Christmas Gifts and Such

Hello! Well it's December and I haven't posted since October but I have moved and am pretty much done moving and getting settled in so the future is looking up for this little blog XD Also, I read some more these past few weeks, so I should write a post about the books!

Anywhays…

I hope you had a great Christmas! I wanted to share a few things I received for Christmas!

This sticker book is so cute and pretty! I will be using these in my bujo and in letters to my pen pal!

This coloring book has cool coloring pages. I like to color on a relaxing evening. :)

My friend gave me some washi tape, and this is the first one! It is so pretty!! I love gold!!

This tape has little planets on it :)

It also came with the small sample of washi tape. Which is gold.

Then this last role has like old-fashioned vintagey tickets.

The last thing my friend gave me was a pack of moon stickers, with all the phases of the moon! To me, the moon is a symbol of hope that Jesus gives!

Finally, my parents gave me this book I asked for called "Becoming A Contagious Christian" by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg that I think I will really like.

I hope you liked seeing these few things!! Happy New Year!!

~ Victoria

Recent Reads // October

{ H E L L O ! }

Not sure if I already announced this or not, but I am currently in the final stages of moving to a new state. As a result, there has been very little posting going on for me. Hopefully things will settle down a bit soon. I'm looking forward to posting photography of new places I visit!

For now, I wanted to drop in to review a few of the books I have read recently!

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

amazon // goodreads

I'd read a different book by Laurie Halse Anderson before (Fever 1793), which I rather liked, so I turned to the Seeds of America Trilogy. This one had some darker themes, as it is based on slavery. I finished Chains, but I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the trilogy. 

Everybody Always by Bob Goff

amazon // goodreads

This book had lots of inspiring and interesting stories. It is well written, although it wasn't super deep it was relatively thought provoking. 

A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry

amazon // goodreads

Since I rather like The Giver, I wanted to explore other books by Lois Lowry. A Summer to Die was actually her first novel. It follows the story of two sisters. It is VERY sad, but I really loved the relationship between Meg and her older neighbor.

 Miracle for Jen by Linda Barrick with John Perry

amazon // goodreads

I heard about this book after reading an article on TheRebelution. This book was sad, painful, and amazing. The writing was kind of repetitive sometimes, but I read all the way to the end. It tells the dramatic true story of 17-year-old Jen Barrick. After getting hit by a drunk driver on the way home from a church choir performance, Jen's family encounters miracles, pleading prayers, and heavy struggles. God answers Jen's prayers in the most astounding way through her accident. After I read the book, I looked up Jen Barrick on YouTube and was amazed. 

Called to Create by Jordan Raynor

amazon // goodreads

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and although it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, there were some good insights in it. It focused more on being an entrepeneur, rather than an artist. But I especially liked the section on how we will use our creating gifts in heaven. It also presented ideas about God as a creator, and how we being an artist is a gift from God, because it is one of his own characteristics.

The Unexpected Adventure by Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg

amazon // goodreads

Since this is basically a devotional, I wasn't sure what to expect. Sometimes I find that devotionals don't dedicate enough time to just one point or story. This book, however, was very engaging, interesting, and inspiring. There were great stories about how the authors have stumbled across sharing their faith, and then Bible verses and important points after the story. I recommend!

Thanks for reading! Have a great week!

Yellowstone National Park // July 2018

It's been three months since this little 2-day road trip, but I still wanted to post about it and show some of my pictures!

We stopped at nearly every side road, and one of the first was the Artist Paint Pots Trail. We didn't make it to the Paint Pots (it was very hot and unshady), but went to the Thermal Basin.

Then, we drove all the way up to Mammoth Hot Springs.

We of course had ice cream before eating lunch.

Buffalo Chip ice cream sounds very appetizing, don't you think? XD (That's the flavor that I got actually)

This other store was by a waterfall, which I took pictures of but realized afterwards that they weren't in focus *facepalm*

We were bummed that this geyser had just one off one week before we were there!

The second day we spent time at the Old Faithful Lodge.

Quite the crowd turned out to watch Old Faithful.

We peeked at some of the artifacts and antiques.

I ate this same sandwich both days at the park, so it deserves a picture.

We saw many of the cool-looking pools. I took half a billion pictures of them, but will spare you :)

I'm so happy I got the chance to visit YNP again! It had been a while since I was there last. I hope you liked seeing my photos!

At Bannack Ghost Town est. 1862

** I wrote this post in July, after I went to Yellowstone, and I'm not really sure why I never published it... Anyway, I'll do it now! I will also dig up some pictures of YNP to post eventually too :)**

While I was in Montana, we stopped at Bannack State Park to see the ghost town there! The town has over thirty buildings that you can go inside. It was really cool to see all the old lean-tos, outhouses, cabins, and even go upstairs in the buildings. I took lots of pictures!

This is the main street of the town. In 1863, it had a population of 3,000 people.

The two story hotel is made of brick. This was the first building I went inside. My brother and I explored every room of the hotel, and even went up the stairs.

There were a lot of rooms upstairs off of a really long hallway. All the rooms were yellow, and the wallboards were peeling off in some places. The floorboards creaked. (photo credit to my bro)

There were lots of old doorknobs that I couldn't resist taking pictures of.

The badly tuned piano in the saloon. My brother played a song on it and you could hear it echoing down the street.

What is left of the saloon. My brother also took this picture.

This is the Methodist church.

The inside of the church reminded me of Christy and When Calls the Heart.

Some of the doors were locked, so we peered through the keyholes.

Most of the buildings did not have furniture. However, in the backroom of a cabin stood a huge wardrobe. I looked inside, but didn't see Narnia.

In the same building, there were newspapers plastered onto the walls. Sadly I didn't get pictures of any of the cabins that had dirt floor.

This was the town jail.

I think these stairs were in the Gibson House, a rooming house that was built in 1862.

There were a lot of little bunnies running about the grounds.

The schoolhouse looks very interesting. It was built in 1876.

The last house we went in had furnishings as well as another piano.

In the bedroom, a dress made of a sack hung in the "closet."

What do you think about Ghost Towns? I think they're really cool!