Hello, my bucket list, friends! Well, here we are at the end of another year! This year was a reminder of how blessed I am. Even in the hard times, God’s blessings stood strong. As with every year, I made progress in some areas, and I had setbacks in others. However, I would say that this year was overall good. I’ve highlighted some of my biggest moments of the year below. I hope you all had overall good years as well.
The not so great moments – I decided to start with this category to get it out of the way so I can focus on all the positive things for the rest of the post!
My dad had a heart attack – I don’t think I wrote about this in my blog, but in May, my dad had a heart attack. It was a very scary thing, and I’m incredibly thankful to God for being with my family and helping us all through this difficult time.
My unstable job situation – At the beginning of this year, I was working at a health food store. Early on in the year, I found out that the store would be closing. I went on a job search, and I was hired at a store that sells houseplants. During the summer, I got the news that the store would be closing. I was not happy that I had to go on another job hunt. Even though it was stressful, I ended up getting hired at Walgreens in August, and I have been working there since then. Job hunting is very stressful, but I’m thankful that I have a stable job now.
My emergency surgery – While I was unemployed after losing my job at the plant store, I ended up having surgery after going to ER because I was in awful pain. It turned out that I had a grapefruit sized ovarian cyst that had twisted. I had to have it removed right away, and I was very scared because I had never ben put under before. My surgery ended up being successful, and I was able to go home soon after it was finished. I’m very thankful that my surgery went well.
Bucket list items that I crossed off – I crossed some more bucket list items off this year! I’m happy with the items that crossed off, and I’m excited to see which items I will cross off in 2024.
#265 visit the Pez factory – This was a very fun item to cross off! I highly recommend exploring this place if you get the chance.
#15 Go to Las Vegas – I finally went to Las Vegas! I went with my mom and my friend it was a great trip!
#272 – Eat at the Amy’s drive through restaurant – This item was crossed off by surprise! I did not know that they had this restaurant at the airport we were going to. I was very excited when I saw it.
#306 Eat cake from a vending machine – I crossed this item off while I was in Las Vegas it was a very simple item to cross off but I enjoyed it!
#301 Tie Dye a plush animal – I got little build a bear craft kit online to cross this item off.
#295 take a typing test – I enjoyed crossing this item off more than I thought I would. I was very proud of myself for improving my score until I got one that I was happy with.
#257 Read 50 books in a year – I just recently crossed this item off it was a challenge but I’m so happy I did it!
Travel and day trips – I went on my fair share of adventures this year, including some bucket list locations. I also went on some fun day trips, including going to the Jelly Belly factory on my birthday.
Day trip to Point point Lobos – This was a fun day trip that I went on early this year. It was a very beautiful place.
Vacation to Connecticut – This trip was so much fun! I loved exploring this beautiful state and going to the zoo
Road trip to Oxnard – We went to Oxnard to see the Dallas Cowboys at their training camp. On the way we stopped at a zoo. We also spent time in Santa Barbra.
Idaho – I went to visit family here but we also went on a day trip to a hot spring. I also got to do some thrift shopping while I was there as well.
Jelly Belly factory – I had been here once before but it was a long time ago so I decided to go on my birthday.
Movies I saw in theaters – I enjoyed watching some movies in theaters this year. Here is a list of what I saw!
80 for Brady- This movie was a great one to start the year with. This is a fun movie about friendship and adventure. It definitely has a bucket list feeling to it. I would love to watch this movie again.
The sound of freedom – This was a different kind of movie than I would usually go see, but it was a good one, sad but good and powerful.
The journey to Bethlehem- This was a really good movie the music was so much fun!
Wonka- I saw this movie on Christmas day it was even better than I was expecting it to be.
Hobbies – I made time to enjoy some of my favorite things this year!
Art and crafts – I did a good amount of art and craft kits as well as digital art this year. You can see some of my art in my Red Bubble store.
Thrift shopping- I did a lot of thrift shopping this year my favorite thing that I got was Courtney the American Girl doll.
Toy collecting- I expanded my toy collection a lot this year. I love collecting many different kinds of toys but I think Barbie dolls are my favorite and I got a bunch of them this year.
Other highlights- Here are some more things that I enjoyed this year!
Alice Cooper’s new album – I love Alice Cooper’s new album called road. I listened to it a lot this year.
Winning an American Girl doll as a raffle prize – This was so exciting this was the second time that this happened!
Spending time with some great people- I loved getting to see some great people this year and meet new people as well.
Thank you for reading about my highlights for 2023 ! – Christina Epperly
