I and my spouse are US citizens living in Sweden. We enjoy it very much. I could think of moving to Norway; similar enough culture, and I miss mountains. My spouse could think of moving to Denmark, because of the better tasting food. Neither of us want to move back to the US.

As a difference, I didn't come here "with idealistic notions of what Sweden was supposedly like" because I visited the country for about 12 months in total, scattered over 7 years, before I decided to move. And I did long-term visits (up to 3 months at a time) in a few other places too, before deciding on moving here. Nor was my move because I fell in love with a Swede. (Though my spouse moved here after we got married.

The worst time for me was the lack of housing in Gothenburg, which made it impossible for us to find a place after we got married. (I had been renting a small room in someone else's apartment.) We moved to a small city without the nightlife or activities of the big city. I found it quite isolating. But for us, having kids connected us to a different part of the city.

Your situation sounds tough. I have no words of wisdom or insight. Kämpa på?

https://satwcomic.com/wiki/norway agrees with your views of Norway and nature.