My thoughts on the past was where would I want to go for the different cuisine. But now that I make everything myself that list has dwindled down.
Original list:
Paris, London, Greece, Italy, China.
However now that list has changed because of our diet.
New list:
I originally wanted to go to Paris to eat all the baked goods. The chocolate desserts. Yum! But now we don’t eat refined sugar. So unless their chocolate is made with coconut sugar or honey, I wouldn’t be able to eat it. So maybe I’ll just go for the breads. Because in Europe they don’t have the preservative folic acid, which I am allergic to. So I can eat all the breads and not get sick. I’ve switched to a pure flour down here; but I’m constantly making bread, because it only lasts well three days.
London. Because of the beans on toast. I love toast, and I loved beans. I thought the combination would have been delicious. However now I don’t eat beans. Not because I don’t want to, but because it affects the baby I’m feeding through breast milk. It gives them terrible gas. So for the sake of my babies I won’t eat beans until I’m done having kids. Also, not to critique, I’m not a big fan of the rest of their foods. So maybe just go there to sightsee.
Greece. I think Greece is a place I would eat anything the offer. Because I really want to go there. The pictures are so beautiful!
Italy. Is another place I desperately want to go. The pastas!! I love pasta. I would love to learn how to make fresh pasta from a chef in Italy. That would be amazing. They also don’t use the folic acid preservative. So I could eat it all!! And I would eat them all!! Hopefully can go there in the future with the hubby.
China. I really wanted to go for the authentic Chinese foods. But sadly we cut out soy from our diet. I make my open sauces now. I also only use coconut sugar. So I wouldn’t be able to eat anything there. No soy, no msg, so refined sugar, no artificial sweeteners, no natural flavors, etc. So I won’t be going.
So I guess Paris, Italy, and Greece is left. Maybe I’ll go to Paris for bread and art. Italy for all the pasta. And Greece for the foods, scenery, the people, the history, etc. Three places should be easy to accomplish in this lifetime. But we will see.
I’ve dropped down to living in a camper. I used to have a large house, pretty much an estate. I inherited it from my grandpa. He always liked me best. But long story short, my siblings kept badgering me. Constantly telling me they would take me to court. Saying I maliciously stole their inheritance, by tricking the man. All lies obviously. I was being strong. I was going to hold onto that house because my grandpa wanted me to have it. But it got so bad, that I got permission from my grandma to let it go. She told me, that my grandpa didn’t want me to have the house, he just wanted me to have an investment that I could sell to be taken care of for life. So with the help of a lawyer I traded the house, to my siblings, for the fair market value of the house. Which my lawyer assured me it was a great deal, since the house value was the highest it had ever been.
So within a few months of my grandpa passing away I had been a home owner, and now I was a multimillionaire. It was weird.
I’m a twenty year old with no clear path. I’m living in a camper since my job is remote. I write short stories for a daily magazine. I just move to new places as I want.
And I’m a responsible multimillionaire. I’m not just wasting the money away. With the help of that lawyer, I have a few investment properties and I have invested in a few raising companies. So that I can stay a multimillionaire, but a silent one.
Because you guessed it. As soon as I gained all this money I became the person everyone wanted to be friends with. Such a bother. My grandma was actually the one to tell me to leave and to keep my new wealth a secret. She knew how it felt, because she and grandpa had made the mistake in their younger years to announce their wealth. Still, I used a portion of my wealth to set my grandma up for life. Grandpa had left her a large sum to take care of herself, but I wanted that to be her fun money. Also I felt better leaving knowing my grandma was taken care of.
But all this to say, because I now live in a camper. Currently next to a beach, and I’m not very good at this whole drifter lifestyle.
Most drifters I’ve met are chill and go with the flow type people. Never stuck in a schedule. Whereas me, I like to have a schedule. I like to spend some days just writing in my camper and never going outside. I like being alone. I don’t need to be constantly social. Or so I thought.
My life changed Friday, June 13th, 2025 at 7:40am. There was a knock on my camper door, and when I opened it there was no one. Thinking it was a ding dong dasher I started to close the door again and then I heard a flapping sound. There was a flyer of some sort stuck to my window.
