My People

Family |fam - i - ly|

A person or group of people that love and support you unconditionally.    

Family can be biological or a group of people that you choose.

I have been blessed with an amazing family, framily {chosen family}, and in-laws! 

LaFree Family (Dad's side)

Ganser Family (Mom's side)

My mom and mam (aren't I lucky to have both?)

Framily (aren't we adorable in our ugly Christmas sweaters?)

Having these (and many more) people as our support system means everything to us.  These are the people Andrew and I leaned on the most when we had an ocean between us.  These are the people that makes us smile and laugh when all we want to do is cry.  These are the people that we would drop everything and anything so we could be there when they called.   

So...when mom sent a group text saying the family was getting together for an early birthday party, we packed our bags and hit the road. Did someone say, ROAD TRIP?

I love that we celebrate everything from birthdays, to promotions, to a simple "hey family is in from out of town, party at my house." We show up with a dish to pass and stories to tell and leave with full hearts, bellies and most importantly lasting memories. 

Pictures.  Pictures help capture those memories, and when we share them a month or years later we will smile and laugh all over again.

  Here are some pictures from our little sibling photo-shoot from last weekend.

The LaFree Three

LaFree meets Williams 

Young love

Sometimes family members even have fur and four-legs, but the love is the same.

No matter where you call home I hope you always have those special people you can call family.  There are a thousand-and-one ways to be a family, but there is no wrong way, because if it works for you then it is perfect.  How awesome is that?

A New Beginning

A new day,week, month or year... 

all bring a new beginning and a good reason to start again.

That is what I am doing here.  

I have had a new inspiration for this blog and I am more excited than ever to write.  I am going to continue to tell our story and share our adventures.  It is what I know best and one my favorite topics to discuss.  We aren't perfect and don't have all the answers to life, but we have each other, the best of friends, and are and having fun and making the most of our journey.  

My goal is to be open, honest and {hopefully} an inspiration you.  I don't want anyone to feel like they are alone on their journey, because chances are someone else is feeling the same way.  Life is hard sometimes, and we can do hard things, but together is better!

I want a place to document where we have been and where we are going.  Here is to a new beginning and more updates to my favorite story...us! 

Let's start with some fun and random facts about Andrew and I.  

Andrew:
1. Musician with three albums
2. Only drinks sparkling water
3. Chicago Bears newest fan
4. The ruler of the remote
5. In training for a half-marathon

Stephanie:
1. {Secretly} joined Netflix so I could watch Fuller House
2. New found love for crockpot cooking
3. I lift heavy things
4. Wanna be photographer
5. In training for a half-marathon