Month: August 2020

My 30th birthday

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list friends! On Wednesday I turned 30 and I had a really great day celebrating! I can’t wait to tell you all about it so let’s jump on in !

The first thing I want to say is thank you everyone who wished me a happy birthday! I felt so loved on my birthday. I’m so blessed to have many wonderful people in my life. My plan for my birthday was to go to the Dollar Tree and buy 30 things for my 30th birthday then go to savers to get some books from their very impressive book section. Before going out to dinner that evening. Things at the Dollar Tree started off pretty well but I kept losing count of how many items I had. I ended up with more then 30 items but I had fun and that’s what matters! Then it was time for Savers. The first thing I noticed when I walked into Savers is that the book section had moved. Luckily it was just as big as it used to be. We spent a good amount of time looking through the books and my mom and I found some good books. I got a few other things at savers but mainly books. We made a stop for coffee before heading home. After spending a little time at home it was time to go out to dinner. We met Amy there.  I was so happy to see her!  Also dinner was amazing! I had a really wonderful birthday. I hope the first year of my 30s is wonderful too.

Rock On – Christina Epperly

I guess I’m 30 now ?!?

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello,my bucket list friends! As I sit here writing this post I’m less then an hour away from turning 30. When you read this post I will be 30. I just have to say that it feels weird. I know that turning 30 is not a bad thing but it feels really strange. I don’t know how time flew by so fast. As I enter this milestone year I find myself reflecting on my life. I’ve been thinking about all my accomplishments, my failures, and my growth as a person. As I analyze my life I can’t help but feel like I’ve done a pretty good job. Now, let me make this clear I have made many mistakes and I’m far from perfect. That being said I can’t help but think about how much I’ve learned in these 30 years. If I listed everything I have learned this post would be a novel. However I will say that one of the most important things that I have learned is how to love myself. God provides me with unconditional love but I had a hard time loving my imperfect self. I’m happy to say that now I love myself and I want to help others learn to love themselves as well. Another life lesson I have learned is this world is a messy place but it is also full of good, you just have to know where to look. As I start this next decade of my life I can’t help but be thankful for all the wonderful people in my life that have helped me to learn and grow. I don’t have enough time to list everyone but I just want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me this past 30 years.Well there you have it that is what is going through my head as I’m about to turn 30. Thank you all so much for reading this blog!

Rock On – Christina Epperly

Fun bucket list art !!

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello,my bucket list friends! I’m excited to tell you that I’ve crossed another item off my bucket list ! This item was pretty easy to cross off and it was also a lot of fun! Without anymore delay let’s dive on in!

Fun Bucket list art !!

The item that I recently crossed off is number 231 make a sharpie tie-dye shirt. I saw this craft on Pinterest and I thought that it would be a fun addition to my list. For this craft all I needed was a white shirt , Sharpie markers and rubbing alcohol. I started off by drawing on the shirt. I let my imagination run wild. I loved how colorful the shirt was when I finished drawing on it. Then it was time to spray the shirt with rubbing alcohol to make the colors spread out like tie-dye. As I sprayed the shirt I noticed that some colors seemed to spread out more than others. I probably should have done this project outside because when I sprayed the shirt it soaked through the blanket on my bed. Anyways I like the way the shirt looks and I’m glad I did this art project. Thanks for reading!

Rock On – Christina Epperly

Light heart book club August 2020

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello,my bucket list friends! Since it’s August 18th ,I figured now would be a good time to announce my book club pick for August. Without anymore delay let’s get to it!

I had a hard time choosing this month’s book. I had one in mind but when I started reading it, I didn’t know if it would be a good fit  for the book club. I actually ended up choosing a book that I got at the Goodwill on Saturday. The book is part of the whatever after series. The title of the book is Dream On and it’s written by Sarah Mlynowski. I’ve already started reading this book and I can’t wait to discuss it later this month! It’s a fun adventure story that I think is perfect for the Light Heart book club!

Rock On – Christina Epperly

Light Heart book club July 2020 discussion

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list friends! I know I’m behind on my book club posts but I’m ready to catch up. July’s Light Heart book club pick was Melanie’s Last Ride by Joanna Campbell and Alice Leonhardt. As always one more thing before we dive into the discussion. The following post contains major plot points ( Spoilers ) for the book . If you want to read the book and haven’t yet, I suggest you wait to read this post until you have finished the book. Now, let’s dive into our discussion.

 

Light Heart book club July 2020 discussion

My favorite part of the book – My overall favorite moment in this book is when Melanie’s father shows up at camp and surprises her. Throughout the book Melanie is upset that her father’s work schedule often prevents them from spending time together. I was so happy for Melanie when her dad surprised her!

