The Home Stretch

Now that the intense social whirlwind that is us visiting the Midwest has come to a close, I can finally gather my thoughts. It's been so long since my last entry, because we have been visiting. And visiting some more. And then visiting some more. I think we crammed in as much family/friend time as we possibly could, and now we're back on the road. The kids have left for camp, so I have a moment to breathe.

We are almost done with this chapter. In a little over a month, we will be in South Carolina, where we will stay for the foreseeable future. And my overriding thought is gratitude. I am so lucky to have been able to do this for the past three years. Our travels have taken us all over our country, and we've made some incredible memories.  There have been struggles, of course, but thankfully there's been nothing that we couldn't handle. I have thought a lot about gratitude lately, and how it relates to happiness. I think they're the same thing. 

It's so easy to slip into dissatisfaction, isn't it? I'm certainly guilty of it. Gosh, this kitchen is tiny. Ugh, I hate having to wash our clothes at a laundromat. Great, I broke another French Press. The latter is always a dire emergency and means a shopping trip immediately. Surely there's a Wal-Mart nearby. I need coffee! But I digress.

It's much harder to hold onto the big picture when the little inconveniences of this small, unstable place are what I see. But when I look at the view outside of our window right now and think back on everywhere we have been, I am reminded that my needs are very simple. And everything else is a bonus, only enhancing my life. 

So when my impatience to "get there" or "be done with the driving" kicks in, I am striving in each moment to take a look around my tiny house and notice my freedom. I notice my luxuries, like our air conditioning, our fireplace and, yes, like my 3rd French Press...I really should invest in a stainless steel one.