the best days.

Hi, there. Ready for a life update?

I have spent the past two days publishing drafted posts, writing new posts, brainstorming about future posts—trying to stay up-to-date. It's hard stuff! Between Brooks starting school, Ann Bennett learning how to walk run, me starting Iron Tribe (!), averaging three photography sessions a week, and building a house across the street (!!!), I'm finding it really hard to find time to write, and do laundry and wash dishes, let alone remember what day of the week it is.

It's Wednesday, right?

So, here is a mash-up of life's happenings:

We already touched on Brooks starting school. Our big boy is loving it and we are so thankful.

Ann Bennett started walking and there is no stopping her. I would say that she started taking more steps the weekend of September 12th. The next weekend is when she really started walking, as in not crawling at all. Within hours of the consecutive steps, she was running. She is into everything and never leaves my side. We bought her first pair of shoes from Sikes—Keds! She also got a pair of dress shoes and they are every bit of cute on those chubby feet.

I threw in the towel and started drinking the Iron Tribe kool-aid in August. I joined 101 two weeks in, but graduated on time with the rest of the gang. I lost my lunch after my first class and am still cursing burpees, but I am growing to love it. The best part is sharing a common hobby with John. Maybe one day I'll catch up to him!

I put myself out there in the Instagram world to promote Lauren Bryant Photography, my outlet, pride, and joy. The response was overwhelmingly astounding. I have anywhere from two to three sessions a week. It is most certainly keeping me busy, between shoot time and editing. I have been staying awake waaaaaay past my 8:00 bedtime.

Remember that tear-down across the street from our current house? Well, the Lord has opened several doors for our family and I am excited to announce that we have plans to move into it in November. It is all contingent on our house selling, but we are hopeful. And you know what? If it doesn't sell, we are just trying to "be where our feet are" and trust in whatever and wherever God calls our family.

With that being said, I am trying to find balance and keep my priorities straight. It's a daily struggle that forces me to rely on the Lord and accept His generous grace. It's pretty great having a selfless husband to rely on, too. John has done a great job stepping in to help with the babies on the mornings that I go to the gym or the evenings that I have a shoot. In addition, he is working his tail off providing for our family. What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man…

I am also in a season of hopeful healing. Earlier this year I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease (Hashimoto's Thyroiditis). It has led me on a never-ending quest for answers and a cure. I've been running to and from a naturopath, endocrinologist, cardiologist, ear, nose, and throat specialist, and an autonomic disorder physician. I have since been diagnosed with Dysautonomia and am slowly, but surely, finding balance and making lifestyle changes in hopes of improving or eliminating symptoms and getting my autonomic nervous system back on track. It's going to be a long journey, but I am putting my faith and trust in our Mighty Physician and believing for a cure from the incurable.

So, there you have it. Life, in a nutshell. It is surely crazy and hectic, but it is also abounding and joyful. These days are the best days…

nantucket.

Often times in the evenings, after the babies have fallen asleep and the house is quiet, John and I will kick our feet up, relax, and chat about our days.  Work, kids. Kids, work. Typically, by the end of our conversation (if we are both still awake), we agree that we need a vacation. So, when On-a-Whim-John says, "You know what? Let's go. Book it," you better believe we are locked and loaded before he changes his mind!

This year, we decided to jet off to Nantucket. We left early Saturday morning and landed at ACK around 11:30. Y'all. This place is where dreams are made of. Even the airport was ripped from the pages of a storybook! We took a taxi to our condo on Still Dock, all the while making friends with our cab driver and getting the ins and outs of the island. She gave us so many great recommendations, we couldn't wait to see, do, and eat. After dropping our bags off, we grabbed a sandwich at Provisions (the Turkey Terrific!) and ate it on the dock while admiring the yachts and watching the ferry come and go. What a view! We popped into Cru for a cocktail and some oysters and ended up sitting next to another local who also shared her best-kept-secrets with us.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around town, making a stop at the grocery store for a few goodies. We rented our bikes for the week (Young's Bicycle Shop) and then rode over to Children's Beach to soak up the last of the sun and watch the sunset. We opted for a casual dinner at The Brotherhood of Thieves and stumbled upon, Meursault, a little hole-in-the-wall wine and cheese bar, for after dinner drinks.

Our real adventure began on Sunday. We biked 7.2 miles to Madaket, stopping a few times along the way to explore the beaten paths. When we reached the beach, we were ready to do just that…beach. For lunch we walked to Millie's and didn't want to leave. It was so good and we enjoyed chatting with the bartender. The view was amazing, too. After another hour on the beach, and a cat nap, we biked back into town to get ready for dinner. That night we had reservations at Le Languadoc and it. was. delicious. If you ever vacation in Nantucket, go there. And order the lobster.

