My wonderful Missouri Vacation part 3

Hello, my bucket list, friends! There has been a lot going on in my life lately. Some of it has been good, like crossing off bucket list items and shopping at fun places like Five Below and Target, but on the other hand, I got bronchitis. It has been hard to keep up with blogging, but I will get there. For now, please enjoy the third and final part of my Missouri vacation!

June 13th – On this day of vacation, I crossed off a big bucket list item when I went parasailing! Before we went parasailing, I had a fun time feeding fish. They had fish food that you could buy, and large fish, including cat fish, came to eat the food when it was thrown into the lake. Going Parasailing was amazing, and I highly recommend it to anyone who does not have a fear of heights. It feels like you are flying. I’m so glad that I bought the photo package. The photos turned out great! It was also fun having my toes dipped in the water. I was very happy to cross this item off my bucket list, and I would love to do it again. Our next activity was going hiking at Ha Ha Tonka State Park. It was a beautiful place to explore. Our hike had a lot of stairs, and it was a warm day, so needless to say that I was very happy to be back in the air-conditioned car when our hike was complete. After the hike we went to the visitor’s center where I bought some things to remember this very beautiful state park. After our adventures, it was time to eat. We went to a really nice restaurant that had good views and a good veggie burger. Later on in the day, we went to a go cart track. I road with my mom because driving is not my thing. I enjoyed the ride. It was a very adventurous day of vacation.

June 14th – On this day, we left Lake of the Ozarks and went back towards where the airport is because we were leaving early the next day. We still had one day left to have fun, and that is what we did. Our first big adventure of the day was going to Buc-ee’s . I had never gotten a chance to go before, and now that I had one, I was gonna take it. I do have to say that this was one of the most busy places that we visited on our vacation. I love how this place stays on theme. I just had to take a picture with the beaver statue out in front.  when I was in the store, I got to meet Buc-ee himself! I did a good amount of shopping here. I’m happy to say that I’m the owner of a Buc-ee beaver plush and more cute items from this place. I had a lot of fun there but the next place I went to was so amazing. I really hope I get to go back there some day. That place is the world’s largest toy museum complex. There are two buildings filled with displays of all different kinds of toys! My favorites included the amazing collection of 90’s lion king toys, the Crayola display, The Star Trek toys, The My Little Pony collection, the TY beanie babies, and the room full of Barbies! I spent a good amount of the in the Barbie room. It was a very impressive collection. There are also fun things outside of the museum, including a large Barbie Roller skate. After the museum we had some time before our next activity so we went to a park. It was a cute park and  it was a good place to spend some time before we went to see a wonderful play that evening. We saw the Queen Esther play at Sight and Sound theatres. To say this play was awesome would be an understatement! It was truly something that everyone should see. The theater itself was an amazing work of art. If you ever get the chance to go see a play here, I highly recommend it!

June 15th – This was the day we went home. We had a very early flight, so we did not get much sleep at all. In the airport that morning, I did my last round of souvenir shopping before getting on the plane to go home. It was a great vacation!

Thank you for reading about my vacation!

Love, Christina Epperly

A thrift shopping adventure , fun at the mall and my first movie of summer 2024

Hello, my bucket list friends. My summer has been very fun so far but also very busy, so I’m putting a few of my early summer adventures into one blog post. To help myself get caught up with all the blog posts I want to write. Also, I want to mention that I’m off to great start on my summer bucket list game.

June 5th, 2024

On this day, I went to my favorite local thrift store. There were a lot of Barbie dolls there , and that is something that I like to see. I got a few Barbie dolls, and of course, I was very happy about that. I was also very happy about the Lisa Frank tanktop that I found. I got a lot of other great items, including a box of beads, stickers, TY Beanie Babies, and a book about horses. It was a very good thrift shopping trip!

June 6th, 2024

On this day I went to the mall. The first thing I did was go to Target and pick up the order that I had made. I was excited to pick up my summer craft kit! After that, I went and got a much needed massage. Since I was at the mall, I went to Claire’s, and I got some fun stuff from the clearance section. Before leaving the mall, I went to the food court. I ate at the Taco Bell cantina. I got a slushy in one of those super long cups. It was a successful mall trip, and I love days like this one.

June 7th, 2024

This day, I went to the movies with my amazing friend! We saw the movie Garfield, and it was cute. We both enjoyed it. We also went to Panera Bread for lunch! It was another great summer day. I also went shopping at work because it was a special discount day.

My summer is going great so far, and I hope yours is too!