It read, “Party at #2 camper. Enjoy booze, drinks, music, and food at 7pm-1am. Come to party!”
Not really my thing. Just because I usually enjoy my quiet nights. I curl up with a crossword puzzle book and a cup of hot chocolate and I usually fall asleep there. ‘Not the best habit.’ But it was my new thing. But I scanned to the top of the camper park to see where camper #2 would be. I was at spot #42. And like in a story I locked eyes with the owner. He was beautiful…no not beautiful, handsome. Handsome is a better word. Haha! He was tanned, he was toned but not like steroid muscles; he was smiling at me. ‘He’s smiling at me!!’ I ripped my eyes away from him. I had been staring at him. All these sweet romance stories I write having the women be calm and collected is so phony now. I see a cute guy and I become a puddle of awkward goo.
I sneak a glance back towards his camper and he is no longer around. Thankfully. I can scan the scene to know if I’m going to want to go or not. There were streamers and ice chests filling the small grass area in front of the camper. So when they say drinking they meant it. There were lots of girls swarming around. All dressed appropriately for going to the beach, but not for being at a party. I’ll just say, more skin, less clothes. And they were already blasting music. It was that angry rap stuff. So based on my gaze of what was being prepared I could assume that this was not going to be my type of party. I don’t drink, I like more clothes and less skin, and I prefer country music. So dead giveaway that I would not fit into that crowd.
Looks like it was going to be a day full of chilling by myself. Maybe I would just sit in a chair and watch the festivities happen. It might give me an insight into that world for future stories. I head back inside my camper, I get dressed for the day, and I leave to go grocery shopping.
…
They were not kidding about a party. The party was huge! I wasn’t just in spot #2, it had morphed down to spot #22. So they were closely coming nearer to my space. Which made it harder for me to be sneakily siting in a lawn chair and watch the festivities happen. But I still did it, because the owner had called me and said they would not go past #30. So I would still have a good size buffer from them.
The party was like I had assumed. Lots and lots of drinking happening. Girls wearing pretty much nothing. Guys shirtless. Music so loud that I could hear the lyrics all the way down here. Definitely not my scene.
“You don’t want to come up?”
I jumped at the voice. I pulled the headphones from my ears and saw the cute guy from earlier standing just outside my camper space. “What!?”
He smirked and laughed, “I asked if you wanted to come up or not?”
“Oh! Oh. No. I wasn’t planning on coming. I don’t really think it’s my type of party.” ‘I’m sure I sounded like a goof.’
“I can get that. The party grew way bigger than I had expected. May I?” He mentioned to the second lawn chair.
“Oh, sure. Here,” I pulled my laptop bag off of the seat next to me. I didn’t like it that he was so calm and confident and I was falling all over myself.
“Thanks. He sat down next to me. He seemed confident. That he knew his place in the world. “So why didn’t you come up?”
“Oh. Umm, I’m not really that type of party person.” That was a stupid excuse. “I don’t really know. I’m just comfortable here where…I have no clue.” My face was getting hot.
He laughed. Not a I’m making fun of you laugh, but you are funny laugh. “You are making no sense, but strangely I understand you. But come on. You need to experience some new things in life,” he stood and offered me his hand.
‘What?! I’m not ready to go anywhere. I’m not dressed to go to that type of party. I guess I was. But I didn’t know if I wanted to go or not.’ But I still reached out and grabbed his hand. I grabbed my keys, threw my laptop inside, locked my camper door, and turned ready to follow this guy.
“I didn’t think you would actually want to go,” the guy was smiling but I could see a hint of surprise.
“I’m surprising myself. But I guess I should experience a party like this once in my life. And it helps that I trust the one taking me. I mean, no. I meant….do you know what I mean?” Why was I such a doof and around this guy?
“Haha! I know what you mean let’s go!” He reached down and grabbed my hand and started to pull me up to the party.
I could feel my face warming up because of his touch, but I felt safe with him. So I wasn’t truly fearing going to this party.
…
‘Oh. I was so wrong!’ Not about the guy I was with, but that I should have probably stayed at my camper. There was much more happening at this party that was not visual back at my camper. There was a “dance space” going on. But it was pretty much…a…very uncomfortable sight to see.
