Laurel & Brandt - Goshen County Engagement Session

Laurel & Brandt – Goshen County Engagement Session

“When the bones are good, the rest don’t matter.”

The first time I heard those Maren Morris lyrics, I fell in love with them.  It’s such a great concept for any relationship, really, but especially a marriage.  Those couples that take the time to build a strong foundation, to know and see and honor each other, those are the ones that can weather the storms for generations.

And that’s what I witnessed between Laurel and Brandt during their spring engagement session this past March.  A solid foundation built to last.  The world had caved in on itself in the early stages of the Covid pandemic and nothing made sense.  And here these two were, unrattled and optimistic.

I guess when you’ve grown up together, hunted together, and worked cows for each other’s fathers, a global pandemic really isn’t that big of a deal.

When I asked how Laurel and Brandt met, the both just laughed and said they couldn’t really remember a time when they didn’t know the other.  Their parents are lifelong friends, so the two have known each other since childhood.

When they announced their engagement, some friends and acquaintances teased them about moving too fast and rushing things.  They’ve been dating for almost five years, but Brandt just proposed in February.  

We pay a lot of tribute in literature and movies to that concept of “love at first sight.”  I totally understand why…those early stages of being in love are heady.  They are fun and uplifting and you feel as if you can conquer the world.  

But as anyone in a long-term relationship knows, those feelings fade away.  And you’re left with reality.  That’s where a lot of couples don’t make it…they can’t deal with the everyday of living and loving another person.  But that’s the best part!  Because that other person sees the real you, warts and all, and chooses to love you each and every day.

There’s something so incredibly powerful and special about those couples who know the reality full well and forge ahead.  It’s a beautiful gift, to look at another person and say, “I know all your strengths.  And all your flaws.  And I want to spend the rest of my life with all of you.”

The house don’t fall when the bones are good, as Morris sings.

We took Laurel and Brandt’s engagement pictures in one of the most beautiful spots in all of Goshen County, with a cotton-candy Wyoming sunset as our ceiling and the scent of spring heavy in our noses.  It’s also where they’ll be married in a few months.  Despite the fact that I lost my shoe in the mud (twice), it was a beautiful evening and the perfect backdrop for their love.

These two are both deeply rooted in the natural world as farmers and hunters.  They’ve worked side-by-side, hunted side-by-side, and weathered many a storm as friends and a couple.  As they stood together, gazing across the Goshen County valley side-by-side, that same Maren Morris song popped into my head.

“Baby, I know any storm we’re facing
Will blow right over while we stay put.”

May these two always be rooted in this land, their families and each other.  Global pandemic be dammed.  These two aren’t going anywhere.