Angelina Jolie has been through a series of trials and tribulations this past year, but she’s not letting anything slow her down. The Oscar-winning actress opened up to Vanity Fair about daily life after her highly publicized divorce from Brad Pitt, how her six children are coping with the split and how she’s finally taking charge of her health. Following the news that Angelina Jolie had filed for divorce from Pitt last fall, the 42-year-old actress and her kids spent nine months living in a rental home out of suitcases. Nowadays, after purchasing a historic Los Angeles mansion for $25 million, things are beginning to settle into place. “It’s just been the hardest time, and we’re just kind of coming up for air. (This house) is a big jump forward for us, and we’re all trying to do our best to heal as our family.” The A-lister won’t go into details about what led to her split with the actor, but cryptically explains that things were tense for a short while before she decided to ultimately pull the plug on their marriage. Last summer, during post-production for Jolie’s film ‘First They Killed My Father’, she claimed, “things got bad”. Moments later, she clarified to the magazine, “I don’t want to use that word. Things became ‘difficult’.” And despite ongoing claims that Brangelina’s larger-than-life and perhaps hectic lifestyle is what tore the family apart, the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador vehemently disagrees. “(Our lifestyle) was not in any way a negative? That was not the problem. That is and will remain one of the wonderful opportunities we are able to give our children. They’re six very strong-minded, thoughtful, worldly individuals. I’m very proud of them.” Jolie specifically added that her children have been “very brave in times they needed to be”. “We’re all just healing from the events that led to the filing. They’re not healing from the divorce. They’re healing from some from life, from things in life.” But the end of her relationship with Pitt wasn’t the only major hurdle Jolie found herself facing last year. The world-renown actress also developed hypertension and Bell’s palsy. She also noticed extra grey hairs and dry skin. “I can’t tell if it’s menopause or if it’s just been the year I’ve had,” she shared. “Sometimes women in families put themselves last until it manifests itself in their own health.” However, Jolie has taken her latest health obstacles with stride. “I actually feel like more of a woman because I’m being smart about my choices, and I’m putting my family first, and I’m in charge of my life and my health. I think that’s what makes a woman complete.” She continued, “I’ve been trying for nine months to be really good at just being a homemaker and picking up dog poop and cleaning dishes and reading bedtime stories. And I’m getting better at all three.” Still, Jolie said, she’s beginning to get an itch for travel and adventure in the near future. During a playful conversation with son Knox days before the sit-down, she joked that things in their household will never fully be “normal.” “He said, ‘Who wants to be normal? We’re not normal. Let’s never be normal.’ Thank you—yes! We’re not normal. Let’s embrace being not normal.” Jolie initially filed for divorce from Pitt on Sept. 20 last year. The couple had been together since 2004 and tied the knot at their French chateau in 2014 while surrounded by their six children. Published in Daily Times, July 28th , 2017.