Thanks for reading – Christina Epperly

Starburst Goodies review

Hello,my bucket list, friends! I’m always on the lookout out for fun things to review, so I was excited when I saw that Starburst had vegan gummy candy that was low in sugar. I’m a vegetarian, so I try to avoid gelatin, and that can make your candy choices limited. I’m just gonna say it. Starburst goodies are good. I wouldn’t say that this is the best candy ever, but it is a good candy. Goodies are a good choice if you’re looking for a low sugar candy.  I’ve already gotten two bags, and I see myself getting more. The gummies are a good size, but there are not a lot of them in a bag. However, I still recommend giving this fun gummy candy a try!

Thanks for reading

Love, Christina Epperly

Summer 2024 bucket list game

Hello, my bucket list friends, and happy summer! I’m so happy that summer is finally here!!! This year, I’m really determined to get a passing score on this game! The game starts on June 1st and ends on August 31st. Last year, I did not get a very good score. You can see the results HERE. However, this is a new year, and Im ready to win it! Now, with all that being said, let’s get to the game!

10 points

ride a carousal

eat frozen yogurt

do a craft kit

get a colorful summer dress

get a Slurpee

get new flip flops

take pictures in a photobooth

go thrift shopping

go to the movies

get a new barbie doll

draw a summer picture

tie-dye something

make a mini music video that includes a bubble machine

Make smores

Make a sand castle

Make a summer playlist

Eat a big soft pretzel

Go to a park I’ve never been to before and go down the slide

20 points

go to a state I’ve never been to before

ride a rollercoaster

Win a prize from a claw machine

Make sidewalk chalk art

go to a zoo

do my mall weekend tradition

go swimming

go to the beach

buy ten or more items from the Dollar Tree

go thrift shopping in a different state

play mini golf

Get a massage

play games in an arcade

Make a plush at Build a Bear Workshop

Go to a museum

Go shopping at Five Below

Make playdough

50 points

go to water park

Get a small pool for my deck

Get my nails done

go to a concert

go on a vacation

get a new tattoo

ride five or more rides at one amusement park

complete a 5k

Attend a sporting event

Go on a road trip

Go to a national park

Go to a state park

Get my face painted

Jump on a trampoline

Swim or float in a lazy river

100 points

Take a picture with a celebrity

Get to 600 or more blog followers

Post 10 or more times on Vocal

Post 25 or more reels on Instagram

Cross off 5 or more regular bucket list items

Do five or more product reviews on my blog

Get 10k or more views on an Instagram reel

Get 100 likes on a blog post

Make a different smoothie five days in a row

Have barbie themed birthday cake for my 34th birthday !

post five or more videos on YouTube ( Shorts count)

Going to the Jelly Belly factory and more birthday fun

Hello, my bucket list, friends! My birthday was on August 26th. On the day of my birthday I went to the Jelly belly factory and I can’t wait to tell you about it. I also have some other birthday fun to share with you, so let’s get to it.

August 21- On this day I went to a birthday dinner with my friend. Before dinner, we went to the candy store that I used to work by. I got some bubblegum cigarettes and stickers. At dinner, they brought me an ice cream sundae with sprinkles. It was a great early birthday celebration.

August 25th – The day before my birthday, I went to a party supply store after work to get a birthday button and to look for other birthday things I thought would be fun to have for my birthday. I got the birthday button, but I also got a birthday necklace and some other fun things, including a new TY Beanie Baby.

August 26th ( My Birthday !) – On this day, I went to the Jelly Belly Factory. The factory is about 90 minutes away from me. On the way, we stopped at Starbucks, where I got a free drink for my birthday! We met my sister at the Jelly Belly Factory, and we all went on the tour together. Your ticket for the tour is a hat. I had been here before but we did not have time to take the tour. I was excited to see the factory. The factory does not run on the weekends, but you still get to see the factory. I really enjoyed seeing the factory from the windows. During the tour, there was a game where you guarded a goal from flying jelly belly beans. We got the 5th highest score. After the tour we went to the store. The store was filled with so many fun things. I loved the stickers that I got there. One really fun thing that is sold at the store is big bags of Belly Flops. Belly Flops are jelly belly beans that have imperfections. I got some bags of those as well. There is also a Jelly Belly museum across the parking lot from the factory. I enjoyed the museum there were some great things in there to take pictures with. If you get a chance to visit the Jelly Belly factory, I highly recommend going. After the factory we went to lunch before heading back home. That night, I had a birthday dinner at Olive Garden. The food was good but it was a very busy night at the restaurant so I decided to get cake at the Cheesecake Factory. It was a great way to end the night.

Thank you for reading about my birthday fun! – Christina Epperly

The time between two trips

Hello, my bucket list friends after I got back from Las Vegas I had another trip that was coming my way however, I had some time before that next trip so I decided I would write a blog post to get more caught up with my posts. Without any further introduction, let’s get to it.

July 21 – The day after I got home from Las Vegas, I got Starbucks, but I also got some not so great news. I found out that the store I was working at was going to be closing soon. I had already been looking for another job to pick up more hours, but I knew that I had to speed up my search and find a job very quickly and knowing that was stressful.