The next morning we rode our bikes out to Bartlett's Farm, the island's oldest and largest family owned farm. Because there are no restaurants in Cisco, we grabbed some pot stickers, hummus with veggies, a roast beef sammy, and cookies to have for lunch on the beach. We spent the next couple of hours on the beach, watching the brave swimmers and surfers. Ain't no way I'm getting in that water. At 3:00 we biked to Cisco Brewers, Nantucket's winery, brewery, and distillery. We had a drink (or two), took the tour, had another drink (or two), then decided we better stop drinking, seeing that we had to bike miles upon miles back to the condo. In all seriousness, this place was so neat. It was definitely a highlight of our trip!

For dinner we went to Nautilus for a unique food experience. We sat at the Chef's Bar and ate the most amazing skirt steak, octopus, and blue crab fried rice. Again, another fabulous meal that left me wishing we had tried more amazing small dishes on the menu. Take me back!

On Tuesday, we ate breakfast at Black-Eyed Susans. Unfortunately, it is not air conditioned so it was as hot as fire, but our food was good. I ordered the crowd favorite, the Portuguese Scramble and it didn't disappoint. After fueling ourselves up for a day of adventure, we rented a jeep from Nantucket Bike Shop and drove out to the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge (the "elbow" of the island). We drove on the beach to Great Point, the extreme northwest tip of the refuge, passing sand dunes, coastal forests, salt marsh, and tidal ponds along the way. We parked at the Great Point Lighthouse and explored a bit, then decided to hop back in the jeep and drive around the island while we had a more than two wheels (we got to see the "Old Mill," the oldest functioning mill in the country). We ended up at Dionis Beach for some R&R, grabbed a couple of drinks at the Galley Beach Bar, then headed back to the condo to get ready for dinner.

That night we had reservations at Ventuno, a relaxed, romantic, and savory Italian restaurant. This was one of the few meals that left me absolutely stuffed. I don't think the owner bringing us out a complimentary pasta dish helped much…

I was very excited for Wednesday morning to arrive. Wednesday was our day to explore Siasconset. We loaded our bikes on The WAVE (Nantucket's public transportation) and rode to the eastern most tip of the island. Sconset was magical. We spent most of our time riding our bikes up and down the streets, house-coveting. Baxter Road led us to the Sankaty Head Lighthouse and stunning views of Quidnet, Great Point, and the Sankaty Head Golf Course. We biked down to the beach and parked ourselves in the sand for an hour and finally got to see some seals (!), then ate an unforgettable lunch at The Summer House. Go. 

We caught The WAVE back into town, showered, and headed to dinner at The Pearl, which came highly recommended by our friend at Cru. The food was good, but it didn't knock our socks off. Maybe we were just exhausted from a long day? We decided to cure our let-down with the best smelling (and tasting) ice cream, ever, at The Juice Bar. I don't know what John ordered, but I am still dreaming about their heavenly homemade Rum Raisin ice cream. I'm really surprised we only stopped by this joint once during our time there. What were we thinking?!

Thursday was a bit more low-key. We had breakfast in town and ate it at Brant Point Lighthouse, then trekked it to Surfside (most definitely burning off the calories from last night's indulgence) where we finally braved a dip in the ocean. We grabbed lunch at the Surfside Beach Shack then biked over to Nobadeer and watched the planes take off while soaking up some sun.

We had reservations at Straight Wharf that night. The food and atmosphere were oh, so good. We walked over to Cru for a few after dinner drinks. At this point, thanks to the Crucomber, I was ready to par-tay, but John was tired so we called it a night.

On our final day, we had breakfast at Downyflake then went to the Whaling Museum. It featured a restored 1847 candle factory, a scrimshaw gallery, the 1849 Fresnel Lens used in Sankaty Head Lighthouse, a restored 1881 tower clock, and the 46 foot sperm whale skeleton that washed ashore on New Year's Day in 1998. My favorite exhibition was Stove by a Whale: 20 Men, 3 Boats, 96 Days. This tragic tale has been retold time and again (Moby-Dick) and in the contemporary film In the Heart of the Sea. I am really excited to see this movie, which comes to theaters in December.

After the Whaling Museum, we did some souvenir shopping around town, grabbed lunch at The Tavern, then rode back to our favorite spot, The Galley, for drinks. We had reservations Friday night at Lola 41. Holy truffle french fries. We dined next to the sweetest mom and daughter duo (Hi, Jess and Darby!) and ended up splitting three desserts with them. We left with full hearts and full bellies. It was the perfect ending to our pretty perfect trip.

On Sunday morning, we grabbed a breakfast sandwich at Provisions, returned our bikes, and watched the boats come in and go out of the harbor until it was time to wave down a taxi and head to the airport. We were eager to relieve my parents and see our beautiful babies, but we were really sad to say goodbye to this lovely island that now holds such a special place in our hearts. What an amazing trip! And the fact that I got to share this experience with my love? Well, I'm a lucky girl. Feeling so blessed and rejuvenated! We hope to be back one day, but, for now, I'll hold close the sweet memories we made. 'Til next time, Nantucket...