Friday September 12, 2025
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for stomach aches.
- Thank you for providing everything I need.
- Thank you for rest.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary, I awoke at 2:30 AM. I wrote my blog and posted it. I slept again from 5 AM to 8 AM. It felt nice to sleep in. I got up and made tea and a smoothie. Then I took the 4-wheeler to my friend TJ’s. I turned on the sprinkler and started laundry washing. I drove to Angels friends house and picked her and her friend up and took them to jujitsu. While they were at class, I cleaned a house. Then I went out to Mesa to get some peaches from a client.
At home, Angel did school. We worked on spelling today and I rested. Then I walked over to the thrift store and my friend Mr. W was there. He invited me to lunch at the pizza place. I joined him while Angel and the dogs went to my older sister’s. While waiting for food at the pizza place my sister called and said that my dogs had escaped from her yard and she couldn’t find them. I figured they had ran home since I live only a block away. I drove home on the 4-wheeler and the dogs were there. I put them inside and went back to the pizza place.
I ate a salad and chatted with my friend. Then I went to my sisters and hung out a while until it was time to get ready to go on a dinner date with the guy that owns the computer store. He picked me up and we went to a Mexican restaurant in McCall. We had good conversations and enjoyed each other’s company.
Saturday September 13, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for sunshine.
- Thank you for new connections.
- Thank you for dogs.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 4 AM. I wrote some of my blog and played wordle and connections. I slept more from 7 AM to 9:30 AM. It felt nice to sleep in. Angel was awake and hungry. She wanted to go to the cafe to get a pancake. I said ok and we walked over there after getting ready to go. Angel enjoyed her pancake and we talked about going swimming at Zim’s later.
After breakfast, we went upstairs to our apartment and I made myself tea and a smoothie. I texted the guy I’d had dinner with but he never responded back. Ghosted! Oh well 😂. Angel and I rode the 4-wheeler to one of her friends house and the girls played while I chatted with the mom. I really liked her and I think we can become good friends.
When we left, Angels friend came with us. We went home and got in the truck. We picked up another one of Angels friends and went to Zim’s Hot Springs. The kids had fun swimming. I stretched and floated on my back fully relaxing my body. Then the kids were hungry, so we went to a restaurant in New Meadows where the kids had french fries and ice cream.
Back in Council, I dropped off Angels friends at their homes. Then I cleaned the Assembly of God church and the bank. When I got home, Angel and I got ready for bed. I read a couple of chapters from a Babysitter Club Little Sister book. Then I put on a sleep meditation and we went to sleep at around 10 PM.
After getting dropped off at home, I got Angel from my sisters and we got ready for bed. I read a few chapters from a Babysitter Club Little Sister book and put on a sleep meditation. We went to sleep at around 10 PM.
Sunday September 14, 2025
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for mountain roads.
- Thank you for children.
- Thank you for gifts.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 1:30 AM. I goofed around on my phone and didn’t do any writing. I slept again from 4 AM to 7:30 AM. I got up and made tea. Then I laid in bed for a while scrolling on my phone until Angel woke up. She wanted pancakes for breakfast. I was feeling really sluggish from not eating well the past few days and did not want to get up and make pancakes. My energy levels tend to get really low and my creativity lags when I don’t eat well but it’s ok.
I forced myself to get up and get moving. I ground up wheat berries into flour using the vitamix and made a pancake batter. Angel ate breakfast and I went to the laundry mat to start laundry washing but all the washing machines were being used. So I scratched that idea and walked down to M&W with the dogs and refreshed my gratitude sign. I chatted with people sitting outside of the cafe and the dogs did great obeying their commands and stayed right with me.
Angel and I got ready for church and walked over there. I was feeling really tired and run down during church. Angel wanted to sit at the table in the back of the sanctuary and color. I sat with her and it was nice coloring while I listened to the sermon. I used to doodle and color while listening to lectures in college. I found that when I’m passively coloring, I soak up the information that I’m listening to better. I guess it works because I had a 3.8 GPA in school.
After church, I talked to people about the rummage sale that will be happening Friday and Saturday and I think I have enough volunteers to actually pull this sale off.
When we got home, Angel wanted to go to one of her friends house. I told her she had to clean her room first. She got busy cleaning and after I inspected her room, she rode over to her friends on her bicycle. I had a house that I needed to clean in McCall before Thursday and I decided to get it done today. My plan was to take the dirt roads over the mountain to get there rather than take the highway.