I don’t know why I did, I stopped suddenly, reached out and grabbed the arm of the guy towing me, he spun around to face me, and hid my face into his chest. I was so embarrassed by what I was seeing. The warmth was reaching my ears.
He just chuckled. He wrapped his other arm around my shoulders and he carefully walked me around the outside of the dance space. Keeping a hand up to block my side profile view, of the dancing next to me.
I trusted him. I didn’t know why.
But we finally made it to the top of his spot. There were less people up here. There were just a few stragglers, probably the guys that couldn’t find a girl to go to the dance space with. The guy I was with, gestured to the several ice chests. There was beer is most of them, waters, and sodas. I chose a coke, because water seemed like a lame option. But amazingly enough to me, the guy grabbed himself a water.
“Hey Jackson! Where did you disappear off to?” A guy from group of stragglers, ran up and fake strangled him from the back.
‘Jackson. His name was Jackson.’
“I didn’t disappear. I just wanted to invite our neighbor.” He grabbed my hand again and pulled me towards him. He once again drooped his arm around my shoulders. “This is…actually I don’t know your name?”
“Sally. My name is Sally Anne Marck. Nice to meet you,” I nodded my head to the guy in front of me.
“Nice to meet you Sally, I’m Matt,” he reached his hand out.
But before I could accept his hand, Jackson held his hand instead. “No touching needed,” Jackson said.
I laughed quietly. I thought it was cute.
“Dude. It’s not like I’m going to try and take her. You walked all the way down there to get her. And you’ve been looking at her these past few…” Jackson harshly nudged Matt in the side to shut him up.
‘Looking at me these last few what!?! Hours? Days? Weeks?’
“Please ignore Matt. Anyways. Sally. What are you doing in this area? Visiting family? Friends?”
‘Keep answers short. I wanted to be acknowledged for me and not my money.’ “I’m actually taking a bit of time to travel. Just seeing new sights. I ended up here by accident actually.”
“So…do you…umm?”
“What my friend is trying to ask, is do you have a boyfriend?” Matt called out over his shoulder while he got another water.
I know my cheeks became pink. But as I snuck a glance at Jackson and he became flush too. “Umm…no. I’ve never had a boyfriend.” ‘Why did I say that? I could have said I don’t have one. Not make it totally clear that I have zero experience.’
“Really?” Jackson grabbed my hand once again.
“Really,” my face became warm.
“Sweet,” Jackson pulled me a little closer to his side.
I liked it there. I strangely I still felt safe. Matt was just staring at us nodding his head. Approving on what was happening.
‘What was happening? Was something happening? Would something happen?’
“Well, since you two are now together, I’m going to try my luck at meeting someone on the outskirts of the dance space. See you two love birds later,” Matt waved as he walked away.
“He’s an idiot but a good guy,” Jackson said as he watched Matt walk away.
I just nodded. I was still processing everything. ‘I was standing next to the cute guy. He was holding my hand. Jackson’s best friend just said we were together, but was that actually real? Or was he just kidding?’
I looked up at Jackson, he was just looking off towards the dance space. He was smiling. I looked down at our hands and he was still holding mine. But what did that actually mean? “Hey Jackson, what does this mean to you?” I held up our hands. ‘What am I doing? I just asked him directly!?!’
“Hmm?” His eyes came back around to me. His smile suddenly disappeared and he dropped my hand.
That wasn’t the reaction I wanted. My hand felt so empty now.
“I’m sorry. Did I overstep? I just having been watching you for a few days now and I’ve been curious about you. I threw this party to have you come and to get to know you. But when I saw you at your camper still, I decided to go meet you myself. Then you decided to come and I was ecstatic! You were so cute when we walked up to the dance space. Not only did I pull you into my arms to hide you from the dancing, but I wanted to let all the other guys around, that were checking you out, that you were taken. Matt is an idiot, but he did help me ask you if you had a boyfriend. I was surprised you said you’ve never dated, because you are gorgeous. So I guess…I mean…I thought we could be together now. But if I’m way off base, I can totally back off.” Jackson started to back away from me.
