Land

Land. An investment that usually spans a great distance. It could be woods, fields, valleys, or hills.
Land is a wonderful thing.It's something that allows you to broaden what you do with your space and time.

The possibilities of stretching landscapes are endless. Plant a garden, build things, do stuff.
The fun you can have running over grassy hills or leaping through wooded slopes goes on forever.

I love ridding my ridding my bike down our hilly yard, hanging out in the woods, climbing trees, and running until I'm out of breath. These are some of the things I enjoy most on my land. I did climb trees when I lived in MD, but my roof was the only view I had.

There is something about taking a look around you and and the land you see(most of it anyway) is mine. That hill is mine, those woods are mine. It must have been really daunting when God showed Abraham all the land he could see and said it was his.

Land is a gift. And for some, a privilege. This is short and sweet because I am VERY tired.

Land is fun, useful, and like I said before, a gift.

Victoria. . .

Kites

Kites have always been so cool. Even when I was little I loved to watch kites soaring high above. It's a wonder why I only got my first Kite few years ago. 

When I got my first kite I still lived in my small neighborhood with my small backyard.

So I didn't get to fly it much. Then we moved out here. And there is definitely room out here to fly a kite! I have spent a couple hours trying to fly my kite. And most of the time I fail =(

But I did manage to get it up and keep it up for awhile. I hope to have many more good flights in the future.

Did you know these kite facts?

The record for the highest single kite flown is 3801 metres (12,471ft).
for a train of kites 9740 metres (31,955 ft).

The world record for the longest 'kite fly' is 180 hours.


Kite flying was banned in Japan in 1760 because too many people preferred to fly kites than work.

More adults in the world fly kites than children

In 1826 there used to be a stage coach service between London and Bristol using kites instead of horses.

There are over 50 million kites sold in the USA every year.

The longest kite in the world is 1034 metres (3394 ft).

The record for the highest single kite flown is 3801 metres (12,471ft).
for a train of kites 9740 metres (31,955 ft).

Happy kite flying! 

Victoria. . .

Joy

James 1:2-3

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,  because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Some days I feel really happy and joyful. I have a great life.  

 I the have friends and family I love and who love me. I have more blessings than I can count. So I should be joyful for the trials that come. Right?

Joyful. . .joyful. . . joyful. . .God is joy. 

After my move I wasn't very joyful. Like you have figured I was mad and a  little confused. But after a long time with him I see my need to trust God, and when I do that I will have joy.   

joy

noun

1. 1.

   a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.

   
   

   
   

   The definition of the word "joy" is lacking. You cannot have joy without the maker of joy. 

   You will never truly be joyful without God. If you think you have joy when you don't have God your hanging on to a false happy feeling brought about by the things that make YOU happy. Those material thing will let you down, run away and never come back.The things of this world that make you "joyful" will only crush you in the end. God is always there, he is the source of joy that never ends, never goes away, and will always love you.

   
   

   Make God your joy. =)   

   
   

   
   

   Victoria. . .

Impossible

All the days that I wanted life to rewind, all those times I wanted to turn and run, all those hours I spent questioning. Why? Because I wanted. Two words. I. Wanted. 

The self centered two words that I let rule those days when I wanted the way thing used to be, to be the way things are. 

But all that time I wished and hoped that things would stay the same, deep down I knew that it was Impossible. It was impossible for my life not to change, for some of my friends to step out of my life and others in, it was impossible for me not to change.
Normal is a word made up in peoples head as the definition for what is comfortable to them. What they like, what they want, who they want to be. 
There is no such thing as Normal with God. Or at least that’s what I feel like he’s is showing me. 
God let me be in my comfort zone for a while, then he needed me somewhere else. Here. As much as I tried to ignore it, this was where I needed to be.

A new track was started, a whole new game began, triggered by God telling me I was moving. It wasn’t something I accepted, not something I liked. 

But God knew I needed to learn that change was good, that he uses change in the best way, and that change would be hard. I also needed to know that God used those hard change to draw me closer to him. 

Some how I feel like this is God writing this and not me. I feel like the pen really. 

So as Impossible as this may seem, the change you and I go through is for a greater purpose. Time and time again it may feel like change is bringing you down, but I think God uses it to try and lift us up.

Yes there are people who I used to hang out with ALOT that I miss. Yes it was(and is) hard, and yes it will get easier. 

Don’t think these words from me, I am merely the messenger who needs to fallow the advice she delivers. 

Victoria.. . .

High school

High school. The two words that bring so much pressure into a teens life. Mainly because this is a whole new start to a whole new game. You have to act to cool, dress stylish, and fit in. Or that is what most kids think.

It’s not like that for me. It never was going to be. High school for me was just another step( I act cool and dress stylish all the time anyway lol). A big one, but not as big of a deal as it is for most public school kids. I don’t have to worry about looking perfect every day of the week, dating, populars, or fitting in with the crowd. I make my own God centered crowd, and anyone who doesn’t like me for who I am can leave. 

The work load did increase by like 50%! 
Because now were getting to the serious stuff, the things I do here and now will effect latter. My high school grade will affect where I go to collage and so on. 

Every day I spend most of the day doing school. That doen’t sound like news to a public school kid, but for me it was half day school, other half free time(1st grade- middle school). 

I do like my school and I’m getting pretty good grades so far. 