My least favorite part of the book – The part of the book I liked the least was when a fire threatened the horses! Lucky Melanie and the other campers were able to get them to safety.

Overall view of the book – One thing I really liked about this book was that it took place at a summer camp. It was fun reading a book that was set in the same season that it was in real life. Another one of my favorite parts was when the campers went swimming and there was a rope swing that you could use to jump into the water. This is actually an item on my bucket list! This book gave me memories of being at summer camp and I really liked that. One thing about the book that I didn’t like so much is that there was a good amount of drama happening but that’s how kids are at that age. If you like horses I would recommend this book just remember it is full of age appropriate drama!

Activities

Art activity – For this book’s art project I knew just what to make. I had gotten this arts and crafts kit at Goodwill awhile ago where you make paper plate animal faces. Since a horse was one of the animals that you could make with this kit. I knew it would be perfect to make for this book’s art project. It was a quick and easy project to make. I was happy with the was this project turned out.  If you are not able to find a kit like the one that I used it’s pretty easy to make this project on your own. You can use a regular paper plate and cut out your own shapes.

Question – This next activity is a little different but I has fun with it. Did you ever notice how race horses have really long and sometimes funny sounding names? When I was probably around 12 years old I used to play this horse racing video game. I remember thinking about how silly some of the horse’s names were. For this activity I asked myself if I had a race horse what would I name it ? I think I came up with the perfect name for a race horse and that name is Sunshine City Coffee ! It’s long and funny but also cute! I would love to see your answer to this question in the comment section.

Happy reading !

Rock On – Christina Epperly

 

 

Fun with paper airplanes!

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello,my bucket list friends! I had the day off today so I decided to cross off one of the items from my 30 before 30 list. My birthday is coming soon and I hope to cross a few more items off my list before then. Without further delay let’s dive into today’s fun!

Today I decided to learn how to make a paper airplane. This is a pretty simple thing that I’ve wanted to learn for a while now. Back when I worked in childcare. There were times when I would be asked to make a paper airplane and I had no idea how to make one! I tried a few times but I never could get it right. I decided that today was the day when I would finally make a paper airplane. I started off by following some written directions that I found online . That airplane didn’t fly very well so then I watched a YouTube video. I tried to follow along with the video but I got a little confused. That airplane didn’t fly all that well either. Then I tried doing one one my own. Useing the skills that I had picked up from the instructions for the first two planes. I actually liked the way this plane flew. I made another plane on my own and I decorated them all. I had a fun time coloring and putting stickers on the planes. I’m glad I did this activity today. The next time someone asks me to make a paper airplane for them I’ll be able to make something even if it isn’t perfect.

Rock On – Christina Epperly

Things I love July 2020

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list friends! July was a very fun month but also a very busy month. I’ve gotten behind on blog posts and now is the time to catch up so let’s get going!

Things I love July 2020

Mermaid sparking water – I enjoyed this unique flavor of sparkling water. ( You can read about it HERE)

Vacation in Idaho and visiting family – (You can read about it HERE , HERE , HERE and HERE.)

Trying the very yummy impossible breakfast sandwich – ( You can read about it HERE)

Getting my hair cut. I love having short hair ! ( You can read about it HERE )

I had a really fun time in Montana! ( You can read about it HERE , HERE , HERE and  HERE)

 

Those were some of the things that I loved in July 2020 . I hope you all are having a great August.

Rock On – Christina Epperly

 

 

Montana adventure part 4

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello, my bucket list friends! Welcome to the last part of my Montana adventure. I’m excited to tell you about the last part of this fun vacation so let’s get to it!

 

Montana adventure part 4

Day 7

This was our last full day in Montana. We had a few more things that we wanted to do before we headed for home the next day. Our first stop was the Yellowstone Kelly interpretive site. It’s a interesting place with a lot of information about the man known as Yellowstone Kelly. After exploring the interpretive site we went on a walk before getting an Uber to the Yellowstone county museum. I’m really glad that we went to this museum it was one of our favorites. The museum had exhibits inside and out. My favorites are the big train outside of the museum and the exhibit about baseball inside. This museum also had a gift shop and I got a really nice snow globe.The museum is located next the airport. If you ever fly into Billings and have the time I highly recommend going to see this museum. After our museum it was time for something that we were both really looking forward to massages! We had made appointments at the Massage Envy in Billings for some much needed relaxation. After our massages we went to eat. Then we headed back to our hotel to pack. I  really enjoyed my last full day in Montana!

 

Day 8

On day eight we spent a lot of time in airports. Our flight wasn’t until evening but check out time was noon so we spent quite a few hours in the Billings airport before our first flight. The one highlight of spending that much time in the Billings airport was getting a huckleberry chocolate bar! Our first flight took us to Salt Lake City. After spending some more time in that airport we were headed for home! I had great time in Montana! Thanks for reading.

