CONFESSIONAL TUESDAY: GHOST EDITION

I think I'm a little too weirdly obsessed with ghost stories. Anytime I hear a friend/coworker/family member start to tell a paranormal story that happened to them my ears perk up like none other!

It truly has to be a first hand story though. None of this whole "my cousin's girlfriend blah blah blah".
1. I don't know that person so the story loses all it's credibility right from the start.
2. Even if the story really happened and the main person is honest, I'm pretty sure all the details got screwed up in translation each time it got retold. 

I seriously love a good ghost story! I love all those stories of weird things that happened that you can't explain. Hearing something in the middle of the night. Seeing something across the room. A weird thing that happened to you when you were little that you just can't explain. I love it all! 

I just feel like there are so many things that we can't explain, and I love hearing everyone's individual stories. 

I'll tell you mine. Take it for what you want but it was/is my reality so I'll explain what happened in exactly that way, what I perceived. 

FIRST WEIRD STORY: 
I was 20-21ish, and still living at home in California. In the house it was: me, my mom, and a girl who had been living with us from Mexico for a few months. It was late at night, maybe 11:30pm or so, and I was just on the computer as my mom and Nancy slept. I heard someone about 10 feet directly behind me say "Olivia" like in a way to get my attention. It was so real of a voice that I audibly heard, that I just thought it was my mom or Nancy who said it. Not alarmed at all at this point I turned around just expecting to see one of them standing in the kitchen, but there was no one. This is the point that I got really scared, because I knew I heard someone say my name. 

I turned back around and casually tried to sit on the computer for like 2 minutes longer before I slowly logged off. I don't know why but I made it a point to make it seem like I wasn't scared. I guess I didn't want the ghost to think it scared me haha. Looking back now, I feel like it was for sure someone I knew, either a family member or friend from a past life. The voice itself didn't feel threatening or scary at all, just like someone trying to get my attention. 

SECOND WEIRD STORY:
I was little for this one, maybe 9 or 10. I was home by myself playing a game on the computer in the middle of the day. I heard weird noises coming out of the kitchen like things being quietly moved around or just the sound of someone being in there. We had an open concept house so I could see most of the kitchen from where I sat in the family room. 

I didn't think a whole lot about it until both of our cats came out and stood between me and the kitchen in that alarmed way that cats do. As much as I called their names they would never break eye contact with the kitchen and they were both so tense and looked like they were ready to fight at any given moment. They stayed like this for about 5 minutes, with me trying to get their attention or look away from the kitchen. 

After about 5 minutes of this, a few bowls fell off the kitchen counter onto the floor and I bolted! I was already so scared, and home alone by myself, and I just bolted out of the house and ran to my Grandma's house (she only lived two houses away). I don't think I told her what happened when I got there just because I was embarrassed about being scared, but it was so scary! I don't know what the deal with that one was, but whatever it was, both the cats and I experienced the same weird thing.

THIRD WEIRD STORY:
This was just a couple years ago in the same house I'm living in now. (Stop reading now if you're already a little spooked by my house haha.) It was nighttime and Forrest and I were sitting on the couches in the living room watching a scary video on YouTube (but on the TV, not computer). On the same wall as the TV there are two matching windows on either side. 

While watching the video, something caught my eye in the reflection of the window and I turned to watch a tall dark mass glide slowly across the living room behind me in the reflection. It moved slow enough that I just watched it move from one side of the wall into the other side, essentially into Forrest's bedroom. I got so freaked out and Forrest tried to debunk it with me. He went and stood back to the same spot I watched it and it essentially looked as clear as Forrest looked if he just draped a dark black cloth over his head and body and was a bit taller.

Because it was night Forrest thought it could have been a weird light trick from car headlights outside or something I saw outside the house but just looked like it was inside, but I'm pretty positive of what I saw. Say what you want but I'm pretty sure I watched a dark entity move behind me in my own house. It was so clear, and moved so slow that it wasn't a corner of the eye type of thing. That one freaked me out the most and I made Forrest lay with me for a bit that night when I was trying to fall asleep. It was just scary to think something dark could have been in our home, and even scarier to think if we somehow invited it in by watching that creepy video on the TV. 
Who knows. But I would definitely put money down that I saw a dark ghost/mass/entity/energy/whatever you want to call it that night.



Now that Halloween is approaching, please please please tell me your ghost stories, or spooky things that happened to you! I would love to hear them all! :)

25TH BIRTHDAY TRIP TO SAN DIEGO!

For my birthday weekend, I went to San Diego for the first time! It was so much more beautiful than I thought it would be! It honestly felt like a little Hawaii to me; it was so tropical and the perfect weather! I guess I just had really pictured it being more desert and not as nice as it was. I don't know what I was thinking! 

We actually went for a wedding, but I just pretended we were there for my birthday! haha. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was held at a venue on the Navy base right next to the bay. It was so nice to spend the night eating, and drinking, and dancing by the water! 

