Simplicity in Sunsets

Living in Silicon Valley and the hustle and bustle of just regular life in the Bay can be exhilarating and exciting at times. However, there have been more moments as I get older and having lived in the Bay for a long time, it’s hard to step out of the “Bay Bubble” and slow down. When you’re running and going at such a fast pace, it’s hard to notice and enjoy the little things that God has placed in your life. When you’re in an environment where it’s so easy to “control” every little aspect of your life, it’s hard to let go and let God into your life. I know that this perspective or reflection may not be true for everyone but I wonder if it resonates with some people. 

Having been out on the road for awhile now and out of the environment that we live in, I have come to realize how important it is to intentionally make time to slow down. I don’t mean just waiting for the weekends or vacation times but purposely carving out time in each day to slow down. When I say “slow down”, I don’t mean spending time on my phone, TV or on the computer browsing my good ole favorites of Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, watching “This is Us” or even online shopping or reading blogs (just saying these are my crutches ya’ll). What I mean is finding things that give me life and that fills my soul. 

Being out here on the road and in the midst of God’s creation has made me slow down and take a deep breath. It’s slowly helped me see the beauty in the little things such as sunsets. Living in the Bay, it’s hard to notice and enjoy the sunsets because I’m either in a car, inside a place, or in the house making dinner. But out here in the wilderness of His creation, in the vast open sky, the sunset captures your attention. The colors, the beauty, and the time it takes for the sun to set is just amazing. Sitting to enjoy the sunset has been and is one of the things that gives me life and fills my soul. It slows me down because in that moment, all I am doing is watching the sun set in the sky. Such simplicity. 

Loving Lake Powell

This by far was my favorite campground in our entire trip. We stayed at Lake Powell - Wahweap Campground. Our RV site was big and spacious with lots of room for the girls to run around, ride their bikes and scooters. The entire campground was clean and we had a view of the lake. There was fire pit and the best part was that it was quiet and relaxing just sitting outside. You could even see the jack rabbits hopping around the campground and hear the coyotes at night. Loved this spot and so glad that we spent 4 nights here. The best part of this location was how decently close everything was. From this location, we were able to visit Horseshoe Bend, take tours of Antelope Canyon, take the tour of the Carl Hayden Dam, go into the town of Page for groceries and to eat, 2 hour drive to Monument Valley, and much more that we didn’t realize was so close to us until we left.  We met a family who we met at our Zion RV resort and just happened to stay at Lake Powell too at the same time we were!. They told us they rented a boat in Lake Powell and that you could drive the boat yourself to wherever you wanted to go. How cool is that? 

Lake Powell gave us a lot of time to just really sit and relax and hangout as a family. I just loved sitting outside in the sun and looking at the view of the lake. The girls loved going down to the beach and playing in the sand and water. The most epic thing at this campsite was the moon rising behind Navajo Mountain in the distance. It was literally an epic moment and experience to see it. We were just in awe of what we were seeing. Truly an amazing experience to see the moon so big, full, and glorious rising slowly from behind Navajo Mountain. The colors and the glow of the moon, I can’t even begin to describe the majestic nature of it. It was just epic. Here’s a short video of the moon beginning to rise. 

 I am so thankful for these majestic moments out here because it’s such a great reminder of how blessed we are to live in His creation and that God has created all of this for us to enjoy and be reminded of how majestic He is. I can’t say that enough because it’s a good reminder for me to be thankful for the life He has blessed me with despite whatever trials and tribulations that life is thrown my way.

New Places, New Faces

One thing that has been really interesting, fun, and out of our comfort zone is meeting new people at each place that we stop at. We have met people from Montreal (Canada), Oregon, Ontario (Canada), Bakersfield, Jacksonville (Florida), and even people who live in Campbell down the street from us! It’s been fun having conversations about where people have traveled or are traveling to and what their lives are like. It’s also been fun sharing a little bit about ourselves as well. It’s definitely been interesting to hear from the older folks and what they share with us, it’s like they’re imparting wisdom to us. It's also fun hearing how seeing our little trailer camper brings them memories of when they started RVing with their own kids back in the days. I do feel like God has been giving us affirmation throughout this trip through the people we have met. One thing that has been consistent that people shared is the sentiment of “cherish this family time with your kids because they grow up fast.” There's so much truth in that because even though out here the days and weeks seem to slow down a bit, the time on our journey coming quickly to an end for now. I love being in new places and meeting new faces. 

Grand Canyon Trailer Village campsite

In Awe of Red Rocks

Look closely and you can see the moon in the background!

