Christina Epperly
Bio
Hello, there! I am a creative and fun loving blogger with a bucket list, big dreams and a love of writing. Some of my favorite things to write about include self care, blogging, and pets.
John 3:16
Stories (42/0)
Ruby the famous cat
Ruby stretched out her legs and paws as the early morning sun came in through the bedroom window. She knew that her favorite human that was called Olive would be waking up soon. She was excited for the day ahead. They were going to be traveling to a large event on the other side of the country where they both would be performing for a large crowd of people. Ruby loved Olive more than any human she had ever met, and she had met a lot of them, especially since she and Olive had become famous. Olive was the one who had rescued her from the laboratory where she and many other cats had been used for experiments. Olive was the one who had discovered that the people at the lab had figured out how to make cats talk. It all began when Olive was walking on a trail that was located across the road from the lab where Ruby and her friends were. A brave kitten named Cypress had managed to escape the lab,and he had found Olive. He was young, and he had no idea that most people did not know that cats could be made to speak in the same way that humans could. When Cypress spoke to Olive, she almost passed out from the shock. However, Olive turned out to be just the person that all the lab cats needed. Olive had posted a video of the Cypress online. In the video, Cypress told the world about the lab. However that was not all Olive had done she was worried that the people at the lab would try to get rid of the cats to cover up their work so she had made sure that the police could get into the lab before she posted the video. All the people involved were arrested for the illegal experiments that they had done on the cats. After the rescue the cats were all adopted to good homes. Olive had wanted a friend for Cypress, so she adopted Ruby. Cypress was not a huge fan of all the fame and attention, but Ruby was. Olive was a struggling actor and writer when she had found Cypress. After posting the video that led to the awareness of the situation at the lab. She began to get offers to be on many different TV shows, movies, and pod casts. Cypress had enjoyed all the excitement at first, but since he had gotten older, he was not as outgoing as he used to be. Ruby was happy to step in and take Cypress's place in the spotlight while Cypress stayed home and relaxed. Ruby was very excited about the event that they were going to. She had been in movies and TV shows, but live events and meet and greets were new to her. She loves meeting her fans, and she had been day dreaming about all the fans she would be meeting and talking to. Her fans loved to hear her talk, and she was more than happy to talk to them. Just a few minutes after Ruby had woken up, Olive's alarm began to make loud noise that Ruby hated. Fortunately, Olive heard the alarm just seconds after it started making noise, so she was able to quickly turn it off before it bothered Ruby's sensitive ears too much. Olive greeted Ruby by telling her good morning and petting her on the head. Ruby asked Olive if she had slept well, and Olive responded that it was not long enough. There was not much time before they had to leave, but luckily, everything they needed had been packed up the night before. About an hour later, Olive's friend Aaron arrived to take them to the airport. Ruby loved flying because she got to see a lot of people she loved to see the people, and the people loved to see her. However, she did not like being in such a small space for so long. But she was good at sleeping during the flight and making the time pass quickly. Before she knew it, the. The plane had arrived at the destination. There was a car waiting for them when they got off the plane and it took them to a big fancy hotel in the city that they would be performing in the next day. The next morning was not as relaxing as the one before Ruby and Olive had to rush out the door to make it to the stage to practice before their performance. luckily, there was time for a quick breakfast Ruby could not perform without breakfast. After practice, it was time for their first meet and greet of the day. Ruby and Olive had a great time meeting their fans. Ruby loved the way her fluffy white hair looked against the blue background as she took photos with fans. After a short break, it was time to go back to the stage to perform. As Ruby looked out on the audience, she realized just how happy she was. Her life had not gotten off to a great start, but now it was so perfect that she wouldn't change a thing. After Olive and Ruby were introduced, they walked out on the Ruby, opened her mouth, spoke into the microphone, and said hello to all her new friends
By Christina Epperly15 days ago in Fiction
Sixty amazing ideas for your next scavenger hunt
I love scavenger hunts! I don't know why exactly why. I've only been on three scavenger hunts that I can remember, and it has been many years since the last one that I participated in. When I was in my teen years, I loved looking at YouTube videos of scavenger hunts. I have recently started looking at scavenger hunt videos again. There are many different types of scavenger hunts. Some of them involve taking pictures of certain objects, others have questions you have to answer, and then there are ones with tasks that have to be completed and then photographed or recorded for proof. Some scavenger hunts determine a winner by the number of items completed, and other scavenger hunts use a point system to determine a winner. It does not matter what system you are using it can be difficult to come up with ideas to put on your scavenger hunt list. I decided to do my part to help solve that problem by making a list of items that you could include in your next scavenge hunt. I have put the list in categories based on different types of scavenger hunts. I hope your next scavenger hunt is super fun!