Saturday we had the day to just explore the city so we did! We first went to Liberty Station to a coffee shop that also had a little pop up shop of the cutest things. It was one of those shops where you want everything but even simple candles are like $45 bucks. Um, no thank you. They really did have such cute things though! And it inspired me to try to make a white flowy dress like one I saw there.

The interior of the shop! The coffee shop is behind the camera.

We then went to Balboa Park to walk around and I loved it! That whole park is so pretty and a relaxing escape from the city. We walked to the old Cactus Garden which is still there from the 1930s. A guy working at that little coffee shop actually suggested we go there. Honestly, it needed a little love. It felt a little neglected when it came to weeds and general upkeep, but I love the idea of a garden being created in the 30s still existing today.

We had lunch at Chipotle (as we do on vacations)! And then we went down to the Harbor area by the USS Midway! We saw the kissing statue, walked around all the huge ships, got ice cream from a little ice cream cart guy, sat by the water and admired the pirate looking ships, and just enjoyed the day!

25 years old in San Diego!

Can we just all appreciate how crazy my Bugs Bunny ice cream looks? He super made me crack up with those crazy eyes! I really wanted the Spongebob one but the guy was all out, but I loved my little lunatic Bugs Bunny!
 

I saw a cruise ship for the first time when we were near the harbor and I couldn't believe just how massive those ships are! Jeremy was actually driving when we turned at a light, and a Disney cruise ship came into view at the dock. I gasped because it was just so massive and that really freaked Jeremy out! He thought someone was about to hit us or something because of the way I gasped. hahah. It was just so massive, you guys! I know all of you know because I swear everyone has gone on a cruise besides me, but I had never experienced seeing a ship that ginormous so close to me! It was very breathtaking to say the least.

Yay for fun trips! And yay for finding another city to add to the love list! 


[San Diego Part 2 to follow shortly.]

MY NEW DREAM FOR 2018!

Okay, I know I'm always changing my dreams, and plans, and life goals, so to continue on in that tradition, I have a new dream that I want to do in 2018!

Hear me out on this. Pitch in ideas if you have them. Tell me your experience if you've done something similar.

I want to take a few months next Spring/Summer to pack up what I'll need and travel around to see the U.S! I went down all the different traveling avenues in my mind: the van life converted into a little camper, an actual camper, a SUV to just sleep in the back of, and I've realized that for me, the best way to go is an SUV. I've been researching different SUVs and I'm really leaning towards a Honda CR-V. The new 2017 model's back seats lay flat so I can stretch a little bed out in the back at night! I still need to walk my little bum over to the Honda dealership to see if they truly lay flat though. It looks like they do from all the photos but I think I'll only truly know when I actually lie down in the back of a few. (At work, I've been putting back seats down and laying in the back of sooo many SUVs lately to test them out! haha)

I honestly think that as long as I buy a car that I can actually lie flat in I'll be okay on the road! I'm mainly a stomach sleeper so not being bent like a banana every night is a big priority! I'm no stranger to sleeping in my car and if I can fit comfortably in my little Toyota now, imagine how much space an SUV will offer to sprawl out like the little star fish I am! haha

Looking like a crazy lady, sleeping in my car in a McDonald's parking lot in Las Vegas.

I just think it would be so fun, and there's so much of the United States that I've never seen!  I have enough saved up that I could afford to just take some months off from work, and I feel like there's no better time than now! (Well, now as in next Spring when the weather is pleasant to travel.) 

Places I'm really excited to see:

• New York City
• Seattle
• New Orleans 
• The whole north east (Maine, New Hampshire, New York countryside)
• Boston
• Niagara Falls 
• Florida 
• Disneyworld!
• Chicago 
• The Carolinas
• The Great Lakes! (Is that what they're called? You know, all those Michigan lakes that are practically oceans!) 
• Mount Rushmore
• Toronto

So that's what I've been daydreaming about lately at work! Selling my current car. Buying a new/used CR-V. Getting rid of so much stuff I don't need. Hitting the road to see new places. Visit my family all over the U.S. Take photos. 

I just really want to go on this adventure for a few months!

MY BIRTHDAY!

My first day being 25 was so great! 

Jeremy brought me the funnest balloons to my office (don't worry, I only worked a half day) and a little birthday pin to wear around all day which was so nice! Everyone is especially nice to you if you're wearing a birthday pin! Even strangers wished me a happy birthday all day and it was just so fun!

I treated myself to an hour long massage, Jeremy and I went to get pedicures together, Forrest treated me to lunch at the Porcupine, and Jeremy and I went out to dinner. We had plans to go to the Utah State Fair in the evening but everything else from the day felt like enough fun so we went home and cuddled and watched the finale of Bachelor in Paradise! haha. It was the perfect way to end the day.

I've been wanting to get a pedicure for a while now and always mentioned to Jeremy that he should come with me because he would enjoy it. I think he did! Although I feel like men get a little ripped off at nail salons. His pedicure cost the same as mine even though they didn't paint his nails... that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me since that's a big component of it. Oh well. It was fun, and I'm a real big fan of those massage chairs! 