Rock On – Christina Epperly

 

Montana adventure part 3

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello,my bucket list friends! Welcome to part 3 of my Montana adventure! I can’t wait to tell you more about this fun adventure so let’s get going!

Montana adventure part 3

day 5

On day five we went to check out a Goodwill store in Billings. I like going thrift shopping in different places because every area has a different style. I really enjoyed the Goodwill in Billings. It was very clean and organized. I was able to find some nice things including a book on how to style an American girl doll’s hair, a TY beanie boo puzzle, a shirt with purple stripes and a few DVDs. After thrift shopping we went to down town Billings for lunch. We went to the Montana Brewing Company. I really enjoyed the flat bread that I had there. If you are ever in Billings I would recommend eating here. After lunch we took a walk around downtown. It was a Sunday and most places were closed. It felt weird walking around downtown with hardly anyone else around. That night we went for a walk at a park. The park had a beautiful river but it also had lots of mosquitoes so we had to cut our time there short.  Overall it was a nice relaxing day except for the mosquitoes!

 

day 6

On this day we had a booked a tour that would take us to some of the most popular spots around Billings. We got picked in a pretty amazing Jeep. Then we were on to our first stop at the Little Big Horn battle field.This well known historical place is worth a visit. There is a lot to see there. After exploring the battle field we went on to explore Pompey’s Pillar. The pillar is mostly famous because Clark of Luis and Clark carved his name there. The area itself was beautiful and I really enjoyed exploring it! After that we made a quick stop for lunch before going to explore the Moss mansion. Going in to this house was like going back in time. I loved they way it was decorated. They also had a game going on at the mansion where they hid school supplies in each room. I wasn’t keeping count of how many I found but it was fun to see what I could spot as we explored each room. After we finished exploring we stopped at the gift shop. Then it was time to go on to our last stop of the day. The last spot the we explored that day was Pictograph Caves state park. This park is well known for it’s cave paintings. Even though a lot of the cave paintings have chipped away you can still see them a little bit. I  heard that you can see them better on a rainy day. Even without the drawings the caves are pretty cool to look at. After our very fun tour we went back to the hotel for some much needed rest! This day was filled with lots of adventure.

Thanks for reading

Rock On – Christina Epperly

 

Montana adventure part 2

Posted on by crazydreamsgirl

Hello,my bucket list friends! Welcome to part two of my Montana adventure! I’m excited to share the next part of my adventure with you so let’s dive on in!

Montana adventure part 2

day 3

We started off day three with a hike on the four dances trail. One of things that I leaned about Montana is that there are grasshoppers everywhere! The trail was covered in them. My favorite part about this hike is the views. It was nice to get to see Billings from up high. This hike did make me a little nervous. I was worried that we would see a rattle snake because it was so warm that day. We didn’t see any rattle snakes but I did forget to put sunscreen on the back of my neck and I got quite a burn. At least it was just a small area of my neck that got burned. After our hike we went to explore the Yellowstone art museum. There were some great works of art in this museum but my favorite was the children’s art exhibit. After the museum we went to well Pared for lunch. After lunch we walked around and I bought a Montana shirt at a shop that we had been to the day before but this time there was a very friendly dog visiting the store! On our way back to the hotel our very nice Uber driver told us about a town called Red Lodge. She said that she could take us there the next day. I was excited to explore a new place. After relaxing at the hotel for awhile we took an Uber to Starbucks but it turned out to be closed. We ended up walking to Walmart and I got another Montana shirt. Day three brought a lot walking and a lot of adventure!

 

Day 4

We started off the day by meeting our Uber driver from the day before. We got in the car and headed to Red Lodge. Our first stop was a visitor center. After that we drove through the town to this beautiful lookout point. The views were beautiful but my favorite part was feeding sunflower seeds to the friendly chipmunks! After feeding the chipmunks we went back to the town of Red Lodge. We went right to the Yellowstone animal sanctuary. I had a fun time visiting the animals. The raccoons were my favorites but I also enjoyed seeing the bears and porcupines. There is also a very friendly cat there. Before we left  we stopped by the gift shop. I love the plush owl that I got. After exploring the animal sanctuary.  We were getting hungry so we put our names on a list at a restaurant. While we were waiting we went shopping. I got a snow globe and a magnet at a souvenir store. I also enjoyed going to the candy store and getting peppermints and other yummy treats. Then it was time for lunch. After having a very yummy lunch. It was time to head back to the hotel.    Day 4 was so much fun! This was one of my favorite days of vacation!

That concludes part 2 of my Montana adventure. Thanks for reading

Rock On – Christina Epperly