I headed out and chose to not use a map to see if I could find my way without it. I went up Mill Creek road and turned off at Shingle Flats campground. Then I took another turn and another. After a while, I realized that I wasn’t going in the direction I was supposed to be going and I had no idea where I was at. Oh well, I continued on to see where I would end up. To my surprise, the road suddenly ended at an amazing look out point. I pulled out the paper map and followed my route to find out where I was. I easily found my location and I was not even close to where I thought I was. So much for thinking I had a great sense of direction 😂. It is easier than you think you get turned around in the woods, especially on a cloudy day when you can’t see the sun and today was cloudy.
The dogs and I walked around for a while. I basked in the amazing view and took pictures. Then we headed back the way we came and I abandoned the idea of making it to McCall to clean the house today. We made it to Shingle Flats Campground and I was back in familiar territory. I took East Fork Road to the highway and crossed over to Fruitvale/Glendale road. I stopped at my friend Mr. W’s house and visited with him for a while. While we were talking, the dogs had found something nasty to roll in and they smelled awful. We walked down to the Weiser river so the dogs could get washed off. Tiny-Boy liked his bath but Little Bit did not. Mr. W and I talked about going up to Black Lake and decided to do it tomorrow, yay!
When I got back to Council, I went to the laundry mat again and this time it was empty. I started laundry washing, then I went home and got the 4-wheeler. I picked up Angel and her friend and her friends little brother and we rode around town. We stopped at the laundry mat and I switched the laundry. Then we rode around some more.
I dropped Angels friends off at home and got my truck. I drove back to the laundry mat and got our clean clothes. At home, I put the laundry away, then Angel and I got ready for bed. I was too tired to read. I wrote my blog notes and we went to sleep at around 10 PM.
Monday September 15, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for mountains.
- Thank you for adventures.
- Thank you for children.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 4:30 AM. I wrote some of my blog and got up at 5 AM. Angel was awake and I made her breakfast. For myself I made tea. Then we left to go to McCall to clean the house that I didn’t get cleaned yesterday when I got lost on the mountain. I listened to an audiobook called Reality Transurfing on the drive and also while I was cleaning. Angel did her schoolwork while I cleaned and the house looked great when I finished.
Before going back to Council, I stopped at Ridley’s Grocery and Natural Grocers and then Maverick for fuel. When we got to Council, I made a smoothie and a new friend from church came over in her truck. We hooked up my cargo trailer and drove to Cambridge to my younger sister’s house to pick up some things for the church rummage sale. We had great conversations on the drive and we got everything loaded up, after I called my sisters to get clarity on what we were supposed to take.
Back in Council, we dropped everything off and I went home. I was feeling really tired from getting up so early. So I rested and wrote my blog until my friend Mr. W came over. We were going to go to Black Lake in his jeep. I grabbed our food and drinks and we got settled in his jeep with the dogs. We started out and he let me know that he didn’t feel comfortable taking his jeep to Black Lake because it wasn’t running quite right and we were going to go to Lost Lake instead. I didn’t really want to go to Lost Lake because I go that way all the time when I take the back roads to and from New Meadows. I wanted to go exploring in fresh territory but Mr. W said wanted me to show him where Lost Creek Falls was at and I resigned myself to enjoy being in the mountains regardless of where we were going.
As soon as we got off the highway. I started to feel carsick right away. Mr. W drives really fast and the jeep is squirrelly. I was hanging onto the dogs and getting thrown all around. Conversation was difficult because the jeep was loud and Mr. W couldn’t hear me half of the time. I mentioned something to Mr. W about him driving so fast and he slowed down some but I still felt carsick. Angel fell asleep and slept the whole way. I could have used a nap too. With being tired and feeling queasy, it was difficult to enjoy myself but I did. I looked for wildlife out the window but didn’t see any. I showed Mr. W Lost Creek Falls and we walked down to it. When we got to Lost Lake, we walked around again and I played fetch with the dogs.
On the highway coming home, I got a brief nap in and felt a little better. Mr. W dropped us off at our apartment. I rested a while, then I walked over to the bank and cleaned it. When I finished, Angel and I rode the 4-wheeler around town with the dogs. We stopped by my friend Chad’s and he had friends visiting from Caldwell. We hung out there for a while, then we rode home and got rest for bed. I read a few chapters from a Babysitters Club Little Sister and wire my blog notes. We went to sleep at around 10 PM.
Tuesday September 16, 2025
Morning prayer:
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for fresh water.
- Thank you for choices.
- Thank you for health.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 2 AM. I wrote my blog and posted it. I slept more from 5 AM to 8 AM. Angel was awake and hungry as usual. I got up and made her breakfast. For myself I made tea and a smoothie. Angel ate breakfast and then did a half hour of reading. I rode over to my friend TJ’s on the 4-wheeler. I checked on the chickens and yard, then I cleaned her house.