By Christina Epperlyabout a month ago in Motivation
Valentine's Day is for everyone!
Hello, there before I go any further. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I'm 32 years old, and I have never officially been in a relationship. The reason why is complicated, but I will try to make it as simple as possible. I have been on a date before, but I have come to the realization that I only liked the idea of being in a relationship. We are told through many different forms of media that when you grow up , you fall in love, and then you get married. It's just what you do. Naturally, I thought that I would eventually find someone. However, I have figured out that being single is what's right for me. That being said, it does get difficult to be single at my age. Sometimes, I'm proud of being single. Other times, it can be really challenging. I know that I can't be the only one in this situation so I decided to write about it. When it comes to Valentine's Day, I have a love-hate relationship with it. I have good memories of this holiday when I was a kid, but as I got older, it got less fun. Sometimes, it was hard in my teens and early adult years watching everyone who was in a relationship celebrate their love. It was easy to feel left out even if you knew that more than half the relationships being celebrated wouldn't stand the test of time. Sometimes, it feels like Valentine's Day presents itself as a holiday that only certain people can celebrate. That the holiday is only for children to celebrate with their classmates or for adults who are lucky enough to have a romantic relationship. Sometimes, you can ignore the fact that Valentine's Day is approaching, but when the day comes and everyone is posting about the person they are in love with, it can make you feel inferior. I know that I am loved by family, friends, and my cat. However ,since I don't have romantic love in my life, it is easy to feel like I have a lower status than other people around me. Sometimes, this makes me sad or even angry. With all that being said recently, I have found that the best way to fight back is to think positively and to be thankful for all the blessings you do have in your life. This year I'm going to celebrate Valentine's Day and I'm excited about it. I have learned that a lot of times, it is best to ignore the media's expectations for you and to set your own expectations and goals for yourself, and Valentine's Day is no different. Love comes in many different forms, and no matter what the media say, the love of family and friends is just as valuable as the love that comes from a romantic partner. I used to think that the best was to fight back against my feelings of being left out was to be against Valentine's Day and to be negative towards it but now I have discovered that it is much better and healthier to celebrate Valentines Day anyway no matter what you are told. You have the power to make Valentinus's Day a great day no matter your relationship status. You can make or order dinner for your family, buy your friend a heart shaped box full of chocolate, decorate your home or workplace with hearts, and you can buy yourself a gift or even get yourself a card. Instead of being upset this year, I'm going to celebrate all the love and blessings I have in my life, and I recommend that anyone who is feeling left out do the same thing. I guess the only thing left to say is I hope whoever is reading this has a truly beautiful and wonderful February 14th! Happy Valentine's Day!