I instantly grabbed his hand back. I wanted to be with him. And him exploding his confession was so cute. I knew I was falling in love with him. “I want you too!”
He stopped at my touch and smiled at me, then at our hands. “I guess I should have verbalized this earlier. Sally. Do you want to be my girlfriend?”
‘Yes!’ “Yes!” I blurted out. I probably looked like an idiot in love.
Jackson chuckled. He pulled me to his side. Instead of holding my hand, he brought his other hand around my waist. He just held me there. We stood there together staring off into the chaos of the party. Only paying attention to our touches.
…5 years later…
So Jackson and I are married now. We dated for about 1 year. Not really doing much of anything. Talking about life, family, goals, etc. Walking on the beach, staying in the camper, surfing, snorkeling, hiking. Just living life.
The talk about my money did eventually come up. And it wasn’t anything big. Jackson was surprised at first, but wanted to continue the secret of it all. He didn’t want to be know for money, but for our own accomplishments. However, the only large sum he used was to help Matt start up his camper site business. Which I fully agreed with, since Matt was a main reason for us starting to date. He convinced Jackson to throw the party to give himself the opportunity to meet me.
We are still living in a camper. We thought it would be good to travel around and figure out where we wanted to end up before having kids. Which we actually need to decide pretty soon, since I’m actually expecting our first little boy. Little Jacob Tomas Gallagher. Named after Jackson’s grandpa and my own.
Which I believe it was my grandpa and God that led me to Jackson. It was an accident me stopping at that beach. I originally had planned to stop about thirty miles farther. But the exit was called Tomas St. My grandpa’s name. In the town of Martha; my grandma’s name. Seeing those two things made me want to stop, but then God speaking to me, ‘Stay a while,’ was all I needed. I pulled off the highway and found the camping site. How peaceful it was, I could see that this place was a great spot to stop. And it was.
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Digital Art By: emily2jane ‘Still Current’ 06-15-25
What’s the oldest thing you own that you still use daily?
I know there is probably something. But most of my stuff is packed away in storage.
Currently I don’t think I have something tangible.
Like I could say my brain. I’ve had it all my life and I daily use it. Even though my husband would argue that. Haha!
My blog. I’ve had it almost fifteen years. But I can’t say I use it daily. I’m trying to change that.
One I just thought of is my Bible. I believe I bought my Bible about fifteen years ago. And sadly I can’t say I use it daily. Which I should say I do. But honestly I don’t. I’ll change that too.
With life being so drastically different I don’t really have an answer to this prompt….which is just sad.
Apples. I love apples. I always have. You know the scene from Harry Potter and the Sorceres’ Stone…where it’s the grand feast; I called out apples the first time I watched it. Haha!
Cantaloupe. I love cantaloupe as well! I love it dipped in vanilla moose. So delicious. But my daughter is allergic to it, so the only time I get to indulge in cantaloupe is when I’m visiting my mama.
Peaches! Fresh! In the summer, they just melt in your mouth. You can make peach sherbet….now I want peaches!!
Strawberries. Straight off the vine, is best. But I love strawberries. Fresh from a farm in late May is the best! Strawberry jam is also divine, but no chunks! My son usually steals my strawberries.
I think my 5th would be blackberries. Off the vine as well. Blackberry jam, blackberry ice cream, in yogurt, just plain. So yummy!! But do you ever get to make these things with fresh blackberries? No. Instead they end up in my tummy.
So I am the youngest of three daughters. So hammy downs. Lots and lots of hammy downs!
But since I’m traveling, I’m wearing exercise pants that are 15 years old, always mine. Socks that are 5 years old. A shirt that is only 3 1/2 years old. But also a long tan colored sweater thing. I don’t really know what to call it. It’s one of those sweaters that you wear with a dress so that your spaghetti straps don’t show in church. But this one is long. Long enough that it covers my butt. Which I planned for, because of my exercise pants. (I don’t like to wear form-fitting exercise pants in public.) But sweater thing saves the day.
