Thursday June 24, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for canyons.
- Thank you for comfort.
- Thank you for perseverance.
- Thank You for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 4:30 AM. I wrote some of my blog and went back to sleep until 7:45 AM. I got up and let the dogs out. I fed them and switched laundry. I woke Angel up and we got ready to go. I told Lucky we would be back and drove to Council. At home, I fed Angel breakfast and made myself tea and a smoothie. Then I went to my friend TJ’s to check on the baby chicks and do some weeding for a couple of hours.
When I got home, Angel and I rode our bicycles to the library for story-time and crafts. I chatted with friends and left Angel with a friend while I rode my bicycle a couple blocks away to talk to the owner of an Airbnb that I am going to start cleaning in October. I signed some paperwork and rode back to the library.
I arrived back at the library just as the craft was finishing up. I helped clean up and chatted with some friends some more. Angel and I rode our bicycles home and I walked to the thrift store. I found a fancy cat litter box for Sweetie Alabama and saw one of my McCall cleaning clients there.
When I got home, we left to go to McCall for a cleaning opportunity. On the way, we stopped in New Meadows and let Lucky out. While I was there, I realized that I didn’t have my purse with me and I had left it at home. That was ok, because now I couldn’t spend any money.
In McCall, I cleaned for a couple of hours, then we came back to New Meadows. I let Lucky out again and left Little Bit there with her while Angel and I went to Zim’s hot springs. We have a yearly pass there and so I didn’t need my purse to go. The water was nice and cool which I wasn’t expecting. I’d been avoiding Zim’s all summer because I thought it would be too hot but I was pleasantly surprised. Angel and I will start going more often again.
I floated on my back in the pool and fully relaxed my body. Then I stretched and swam around. The pool only had a few other people in it but Angel found some kids to play with. She raced a boy across the pool and won. She is a fast swimmer.
After swimming for a couple of hours, we went back to Lucky’s. I tried to find a movie on TV for us to watch. It took me an hour to choose a movie, then it wasn’t very good. We only watched a few minutes of it before I gave up on having a movie watching experience and we went to bed. I wrote my blog notes and goofed around on my phone. Angel played on her phone next to me until it started to get late. Then we got off our phones and went to sleep at around 10 PM.
Friday July 25, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for pet sitting opportunities.
- Thank you for long deep sleep.
- Thank you for summer.
- Thank you for experiences.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 7:45 AM. I had slept deeply through the night. It felt good to get a lot of sleep. I remember waking up once in the night to let the dogs out and use the bathroom but I didn’t become fully awake and went right back to sleep. I laid in bed basking in feeling rested. The dogs didn’t let me bask for long. They were staring at me anxiously waiting to be let out. I got up and let them out and gave them fresh food.
I laid in bed writing my blog and watching “got talent” videos until Angel woke up. We cuddled and talked. Then I got up and made Angel breakfast. I talked to Aaron on the phone, we are going to all go on an adventure in the mountains again and I asked Aaron to do a few things in town for me before coming to pick us up where we were pet sitting in New Meadows. One of the things I asked him to do was take a picture of my gratitude sign and refresh it. I left my purse in my apartment and he is bringing it along with the cat Sweetie Alabama.
When I got off the phone, we walked to the park up the road. Angel played on the playground equipment but there were no other kids there so she got tired of it pretty quickly. We walked back to our pet sitting house and I wrote more of my blog until Aaron arrived.
Aaron arrived and we headed north to highway 95. He turned off at Smokey Boulder and we drove up and over to Price Valley. Then we went over to Lost Valley reservoir and came back out to highway 95 at PineRidge. It took us a few hours to do the drive and it was wonderful to see new territory that I hadn’t seen before. The mountains are always so amazing and beautiful.
Aaron brought us back to New Meadows and dropped us off at Lucky’s. Angel and I grabbed our swimsuits and headed to Zim’s. On the way we stopped at an ice cream shop and got ice cream. While we were there, Aaron called and said that his truck broke down up the road at a gas station. I drove over there and he got his truck started with a jump start. Then we continued on to Zim’s.
I floated and stretched at Zim’s and Angel played with some kids. A lady that I have seen there often started talking to me and she might hire me to clean and pet sit for her in the future. When we got out of the pool, I saw that I had a missed call and text from Aaron saying that he was broke down again. He had sent it an hour ago. I called him and he said he had gotten a ride home with a friend that happened to drive by. I was glad he had gotten help since I had missed his call. He said that he’s pretty sure that the battery in his truck is bad and he has another one he can put in it tomorrow. I asked if he needed me to take him to his truck tomorrow and he said that his friend would take him.
