I've been bit by the blogging bug! Say that 10 times fast!

Blogging was such a fun way to get things off my mind, share news or thoughts with friends and family…and then Facebook happened.  I abandoned my blog for the quick status post or photo share.  But recently, I have read several blogs by others and I got that overwhelming feeling to blog for myself.

My life has changed in so many ways since my last post. The Bryants are a family of 4 now…relocated to a nearby city…we LOVE all the opportunities that come with a city.  I love a small town, don't get me wrong.  My heart will always have a special place for the small town. But a mid-sized city can be great! There are things to do when we want to get out of the house…shopping is so much easier when you have more than Wal-mart and Bealls…and grabbing a quick bite is much more enjoyable when DQ isn't your only option.

More than anything, we are figuring out how to live as adults. True adults. And with kids. It was one thing when we only had Ranston and he was a baby.  Other than late night feedings and packing up the house to run to the store, life didn't change too much.  But now, with a 2 year-old and 4 year-old, life is much different.  Yes, they sleep better than babies and don't require near as much when leaving the house…but our lives have changed.  More on that in a later post.

Meal time is an aspect of life that we are constantly confronted with as parents.

Mike and I love food…it is no secret! We both enjoy to cook, find fun places to eat with amazing flavors and unique dishes, and spend time with friends over dinner! And cooking for kids or eating out with kids has required adaptability for us. For me, I love a good quick recipe that comes recommended from someone.  Or a recipe from my 2 favorite cooks…Ree and Trisha! Mike is a completely different cook and is amazing at throwing ingredients together or grilling/smoking meat. Between the two of us, we have a good variety of recipes and dishes, although we get in our ruts and feel like we eat the same thing all the time.  It is so nice to find a new recipe to try out and add to our line-up!

Restaurants are another story!  Since moving into "the city", we have enjoyed eating out.  We love restaurants that serve great quality food but are also kid friendly enough to take our kiddos.  There are so many places in CC that we've asked around about and no one has tried.  What?  No one we know has tried that place or even heard something about it?? So, we take it upon ourselves to try it out so we can pass the word if it is a place to consider!

With all that being said, Mike and I want to start a food blog…recipes, restaurants, neat finds, etc.  We'd love to incorporate kid friendliness and ease in our findings.  At this point, we don' know if we'll start a separate blog or use this one but we hope to start sharing our thoughts and finds soon!

New website

I am very disappointed in the lack of posts/pictures on the blog!! I started playing with our iweb program for a new youth website and realized how EASY it is to use!! so.....I made one for us! I don't plan to post on the blog anymore so that this posting will remain at the top and the link easy to find. Click here to visit our new site!

I am a little sad to leave this blog site. Rereading the posts takes me through a roller coaster of emotions...good and bad. For those of you who blog, you probably understand where I'm coming from. But, the exciting thing is that the new website has a blog area so I will continue to document our lives...hopefully more often!! So, for now....goodbye blogspot...hello our iweb!

We made a quick trip to Houston this week to visit Mike's Mimi.

She has been having some health problems and they are still narrowing down what is causing her pain. They have found several other things while doing test after test but I do think they are narrowing in on the cause. We wanted to go visit Mimi for many reasons but one being that with our mission trip coming up, we won't be able to make a spur-of-the-moment trip. We traveled there on Tuesday on home on Wednesday. Mimi was still very drugged when we were there on Tuesday but they began weaning her off her pain meds due to needing her to be able to answer questions. That enabled her to be awake and alert on Wednesday before we left. She was so excited to see us but even more so to see and hear Ranston!! Tuesday night, he made all sorts of sounds and even with her being out of it, she smiled and seemed to respond to him but didn't remember, so seeing him on Wednesday was a nice treat for her. Mike's Aunt Carolyn kept saying she felt Ranston was the best therapy for Mimi!!

I met Mimi when Mike and I were newly dating. We traveled to Spring 3 months after we started dating for Mimi's birthday. It was a bit intimidating to meet ALL of Mike's family, including extended family, only 3 months after we began dating. But, it was a great time to meet Mimi. With her living in the Houston area, we don't get to see her that often but we've seen her twice in the last 4 months and it's been a nice treat!!