My bankruptcy story

Hello, my bucket list friends. Last month I received my official bankruptcy discharge. Meaning that’s it’s all behind me now. However I thought that it would be helpful for me to share my story with all of you. When you first read the title of this post you may be thinking,why would someone want the whole world to know that they went bankrupt? My answer is this. We all go through hard times in life that’s just the reality. While it is important to have a good attitude we can’t ignore the low points. Also I want to help to remove the stigma that bankruptcy can have. Going through bankruptcy does not say anything about you as a person. There is a reason bankruptcy laws exist. With that being said, let’s talk about what got me to this point in the first place. There are three main factors that caused me to file for bankruptcy. The first one being my poor budgeting skills and overspending. I know I mentioned in another blog post how I didn’t regret my debt because of the experiences it brought me. However when it was combined with the other things I’m going to mention it was very hard to manage. The second reason was medical bills. There were two visits to the ER that really added to my debt one of them got sent to collections. The third reason was I took a job where I thought I was going to be getting more hours then I actually ended up getting. I eventually got a 2nd job but the lack of income took it’s toll on my finances. It took me a long time for me to decide to file for bankruptcy. At first I was completely against it. When I decided that bankruptcy was the right choice, I knew I was going to need a lawyer to help me. Luckily I found a really great one and he helped make things go smoothly. It was stressful at times getting all the paperwork together but overall it was not that bad. I was nervous when the day of my bankruptcy hearing arrived. Because of Covid-19 bankruptcy hearings are now done over the phone. I was getting anxious listing to some of the people that went before me. When it was my turn I was very nervous but I felt better knowing that my lawyer was on the call with me . He had talked to me the day before to help me prepare for the hearing. After answering a few questions it was over. I was so happy that none of my creditors showed up. Bankruptcy is behind me now the main consequence of filing for bankruptcy was a low credit score. However that is already on its way back up. I’m happy to have a fresh start. Feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments.

Rock On – Christina Epperly

I guess I’m 30 now ?!?

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

The missing money mystery

Hello, my bucket list friends!  I’ve been into mysteries a lot lately. I just finished reading an American Girl mystery book and then I started another one. Also I have been watching a lot of Murder She Wrote reruns. Yesterday I ended up staring in my own mystery and I thought it would be fun to share it with all of you so here we go!

 

The missing money mystery

My mystery first started when I picked up my mobile order at Starbucks. When I was walking back to the car with my coffee in my hand I notice that the money that I knew I had in my pocket was not there. In a panic I looked everywhere ! In all my pockets ,in the car and in my purse. when I couldn’t find it  I called my dad and asked him to look around the house . He couldn’t find it either . I even went back to the store that I had been in before  Starbucks and it wasn’t there either. In all of my story telling I haven’t  mentioned that it was $60.00 that I was missing. I’m mean it’s not like a million dollars but it’s still upsetting to loose. On the way home I still had some hope that it may be outside around the house somewhere . When I got out of that car I started looking right away and guess what? Right on the road in front of the driveway was my money! I was so happy that I had found it ! The money had fallen out of my back pocket and on the the road when I was going to the car. Mystery solved ! The big lesson in all of this is don’t put money in your back pocket ! This mystery had a happy ending but I hope from now on the Mysteries stay on TV and in books.

Rock On – Christina Epperly

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Much needed !

Hello, my bucket list friends ! I’m going to be honest with all of you,this month / year has been pretty stressful. A few high lights or I guess in this case low lights include spending what seemed like hours on the phone to fix problems with my insurance and my bank account, spilling coffee all over the table in the break area at work, having a packed schedule that was hard to keep up with and most recently my cat’s UTI came back. I have found when the stress plies on it’s best to take some time for yourself and do things you enjoy. On Tuesday my friend and I went to savers. I got some great things there including three American Girl books. After that we went to Safeway for some food. Then it was time to hangout and watch Alexa and Katie one of our favorite Netflix shows . If you haven’t seen Alexa and Katie yet I highly recommend it. It was a really great day. spending time with your friends and doing things you that both enjoy is a great way to reduce stress. Spending time with my friend was much needed and so was what I did yesterday. For Christmas I got a spa gift card ! Ideally I like to get massages every month I didn’t get one last month but yesterday’s massage made up for that. My gift card was to a very nice spa, The kind of spa with fancy robes and steam showers ! I really enjoyed the massage and the steam shower. I could have stayed in that shower for hours ! After the spa I took my cat to the vet. She did really well at the vet. We spent awhile at the vet but on the bright side I got to pet her for about an hour straight. The point of all this is the road of life is full of bumps but it’s important to take time for yourself and do what you enjoy even when life is stressful.