On Tuesday, spent the day in Sedona, AZ exploring the red rock landscapes. We first visited Red Rock State Park which had a cute little visitor center that the girls loved. It had several kid activities for them to explore. Then we went for a short 1 mile hike where the girls loved playing with the red sand on the path and you were surrounded by the views of the red rocks. There’s something about being amongst majestic red rock landscapes. It’s stunning yet you can’t believe it’s real! 

Then we headed off to Chapel of the Holy Cross, the one where you see on postcards and it’s built into the rock. Being on top of there and seeing the 360 views of the other red rock landscapes was majestic. It was very peaceful and I absolutely loved sitting inside the chapel too with Dave and the girls and saying a prayer as a family. 

Photo taken by Dave

Panoramic view at the top of Chapel of the Holy Cross

Afterwards, we went into the town of Sedona and stopped by Tlaquepaque Art and Crafts Village shopping area. Surprisingly there was a cute little toy boutique where they had some toys outside for the girls to play with. Then we headed inside and you all know how that probably went. ;) We definitely used a tip from a church friend about “let’s put that on your birthday wish/Xmas wish list” to avoid buying anything and having a meltdown/tantrum. And let me say, it totally worked! So thanks Molly for sharing that tip! 

We ended our day by coming back to the campsite and met our new RV neighbors from Jacksonville, Florida! We found out they’re also headed to Grand Canyon at the same time as us and staying at the same RV village in Grand Canyon too! I got to put my Instant Pot to work again and made some delicious Taco Soup while Dave and the girls went to the camp playground with Pedro (our dog). We ended the evening with dinner outside by the campfire and quickly realized that Pedro loves the campfire and ended up taking Mae’s camp chair to lay on in front of the fire. Needless to say, we will be heading to the closest Walmart to find a kid camp chair for him to be by the campfire. :)

A dog and his campfire. Haha!

This time as a family has been a blessing. Dave and I ask each other everyday is this what we envisioned when we set out to do this? And yes, the time to be together has been wonderful and the girls continue to say “I love being together” which warms our hearts and makes us smile. 

Hello Santa Barbara!

              

We had a great day on the coast of Santa Barbara! It was a slow start to the day and that was a great feeling. Dave got to ride his bike around the campground while the girls and I slowly got ready in the morning. We then headed down to Stearns Wharf to eat some yummy seafood at Santa Barbara Shellfish Company on the Wharf . Then we headed to Santa Barbara Sea Center that was located on the Wharf. It was wonderful weather with the sun shining and a warm 78 degrees! The girls loved the Sea Center because they could touch all the sea life and there was a cool black light jellyfish exhibit. Their favorite part was the Marine Puppet Theater where they got to play with puppets and make their own puppet show. It was the cutest thing watching the girls do imaginary play.

Afterwards we decided to run a few errands of grocery shopping, going to the bank, and going to the hardware store (yes things do need to be fixed in the trailer already). Life for the next month is going to be an adventure of seeing different places but we also have daily things to take care such as groceries and laundry. In the afternoon we explored our campground Cachuma Lake Recreation Area and found one of the playgrounds for the girls to play on. We took a walk from our campsite to the playground since it was such nice weather! Plus an added bonus was Pedro got a nice long walk! What's been so great so far is meeting new people! We met a young family from Ventura who had a little girl the same age as Mae! It was fun chatting with them a bit and watching the girls play a little.

One thing that I really enjoyed from today as I reflect on the day is the beauty of slowing down. Not having to rush anywhere or do anything on a "to do list" has been nice. Slowing down has been helping me see the simple beauty of the littlest things such as the nice weather, our kids' puppet shows, the beautiful nature around us, and the simple beauty of the sunsets. The question is... how can I be intentional about slowing down when we return back home

And so the journey begins..

Hello everyone! Welcome to our new blog "Embracing our Life Journey"! Thanks for subscribing and joining us here as we share with you this new season that our family is in. For now, I'll give a short summary as to what The Auyeung Family is up to right now. We are traveling for the next month to see the wonderful beauty of God's creation. We are road-tripping it with our trusty Odyssey van and our new travel trailer which our girls named "Chopstick". There is so much more to this story of how we got to this point which I will share later in another blog post. But for now, feel free to subscribe to our blog for updates! We will also be posting short snippets on our new Instagram account @embracingourlifejourney. Come join us as we embrace this new season of our life journey that God has been unfolding for us.

Trusty Odyssey towing our trailer "Chopstick"