Be Merry and Bright

Hey look! It's your Laniel holiday card!

You're welcome. :)

We are doing well and reveling in all the ways our lives are Merry and Bright.

Brian is still enjoying work and thriving at his job. He manages a few people and is learning the ropes of what that entails. He will be attending CU Denver to round out his education and we are so excited for this! He still cooks like a restaurant chef and enjoys cheering on the BRONCS! at home games with his brother in section 528. 

I am in my 9th year of teaching and am probably having my best year yet. 

Yes. You read that right. 

I am happy at my job right now.

I think I have truly settled into the rhythms of this ever changing profession and cling to the life giving friendships I have at work and the moments of great connections I have with kids.

I am OBSESSED with my nieces Nora and Georgia 

and I can't get enough of my family time with these two rascals. 

Other places of Merry and Bright this year were of course the

BRONCS! WINNING the Super Bowl ,

 

our AWESOME family reunion at the CABIN! and celebrating my parent's 50th wedding anniversary. 

Brian and I  are still loving our neighborhood, awesome neighbors, and friends that make our life Merry and Bright.

For the sake of keeping it real and for getting some of my thoughts in writing--I want to address a bit of the not so Merry and Bright of 2016 as well.

Over the last several years I have learned a lot about myself and my core beliefs. I have experienced a value shift that became clearer and clearer as 2016 trudged on. One catalyst for this was the infamous election. Since about mid-September I have experienced many, many emotions because of it. The majority of them have been anger, frustration, sadness and disbelief. I want to believe, as it is in my nature to do so, that Love always wins and despite brokenness, hope is possible. But man. This election took a toll on this belief for me. It will take a lot to have faith that the leaders of our country won't shit on the unalienable right that Liberty and Justice is for ALL.

My fears about people doing the right and best thing for ALL was challenged further when I read this article about the Christian organization, IVCF, that I was deeply involved with in my former life. Unfortunately they are choosing the path of becoming even more narrow, exclusive and hypocritical than ever before. Their stance on Gay marriage sickens me and I am overwhelmed with feelings of frustration and sadness when I consider what they think the Gospel is all about.
It fuels my Truth that Evangelical Christianity is a farce.  

Lastly, my stupid knee continues to affect how I get around. I am still not 100% mobile and I am very limited in what I can do without feeling pain. Ugh. I am in the process of figuring out if a knee replacement is in my near future. I know I need to do something, so hopefully I can figure it out sooner than later. 

It wouldn't be very Merry or Bright of me to end our holiday card on such a sour note, so here is a picture of Baxdeer. He makes everything better. 

We truly hope that as we head into 2017 we find more places of Light and Hope than we do ugliness and hatred. I hope we can come together and hold each other up--even if we don't feel strong enough to do so. Thank you for being a Merry and Bright part of our lives.

Cheers!