucky enough to share this beautiful place with so many people we love.
I know that I said at the beginning of this section that people matter more than places, but it certainly doesn’t hurt when the two line up in harmonic bliss.



Mountain Hikes
Growing up, the Fitzpatricks were not hikers. We were not mountain people, we did not go camping. We liked our comforts, wherever we could find them. I have one vague memory of camping with my family when I was little. A rainstorm hit, the tent collapsed, and we rented a hotel for the night.
It wasn’t until my trip around the world with Al right before we moved to Colorado that my appreciation for hiking was born. I realized during that time how much satisfaction I felt after a day of doing nothing else but hiking for hours, followed by a delicious cold beer. Could that really be all it takes to make me happy?
Fast forward to life in Colorado, and that is still pretty much the case. Long difficult hikes, after work hikes, RMNP hikes, fall hikes, whatever word you want to put before the word hikes hikes, I’m in.
Hiking has become somewhat of an addiction; a favorite weekend pastime , each hike a way to learn and see something brand new in Colorado.


These first few years in Colorado have been all about building new habits and foundations for my life. It wasn’t an instantaneous shift the moment the wheels touched down in Denver. It was a gradual process of growth that came to be through a lot of trial and error, and through learning to be okay with being uncomfortable. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Thanks, Colorado– here’s to the next three years!
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Still laughing at that pic of you in the snow in your hiking sandals.