By Christina Epperlyabout a month ago in Motivation
Netflix needs to remember that everyone is different
Do you ever feel like media companies are telling you what you should enjoy and should be watching? Now, I'm not just talking about just advertising a new show or movie, I'm talking about forcefully shoving it in your face. Over advertising it to the point where you could probably recognize the characters without even watching five minutes of the movie or show that is being advertised. This happened to me on a recent vacation to Los Angeles. There were advertisements all over the place for a new Netflix movie. In addition to billboards and buses, there were advertisements for this show printed on the trays that you put your items in as you go through security at the airport. It was beyond excessive. All of this got me inspired to write about how much I despise Netflix's top ten lists. Before I get into my reasons why I wish these lists didn't exist, let me explain exactly what it is in case you don't know. When you go to your homepage on Netflix, you are greeted with larger advertisements pushing the latest Netflix original shows. All you have to do to find the list is to scroll down a little bit. Sometimes, the little is near the top of the page. Other times, it is near the bottom. Apparently, the list changes position based on how Netflix thinks your personal taste reflects the items that are on the list. However, sooner or later, you will reach one list and then the other. There are two separate top ten lists, one for movies and TV shows. The lists are made from the watch times from the previous day. The more people that watch a certain show or movie, the higher it will rank. The lists are not based on user feedback. It should be universal knowledge by now that just because something is popular does not mean that it is good or worth giving your time to. However, I guess Netflix didn’t get the memo. Instead, they throw these lists in your face that seam to scream at you to watch these shows because everyone else is. Netflix does not seem to think that its users can think for themselves. These lists seem to only exist to persuade you to fallow along with the crowd. With all that being said, there is a more serious issue with the top ten lists than the simple pressure to conform. In my experience, when I look at the shows in the top ten lists more often than not, there is at least one title that contains graphic sexual or violent content, and it is not always fiction. I could write a whole another article on the unhealthy obsession with true crime. However, it is worth noting that some movies and shows in those top ten lists may contain a photo of a real violent criminal. Every title in the top ten lists is accompanied by a photo. Sometimes, the photos alone are enough to make you feel uneasy. When I go to watch, I want to escape and maybe even be inspired. I don’t want to be forced to see images that make me feel uncomfortable. Most, if not all, streaming services are guilty of shoving violent and sexual advertisements in your face. However, I have only seen the top ten lists on Netflix even though all the other streaming services that I have seen have a trending list. Netflix also has a popular list in addition to its top ten lists. Netflix seems to want to heavily persuade its audience to watch what they recommend. Unfortunately, there is no way to hide the top ten lists from your Netflix homepage. If you use Netflix, you are pretty much forced to see what other people are watching unless you scroll past the lists really fast. My hope is that one day, Netflix and other streaming services become more customizable in the way that social media platforms have done so that streaming can be relaxing and not uncomfortable.
By Christina Epperly2 months ago in Geeks
Unicorn slippers to the rescue
The heads on my unicorn slippers bobbed up and down as I quickly made my way to the elevator. I needed to get to the 5th floor as soon as possible. My best friend Ian was not answering his phone and I needed to talk to him NOW! When I made it to the elevator, I pushed the up arrow and waited for the elevator to come. I jumped up and down slightly, starting to panic. It was morning, and I knew many people would be taking the elevator down to the lobby for the free breakfast. I was about to give up and take the stairs when the elevator finally showed up. I pressed the button for the 5th floor as quickly as I could. As the elevator made its way from the 2nd floor to the 5th, I prayed that it would not stop until it got there. Since most people were going down and my elevator was going up it was not needed by anyone else. I checked my phone again. Ian had not messaged or called me back. My panic grew. Then, in a quick turn of emotions, I quietly thanked God as the elevator stopped at the 5th floor. Then the heads on my unicorn slippers resumed bobbing up and down again as I ran as fast as I could down the hotel hallway. After what seemed like five years, I was finally standing in front of room 508. I pounded on the door. I was relieved when the door opened quickly and my friend Paul was standing in front of me. I pushed past him and looked around. I didn't see Ian at first, so I asked where he was. Paul pointed towards one of the beds in the hotel suite. Ian is not known for being an early riser, and I wondered if whoever got into his account knew this. I quickly woke him up and yelled, "Reset your password!" He quickly popped his head up from the pillow and stared at me with a confused look on his face. “Reset your password." I said again, but this time I said it in a normal speaking voice. He asked me what I was talking