Blogmas day 5 coffee and an inflatable snowman

Hello, my bucket list, friends! Here we are on day five of blogmas. Yesterday I got a new outdoor decoration that I’m really excited about. Plus I have more things to tell you about so let’s get to it. I started the day by going to church. Later on, my dad and I went to town to do some errands. Our first stop was the hardware store. As soon as I walked into the store, I saw a display of Christmas items.I got two items from the display in the front. I got a necklace that has lights and bells on it, and a pair of fuzzy socks decorated like Snowman. Then I saw some Christmas ornaments, and I chose a fox ornament, but it was a hard choice between the bear and the fox. I continued to look at the Christmas items, and I was excited when I saw an inflatable snowman that was at an affordable price. I was excited to get the Snowman, and I was also excited to set him up outside. I also got a candy cane at the hardware store. After the hardware store, we went to Starbucks! I got the same drink that I did the day before, but I think next time, I’ll get a peppermint mocha because I haven’t had many of them this year. Our last stop was the grocery store. I got some of my favorite things there like fruit and Kinder Joy eggs. I also got chips shaped like Christmas trees. When we got back home, we put up some more outside lights. We also put up my Snowman! I love the way my Snowman looks with the rest of the lights!

Rock On- Christina Epperly

It’s Christmas time at Starbucks!

Hello,my bucket list friends! I’m happy to say that it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Starbucks brought back their Christmas themed drinks and cups this week! I love the cups this year! Yesterday I tried the sugar cookie almond milk latte. It was pretty good I love the sprinkles on top. I want to get this drink again today. Have you been to Starbucks since they have gone into Christmas mode this year?

Rock On- Christina Epperly

Christmas Eve and Christmas day 2018

Hello, my bucket list friends ! I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas. Before we get into wrapping up 2018 I wanted to write about my Christmas eve and Christmas day celebrations. Here we go !

 

Christmas Eve and Christmas day 2018

On Christmas Eve my family and I went to my cousin’s house to celebrate Christmas but before we did that there was a lot that needed to be done. My dad spent a lot of cooking and baking for our family get -together. We delivered some baked good to the neighbors and made a quick stop at the store before arriving at my cousin’s house. At my cousin’s house there were lots of great food and drinks, wonderful laughter and two fun gift exchange games ! It was a smaller get – together then we have had in past years but it was still just as fun. I had a fun Christmas Eve with celebrating with my family . Christmas day was very busy but a lot of fun ! Christmas morning we opened up gifts and my dad made us all great breakfast. We delivered some more baked goods to neighbors before heading out to eat and  to the movies. We had a wonderful dinner I love pasta ! Then we went to see Mary Poppins Returns. We all really enjoyed the movie it was so much fun I loved the songs! It was a great family movie and I’m glad we saw it !

That was my families Christmas celebration I hope you enjoyed reading about it !

Rock on – Christina Epperly

My Childhood without Santa Claus

Hello, my bucket list friends ! I hope all of you are having a very merry December ! One thing I really love about blogging and writing in general is that it allows people to express feelings and ideas that they might otherwise keep to themselves . Now this is not the typical post that I usually write .This is definitely much more on the controversial side but it is something that has been on my mind lately and I feel the need to express it . Get ready and hold on tight for a different kind of post from just a bucket list dream !

My Childhood without Santa Claus

When I was growing up my family didn’t do the Christmas tradition of Santa Claus . Both my sister and I knew that the gifts under the tree had been bought for us by our parents or other family members but that didn’t mean we didn’t love Christmastime ! I looked forward to Christmas just like any other kid did . I loved decorating the Christmas tree , decorating sugar cookies , looking at Christmas lights ,being in church Christmas plays , and of course getting some pretty awesome gifts ! Some people may have felt like my sister and I were missing out on something great but we didn’t think so . Neither of us really minded knowing who our gifts were from as long as we had presents to open on Christmas day . Looking back now,knowing that my parents were the ones buying the gifts for us made me really appreciate the things I got for Christmas . We didn’t have a ton of money to spend and I knew that. Seeing all the effort that my parents put in to Christmas made it more special . Another benefit of not doing the Santa Claus tradition was that I realized the important of giving to other children whos parents could not afford any gifts for them .  I remember participating in the toy drive at church and helping  out at the toys for tots donation center . Since I knew how presents really got under the tree I knew that it was up to the kindness of others to help those children . Not doing the Santa Claus tradition made me want to help others more. I knew that Santa didn’t bring gifts to those in need but that people with kind hearts did . Not believing in Santa Claus helped to teach me the importance of kindness and giving. I look at it as a very positive thing not only did I learn some important character qualities, I never had to deal with the disappointment of finding out the truth and I was able to enjoy Christmas year after year without questioning if reindeer could really fly or if one guy could make it to every house in the world in one night .  Now, all that being said Santa Claus wasn’t banned in our house or anything like that. We owned the Santa Claus  movies and if we wanted to pretend Santa was real we could . Overall not doing the Santa Claus tradition had a very positive effect on my childhood. It taught me important values and lessons that helped me grow in to who I am today.

Rock on – Christina Epperly

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Christmas eve and Christmas day 2017

Christmas eve 2017

For my whole life every Christmas Eve we went to my grandparents’ house and a had a wonderful celebration filled with food and presents and lots of laughs. This year was different because my grandparents are in Idaho now, so this year we had the party at my aunt’s house. it was different but lots of fun. We started off the celebration by attending Christmas eve service at the church my aunt goes to. After a great service we went back to my aunt’s house to have a big Christmas eve celebration!  As with most big celebrations there was a lot of yummy food and of course lots laughs. Oh, and my aunt has three dogs so it’s always fun with them around. To top it all off we did a gift exchange, the white elephant game and the Christmas morning game.  It was a fun night celebrating with my beautiful family.

 

 

Christmas day 2017

When I was a kid I always woke up early on Christmas day and did everything I could do to get my parents out of bed, so we could go open presents but now I love my sleep, so my Christmas morning started out a little slow but once I got up and going, it was time to open presents with my parents before going over to my sister’s house.  After opening presents at home, we went to my sister’s house and had some yummy food yay for potatoes! Then we went to go see Star Wars! The movie was awesome! I had a great Christmas day and I hope all of you did too !

 

Rock on – Christina Epperly