But this sweater was my oldest sister’s. And she gave it to me maybe 6 years ago. She was cleaning her closet. But she had it since junior high. So 27 years ago. Wow! But that is awesome!! If it survives I’ll pass it down to my daughter. It will live on! But these exercise pants are a bit snug… three babies later, I’m not as small as I used to be at 15. But I’m traveling; I didn’t want seams.
But my niece would approve of my socks, they are Winnie the Poo characters.
Have a blessed weekend 💕
My outfit
Forgive me. I’m drawing on my phone, with my finger, in a truck, on a bumpy road. Haha 😂
I usually say I’m a follower. I prefer to follow behind and just do what I am told. Like my husband. If he is doing a project, I just follow behind and help him however I can.
Nine time out of ten, I’m like this. It is a lot easier to be a follower.
But if regarding art, I’m the leader. I might ask for input but I’m going to do it my way. I’m just curious about how my husband would do some things. Because his brain is a mystery to me.
Also swimming. I was the leader in my younger days. And still I feel like the leader within my family. Outside of my family…yeah. I’d get my butt kicked. Haha!
Also part of being a leader is people looking to you to lead. I’m okay if I’m looked at for art or swimming, because I’m a master at both (7 years+). But other things I’m a novice. I dabble in things but I’ve never spent years learning it.
We are going on a trip!! I’m excited to see my family. Even though it’s only 1 day. But still I’m excited to meet my nephew and to introduce my new daughter to everyone.
I had my first cup of caffeinated coffee in 8 years. Actually only a 1/4 cup. And I inhaled, choked, and gained a sore throat and burned nose. So definitely a kill joy. It’s a sign I should still give it up.
But enjoy your Mother’s Day. At least I only stained the sink. And not my clothes for church!!
It’s been a while since I got to go see something live. Babies make that impossible.
The last movie I saw in theaters was ‘The Force Awakens’ 2015
The last musical theater performance I saw was Mary Poppins. It was fabulous! That was the last time my grandma had the energy to take me to a musical. 2009
The last concert I went to was ‘The Supertones’ final concert. It was so loud. I also got someone dropped on my head. Crowd surfing at a Christian concert!! 2005
The last small theater performance I saw was ‘Into The Woods’. My sister was the granny. Not really my cup of tea. But it was fun to see my sister do what she loves. 2008
I went and saw my brother preform in his choir. It was epic. I can still remember a few of the songs. He doesn’t sing anymore. Instead he sings the most on key when we sing Happy Birthday. 2005
We went and saw a monster truck and dirt bike rally. My son loved it! 2023
I would love to see a dance competition live. I love most styles of dance. I would have loved to have seen the 2004 Olympics.
I’m still open to seeing new things. But they have to be family friendly now. I don’t go anywhere without my precious cargo.
Have a fun Thursday. For me there are dishes…more dishes…and more dishes!! Haha 😂
Several of the camping trips were great times. And some not so great. But every time gave you memories. Either memories you want to remake with your own family, or memories that you have as lessons not to do with your kids.
A couple of the camping trips, I remember with my mom and siblings, was going to the giant sequoias. That was a great trip. I don’t remember the trees being giant, but they were big enough that we didn’t attempt to climb them. Or at least I didn’t. I was my brother’s spotters. I walked across a fallen one. I remember because I was wearing my vest hoodie shirt with shorts and knee length neon orange and brown socks. I was probably thirteen, fourteen at the time. (I still have those socks!)
We went camping in Lake Arrowhead. I don’t really remember the camping part. But we spent one afternoon in the little town. I remember my younger brother and myself walking around. We stopped into a gallery. And I bought 2 postcards. One was an owl with its head tilted and looked wired. The other was a big chubby bear just sitting looking so relaxed. Just chillin. Which I don’t know why but these two cards made me think of my mama. She was either wired on coffee or she was so relaxed and comfortable like the bear. I gave them both to her as a present that year. I was sixteen-ish.
Another time we went somewhere with fishing. I can’t remember where. But I have a picture of my younger brother standing in front of the stream. He’s got his natural platinum blond hair, black skinny jeans, and a black T -shirt, with a coke in his hand. My nephew is behind him fishing with his Spider-Man fishing pole. That trip was so long ago. Because that nephew is now going to college in September. I feel so old. So that trip I think my nephew was three maybe. So…14 years ago…I was eighteen. I thought I was younger that trip.