I got off the phone and we went to Lucky’s. We went to bed early and after writing my blog notes, we went to sleep at 9 PM listening to a Little House on the Prairie audiobook.
Saturday July 26, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for sunshine.
- Thank you for wealth.
- Thank you for blessings.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 4 AM. I wrote my blog and posted it. I played wordle and connections and let the dogs out. I woke Angel up and made her breakfast and made myself tea. We got ready to go and drove home. I walked to M&W and refreshed my gratitude sign. Then I walked to the Nazarene church to talk to pastor Amy about a rummage sale the church is having in September that I somehow became in charge of. We also talked about me starting to clean the church in October. Yay, another church to clean! I love cleaning churches.
After we talked, I cleaned the Nazarene church, since the regular cleaning lady was out of town. I did some organizing too and got the janitors closet in good working order. On the walk home, I stopped at the thrift store but since see anything good. So I continued on across the street and cleaned the bank.
While finishing up at the bank, Aaron called and said that he ended up getting a free brand new battery for his truck and his truck was running again. He also said that he left me a gift in my apartment. It was a big watermelon he had bought at PineRidge on his way home from getting his truck. I thanked him for thinking of me and walked home to see my gift. It was a good size watermelon and I looked forward to eating it.
I fed Angel lunch and started making juice. I made a half gallon of almond milk and made 2 gallons of pineapple, apple, ginger, red currant, carrots, zucchini and cucumber juice. Then I made a smoothie using the fresh almond milk and juice. It was super yummy.
I put all the juice in the fridge and went over to my friend TJ’s. I checked on the chicks and then went to the Assembly of God church and cleaned it. The pastor was there and he talked to me for quite a while about a men’s retreat that he ran for years. I got the church nice and clean and it felt good to have all my cleaning opportunities done for the day.
I went to get Angel from her friends house, where she had been half the day. She asked to stay the night there and her friends parents said it was ok. It was ok with me too and I was glad to have a night to myself.
I went home and took my giant pile of recycling over to the recycle center. I was happy to get that mess out of my house. I drove to Lucky’s and let her out. Then I went to Zim’s and enjoyed being without a kid. I stretched and floated on my back and got into a zone of complete contentment. It was blissful.
When I finished swimming, I drove back to Lucky’s and talked to my son Shawn on the phone for a while. We had a great talk, then I went to bed. I wrote my blog notes and went to sleep at 9:30 PM.
Sunday July 27, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for rivers.
- Thank you for hammocks.
- Thank you for clarity.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 11 PM to Lucky freaking out. It was raining out with thunder and lightning. I got up and tried to give Lucky one of her calming chews. She wouldn’t eat it and was running back and forth panting. I wrapped one of her calming chews in a slice of cheese and she ate it. I gave her 2 more and went back to bed. Lucky was still freaking out and I tried to get her to lay down. She was having none of that and continued to pant, jumping on and off the bed and running around. The maximum calming chews she was allowed to have is 6, so I gave her 3 more. It didn’t seem to faze her.
After a couple of hours went by, the storm passed. Lucky finally calmed down and we went back to sleep. At 6:30 AM, I awoke again. I let the dogs out and stripped the bed. I started the sheets washing and made my tea. Then I began cleaning the house. I cleaned for 3 hours. The house looked fantastic and clean sheets were on the bed. I told Lucky that her owners would be back later and I drove to Council.
The drive was nice and I listened to inspirational music. I went to Angel’s friends house and chatted with the mom while Angel got ready to come home. Angel rode her bicycle home and I met her there in my truck. We quickly changed clothes and walked to church. The singing at church was fantastic. I helped out with children’s church and didn’t hear the sermon. I’ll be taking over doing children’s church since the lady that is currently doing it is moving to Ontario.
After church, Angel and I walked home and got ready to go camping. I packed up food and supplies for an hour or so. Then I drove to my friend TJ’s to get our sleeping bags and tents out of the camper. TJ was there and we talked for a few minutes. We looked at the chicks and walked around the yard. The blackberries are just becoming ripe and I ate a few. Some were so sweet and soft that they practically melted in my mouth. They were so yummy.
I got home and called Aaron and told him that we were almost ready to go. He said he would be over in 10 or 15 minutes. I walked to M&W and got ice and a few last minute supplies. I saw Aaron drive by as I was coming out of the store and I hollered at him. He pulled over and we briefly talked. He said he would come get us after he grabbed a few things. I got my gratitude sign and took it home along with my groceries.
