Monday July 7, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for mountains.
- Thank you for peace of mind.
- Thank you for hammocks.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
I awoke in the middle of the night and was cold. I also had to urgently pee. I reluctantly crawled out of my sleeping bag and went pee a ways away from the tent. Then I got my long sleeve wool shirt out of my suitcase and put it on over my pj’s. I scooted back into my sleeping bank and went back to sleep.
I awoke again at 5 AM when Angel got up to go to the bathroom. I was still cold and wished that I had brought my wool blanket with me. Angel said that she was warm enough so I took the old sleeping bag that she was using as a sleeping pad. I unzipped it and put it over the top of both of us. That helped me get warmed up and I went to sleep some more.
At around 8 AM, I woke up again when Angel woke up. I could smell the campfire going and was grateful that Aaron had gotten it started. Angel and I walked up the hill and joined Aaron and the fire. I made Angel breakfast and enjoyed the cool morning in the mountains. I loved hearing the creek and the birds singing. I could live all summer camping out and might actually do that when Angel is older.
We sat around the campfire relaxing for a couple of hours. I read some of my book and read the last of a Nancy Drew book out-loud to Angel. When it started getting warm out, we moved our chairs to a shady spot closer to the creek. Then we sat around some more. It was nice not having anything to do and being fully in the moment. Aaron and I had great conversations and found out that we do well camping together.
I started feeling tired and I laid in the hammock. I immediately went to sleep and slept deeply for a couple of hours. When I woke up, I drank my smoothie and cut a watermelon in half. I sat eating half of the watermelon using the rind as a bowl. Angel ate some with me and between the two of us we almost ate all of the half of watermelon. I felt much cooler after eating the watermelon and sat reading my book some more. I thought about going on a hike but my body really wanted rest and that’s what I planned of giving it.
Later in the day, Angel and I got on our swimsuits and found a pool in the creek deep enough to lay down and get fully wet. The water was really cold but it felt amazing. I got out and laid on a towel in the sun reading while Angel played in the creek next to me. The sun felt so good and warm and healing.
At around 5 PM, we walked back to camp and started packing up. Aaron wasn’t there and I figured he was on a hike. Sure enough, he came back shortly and told us he had been out exploring. We finished breaking down camp and got everything loaded up in the truck. I wished we could stay another night because I was really enjoying myself but I had to get back to clean the bank.
The drive home was quicker than I wanted it to be but it was pleasant. Aaron dropped us off at our apartment and we brought our stuff upstairs. I put away our food and clothes, then I walked to the bank and cleaned it. When I got home, I read Angel a couple of chapters of a Nancy Drew book and we went to bed. I wrote my blog notes and played wordle and connections. I read my book and went to sleep at 10:30 PM.
Tuesday July 8, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for juice.
- Thank you for gifts.
- Thank you for faith.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 7 AM, I wrote some of my blog until Angel came in and wanted breakfast. I made Angel a waffle and talked to my mom on the phone about her church’s family camp that happens at the end of July. At the camp, I will be working in the kitchen with her. I had been messaging the camp coordinator about whether or not I needed to register Angel for the camp or if she could just come with me. It was finally decided that she could come without registering and I let my mom know.
When I got off the phone, I started making a homemade V8 juice by juicing tomatoes, carrots, celery, ginger and a little bit of jalapeño. It made a little over a 1/2 gallon of V8. Next, I de-stemmed a whole bunch of kale that a friend had given to me from her garden. I made a whole bunch of kale chips and put them on trays in the dehydrators. Then I got the big box of cherries I picked from out of the fridge. I washed them and took out all the stems, which took quite a while. When the cherries were washed and culled. I got out my steam juicer that my mom had given me. I set it up and started steaming all the cherries. Angel left for jujitsu and I walked a couple block to pastor Amy’s house and borrowed her water-bath canner. On the way home, I stopped at the herb store and bought more loose leaf tea.