Angel went to jujitsu and I went to the neighbors house and vacuumed for her. Before I went over there, I got my smoothie out of the fridge and accidentally dropped it. The lid broke and 1/2 gallon of smoothie spilled all over the kitchen floor. I was calm about the whole situation and got it all cleaned up.
When I got home from the neighbors, I made myself another smoothie and rode the 4-wheeler to the rec center. I watched Angel do jujitsu and chatted with another mom. When class was over, there was a book club meeting at the library that a couple of Angels friends were starting. A book hadn’t been decided on by the time we had to leave so we will see if the book club actually happens. I hope it does because it might get Angel excited about reading. She does not like to read but I require her to read at least a half hour a day.
Angel and I went out to Mr. and Mrs. H’s. Angel did her schoolwork and I helped Mrs. H organize upstairs after I watered the outside plants and cleaned the downstairs floors and bathroom.
When we got home, Angel and I went over to my friend Chads and he put another tire on Angels bicycle. While we were there, one of his neighbors who is also a new friend of mine from church showed us some of her unique bicycles. She has a bicycle that worked like a scooter and a tricycle without handlebars. Angel and I tried them out. The scooter bicycle was a lot of work but it was fun to ride. The tricycle without handlebars took a lot of coordination. I kept going in circles but Angel mastered it right away and rode all over.
We played on the bicycles and visited until it was almost time for Girls Club. We went home and Angel ate dinner. Then we picked up a friend of hers on the 4-wheeler and drove to Girls Club.
It was a lot of fun at Girls Club. The girl that doesn’t like Angel wasn’t there and that made things easier for her. We sang songs and prayed. Then the girls did show-n-tell and played games. The last game we played is called jump the Jordan river. The games is played by laying two long strings on the ground horizontal to each other. The girls jump over the strings without touching them or landing in-between. The strings get moved wider apart each turn making it more difficult to jump over them. I decided that I was going to join the girls in jumping over the strings and that was all fun and games until I got a cramp in my inner thigh and could hardly walk 😂.
After Girls Club I took Angels friend home and we went to our apartment. We got ready for bed and I read a few chapters from a Babysitters Club Little Sister book. Then I wrote my blog notes and put on a sleep meditation. We went to sleep at around 10 PM.
Wednesday September 17, 2025
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for bicycles.
- Thank you for friends.
- Thank you for understanding.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 1:30 AM. I wrote my blog and went back to sleep at 4:30 AM. At 7 AM, I awoke again and lay in bed dozing a while. Then I got up and made my tea and Angels breakfast. At 8 AM, I went outside to get my 4-wheeler tire aired up and waited for Michael Ridge. One of the tires has a slow leak from a previous plug that was put in it.
Michael Ridge arrived and he followed us to where my kayak is stored. He put it in the back of his truck to borrow. He had plans to paddle across the snake river in Hells Canyon to a hot springs. He said there is a rare plant there too that he wanted to look at. I look forward to hearing about his adventures and about the plant.
We rode home and left in the truck for a cleaning opportunity. I got the house looking great and Angel did her school work while I cleaned. When I finished, we went to the thrift store and I found a laundry basket for one of my clients and a nice curtain for another client.
Then we went home and got ready to drive up to Black Lake. We’ve been there once before about 4 years ago and I remember the road being rough and steep. I had a Subaru Forester when I went before and it had a lot more clearance than my truck does. When we arrived at Black Lake road there is a sign that says “road not recommended for passenger vehicles”. The road looked in good shape to me and we continued on. The road was great and the drive was easy until we got to 7,500 feet, right below the Smith mountain lookout tower. I stopped and looked at the big rocks on the road that I would have to drive over. I looked to see if there was a way I could get over them without my truck scraping bottom. I saw a possible route through and started driving over the rocks very slowly. It was steep and I had to drive with my tires up on top of some of the rocks rather than straddle them in order to not get high centered. Amazingly, I made it through without one scrape and continued on. The rest of the road was really rough in quite a few places but the truck did great and we made all the way to Black Lake.
We found the camping spot we had been at when we were here before. When we camped there 4 years ago, a herd of mountain goats had come into our camp and it had been a really magical experience. I walked around looking at plants. Then I sat on a log at edge of the lake with my feet in the water enjoying the beauty all around me. Angel and the dogs ran around exploring and walking on a log jamb. At one point Angel slipped and fell in the water. She was mad that she had gotten her clothes all wet and laughing at the whole thing, I told her there was a towel in the trunk she could put around her and that it was all ok. She calmed down and got the towel and we headed back home.