But the bad camping trip was when I was eight I think. It was one of the last times our dad was allowed to take us camping unsupervised.
Almost every summer we would go to Jalama beach. Which I loved the beach. I still do. But I’ve been spoiled with Hawaii’s beaches from our honeymoon. But back to the trip. We would go every summer. So that trip my dad decided we would go on the hike to a lighthouse. It was on the end of the beach on a cliff. So far away! W started out for our trip at nine in the morning. Me and all my siblings. Me at eight. My younger brother at five. Older brother twelve. One sister sixteen. The oldest sister seventeen. And my dad.
The trip out was interesting to say the least. We saw so many things we’ve never seen before. We saw the large crabs inside the rocks. One was about the size of my younger brother. We saw many abalone shells. We kept several. (In hindsight not smart to make your bag heavy at the beginning of your trip.) We walked on beaches that we had never ventured on. We saw so many creatures in shallow pools of water. I loved the sea anemones! We walked by tall sand dunes. My older brother ran up the hill and slid down. He regretted instantly for all the sand was everywhere. Haha!
But we walked for hours until we made it to the lighthouse. Turned out to be any army base. And the security asked us to leave or we would be charged for trespassing. That didn’t stop my dad he made us take his picture before climbing back down the cliff.
Next came the hike back. We did eat our lunch finally before we started again. It was only around 4pm…I was starving.
This hike made me realize at the young age, don’t go too far because you still have to hike back. So the once amazing first hike, was now treacherous. Because the tide came in. So the beaches we first walked across was now submerged in deep dark water. Remember I’m eight. My brother is five. It was terrifying! One wrong step and you would be gone. And we were all in sandals.
Remember those dunes. Yeah those became the “stinging sands of doom.” The back of our legs were on fire with sand stinging your legs. The rocks with crabs were now submerged underwater. So not only was the water over six feet deep it was full of large crabs. At one point a wild hog ran across our path and my first thought was dinner. But then I thought I could ride it. No such luck on either.
By the time we got back my feet were all torn up. I had blisters, scratches, cuts, bruises. My legs could barely hold me. My arms were still attached even though I could not feel them. I was so exhausted. But that wasn’t the worst part. Our neighboring campsites had called search and rescue. And they were about to depart in search of us as we walked up. They had been worried since we looked like we were going on a hike, had little kids, and had been gone for almost twelve hours. Yeah. We got back around 9pm. If we hadn’t walked up at that moment, my dad probably would have been arrested for child endangerment. Because at this point my younger brother was passed out in my sister’s arms. And I didn’t know how long he had been like that. So she had been walking that treacherous hike with her arms full.
Safe to say, that was the last time my mom let my dad go camping with us alone. For good reason. Now as a mama I would be pissed, and would be a worried sick every time my babies went anywhere. But my husband knows the limits. He is more cautious than I am about some things.
So that trip gave me more lessons than good memories. There is such a thing as too much. And I have more sympathy for my mama.
Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?
1) The golden rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated.
2) “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” — I Corinthians 10:31
3) Live action Cinderella: “Have courage, and be kind.”
4) Speed Racer Movie: “Pfannkuchen sind Liebchen” Pancakes are love.
5) Speed Racer Movie: “We’re changing your plan, that changed our plan, which changed your plan. Right Boss?”
-changed to: The new plan is the old plan, which was the first plan.
6) Avatar The Last Airbender: “Secret Tunnel! Through the mountains!”
I am sure there are more. But these quotes, rules, verses, and at a constant in my life. But the speed racer ones get quoted a lot. Especially since we have changed our plans several times.
And whenever we go through a tunnel my son sings “Secret Tunnel!“
I really like the Cinderella one. Have the courage to be the real you. And be kind to others. Two very important lessons to learn.
Do everything for the glory of God. Be the example. Live your life the way He wants you to. Live knowing He knows all, and forgives all. It’s easier said than done, but it is something to strive for.
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I will be making a pancakes are live sign and hanging it up in the camper. 😎
emily2jane 