Back at home, I got the water boiling in the canner and sterilized the jars and lids. Then I started filling jars with juice from the steam juicer. I sealed the jars and put them in the canner for 20 minutes.
Angel got home from jujitsu and was hungry. She wanted beans and I actually had a can of beans that I brought camping. I went to open it and realized that I didn’t have a can opener. We don’t normally eat canned food and I hadn’t thought about how I was going to open the can of beans when I bought it. I walked to M&W and bought a cheap can opener and warmed up beans for Angel to eat.
When she finished eating, we got ready to go to McCall, to do a cleaning opportunity. The drive there was nice. We listened to a Nancy Drew audiobook and I enjoyed the scenery. I love living in the mountains. When we got to my cleaning opportunity, Angel did her schoolwork while I cleaned. The house took me longer than usual so when I finished, I had to hurry back to Council in order to make it to the city council meeting. I had texted the editor of the newspaper a couple weeks ago telling him that I wouldn’t be covering the city council meetings any more. He called this morning and somehow convinced me to keep doing them 😂.
I arrived in Council 10 minutes before the meeting started. I stopped at home to grab my laptop and Angel went to my older sisters. I arrived at city hall and got settled in just as the meeting started. I actually enjoyed the meeting this time and it only lasted an hour. I did get some ideas on future articles to write during the meeting. Such as a detailed article about the history of the airport and the current runway repaving project that will be done either this summer or next summer.
After the meeting, I went to my “yard”friends house, I moved the water and switched laundry. Then I went home and Angel arrived shortly after. I fed her dinner and read a couple chapters from a Nancy Drew book. We went to bed, I wrote my blog notes and read my book. I went to sleep at 10:30 PM.
Wednesday July 9, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for rocks.
- Thank you for wisdom.
- Thank you for joy.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 3:45 AM. I attempted to go back to sleep but my mind was already thinking about things. I wrote my blog and posted it. By the time I finished, it was time to get up. I made Angel breakfast and woke her up. While she ate, I made myself tea and a smoothie. I bagged up our compost to take to my clients chickens and we got ready to go. We were out of the house by 6:15 AM.
I dropped off Pastor Amy’s canner than she had let me borrow. I set it on her front step so I wouldn’t wake anyone up. Then I went to my first opportunity of the day which was pulling weeds for one of my cleaning/organizing clients. We had scheduled for me to come early before it got hot. I arrived at my clients house and gave her chickens our compost. They were happy about that! I chatted with my client and got started pulling weeds. Instead of doing her schoolwork, Angel decided to help pull weeds too and I enjoyed seeing her connect with the plants and the soil. I weeded for 2 hours and I didn’t take a before and after picture but I got a lot done and the area of the garden that I worked on looked great.
Next, I did 2 more cleaning opportunities and this time, Angel did her schoolwork while I cleaned. In between clients, I stopped at the thrift store and got some metal shelves that can be put together in different ways. I thought they might be useful in getting my front porch more organized.
When I finished cleaning, we went home and Angel rode her bicycle to a friends house. I got settled in and did an hour long coaching session with a client. The session went really well, I love doing life coaching. I might start advertising it again and get more clients.
After finishing the session, I set up the metal shelves on the front porch. I didn’t like them there but I thought they would be useful in the kitchen to give me more storage space. I brought the shelves into the kitchen and ended up spending two hours completely rearranging everything in there. It was a fun project and I was very happy with the results. I now have so much storage space in my kitchen than I have some empty space to put jars of salsa that I plan on canning when the garden tomatoes are ripe.
Satisfied with my kitchen project, I admired it for a few minutes, then I walked to the bank and cleaned it. Angel came home right after I got back. I fed her dinner and read her a couple of chapters from a Nancy Drew book. Then we went to bed. I wrote my blog notes and read my book. I read for a long time and went to sleep at 12:30 AM.
Thank you for reading my blog and being a part of my life. I appreciate you.
Love, Victoria
P. S. This blog post was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
P. S. S. This was Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. A lot has happened since then. Stay tuned.