Rock On – Christina Epperly

Power outage life !

Hello,my bucket list friends ! As many of you have probably seen on the news California is experiencing planed power outages due to winds and fire danger. Since I don’t really have anything else to blog about right now, let’s talk about the power outage here we go !

Power outage life !

Here’s the thing I’ve lived in the mountains my whole life. I’m no stranger to power outages , fallen trees and even fallen power poles. When I heard about the planned power outage I wasn’t really that upset about it, I wasn’t excited about it of course but since I’m used to power outages and many people in my neighborhood including my family have generators I knew how things would go. This is the second time we have been effected by the scheduled outages. The first time was about a week ago and lasted for a day. With this outage we are going on day four. Yes, it is inconvenient even with our generator there are things we can’t do such as wash clothes and use the microwave. We also have to turn the generator of at night because it is on the noisy side but hey that’s what flash lights are for. Other then that life has pretty much continued on as normal. I know for the people who don’t have generators things have been harder for them but overall things feel pretty much the same. I do hope that these scheduled outages  stop soon so the news can talk about something else maybe even something happy. I know that’s very unlikely but a girl can dream!

Rock on – Christina Epperly

Nail polish,new shoes,and other things

Hello, my bucket list friends, Sometimes times it’s the little things in life that can really make your day ! This week there have been some fun little things that made me smile. Wednesday was a day full of smiles and I can’t wait to tell you all about it so here we go !

 

Nail polish,new shoes,and other things

On Tuesday I got the urge to get my nails done and this is unusual for me because whenever I get my nails done it’s pretty much always not my idea but for some reason I wanted to get my nails done so I texted my friend and we deiced to get our nails done the next day. I had already decided on the look I wanted for my nails. I wanted to get two neon colors that alternated with each nail. I picked out a neon pink and a neon green. My friend picked out a pretty light pink color in gel. We both had a good time relaxing and getting our nails done. After our nails we went next door to the Dollar Tree for some shopping. My friend found some great items to use in her classroom and I found some arts and crafts supplies and some official My Little Pony toys plus more ! Then it was lunch time. After lunch we were going to go to Yogurt Land but we were both really full so we decided to drive down the street a little ways to Savers. The Savers we went to was  big much bigger then the Goodwill we normally go to. The first thing I put in my basket was a Rainbow Dash plush from Build a Bear. I was very excited to get her then I found an Equestria girl doll of Octavia Melody. I was also able to find some American Girl books , a Mickey Mouse bobble head from Disney World, and some other items. After our thrift store adventure we headed back to yogurt land. We both enjoyed our frozen yogurt then we went to meet my parents.  When I got into my patent’s car I saw that there was a cardboard box. I knew that my new shoes were finally here ! When it comes to running shoes Asics are my favorites but the ones I had were worn out and needed to be replaced. My mom ordered me a new pair for my birthday. I’ve been wearing the shoes this week and I love them!  So, there you have it some of the highlights of my week. What were some of your highlights this week?  Rock On -Christina Epperly IMG_20190927_153155_2  

 

 

The Bucket List orange

Hello, my bucket list friends back in 2015 I planted a tree to cross it off my bucket list . ( you can read about it HERE ) It wasn’t just any tree that I planted it  was an orange tree ! Well today I finally ate the first orange from that tree and I’m excited to tell you all about it ! Here we go !