about. I explained to him that there had been several posts on his Instagram account that I knew did not come from him. He quickly grabbed his phone off of the nightstand. I watched his eyes widen, and his jaw drop as he looked at his phone. We sat there in silent for a moment as he kept his eyes locked onto his phone. Then, after about 10 minutes or so, he told me that he had deleted everything the hacker had posted, and he had reset his password. I asked him if he thought there would be any fallout from the post. He told me he didn't think so. Ian is a track star. At the time, he was ranked as one of the fastest high school runners in the county. Part of being in sports, especially in high school, included taking a lot of drug tests. Whoever had hacked Ian's account had posted a bunch of pictures of marijuana and memes about smoking pot. This may not seem like that big of a deal especially for a high school student but because of Ian's involvement in the track team and his plan to get a college scholarship these posts could do damage to his future. Since I've gotten this far into the story, it's probably time to give you more context. During the time of this story, Ian and I were on a church trip with our high-school youth group. Every summer, our church's youth group goes on a five day long trip. Sometimes, it's a camping trip or beach trip. This year, we went on a two hour drive to Los Angeles/ Hollywood. This event that I’m currently telling you about happened on the morning of the third day during this trip. Our hotel was in Hollywood so a lot of the activities that we had done in the past two days had been on our around Hollywood Boulevard. We had been happy Los Angeles tourists, but now we were in the middle of a bunch of drama. It didn't take Ian very long to figure out that sense he had not gotten any security alerts from Instagram sent to his email. His account had been accessed with his phone since it was the only place he had already logged in. It had to have been done by somebody on the trip. This first post that the hacker posted to his account was posted at 12:43 AM. The room that Ian was staying in had gone lights out at 11:00 Pm. The youth leader who was staying in the suit with Ian's group was Kyle. Everyone thought highly of Kyle he was a lot of fun and was always making corny jokes, but he was known to stick to the rules and since the schedule said lights were to be out at 11pm, Kyle had turned the lights out as soon as the number 11 appeared on the clock.
By Christina Epperly2 months ago in Fiction
My Childhood without Santa Claus
Hello, Vocal media readers! I originally published this article on my blog (Justabucketlistdream) in December 2018. However, I thought it would be a good idea to post it here. Most people that I have met grew up participating in the tradition of Santa Claus. I think that it is good for people to see both sides of topics like this one so I decided to share it with a wider audience. I hope you enjoy reading it.
By Christina Epperly3 months ago in Confessions
I said goodbye to my career in childcare.
Well I did it. I finally did it. After working in childcare on and off for over a decade I finally left the field for good. Before I get into the reasons why I left I need to talk about why I started in the first place. When I was around fifteen years old I started babysitting and I enjoyed it. Also during my high school years I got the opportunity to spend two summers working at a science day camp. When it came time to decide what I wanted to do after high school I figured that since I loved working with children already I should stick with it. I could be a preschool teacher by taking early childhood education classes at the local community college so that is what I did. Let's face it, you don't know a lot about yourself when you are in high school. You have pretty much been in school for your entire life and for the most part you were told what you were supposed to do and where you were supposed to be. When you finish high school you now have to decide what you want to do in your adult life. It is a hard choice to make. I had an interest in photography but I worried about being able to find work in that field. With all that in mind I chose to have a career in child care. I’m going to start talking my experience in the childcare field by saying that not every experience I had while working in the field of childcare was negative. I met some great people, I got to plan some fun art projects, and there were times when I could just play with the kids and learn from them. However, I must say that I experienced some very unprofessional treatment during my career. The moment that stands out to me the most was the time when I was demoted in my classroom in front of children. It was nap time but there were children that were still awake. I was not expecting to be demoted. I didn't even know there was a problem until management came into my classroom and demoted me. I am a very emotional person so I could not keep myself from crying. A child in the room who was awake asked me why I was crying. Also I should mention that this was done on the day we had our Christmas party. However the biggest reason I chose to walk away from my career was the stress I was experiencing. Working with kids is stressful especially in California where they have a one to twelve ratio for children that are two years-old and older. Just take a moment to picture yourself in a room with twelve two years-olds. Not only do you have to keep them safe, you have to carry out planned activities, help them clean up after playtime and other activities, help them with lunch and snack, assist them with toilet training