Sunday August 10, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for butterflies.
- Thank you for the sound of running water.
- Thank you for smart phones.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 7 AM. I had been awake in the night but only for a short amount of time. I felt well rested. I got up and made tea. I made Angel breakfast as well as a bunch of food to take camping. For myself I made 3 smoothies to last the next 3 days. I walked to M&W to get ice and bring my gratitude sign home. Then I went to my neighbors and talked to her while I picked blackberries off of her thornless blackberry bush. Not very many were ripe but she said that they are all mine up pick as often as I want. I thanked her for her generosity. What a wonderful gift. I have blackberries that I can harvest at my friend TJ’s house also. Yay!!!
I brought my container of blackberries upstairs to my apartment and packed them to go. Then Angel and I got the truck packed up with all of our camping gear. In the process, I found a storage compartment under the backseat. I had no idea it was there and by using the storage under the seat, it freed up space in the bed of my truck where I had been keeping a bin of emergency supplies. Now the emergency supplies were stored under the backseat, as well as our spare swim suits, extra jackets and my tool kit.
Angel and I finished loading all our camping gear in the truck just in time to change clothes and walk to church. It was a beautiful day for a walk and I was grateful to be alive to experience it. I greeted people at church and talked to Pastor Amy about switching children’s church to after we all share our prayers and praises, so that the kids can be a part of it. She thought that was a great idea. Sometimes I have great ideas.
I really enjoyed the singing during church service and shared my good news about possibly moving into a 3 bedroom house in a couple of months and that I realized my tooth is causing my jaw pain. I taught Sunday school for the younger kids and it was a lot of fun. I just had one kid and we sang a couple songs, shared our prayers and praises and watched a short video. Then we went back to the chapel for communion. When the service was over, I cleaned up after communion and put everything away.
Angel and I walked home and packed the very last of our stuff for camping. Then we went and picked up Angel’s friends little brother JJ. He’s 8 years old and he wanted to go with us even though his older sister who is Angels friend didn’t want to go. I loaded his stuff in the truck and we hearted (headed) up the mountain. I had randomly picked an area to camp above Cuprum since I hadn’t camped in that direction yet.
We made it to Cuprum and were a couple miles past it when I heard a hissing sound coming from the passenger rear tire. I quickly found a spot to pull over and got out to look at the tire. It had a big hole in the middle of it. I got out both of the car jacks that I had with me. I jacked up the truck and loosened the lug nuts on the tire. It had been many years since I’d gotten a spare tire out from under the bottom of a truck, I couldn’t remember how to do it. I grabbed my phone to look up how, then I recalled that there was no phone service out in the middle of nowhere. I prayed to remember how and suddenly I did. I got the long pole that slides in the small hole above the bumper and lowered the spare tire. I was struggling to release the middle piece connected to the cable that holds the tire up when I heard a vehicle coming up the dirt road. Hooray!
It was a lady and a teenage boy in a side-x-side. They stopped to help. The teenage boy got the flat tire all the way off, while the lady and I tried to figure out how to release the spare tire. We finally figured out the trick and got it off. The boy put the spare tire on and I hooked up the flat tire to the cable that pulls it up underneath and got it securely in place. We were ready to drive some more!
I thanked the lady and boy and we continued up the road. I didn’t want to go much farther up the road because now we didn’t have a spare tire and the tires on the truck are poor quality even though they are brand new. They came with the brand new truck but they are cheap and definitely not made for rocky mountain roads. This is the third flat I’ve gotten and I decided that I will bite the bullet and invest in some heavy duty all terrain tires when I get back to Council.
I drove into the first camping spot we came to. I didn’t want to risk getting another flat. It was actually a really nice camping spot and we got camp set up. JJ wanted to learn everything he could about camping. I showed him how to set up the tent I had brought for him and he was eager to help. I set up my sleeping hammock and another hammock for the kids to play in. The kids and I gathered firewood and I found a beautiful meadow next to the campsite. I took pictures of flowers while I gathered up more wood. When we got a good pile of woods stacked up, we all rested for a while. JJ fell asleep in his tent, Angel played with her toys in her tent and I laid in my hammock enjoying the smell of the pine trees and watching the clouds up in the sky. Before I knew it, I drifted off to sleep and took a short nap.
