Thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving! :) Join us over at The Laney Story! I just posted a blog about thanks!

Love :)

Yesterday…

Sunday in Pictures on The Laney Story…Join us over there! :)

new post!

I wrote today on The Laney Story. And posted a tasty recipe for this…

Lindsey writes tomorrow! Come check us both out and follow us on our new blog. Love to all of you. :)

 

The Big News!

Happy Halloween everybody!

On this last day of October, I am so excited to debut a new adventure for me and Linds in the form of a new website!!

You can check out what we’ve been working on here. Make sure to subscribe to our new blog and follow us both as we write about life and living with quality! All my writing and art will now be on the new website, and Lindsey will now join me with her thoughts and stories!

I am so so very excited about this new chapter in our story, and I can’t wait to see all of you there!

Snow!

The big move is almost here! I am so ready. Yesterday I worked and worked and worked (for hooouurs!) till my muscles were aching, yet somehow I still felt like I didn’t do very much.

How does that happen?

In other news, we had our first snow here in Denver last night. I can’t wait to be out of downtown because I think the snow will be prettier outside of the city, but I did take some pictures today to document the year’s first snow. (Technically it snowed a little here Oct 6th, but Lindsey and I were in Florida, so it didn’t count for us!! :-P)

I just love the effect of snow on colorful leaves. It’s so dynamic!

Love!

Pumpkins and Peace

What do the Laney’s do when their house is full of boxes and there is always something else that could be done?

We go to a pumpkin farm, of course! And this isn’t just any old trip to a pumpkin farm, people. This is a treasured tradition in our family. Every year we go to a pumpkin farm, take lots and lots of pictures (naturally), pick out the perfect pumpkin or two, and then end the festivities with a trip to Starbucks for a tasty beverage.

There was no way we were going to skip this trip just because we’re about to move, all our stuff is packed, and everything is in a general state of craziness! So, we went, we took pictures, we selected a pumpkin for carving and some for decoration (which hopefully I can post sometime next week!), and we had fun together.

See? :)

Love! :)

Excited!

I can’t tell you guys how excited I am about the changes coming to A Better Story!

It’s going to be wonderful fun and an amazing blessing to be a part of, and I’m /almost/ ready to reveal what Lindsey and I have been working on!

The operative word is /almost/ because the packing and moving part of our story right now is taking quite a bit of my time. Let me show you a little bit of the progress I’m making though!

Ok, I know you can’t tell anything from this picture except that I have a lot of boxes piled in my dining room area, but I promise I’m making progress I can be proud of, people! One week and counting!

honeymoon fun

In the midst of my crazy move…let’s enjoy some photos from the honeymoon! (It’ll remind me of more relaxing times and hopefully you all will enjoy the pics!)

What a wonderful honeymoon we had!! (I took over 700 pictures!) I sure do miss the ocean…

AND back to packing! Love to you all. :)

Moving woes and opportunities

Moving is such a challenging task! So many things to pack, and we don’t even own that much stuff!! I’m trying to maintain my sanity during the process. It’s hard because I don’t like things to be out of order. I think that moving is a good lesson in patience, de-cluttering techniques and trust. I have to be patient with the mess; I get to spend lots of time throwing things away; AND I absolutely must focus on trusting the fact that I’m ok no matter what and that God has good plans for us no matter where we are or what state that place is in!

All of it is reminding me how important it is to take things slowly, think of the bigger picture, and maintain some semblance of a thankful heart!

Just writing this makes me feel overwhelmed, though! It feels like such a tall order. So, I’ve been trying to think of ways to add quality into our moving process, and yesterday Lindsey and I decided to go hang out by the lake that’s near our new place in order to do just that. I didn’t bring my camera, but I did take a couple phone pics!

It was near sunset, and the golden beauty and quiet peace were exactly what I needed to think about the bigger picture and take a break from the mess of a household in transition. We were out for maybe an hour or so, but it didn’t take long to add a quality moment to this crazy process. I’m so glad that we spent time at the lake yesterday because it really helped lift my spirits going into this week.

I’m learning that sometimes adding quality to my life is pretty darn simple. And oh so sweet. :)

back!!

Wowsers, people. It’s been a busy 2 and a half weeks for me! AND

I’m married now!!

So lovely, so wonderful. I can’t wait to share pictures.

We also had a fantastic honeymoon in Key West, which was brilliant and truly just beyond what words can describe.

I can’t believe we did it! It’s so amazing to come out on the other side so thankful, so in awe…so at a lack for words to describe how great and crazy and wonderful and dream-like the last two weeks have been. But here I am, Mrs. Laney, and ready for the next adventure, which right now includes packing up our place to move to a newer bigger place (where I’ll actually have an art studio!) in a few weeks, enjoying the beauty of fall and the start of the holiday season, and debuting some exciting changes to this blog!

I’m working hard and am very excited. :)

This is all going on in the midst of being totally obsessed with my new wife. :D Yes, we’ve been together for several years, but marriage changes things; it really does. To stand there with her, holding her hands in mine, and look into her eyes and recite vows that I meant and mean with all my heart in front of God and family and friends…

That changes things in a relationship.

I wasn’t sure what it would be like because I already knew in my heart (and had expressed to her) that I am committed to her for life, but speaking those sacred vows out loud and hearing her speak them to me and celebrating the wonder of our love and commitment with our family and friends…it was life changing.

And that, my friends, is why marriage is important. It’s pretty simple; marrying your life partner changes things. I don’t know that I had even begun to understand that before Lindsey put that ring on my finger and I said “I do,” but things are different now because we chose to vow our lives to one another in a special ceremony that both highlighted our commitment and celebrated it. There isn’t anything like it, and I’m so thankful to have those images and memories in my mind now.

I understand that there is so much disagreement around the subject of same-sex marriage in our country and around the world, but in looking back on this week, it all seems quite simple to me. Marriage is sacred and wonderful; it is an institution to be celebrated and a commitment to be held in high honor by all (not just the two people getting married). Protecting and honoring marriage isn’t about making sure the people getting married are a woman and a man; protecting and honoring marriage is about making sure we all realize what a sacred commitment it is, what an important decision it is, what a beautiful privilege it is.

I hope and pray that someday the people who claim to be fighting for marriage (the people who are really just focused on isolating an entire people group based on misunderstanding and a lack of knowledge, experience, and love) will return to and recognize the simplicity that’s at the foundation of marriage. Marriage is about love, about committing forever, about binding one’s self by word and by deed to another person, about building family where there wasn’t one before.

I’m so thankful that I got to marry Lindsey and that I get to be married to her “till death do us part!”

I’ll leave you all today with a pic from our honeymoon (there will be more of those to come later!). :D So in love!