and you better keep them on the classroom schedule or you will be hearing about it from management. I will say that most schools do have an aid or another teacher to help you out in the classroom. However having another adult in the classroom usually means that the law will allow you to have more children in that room. More children mean more money for the school so in some cases management will not hesitate to fill the classroom with as many kids as they can. Now, people who chose a career in childcare don't do it for the money but I want you to consider the fact that the average preschool teacher makes fewer than forty thousand dollars a year. Not only is this very little money for the work that teachers do it is nearly impossible to live off of. Plus if you ask any teacher they will more than likely admit to spending their own money on items for their classroom. Oh and while we are talking about how teachers constantly have to go above and beyond let's talk about children with behavior issues. Now, when I say behavior issues I'm not talking about the normal challenging behavior that children of preschool age have. I'm talking about getting hit, bit and having things thrown at you. Sometimes you are working with a child who does these things multiple times a week. It can take a long time before a child is removed from a program even if there have been multiple incidents of inappropriate behavior. Having children who have these kinds of behavior problems in your classroom make it very difficult for a teacher to focus on teaching the other children in the class. Children with these struggles need people who are trained to help them. It is unfair to the child, the teacher and the rest of the children in the class to have children who are struggling with behavior issues in a classroom without an aid or specialist to help them. There are people who spend many decades in the childcare field and I don't know how they do it. However, it is not a secret that the childcare industry has a high turnover rate. The low pay and stressful work environment make it hard for people for stay in the childcare industry long-term. Also it should be noted that when you have a bunch of stressed out people working together it can cause personal conflicts to become common and can lead to even more turnover. I personally believe that many changes need to happen before turnover is reduced. I have tried to walk away from childcare but I kept coming back due to the steady hours and job availability. I'm very proud of myself and anyone else who choose to leave a stressful career for their own health and wellbeing. I can't say that I regret joining this industry but I do regret staying in it as long as I did.
By Christina Epperly5 months ago in Journal
I love social media but I also love Be Real
Hello, Vocal Media readers! The following post was originally published on my blog https://justabucketlistdream.com/ On -8/12/2022. A few things have changed since I wrote that post. I still use this app but not as much as I used to. I have missed a good amount of days when it comes to posting on Be Real but I still post a fair amount on it. After using this app for a few months I still highly recommend downloading it and giving it a try. It is truly a unique social media platform that is worth trying out even if you are not a fan of social media. That being said if you are a fan of social media like me, do not let the reviews that say this app is anti social media prevent you from giving it a try. The overall feel of this platform is light hearted and fun. There is a less pressure to look a certain way and that is why people say that this app is against social media. However, I do not get that feel at all when I use this app. It feels like a fun place to post photos of the everyday moments in life that you would not normally post. This app does seem to be more popular with the teenage crowd but I think it is a good fit for any age. With all that being said please read the original post below.
By Christina Epperly6 months ago in Geeks
The top five strange reality shows I remember from the 2000s
During the 2000s reality TV was one of the most popular new forms of entertainment and it still remains popular to this day. However, after the huge success of shows such as survivor and American Idol it seemed like every network was trying their hardest to strike reality TV gold. Some of their attempts at creating a popular long running show were very successful and other shows had a good run but are no longer on the air and some shows well…. end up on lists like this one. It has been a long time since the shows on this list were on TV and for the most part they have been forgotten. That being said I believe these shows need to be remembered for the interesting contribution they made to the world of reality TV. I made a list of the five strangest shows that I remember seeing from that decade but I’m sure that there were many more that I do not remember. Without any more introduction here five very strange reality shows that acutely made it on TV in the 2000s.
By Christina Epperly6 months ago in Geeks
45 things I have learned in my 32 years
Last month I turned 32 years old. I know that is not considered to be very old to most people. However, I feel like I have collected some wisdom during my life so far that may be helpful to others. I decided to share things I’ve learned with the public to hopefully inspire others to do the same. If we all shared our knowledge with the world imagine how many people that could be helped by it. Without any more delay here are 45 things I’ve learned so far in my 32 years of life.
By Christina Epperly6 months ago in Motivation