When I woke up, I felt refreshed and started a campfire. The kids came out of their tents and joined me around the fire. I read a few chapters from On the Banks of Plum Creek aloud to the kids. Then they went to gather more firewood. Suddenly I heard honking coming from the road. I looked up through the trees and saw that it was Aaron. I had texted him before we left, telling him the area I was going camping in but since I’d had the flat tire, I hadn’t gone as far as I had originally planned. I like to let a few people know where I am going when I head off camping so if I don’t make it back they know where to search.
Aaron drove down and joined us. It was great to see him. He had been camping by Lost Creek with his friend for a few days and they had gotten back today. He didn’t even unpack and drove out to find us. I hadn’t been expecting him and it was a great surprise. He said he was going to stay overnight with us and head out tomorrow.
We sat around the campfire and Aaron told me about a tree that fell a few feet from where his friend and him were at when they were camping. He said the force of the fall shook the earth and was amazing and scary at the same time. He said if they would have been under that tree they would have had no time to move out of the way. As he was talking, I looked around at the few dead trees near us. They could break and fall on us at anytime but I suppose dying in the woods camping would be a good way to go. The trees stayed upright through, it wasn’t our time to die. Aaron shared how seeing that tree come down suddenly made him realize that when is our time to die, there’s no getting out of it.
We all sat around the fire until it started to get dark. The kids went to bed in their tents, Aaron slept in the back of his rig and I got settled into my hammock with Little Bit. I drifted off to sleep right away.
Monday August 11, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for camping.
- Thank you for the moon.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 4 AM and I had to pee. I tried ignoring it and going back to sleep. I didn’t want to get out of my warm sleeping bag but I finally gave in and struggled out of my sleeping bag and hammock. I went pee and quickly got back in. I wrote my blog for a while and went back up sleep.
At 9 AM, I woke up again. I had slept late. Aaron and Angel were up and about and I joined them. Aaron started a fire and we all sat around the campfire. Aaron was talkative and had a lot to talk about. JJ woke up and I fed the kids breakfast. Then they played around the campsite.
Late in the morning, Aaron packed up and headed out. I sat by the campfire reading a fiction book called The Lovebird and watching the kids play. JJ started crying saying that he missed him mom and wanted to go home. I hugged him and told him that we would go home tomorrow. He said he wanted to go home now. I had him lay down in his tent and relax for a while until he calmed down. He stayed in there rested and when he came back out he was feeling better. He wanted to explore the other side of the creek andI said that I would go with him. I’d been wanting to explore over there too. We crossed the shallow creek and the woods were really dense on the other side. It was a struggle to get through it. I took a video of our adventure.
I spent the rest of the afternoon reading. It was nice to relax in nature and read. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I gave the kids a task of building a shelter using only natural materials. They had great fun with that. I enjoyed watching them figure out physics and how to make things stable. After a while, they abandoned their building project and dug a big hole in the ground with their hands.
I threw some baked potatoes wrapped in tin foil in the fire for their dinner and they enjoyed eating those. After they ate, they played in the dirt working on their hole and I continued reading my book into it started to get dark. I got the kids tucked into their beds in their tents and I got in my hammock. I fell asleep instantly.
Tuesday August 12, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for joy.
- Thank you for tires.
- Thank you for each breath.
- Thank you for trees.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke once in the night to pee. Then I awoke again just as it was starting to get light out. I didn’t have my phone on and didn’t know what time it was and I enjoyed that. I got up and started the campfire going. Then I sat and read until the kids woke up. I fed them breakfast and we started packing up. I got everything loaded up in the truck and we headed home. I was hoping we didn’t get a flat tire since the spare was being used. Thankfully, we made it home without any issues.
