Light Heart book club July 2020 discussion

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

 

 

Light Heart book club July 2020

Hello,my bucket list friends! I’ve been out of town for awhile but now it’s time to catch up with blogging.  Without anymore delay it’s time to announce this month’s book club pick.

Light Heart book club July 2020

This’s month’s book is going to be Melanie’s Last Ride by Joanna Campbell and Alice Leonhardt.  This book is number #29 in Thoroughbred series. I had never heard of this series before but when I saw this book at the Goodwill it looked interesting so I chose it as this month’s book. Horses are one of my favorite animals and I enjoyed watching the Saddle Club TV show when I was younger. I hope I really like this series because I’m always looking for new books to get into. As an added bonus there is a character named Christina!

Rock On – Christina Epperly

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Idaho adventure fall 2019

Hello, my bucket list friends ! I recently got back home from another adventure to Idaho. Even though I’ve been to Idaho a few times I seem to always find something new to explore each time I visit my grandparents and this time was no different. I can’t wait to tell you more so here we go!

Idaho adventure fall 2019

On OCT. 30th my latest trip to Idaho began. My mom and I landed in Boise around 10 pm. Since our flight got in so late, there wasn’t time to do much that night except for hug my grandparents and reunite with Jewels my grandparents friendly and happy dog. The next day my uncle came over and I mentioned that we were going to Goodwill that day. He suggested that we go to a different Goodwill then we normally go to because it was located next to another thrift store called the Idaho Youth Ranch. Two thrift stores in one parking lot ? I was sold ! We headed to the Goodwill first where I found some amazing items including a Lisa Frank binder, a Mickey Mouse notebook , a large My Little Pony toy, a Mickey Mouse purse , some cool shirts and other things. Then it was on to the next thrift store. At thrift store number two I got a yellow zip up jacket , a My Little Pony DVD a Minnie Mouse shirt that came from one of the Disney parks and a very pretty necklace. After all that shopping we headed to Golden Corral for lunch. I had seen Gold Corral advertisements before but I had never been there myself. The food was pretty good and they had soft serve !! It was a pretty awesome day and that night I handed out lots and lots of Halloween candy ! Now on to the next day !

The next day was also a new month and I was excited for what we had planned that day. We were headed to the Idaho state museum ! The museum had lots to explore. My favorite thing at the museum was the bike tour. There was a bike in front of a TV screen and as you peddled the bike the TV took you on a tour of different places in Idaho. I also enjoyed designing a house on a touch screen , the video about beavers , taking a quiz about Idaho agriculture , getting to move water and leaves on a big touch screen that was made to look like a river, and shopping at the gift shop. After the museum we went to a restaurant that had a yummy buffet with soft serve ! I liked buffets before this trip but now I like them more the ever before. Even after all that fun this day had more fun left to offer.  My aunt and uncle live on a farm and that night I was staying at their house. When I got to the farm the fun started right away! I got to walk a goat and run around an arena with a mini horse. I love animals and I had a lot of fun being around animals that I don’t often get to spend time with. That night I watched season 3 of Free Rein one of my favorite shows! This day was packed full of fun and adventure and the next day had even more fun to offer.

The next morning I woke up early , bundled up for the very cold morning and went with my aunt to feed the animals. I liked feeding the barn cats they reminded me of my cats at home. After all the animals got their breakfast it was time for ours. My uncle made pancakes and told me that he likes to melt peanut butter on his pancakes . I love peanut butter so I decided to give it a try. It was so good! After breakfast I got to do something I had’t done in years. Go horseback ridding ! My aunt has two beautiful horses. She let me ride one while she rode the other. My ridding skills were very rusty but I was more then happy to shake off the rust. I had an extremely fun time ridding and I can’t wait until I get another opportunity to ride again. For lunch we went to a Chinese food buffet and yes, I had more soft serve ! We went to Walmart before going back to my grandparents house. I loved seeing all the Christmas stuff that Walmart had. That night I had to pack up my things because our flight left early the next morning. I’m really glad that I got a backpack at the Good Will or I wouldn’t have had room to bring back all my stuff ! At the Airport the next morning I bought some more souvenirs including a new snow globe for my collection. I had a great visit to Idaho and I can’t wait for the next one !

Rock on – Christina Epperly

 

 

 

Random and fun facts about me :)

Hello , my bucket list friends .  I want to post on this blog as much as possible because I love writing so much . I thought it would be fun to do some and random facts about me so here we go !

Random facts about me !

  1. I have a few different collections . I made a you tube video about my snow globe collection ( you can watch it here ) but I also collect post cards , My Little pony toys , stuffed animals rubber ducks , and I have smaller collections of key chains and magnets . Take a look at my bedroom tour video ( right here ) to see glimpse of some of my other collections !

 

 

2.  I have three amazing rescue cats

I have three beautiful cats the First two Sherri and Blanca were adopted from the same animal shelter . Sherri in 2008 and Blanca in 2014 . Sherri was found walking around the street and had been at the shelter for three months . When I first met her , she stuck her head right in my purse and stole my heart . She is a sweet independent girl who can steal your heart with one look .  In 2014 I saw Blanca on the the shelter’s website she was a beautiful fluffy black cat who was estimated to be about 16 years old . Apparently she had been living in a home with other cats that were picking on her . When I went to the shelter to adopt her I found out that she had been brought there to be put down but there was not a medical reason to do so . She is such a sweet cat and I’m glad I was able to rescue her . She loves to cuddle ! Cooper joined our family in 2016 I was working at Talbots and my boss at the time told me that she was caring for a kitten that her neighbor had found in a trashcan outside of a mall . She was looking for a home for him and I was able to adopt him . I named him Cooper after Alice Cooper .  He is so full of energy and curiosity it’s been so much fun watching him grow into the amazing cat he is today .

 

 

 

3. I miss horse back ridding !

When I was a kid I loved horses. I had many toy horses and I enjoyed watching movies about horses.  I took ridding lessons and even went to horse camp but I really can’t remember when the last time I road a horse was but I hope I can ride again very soon !

 

 

4. I love peppermint !

I have loved candy canes for as long as I can remember . Of course I love the round peppermints too but I get so excited when the candy canes come out in stores. They have many different flavors of candy canes now but peppermint is my favorite ! I also love things that are peppermint scented like soap and of course peppermint essential oil !

5. I was on the mock trial team my senior year of high school

I had so much fun being apart of the mock trial team I wish I would have done it all four years ! I remember being so nervous to go to real court room and sit in a real witness stand  but I ended up really liking being apart of the team and I by the end of it I think I found being in the court room more exciting than scary .

 

That’s all for this time

Rock on – Christina Epperly