I stacked all our camping stuff up along the sidewalk and when Aaron pulled up, we got it all loaded in his truck. Then we went off into the mountains. We stopped at a nice camping spot that Aaron had been to before that was on the way to Lost Valley reservoir. We slowly got camp set up in-between resting. I helped Angel get her tent set up. She chose a spot far away from the rest of the camp. I suggested that she move closer because it might feel too far away after dark. She said that she wanted to be far away, so I let it go.
I got my hammock set up next and I laid in it while I watched Aaron set up his sleeping area. Then he started a fire and I got up and made dinner. After eating, Angel roasted marshmallows and had s’mores. I read a few chapters from our new book, The National Park Mystery Series book 5. We had been waiting for the new book 5 to come out and I checked last week and saw that it was out. I ordered it and it arrived a few days later. I’ve been saving it until we finished the Tornado Jones book, which we did the other night. A camping trip is a great place to start reading the new book.
After reading a couple chapters of The National Park Mystery Series book. Aaron went to go on a walk you see if he could find cell phone service and I read to myself a few chapters from another book I brought called The Courage to be Disliked. I’d listened to the book before on audio but it was a different experience reading it myself. The book had me thinking about my life and its experiences in a completely new way. I clearly saw how to fully own all of my choices and look deeper into myself by fully acknowledging my motives.
The rest of the evening was spent chatting with Aaron and Angel around the fire. When it was almost completely dark, we got ready for bed. Angel decided that her tent was too far away…(hello!). Aaron and I moved it closer and Angel got in bed with her cat Sweetie Alabama. I got in my hammock and fell asleep almost instantly listening to the sound of the river.
Monday July 28, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for water.
- Thank you for books.
- Thank you for consciousness.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 2 AM and had to pee. I struggled out of the sleeping bag and hammock and took care of business. For some reason I was wide awake. I saw lightning in the distance and I wanted to get my books in the tent in case it rained. I didn’t have a flash light or my phone with me, so I slowly felt my way over to the lawn chair where I had left the books. I heard Aaron talking to his dog Blitz and I let him know I was out there. Aaron got up and re-arranged his sleeping area. I borrowed his flashlight and found my phone. I brought his flashlight back and he got settled in. I got back in my hammock and wrote my blog. Just as I was finished and about to go to sleep, I had to pee again. Good grief! I struggled out of my sleeping bag and the hammock and found a spot to pee. Then I got settled in my hammock again and drifted off to sleep.
I awoke again when it was light out. I continued to doze in and out of sleep until I smelled the fire going. I got up and found Aaron and Angel sitting around the fire talking. Angel was hungry, so I warmed up some water over the fire to make oatmeal and tea.
Angel didn’t want oatmeal but she ate it anyway. Later in the morning, I made her peanut butter and jelly rolls out a tortilla. She liked those better. I drank some of my smoothie that I had made yesterday for the trip. We sat around the fire all morning and I read a few chapters out-loud from the National Park Mystery Series book 5. Aaron is enjoying the book too. Those are such great books. I also read to myself some of the book that I brought for me The Courage to be Disliked.
In the early afternoon we walked over to a meadow and found a good swimming hole. Aaron jumped in first and I followed shortly after. Then Angel joined in and we swam over to an island that Aaron had swam to earlier. To get off the island, I jumped on the deep water and let the current take me to shallower water. Angel didn’t follow me and she stood in the water a good 20 minutes before convincing herself to jump in the deep water with a current. She finally did it though and Aaron caught her as she got to the shallower water. She felt accomplished for doing it herself and I was glad I didn’t give in and go “save” her like I was tempted to do several times.
After swimming, we walked back to camp and I laid down in the hammock to read my book. Instantly I fell asleep. I slept deeply for 2 hours. When I woke up, the sun was shining on me and I felt hot. I got up and found Aaron and Angel standing around the fire. Aaron told me that he had been sitting on his lawn chair in the river to keep cool and Angel had brought her lawn chair down and joined him. They just came up from being in the river a while.
We all sat around the campfire and I read more of the National Park Mystery Series out-loud. Then I read my book to myself for a while until it was time to make dinner. I warmed up beans by the fire and Angel had a bean and cheese taco for dinner. Then we played a game where one person starts a story, then the next person adds on to it and then the next person, etc. We had a lot of fun and when Aaron would have his turn, he would say funny things and got us laughing and laughing.
When it started to get dark, we got ready for bed. Angel wanted her tent moved again and we moved it for her. Then I got snuggled in my hammock with Little Bit and fell asleep listening to the creek.
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 July 24-28. A lot has happened since then. Stay tuned.