 

 

The Bucket List orange

 

There has been one orange on my bucket list tree for a while. I’ve been waiting for the right time to eat it and today was the day. I simply went over to my tree and gently picked it and when I did a bunch of orange blossoms fell of the tree like confetti. It was like the tree was celebrating me picking the orange. The Orange was imperfect it had some spots but it was from my bucket list tree and that was perfect enough for me. Even though the Orange had been on the tree for a while it still tasted great !   I can’t wait to see if my bucket list tree grows anymore oranges !

Rock on ! – Christina Epperly

Things I love March 2019

Hello, My bucket list friends ! I know I’m late with this post but time has been going by so fast ! Anyways , enjoy reading !

 

 

 

Things I love March 2019

TV show Buddy VS. Duff –  I love this show ! It’s a baking competition between two very famous bakers. It’s an exciting thrill ride of a contest between the cake boss and the ace of cakes. It’s awesome to watch two very talented bakers go head to head ! I highly recommend adding this show to your watch list !

My little Pony Ultimate Equestria collection – I wrote a blog post about how awesome this item is ( you can read it HERE )

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Yogurt land –  OK, so I’m not new to how amazing yogurt land is but I went three times in March ! They also now offer vanilla and chocolate ice cream !  I haven’t tried the chocolate but I can tell you that the vanilla is amazing !

 

Starbucks Cherry Mocha – this yummy drink made me feel like I was  drinking chocolate covered cherries! ( You can read my review HERE)

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Rock On – Christina Epperly

 

 

 

 

Just some random thoughts 3/18/2019

Hello, my bucket list friends !  Sometimes there is not always one specific thing that comes to your mind to blog about and this is one of those times . When that happens it can be fun to just dump what ever random thoughts you have into a blog post so that’s what I’m doing today enjoy !

 

 

 

Just some random thoughts 3/18/2019

 

  1. I love the Jewelry I bought at Claire’s yesterday- Yesterday I went to the mall and I went one of my favorite stores Claire’s. They were having an awesome buy 3 get 3 free sale. I got some super cute necklaces and earnings I’m even wearing one of the necklaces today.

 

2.  I love the weather right now – It is so beautiful and sunny right now ! The sunny weather is like an instant mood booster for me . There has been a lot of rain this year and that’s a good thing but I’m so happy for sunny days !

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3. Summer is on it’s way – Summer is my favorite season and when the weather is warm it makes me think of summer. I’m very excited summer is coming soon ! I can’t wait for the adventures I will have this summer !

Rock on – Christina Epperly

 

 

 

Dear, OCD I’m in charge now

Hello, my bucket list friends . Last month I wrote quite a few posts about my TMS treatments for OCD . If you want to read them just look at my posts on this blog from February 2019. Anyways, I thought it would be a good idea to give an update on how I’m doing since treatment.Hold on tight and here we go !

 

Dear OCD, I’m in charge now

In my previous posts about TMS I wrote about some of the changes that occurred during treatments. OCD began to lose it’s grip on me and I was feeling more in control then ever before. Well, I’m happy to say that things have continued to improve. Before receiving the TMS treatments, OCD controlled a large part of my day. It was always controlling what I could and could not wear, what songs I could and couldn’t listen to, what order I had to put the blankets on my bed and many more things that impacted my everyday life. I felt anxiety that if I didn’t follow OCD’s orders bad things would happen . I never truly realized just how much of my time that OCD took from me.  Now, things are very different I’m in charge now. I’m able to make my own everyday choices with feeling little to no anxiety. If OCD stars to give me orders I remind it that I’m in charge now and I do what I want to do. I was so used to following OCD’s orders that now sometimes I have to stop and ask myself what I want to do . I feel so free now! Now , don’t get me wrong life is not perfect and it never will be but I feel a lot better now that I’m free from OCD’s control. OCD still sneaks in with it’s unwanted thoughts from time to time but I can dismiss these thoughts faster and easier then ever before ! I’m so happy that I took part in the study at Stanford. Things are looking up.

Rock on – Christina Epperly