My yummy lemon cake from Tulie that I've been eyeing for the past few months. Jeremy surprised me with it and woke me up from my little birthday nap by asking me to put my hands out and he put the cake box in my hands! 

Overall, it was just such a nice birthday! I think everyone should treat themselves a little more on their birthdays! Follow my lead and schedule yourself a massage on your birthday every year, I promise you it's the best gift to yourself!  :)

Yay for 25!

HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Today I am 25 years old. Twenty five. A quarter of a century. So crazy!

This past Saturday night I had a birthday party with some of my favorite people! It was so nice and I'm happy I got to visit with my family and friends and catch up with everyone. I love birthdays so much. Regardless of how I felt leading up to turning 25, I'm super happy today and I'm grateful for this 25th year! 

I'm pretty sure I've gotten this chocolate cake for my past 3 or 4 birthdays. I'm sure I'll switch it up eventually but it's just so dang good! You just can't really beat chocolate cakes.

My mama actually surprised me this weekend and flew out here Friday night and flew back last night. It was so nice to have her in town for the weekend but especially for my birthday celebrations! She got to come to my party and had fun with me this weekend. So, thank you for coming Mama. I appreciate it more than you know. :)

Here's to 25 being my best year yet! 
Here's to living more adventurously in 25. Loving more in 25. Celebrating life more. Taking more chances. Appreciating the little things more. Going on more walks at sunset. Calling friends more. Laughing more. Slowing down and reminding myself to enjoy life more. And to just being happier in 25. I love you already, 25!

LABOR DAY WEEKEND IN LA!

I went to my aunt and uncle's house in Southern California for Labor Day Weekend! It was a relaxing weekend to escape to. We went to the beach, collected sea glass in the sand, went to the Oxnard Farmer's Market by the harbor, went boogyboarding, viewed model homes in Ventura, ate the yummiest food, played games, and just relaxed together.

My mama + I spent some time looking for sea glass together on the beach and we found some really fun pieces! I found a yellow one which my aunt said is really rare! She said she's been looking for seaglass for years but she has never found a yellow one before. I guess the ocean just knew I love yellow!

Anti + Greg took us up to the Father Serra Cross in Ventura which was a really pretty lookout over the coastline in both directions! There were a few couples at the top sitting in camping chairs or on the grass just looking out over the views which seemed like such a perfect way to spend a morning. I'm just a little romantic at heart, I suppose.

My elote from the Oxnard Farmer's Market! How smart is this! All the delicious things about elote without the mess! Elote in a cup is my new favorite thing. They just take one of those electric carving knifes and cut all the corn off of one grilled cob and put all the ingredients on top. This photo was after I stirred it all around. :)

I really love Southern California and each time I come back to Salt Lake City, I get a little more serious about moving there. This time I've been looking into buying a home/condo near where my Aunt and Uncle live. I just love that area and I love the beach! And I was so pleasantly surprised to find that I can buy a nice condo really close to the ocean for less than 300k. Who knew I could have been living near the beach this whole time! haha

Here's to saving all my pennies for the next few months. :)

HAPPY SEPTEMBER!

It's the first few days of September so that means it's birthday month! 

I have mixed emotions about this birthday however. On September 12th, I turn 25 years old and 25 seems a little scary to me. It's such an official number, such a monumental age, and I don't know if I'm truly prepared for it. I know older people will read this and laugh, but just remember that despite how old you may be, this is the oldest I have ever been.

I think I just also thought things would look different by 25. Not by much though because I truly am very happy with how my life is going and the things I have done, but I do think I thought I would be married by 25. Honestly when I was little, I thought I would get married when I was 22. In my little kid mind, 22 was the perfect age. Not too young and not too old. But 22 came and went and I sit here single and happy. (I really am okay with not being married though, I don't think I would have truly been ready if I got married any younger than now.)

25 also just seems scary because I will no longer be early twenties. 24 can still easily pass as early twenties, but instantly overnight I will suddenly be "mid twenties". 

Mid twenties, you guys! That's so scary!

I know everything will be okay, and that I will love being 25 just as much as all my other years, but for now I will just sit here and freak out about it a little. 

PIT STOP IN BEND, OREGON.

On our drive through Oregon, we took a little pit stop in Bend, Oregon to check out a coffee shop. Bend was such a cute city, and this coffee shop was the perfect little stop on our roadtrip! We got to stretch our legs, see part of the town, and enjoy one of the best mochas I've ever had! Oh my gosh, it was so good! And it was iced on a hot sunny day and that was so refreshing and just what I needed.

I don't know the next time I'll be back in Bend, but I can't wait to go back to Spoken Moto to get another iced mocha in the cutest little glass! It was such a cute coffee shop! If you're ever just passing through Bend and you have some free time, take a break, have a seat on the cute green couch, and enjoy a yummy mocha. 

It was just an all around peaceful, sunny, cool coffee shop/motorcycle shop.