July 22- This was a pretty good day. I went out to eat at a Mexican place, got Starbucks, and I got three Kind Joy eggs at Safeway!

July 23 – I worked this day. I was not in the best mood, so my friend came by and brought me some treats, including a beautiful rainbow cake slice. I’m truly blessed to have a very wonderful friend.

July 24 – On this day, I went to the movies. It was nice to eat popcorn and watch a movie. We saw The Sound of Freedom it was an important movie.

July 25 – On this day, I got coffee, and I got a keychain at the hardware store. It is a flip-flop key chain, and I was very happy to get it.

July 26 – The big highlight of this day was going shopping at my favorite local thrift store. I got some American Girl books, including an activity book that includes supplies to make your own greeting cards.

July 27 – Going to the candy store was the highlight of this day. I got some bubble gum cigarettes and a bunch of candy!

Thanks for reading this blog post ! – Christina Epperly

My review of Coca-Cola Ultimate

Hello, my bucket list friends. I’m happy to be finally writing this post! At the end of last month, I bought a bottle of Coca-Cola Ultimate, and early this month, I tried it. I do not know what makes the soda taste the way it did. However ,the taste reminded me of a Coca- Cola Slurpee. I really don’t know how else to describe the taste. With all that being said, I did enjoy this flavor, and I do recommend giving it a try.

Thanks for reading my review! – Christina Epperly

More July adventures ( July 8th – 16th)

Hello, my bucket list, friends! I am here with another catch-up post. This summer has been full of my favorite things and I’ve been busy enjoying my favorite season. I have recently gotten back from a vacation, but before I tell you about that, I’m going to talk about the fun things that I did before my vacation started. Without any more delay, let’s  get to it.

July 8th – The day before, my friend picked me up from work and we had a sleepover. I did not have work today, so my friend and I had the whole day together. We went to Savers to do some thrift shopping. I got coffee before getting in line. The store was not open yet, and people were lining up. I found a few things on this thrift shopping trip, including  an American Girl book and a bag of hair accessories. After thrift shopping, we went to Olive Garden for lunch. Some other highlights of the day included going swimming, going on a walk, and marking ice-cream crafts with a craft kit that I had gotten at Target when I did my summer shopping spree in June. This was a really great summer day, and I’m very thankful that I got to go swimming again.

July 9th – On this day, I worked the morning shift. Before my friend dropped me off at work, we made a stop at Starbucks. Later that day after work I went on a walk and I saw my favorite ponies.

July 10th –  The highlights of this day were getting  an iced coffee and going to Safeway, where I got  my favorite fruit snacks that come with trading cards. I also got juice that comes with a toy.

July 11th – On this day, I went to the mall where I got a wonderful massage, and I also got a smoothie and a pretzel at Jamba. I really needed a massage, and I was very happy that I finally got one.

July 12th – Today, I got Starbucks, and I also took pictures of my cat Cooper enjoying the summertime.

July 13th – Today My friend and I spent the day together. We did a few things on this day, but the highlight for me was going to yogurt land! At yogurt land, they had special spoons for summer that had sunglasses at the top. We also went to a park and took some pictures, I got Starbucks twice, and I got a cute Paw Patrol treasure chest at CVS. It was a fun summer day

July 14th – On this day, I got Starbucks and went to the park, and that is pretty much all I have to say about this day.

July 15th – On this day, my major highlight was that I went shopping at my favorite local thrift store. I got lots of fun things, including art supplies and Barbie dolls.

July 16th – On this day, I went to the Candy store and got bubble gum cigarettes and a mineral water .

Thanks for reading about some of my summer highlights! – Christina Epperly     

       

Connecticut vacation June 2023 part 3

Hello, my bucket list friends. This is the last part of my Connecticut vacation posts. However, I’m sure I will mention it again. I’m excited to tell you about the last part of this adventure. With that being said, let’s get to it. 

June 19th, 2023 – This was our last full day of vacation before going back home. Our main adventure of the day was going to the submarine force museum and exploring the USS Nautilus. The museum is free to go to and it is very interesting. There is also a gift shop inside the museum. Of course I enjoyed going shopping there. The main highlight was getting to go onto the submarine. My mom took a really good picture of me in the submarine. I liked being on the submarine, but I was happy to be back in the fresh air when we were done exploring. After our adventure, we went to Best Buy because I needed some new headphones. While I was there, I saw a Barbie doll that was on sale for a really good price, so I got her along with my new headphones. After that we went on a hike. It ended up being a pretty long hike, but it was beautiful. I got some truly amazing photos.  I especially love the ones I took where you can see the reflection of the clouds in the water.  It was a good last full day of vacation

June 20th – This was the day we went back home. Our flight was not early so we had some time before it was time to go to the airport. Before going to the airport we got coffee and we went to explore a park. The park had a cute playground and a bridge that had a little path. we did not go on the path, but we did stand on the bridge. Then we went to the airport and dropped off our rental car. We got on our first flight of the day that took us to Charlotte North Carolina. That flight went well, but our 2nd flight got delayed. This airport was probably the most crowded one that I have ever been in it was difficult to walk through, and to make matters worse, our flight got delayed. Also, our gate changed more than once. We went all over the place, trying to get to the right gate. It was very stressful, but we ended up getting on the plane and going home with no problems, and that is how my vacation ended.          