I took my time driving down the mountain. The really rough parts of the road seemed easier going down. When we got to the end of Black Lake road, I took a different route and explored a new road that eventually took us back to Council-Cuprum road.
When we got home, I walked over to the bank and cleaned it. Then Angel, the dogs and I, rode the 4-wheeler around town. We stopped by my friend Chad’s to see if he had anything he wanted to donate to the rummage sale. He said he would get some things together. Then I talked to my friends across the street while Angel rode their tricycle-without-handlebars.
When we got home, it was time for bed. I read to Angel a few chapters from a Babysitters Club Little Sister book and we went to sleep at around 9:30 PM.
Thursday September 18, 2025
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for adventures.
- Thank you for fruit.
- Thank you for a reliable vehicle.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 3:30 AM. I had been sleeping deeply. I wrote some of my blog and went back to sleep from 5 AM to 9 AM. It felt good to get extra rest. I made Angel breakfast and made myself tea. Angel left for jujitsu and I started laundry washing at the laundry mat. Then I went to the Assembly of God church to pick up donations for the Nazarene church rummage sale that starts tomorrow and to clean. I got halfway done cleaning when people showed up at church for a prayer meeting. I left and switched laundry at the laundry mat and dropped off the donations. Then I went to jujitsu and watched Angel for the last 15 minutes of class.
A friend helped me load up a futon frame that someone was donating and I took it to the rummage sale. Then I went home and fed Angel lunch. I had a bunch of tomatoes and cucumbers in the fridge that needed used. So I decided to juice and made a gallon of v8 juice with tomato, zucchini, squash, cucumber, lemon, garlic and hot peppers. I also made a half gallon of almond milk.
I cleaned up the kitchen and then Angel, the dogs and I rode the 4-wheeler to my friend Chad’s. I helped him load stuff he was donating to the thrift store into his truck. Angel went across the street and got the tricycle-without-handlebars and rode it to her friends house. I rode to the food bank got in line to get a box of food and was pleasantly surprised at how much fresh produce was in it.
I brought the food home and then went to the rummage sale to help get everything priced and set up. Two other people had been there all day and had done most of the work. I thanked them for their hard work and got busy helping with the last of the stuff. We had fun talking and joking around while we worked. Twice I went to the thrift store to buy hangers and found a vacuum while I was there.
When we finished getting everything set up. We covered up the tables with sheets and roped off the area. We left, I went to the Assembly of God church and finished cleaning it. Then I went to a pet sitting opportunity where I was hired to empty a cat litter box for an older man. I introduced myself to the man and he talked and talked while I changed the litter box and filled up the cats food and water containers. He was a really sweet man and I stayed for a while so he could have someone to talk to. He talked a lot about politics and even though I do not like talking politics, I let him lead the conversation and listened without personally getting caught up in any political drama.
Next, I went over to my friend TJ’s to pull weeds. She was home and instead of pulling weeds, we sat outside and talked. It was really nice spending time with her and we had a good conversation about following what we know we are being called to do.
When I got home, Angel and I got ready for bed. I finished reading a Babysitters Clubs Little Sisterbook. Then I wrote my blog and went to sleep at 10 PM.
Friday September 19, 2025
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for mountains.
- Thank you for rivers.
- Thank you for adventures.
- Thank you for love.
I love you!
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 1:30 AM. I watched videos on my phone until 4 AM. I slept more until 7:15 AM. I got up, made Angels breakfast and made myself tea. I drove to my older sisters and picked up some items to donate to the rummage sale. I dropped them off at the sale and went back home to get the 4-wheeler.
I drove back to the sale and Angel rode her bicycle to the farmers market a couple blocks away. People that were helping with the sale started to arrive and so did the early bird shoppers. We sold a lot of stuff the first couple hours, then things started to slow down. It was fun hanging out and talking with everyone. I took a break in the middle of the day to go to the thrift store and I found some good stuff.
We closed up the sale a half hour early. The stuff left wasn’t much and we had earned close to $200 for the church. I rode around town on the 4-wheeler with the dogs. I picked up Angel and her friend and rode around some more. We picked up another friend of Angels and continued riding around. We stopped at my friends house that has the neat bicycles and the girls rode around on the bicycle-scooter and tricycle-without-handlebars, while I talked to my friend. We are going on an adventure Monday up to Peacock mine and Kinney point. Yay for adventures.
