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I know, I know.

 

If you only follow me on this blog, you may be thinking we fell off the face of the Earth somewhere between Kansas and Colorado.

 

Don’t worry.  We didn’t.  And we’re home now. The car may be dusty and road weary, but he made it.

 

Here’s the thing: About the third week into this trip, my words seemed to just dry up. It was so strange. I had nothing.  The only way I can describe it is that at that point our whole family just seemed to take a big exhale and we grabbed onto it for as long as we could. We realized just how stretched thin we were, just how much we needed to realign and we went for it.

 

And it was so good.

 

We’ve been home for a little over two weeks.  We’ve been rooting through all the things we forgot we had and enjoying all the extra room of our house (I don’t have to duck when I take a shower! We all fit around the table!)  But also? It’s like we’re trying to find our family rhythm all over again.

 

School started this week and with it comes the rush to gather supplies and find shoes and get dinner on the table before 8:00.

 

It’s nothing new– it just takes a bit to adjust.  And it turns out that it takes every single one of my brain cells to parent my children, even during the hours they’re away from me!

 

So I promise to keep up with the travel posts until they’re done, but it may take me awhile.

 

While I’m busy catching up at home, here are five fun things I don’t want to forget about our trip:

 

{one}

One of the things I miss most?  Doing laundry in an hour.  Fill all the washing machines, come back and fill all the dryers.  And done.  Why does it take me so much longer at home?

 

 

{two}

If you have a few minutes while you’re driving, here’s a good podcast on suffering and hope with Katharine Wolf (Jamie Ivey keeps me company while I run and do dishes and make dinner.  Love the Happy Hour!).  We enjoyed Revisionist History, too (Malcolm Gladwell is always interesting) and we’re probably the last people on the planet to start listening to This American Life.

 

 

 

{three}

This is how I ride in the car.  Always.  I can’t seem to ever reserve space for my feet. Where would I put all my bags?!

 

 

{four}

I brought plenty of books to read (and got them almost all finished!) but I also read a few almost-released ones that were amazing.  If you haven’t checked out Edie Wadsworth’s All the Pretty Things or Shannan Martin’s Falling Free, I give them both five stars!  Edie’s book speaks of growing up in a broken, alcoholic family, with poverty and violence.  Her style is amazing and it’s easily the best book I’ve read this year.  Falling Free is a book that was written by the sister of a friend, about places that are familiar to me.  It’s a journey of a family realizing that we’re meant for more than building a life of dreams.  Both books reminded me of the healing work of Jesus and the way He leads us to places we never dreamed.

 

 

{five}

We packed pretty light (we even had an empty cupboard!), but even still there were several things we never touched in the camper.  There were also lots of things we didn’t necessarily have room for that we brought.  Like this ice cream.  A friend gifted me with two blessed pints and I allowed myself just a few bites a day and made it last the entire six weeks.  Sometimes if Peter was good, I’d share, but it was a sacrifice.

 

We continue to shake our head at how amazing our summer was. We still shake our heads that we were able to pull this thing off.  But we did it and we had a blast!  As I process all the ways God was faithful to us, I just get so excited.