My Connecticut Vacation June 2023 part 1

Hello, my bucket list, friends! I went on a very fun vacation this month. I had a lot of fun exploring this beautiful state. I have a lot to tell you about, including the two bucket list items I crossed off, so here we go!

Tuesday, June 13th – This was the day that my mom and I flew to Connecticut. We stayed at a hotel near the airport the night before to help reduce the stress of travel. When we got through the check-in process and security. I was very excited to see that close to our gate was an Amy’s Drive thru restaurant. It was on my bucket list to eat here. Oh, and just to make things clear, drive thru is the name of the restaurant. Since it was inside of the airport, it was not an actual drive thru.  I had not planned on crossing off a bucket list item on this day, so it was a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed eating here, and I’m really glad that I crossed off my first bucket list item of 2023. It took us two flights to get to Connecticut, and they both went well. When we arrived in Connecticut, I went to a store at the airport and bought some souvenirs. My favorite item that I got at that store was a magnet that said Connecticut in colorful letters. After that we got our luggage and our rental car. Then we headed to our hotel. after checking in to our hotel we went to get some food. The subway was closed, so we ended up getting food at a gas station store, and that was day one!

Wednesday, June 14th – This was our first full day in Connecticut. Our first activity of the day was going to the carousel museum.  This was something that I chose to do because I love carousels. When I walked into the main room of the museum, I was amazed. I was in a room full of beautiful carousel animals. There was so much to look at! Of course, there were plenty of horses, but there were also other animals such as a dog and a pig. I had a fun time taking pictures with the carousel animals. I truly loved exploring this museum. There was also a small gift shop by the entrance to the museum so on the way out I stopped there and bought a few things to help me remember my visit. If you ever get to the opportunity to visit the museum, I highly recommend it. Our second activity of the day was the day was going on a tour of Yale University. As part of the tour, we got stickers with a very cute bulldog on them. I learned that the bulldog’s name is Handsome Dan, and he lives on campus. I was hoping that we would get to see him, but we didn’t. The tour was very interesting and there was a lot to see. Our tour guide was great and I really enjoyed it. After the tour we went to the Yale book store and got some souvenirs. I did want a plush bulldog, but it was out of my price range but I did get a postcard with his picture on it. That evening we went to the beach. It was the perfect time to go to the beach because there was a beautiful sunset. I got some great pictures at the beach. It was the perfect activity to end the day with.

Thursday June 15th – On this day, I crossed another item off my bucket list with the first adventure we did that day. Our first adventure of the day was going to the Pez visitor’s center, and it was on my bucket list to go there. With your admission fee, you get a Pez lanyard and a discount at the store. The center is full of many different kinds of Pez dispensers. There are also activities you can do there like a bingo card scavenge hunt game. I started doing the game, but I decided not to. You can also see the Pez factory through a window in the visitor’s center. Another thing you can do there is to take a quiz on a computer and then you can print out a certificate. I did this, and as silly as it may sound, I’m proud of my certificate. I was excited to go shopping at the Pez visitor’s center store. I got several Pez dispensers, including one shaped like a truck that you can decorate. I also got an elephant and a bee Pez dispenser along with a Pez visitor center’s magnet and postcards. On the way out of the Pez visitor’s center, I used the pressed penny machine. I want to say thank you again to the person who gave me an extra quarter so I could get a PEZ visitor’s center pressed penny. Our second adventure of the day was going to Kent Falls State Park. At the park we went on a walk up to the waterfall. There are many places at the park where you can see the falls so you don’t have to walk very far if you are not able to. I took many pictures of the beautiful falls, including selfies. After the falls, we ended up stopping at a Goodwill store. I love going thrift shopping anytime but there is something special about going thrift shopping when you are traveling. At Goodwill, I got some fun things, including an American Girl travel games book and an art kit. However, my favorite thing that I got was a Hansom Dan plush! I was so happy when I found him because I had wanted to get one the day before. The last highlight of this day was going to the rooftop bar at our hotel. The views were truly beautiful it was a great way to end this day of our vacation.

Thank you for reading about part on of my Connecticut adventure! – Christina Epperly                              Â