I dropped JJ off at his house and went home. Angel helped me unload the truck and put things away. I received a message from the dentists office saying that there was an opening today if I wanted it. I had an appointment scheduled for the next day to get my upper left wisdom tooth looked at but I was happy to go in a day early to get it over with. I messaged back saying that I wanted to take the opening. Then I returned a call from the editor of the local newspaper. He told me that my friend Camille was going to take over doing the city council meetings. Yay! I didn’t have to go to the meeting tonight and stress about writing an article about it. The editor asked if I wanted to cover the school board meetings instead. I didn’t want to do that. I homeschool and have no interest in knowing about the public school drama. I asked if I could bow out completely from it all and he said that was fine. What a huge relief. I told him that I still wanted to write an article about the airport and he was fine with that but wanted me to get it done within a couple of weeks. I’ll see what I can do.
Next, I went to the laundry mat to wash all our dirty clothes at one time. I started our laundry washing and went to my friend TJ’s to clean her house and check on the chicks. When I finished cleaned, I put my laundry in the dryers at the laundry mat and everything got dry just in time for me to make it to the dentist.
At the dentists office, the x-ray showed that my wisdom tooth was cracked and had a cavity in it. The dentist said that I could get a cap put on it but they didn’t do that there. I wanted nothing to do that with getting a cap on my wisdom tooth and I told him to pull it. The dentist hesitated and I told him it wasn’t really worth the hassle of trying to save my wisdom tooth and I just wanted it out. He agreed with me and got things set up. Before he started, he tried to get me to take some ibuprofen to help with the pain after the Novocain wore off. I told him that I didn’t want any. He balked at that and wanted to know why. I told him that I didn’t need it. I haven’t taken a pain pill in years and years. I saw through the matrix of pills a long time ago. I know that I don’t need them. I relied on pills to function for the first 34 years of my life. I was told by several doctors that I would always have to be medicated and I believed them. Along with my prescription medications, I also took handfuls of ibuprofen because my body hurt so bad all the time from inflammation. Once I changed my diet and started to become healthy, I knew I didn’t need my prescription meds anymore or the ibuprofen. I knew they were blocking me from fully healing and got off of all medication. I realized that my need for medication was my belief that I wasn’t capable of healing myself. Now I know that I don’t need a pill to function and I’m willing to face my physical and emotional discomfort and pain. That being said, I did allow the topical Novocain to numb my tooth area while it was being pulled. The Novocain gave me the jitters for a while but it wore off. The dentist did a great job pulling the tooth and it came out in one solid piece. Yay!
I left the dentist and drove to the tire store. I ordered expensive good quality all terrain tires and they said they should arrive later in the week. I didn’t want to spend $1,000 on tires but I did want good tires and I knew it would all work out.
I went home and rested for a while. Then I walked over to my older sisters to get my mail. We talked for a while, then I walked back home and fed Angel dinner. I read my book and rested and went to bed at 9:30 pm.
Wednesday August 13, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for rest.
- Thank you for dentists.
- Thank you for life.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 5:30 AM. I looked on Facebook marketplace for tires for my truck. I looked and looked but didn’t find any that were the right size that were rugged enough to withstand my mountain excursions. Angel woke up and I got up to make her breakfast. As soon as I stood up, I felt nauseous and achy. My mouth hurt where I had gotten the wisdom tooth pulled yesterday and I wanted to go back to bed.
I fed Angel. Then I canceled all my cleaning opportunities for the day and did go back to bed.
At 9 AM, I went to the fairgrounds to pick up my order from Azure. Then I came home and went back to bed. Angel went over to her friends house and I spent the rest of the day in bed and drinking watermelon juice. I read and goofed around on my phone and napped. I got stir crazy a few times but every time I stood up for very long, I felt nauseous and yucky.
I finished reading one book and started another. In the evening, Angel came home and I fed her dinner. Then we went to bed at around 9:30 PM.
Thursday, August 14, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for the day
- Thank you for cats
- Thank you for healing
- Thank you for friends
- Thank you for love
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I woke up at 5:30 AM. I wrote my blog and posted it. By that time, it was time to get up. I drank my cold tea left over from yesterday. I drank so much watermelon juice yesterday that I didn’t have any room for my tea. Plus, I’m only drinking cold liquids until tomorrow so that I do not disturb the blood clot where my wisdom tooth used to be. I am not taking any chances on getting a dry socket. That’s not something I want to experience.