I took one of Angels friends home and went to the apartment. Angels other friend is staying the night and they both walked over to my older sisters. I rested a half hour and then I cleaned the bank. I went to my sisters to check on the girls, then I drove to a friends and picked up a bag of stuff to donate to the sale. I dropped the stuff off at the sale and drove out of town to another friends house. In the meantime my friend Chad hooked me up with a real estate lender about a house for sale that I’d like to buy. I talk-texted with the lender and even with my credit score being 831, I need a co-signer because I don’t have proof that I make enough income.
At my friends house, they had a whole bunch of stuff to donate and there was no way I could fit it all in my truck. I packed up what I could and will come back in the morning to get the rest. I drove back to town and stopped by my friend Chad’s on my way to drop the stuff off at the sale. I told Chad that I needed a co-signer to get the house and he said he would do it. The lender knows him and laughed at that.
Chad helped me unload my truck at the rummage sale and I went home. I talked to my older sister and told her about my Cuban with the lender. She said that she might co-sign for me but wants to things about it. We will see what happens.
At home, the girls and I got ready for bed. The girls turned out their lights and I went to bed. I wrote my blog notes and put on a sleep meditation. I went to sleep at around 10 PM.
Saturday September 20, 2025
Good morning God,
- Thank you for this day.
- Thank you for the color red.
- Thank you for plants.
- Thank you for peace.
- Thank you for love.
Dear Diary,
I awoke at 6 AM. I had slept through the night. I wrote my blog until 7:15 AM. Quickly I made my bed and made tea. Then I went to a friends and loaded up my pickup with stuff to take to the rummage sale. I dropped the stuff off at the sale and went home. I made the girls waffles for breakfast, then I drove them around town on the 4-wheeler and put up signs for the rummage sale. It’s fun driving the kids around on the 4-wheeler and waving at people.
I dropped the girls off at home and went back to the sale. There were a few people from church already running things and I was really grateful for their help. We got a brief morning rush of people that bought stuff, then things slowed down. The morning went by slowly and I was feeling really tired. Then we had another rush of people and sold a lot more stuff. My client Mrs. H came to the sale with one of her friends and it was good to see her. She said she was going to go shop at the thrift store next and then they were going to lunch. I invited myself too lunch and said that I would join them after they got finished at the thrift store 😂. Mrs. H said that I was more than welcome.
At around noon, I took a break and got Angel. Her friend went home and I took her to another friends house to stay the night. Then I went back to the rummage sale. At 2:30 pm, we had sold a large portion of everything and we shut it down. I was relieved that the sale was over. We counted how much money we had raised for the church and it was a little over $500…yay!
Mrs. H was still at the thrift store and I went over there. I talked with the guy who runs the thrift store about a place he had suggested I visit called South Peacock mine where there was a bunch of peacock copper and garnets and other neat rocks and not far from there is Kinney point where you can walk out to the highest edge of Hell’s Canyon and look down. Hell’s canyon is the deepest canyon in North America, deeper than the Grand Canyon. The man told me that I would need to use my 4-wheeler to get all the way to Peacock mine. I didn’t want to haul my 4-wheeler up there and asked if I could drive in if I took it easy. He said to not try it otherwise I worked regret it. He said that it’s a mile or so in but I could walk in if I wanted. I really want to get to that mine to get some neat gems, I will either bring up the 4-wheeler or walk.
Mrs. H and her friend finished shopping and we went to eat at Dad’s Place, one of the 3 restaurants in town. There’s Dad’s Place, Seven Devils Cafe and Shy Simmons pizza. We all had fun laughing and joking around. Then I went home and laid down with the dogs. The dogs had been with me all day. They stayed in their beds on the 4-wheeler while I ate and had been wandering around getting love from everyone during the sale.
We all took an hour and a half nap. When I woke up, I returned a call from my friend Rachele. We talked for a while and had a fun conversation. She’d had a crazy day and told me about it. I told her about my upcoming adventure to Peacock mine and Kinney point. She wants to go see them when she comes to visit again. Living in Idaho is like living in the middle of a giant playground. There is an abundance of unique places to go and see on the 34.5 million acres of public land. Then there is an abundance of activities to do for free or low cost… white water rafting, hot springs, kayaking, mountain biking, hiking, camping, caves, sand dunes, swimming, cliff jumping, rock climbing…just to name a few of the summer activities. In the winter there is skiing (downhill and cross country), snow boarding, tubing, sledding, snow shoeing, hot springs and more. I am so grateful to live here, it feeds my adventurous spirit.
When I got off the phone, I went back to bed. I read for a while, then I went to sleep at around 10 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.