It’s still hard, then again no one ever said it was easy. As time has gone on I’ve gotten in to my routine, found what school work is best to do when, and what is harder for me.

Sometimes I have bad days where all the thing I try and learn swim in one ear and out the other, I get frustrated and have a hard time understanding the simplest instructions. On these days I give myself  a break and take the day off. I don’t do this a lot because one missed day can effect my whole week!  But it’s nice to be able to do it when I need to. 

I’m really proud that I have survived my freshman year. Almost. 

When I was younger I used to hate school especially math. 
I would get so upset with it and start yelling at the math and my mom, and I start to cry and scream that math wasn’t important and I didn’t need to learn it. Those days are gone mainly because I'm MUCH older and I switched my math curriculum to Teaching Textbooks (best math curriculum ever!) 

And now I have really good math grades usually higher than an 85, and I enjoy it! 

Life gets more and more complicated with every year, and some days I feel like I just can’t deal with it. I feel like if I read one more word from the Iliad, or attempt another science math problem, I will just shatter in to a million pieces or explode! But God, my family, and friends get me through. 

Really if I think about it my high school life is about ten times easier than the average public school kid. I can take a break when I need to, I don’ have to worry about fitting in, 

or bullies, etc...

So I thank the lord for my Homeschool High school blessing. =)

Victoria..

Garden

this is not my garden =)

 Veggie gardens are one of the most common city and country self reliance choices. Many use even the smallest back yard for their little hobby veggie gardens. Others use their lots of space to plant and harvest lots of things.

April seems to be the start to a lot of our new projects such as bees and a our garden. Our garden has just been started and isn’t even showing little greens pushing up out of the soil. 

So alas I cannot tell you how my garden food tastes, or what is looks like, or what is like to work in the garden. =(

 We do have it laid out and have many thing growing in small containers that will then be transferred to our garden once they get bigger. 

The work I have spent on our garden was a few long hard hours hauling bricks and outlining the beds with them. 
But I know without a shadow of a doubt that fresh, organic, fruits and veggies from my yard will be the best ever! 

And I can’t wait to see the little sprouts push up out of the soft Virginian soil and grow big, and colorful, and be so pretty I wont want to eat it! I’m excited for those days. I had a garden before, but it was filled with amazing flowers. But a garden where we will grow thing we can eat and not have to get from the store will magnificent! 

garden lay out

We are going to have Carrots, peas, lettuce, zucchini, onions, peppers, strawberries, blackberries, cucumbers, celery, melons, asparagus, and so much more! 

With enough space we decided to go all out on our garden! 

Hopefully in a few months or so something will be up, grown, and ready to eat. 

The idea of not needing to buy food from the store is so foreign and weird to a lot of people, and in some cases myself. 

We have chickens - not buying eggs

We have bees - not buying honey

We have a garden -not buying fruits and veggies =)

I really like all of this and hope that one day soon we can get goats, and maybe next year I can do goats for G. 

Victoria. . .  

Friends and family

my going away party

 Family and friends, the most important thing to me and my greatest motivator, besides God of course. 

My church was small, I became friends with all the teens there. We were a crazy group that had the best of times together, parties, youth events, and church. We would always be in our circle talking about the stupid and funny stuff that we did or didn’t do. 
Those were some of the best days of my life. But as I have discovered this past year, things change. My friend Abby went away to collage in California, and I left, and not long after that a really good friend of mine left my old church too. Our lives would never be the same again, for the people who left and the people who stayed.
But we will always remember our good times and hope God blesses us with more.

youth trip.

 I don’t get to see my BFF very much, once a week, and we can’t hang out, and hardly have time to talk. I miss her so much. <3

My other group of friends was at my co-op, that was even a crazier group of kids we had a blast, most of us were in drama(so fun) and did comedies for gallery day. 

My friends are true friends that I can count on, and even though I’ve lost contact with most of them I know they were and are trues friends.

My going away party was a blast I had a whole bunch of my teenage friends over, and we played games, ate food, and stood around the little contained fire. My friends are the best and most of them Christians. My dad says he loves it when I get together with my friends because its so different from when normal teenagers get together. 
So to all my friends out there I love you and miss you all! And thanks to Abby, Ellie, Ryan, Amber, and all my other friends for helping me adjust to my new life.

And my family, gosh i miss them. I love my family and my little cousins, they are the best. 

Two of my cousins Rose and Elanor who are 6 and 4, they are my joy, we love to play together and do all kind of fun stuff and dress up, and I used to baby sit them all the time. After I moved I heard my aunt talking about how she was having two teenagers from her homeschool group baby sit Rose and Elanor, that did more than break my heart.

My cousins and me.

Two girls that my aunt had never meat were going to babysit MY cousins, I should be babysit them! But I knew I couln’t , and that made me want to cry.

All my cousins seem to get bigger every time I see them! My cousin Adam, gosh he gets taller every time I see him, he is seven and I still remember holding him on my lap when he was little. I was little too! I would have only been 7 or 8.

 I love my cousins so much! And I miss my grandparents, my aunts and uncles, and ALL of my cousins, some of which are in TX, and some in PA. 

So love to all of my family <3!

Family and friends mean the world to me. People who don’t have time for friends or family have no life! 

God gave us family and friends to be there for us and for us to be there for them. Family and friends are a gift from God don’t keep love them and appreciate them. 

Victoria. . .