I made a smoothie and made Angel breakfast and lunch. I woke Angel up so she could eat and I took a shower.
Thursday, August 14, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for the day
- Thank you for cats
- Thank you for healing
- Thank you for friends
- Thank you for love
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I woke up at 5:30 AM. I wrote my blog and posted it. By that time, it was time to get up. I drank my cold tea left over from yesterday. I drank so much watermelon juice yesterday that I didn’t have any room for my tea. Plus, I’m only drinking cold liquids until tomorrow so that I do not disturb the blood clot where my wisdom tooth used to be. I am not taking any chances on getting a dry socket. That’s not something I want to experience.
I made a smoothie and made Angel breakfast and lunch. I woke Angel up so she could eat and I took a shower.
I went over to my friend TJ‘s and started laundry. Then I watered some thirsty plants in the yard and pulled weeds.
At 9 AM, Angel and I walked with Sweetie Alabama to the vet so she could get spayed. Then we went to McCall to do a couple of cleaning opportunities. Angel did her schoolwork while I cleaned at both places. She finished reading a Magic Treehouse book and did some mazes in a book that one of my clients left for her.
After cleaning, we went back to Council. I switched laundry at my friend TJ’s and picked up Sweetie Alabama from the vet. She was mad about getting spayed and let us know how she felt 😂. I laid down and rested for a while. Then I talked to Aaron on the phone and walked a couple of blocks to the University of Idaho extension building to attend a Chamber of Commerce meeting.
The meeting was somewhat disorganized and scattered but still lasted under an hour. I want to join the chamber but I know that sitting in those meetings is going to be challenging for me. I like meetings to stay on point and to move along quickly. Maybe this is a good opportunity for me to be ok with sitting in meetings that are challenging for me. Am I up for the challenge?
After the meeting, I looked at a house for sale with a local realtor who was at the meeting. It is a little single wide on a large lot. I’m more interested in the land than the house. The realtor told me that she would send me information on getting approved for a loan tomorrow. I thanked her and walked home.
Angel came home with her friend and wanted her friend to stay the night. I said that she could and the girls went off to play in Angels room. I walked to M&W with Little Bit to refresh my gratitude sign and tell everyone goodnight. Then I got my clean laundry from my friend TJ’s and watched “Got Talent” videos on YouTube. At 10 PM, I told the girls to go to bed and got in my bed. I wrote my blog notes and went to sleep at 10:30 PM. went over to my friend TJ‘s and started laundry. Then I watered some thirsty plants in the yard and pulled weeds.
At 9 AM, Angel and I walked with Sweetie Alabama to the vet so she could get spayed. Then we went to McCall to do a couple of cleaning opportunities. Angel did her schoolwork while I cleaned at both places. She finished reading a Magic Treehouse book and did some mazes in a book that one of my clients left for her.
After cleaning, we went back to Council. I switched laundry at my friend TJ’s and picked up Sweetie Alabama from the vet. She was mad about getting spayed and let us know how she felt 😂. I laid down and rested for a while. Then I talked to Aaron on the phone and walked a couple of blocks to the University of Idaho extension building to attend a Chamber of Commerce meeting.
The meeting was somewhat disorganized and scattered but still lasted under an hour. I want to join the chamber but I know that sitting in those meetings is going to be challenging for me. I like meetings to stay on point and to move along quickly. Maybe this is a good opportunity for me to be ok with sitting in meetings that are challenging for me. Am I up for the challenge?
After the meeting, I looked at a house for sale with a local realtor who was at the meeting. It is a little single wide on a large lot. I’m more interested in the land than the house. The realtor told me that she would send me information on getting approved for a loan tomorrow. I thanked her and walked home.
Angel wanted her friend to stay the night. I said that she could and the girls went off to play in Angels room. I walked to M&W with Little Bit to refresh my gratitude sign and tell everyone goodnight. Then I got my clean laundry from my friend TJ’s and watched “Got Talent” videos on YouTube. At 10 PM, I told the girls to go to bed and got in my bed. I wrote my blog notes and went to sleep at 10:30 PM.
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 August 10 through August 14. A lot has happened since then. Stay tuned.