An honest post of a hard day

Well, we made it to Utah and have been dispersed camping outside Zion National Park. We drove through our first day to get a feel for the place and it was beautiful! It's a gorgeous drive and the red rocks, and mountains are beautiful. I'm so inspired to do more art work here.

So what does a hard day look like in a travel trailer? Well, it begins the night before with stormy weather. The winds make the trailer sway and the rain is loud. Luke and I usually can't sleep and our older girls eventually wake up and join us in bed because they're scared too. I never look at the time but it feels like a couple hours go by before the storm dies down and we fall asleep again. Thankfully the younger ones sleep soundly. The next day is full of grumpy attitudes and lots of tears and frustration with math. I'm sure God is using math time to grow my patience and self control and humility. Some days it's a breeze and other days it's near torture for everyone. Okay, I exaggerate- a little. The day is wet and cold so the younger kids don't get outside to play and everyone is emotional- well, maybe except for Luke. That's hard to deal with in a small space. I get out during nap time to do some laundry. We end the day with TWO movies because, it was a day, and even though the sun did come out it's still cold outside though it feels chilly inside too. I'm drinking my 8th hot drink and haven't gotten out of sweats and my hoodie for the past two days.

Things I am thankful for:

I was really struggling with stress to where I didn't feel functional. One day I was on the verge of hyperventilating after a math lesson. Not normal and not okay. I found some health supplements that address my MTHFR gene and low thyroid, or T3 specifically. The past three weeks I feel "normal". Not that stress every goes away but I can function through it again.
My drive to the laundromat was beautiful. It snowed on the mountains, and the light played on the valley's and the rocks were beautiful shades or purple, red and orange.
Marco Polo. It is so life giving for me to keep in touch with friends and to those who have listened to my troubles this past week, thank you for your listening ears and encouragement.
My grandpa is with Jesus. Typing this gets the tears flowing again but I know it is such a good thing for him, and ultimately because of our hope and love for Jesus we will see each other again some day.

Well, sometimes I write a post and sit on it without publishing. As I write this the sun is out, it's getting a bit more warmer, we made it through math without tears, and the kids have been roaming outside quite enjoying themselves. I'll publish this hoping it helps shows someone (as well as my future self) as much as we love our travel life, it's not always greener on the other side. Life still has its ups and downs, and we are definitely not perfect. Much love to our readers <3.