A 23RD BIRTHDAY TRIP!

I turned 23 years old last Saturday, so I decided to take a little trip. I usually do the same thing for my birthday every year (go out to dinner with friends, or a little party at home) so I decided it would be fun to do something different this year.

Forrest and I went to Southern California to spend the weekend, and my Mamabear drove down to meet us there. We went to Magic Mountain on Saturday, the Santa Monica Pier on Sunday, and back to Magic Mountain on Monday. I also got to visit with my brother and his family, and my aunt and uncle and cousin who all live in Southern California.

I think 23 might be the magic age to overcome my fear of rollercoasters. I only started to really enjoy rollercoasters when I was about 18 but I don't think it was until this trip that I actually overcame that underlying fear of them. With that being said, I still won't go on Lex Luther's Drop of Doom. That is the only ride at the park that I just can't muster up the courage for. I'm just way too scared of how high it goes! I'm not usually scared of heights but I guess I am when it comes to rollercoasters!

On Monday, we woke up early to get to Magic Mountain before the park opened. With our Season passes they let us in 10 minutes earlier than everyone else which isn't a ton, but it definitely helps you get a head start. Forrest and I rode Goliath right away just because that line always gets so long. We ended up riding it twice because no one else was in the park yet so the guy just let us go around again. I started blacking out on the turns on our first ride which is one of the strangest feelings ever. I had heard of people blacking out on Goliath, but it has never happened to me before so it was strange to experience it. One minute I'm giggling and enjoying the ride and the next minute all I can see is black and my body felt like a slug sliding down in my seat. So bizarre! Right after the fast turns, I came out of it and heard Forrest asking if I was okay. He said he could see it in my face.

On Sunday, we went to the Santa Monica Pier to meet up with my brother Paul and his family. My uncle Greg and cousin Sophia went too. We all had dinner on the Pier at Bubba Gumps which was surprisingly really good! All I ever get from seafood places is a clam chowder bread bowl, but everyone else said the other seafood was really good too. The waiters came over to our table and made me stand up while they sang this little happy birthday type song to me and another guy who was celebrating his birthday as well. They told us it was a dance off but I was one of those lame participators who didn't dance. I just get so embarrassed with things like that, when a whole area of a restaurant is staring at you. At least I was smiling and enjoying it though, the other guy didn't even crack a smile the whole time they sang to us.
Sorry for not giving you a fun show, people of Bubba Gumps. haha.

Look how cute my little Mamabear is! I'm grateful for this lady, and the fact that she was able to give birth to a chubby little 10 pound 3 ounce baby 23 years ago. Yikes! That in itself is worth a celebration.

A couple days before my birthday Alex surprised me with this balloon, donuts, a card, and flowers. He really understands my true love for Spongebob. I wanted a birthday photo with my balloon so we took the first photo up above. Alex is always good at taking candid photos in between the dumb posing ones, and the candid ones usually always end up being my favorite. It was windy that day and my balloon kept trying to fly away and out of the photo, hence all the giggles I guess. 

Overall, it was a super fun trip and reinforced my longing to move to Southern California. So if anyone wants to find me a really cool, decent paying job in Los Angeles, I'm all ears. I'm also open minded to NYC as well. :)

SCHULTZ FAMILY PHOTOS AT GRANDMA'S HOUSE

Last month, my Grandma Schultz passed away. She was a wonderful lady and one of my best friends. I grew up living two houses down from her so I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with her over the years. She was a great friend when I needed to talk through a problem because she was never judgmental and always listened with compassion. I'll miss that lady and our days spent together. I'll miss our lunch dates, our conversations, our Taco Bell trips, our laughing fits, our walks, and our mid-day naps. (Sometimes I would go over to her house full well intending just to nap. She had her little couch and blankie, and I had mine and we would nap until one of us woke up. For some reason, it was just more enjoyable to nap at Grandma's house than by myself. haha)

I used to keep a little note on my phone with all the funny or profound things she would tell me over the last few years, but when I switched phones that note didn't transfer over to the new phone. The only quote I can remember perfectly is when she told me "Old age ain't for the impatient." I don't know why but I always loved that.

Here are photos from her funeral service in Atwater, and some family photos we took in her backyard following the service. It was an emotional day, but that didn't stop the Schultz family from having some fun afterward. I sure love this little crazy family of mine!

MONDAY, JUNE 29

A few days before the service, I thought it would be nice to set up a little photo display of my Grandma's life. It was fun to go through her photo albums and pull out all the fun photos. There were a lot of photos that I had never seen before and it was so nice to see my grandma when she was an adorable little girl, as well as her 18-25 years. This is how the photo display turned out, which honestly, turned out even better than I imagined it would!

My Grandma when she was about 2 1/2 - 3 years old. So this photo has held up since 1931-32!

That milk crate above is one of my favorite little things. It belonged to my Grandpa Ray until he gave it to my mom. It's from Rapid City where they lived. I thought it was not only cute but an appropriate little display item to tie into everything from their life.

I figured I would take one last photo with Grandma.

Grandma's three sons looking through her photos.

My dad on the left with his siblings.

I love these girls.

Minus a few family members who could not make it, this is my beautiful Schultz family!

Uh, I definitely have the prettiest cousins. Right?

It's fun to see these three be silly together. Something about being around your siblings seems to revert you back to how you were when you were young.

4TH OF JULY 2015

The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. I think it comes in 3rd place after Christmas and Halloween. It's always been a close tie for 2nd place with Halloween though. This was my first 4th of July in Salt Lake City, and it definitely did not disappoint!

My 4th of July festivities actually began on Friday, July 3rd with Andres! Bountiful does their firework show the night before the 4th of July which I think is the best idea ever. It gives you the chance to have festivities on two days with two nights of firework shows!

4th of July

My holiday outfit for the 4th! Stripes are my friend. And Old Navy $6 shirts are definitely my friend! 

(On a side note, I realized I could never be a fashion blogger because I rarely spend more than $6 on shirts. All my blog posts would be about Payless sandals, and $3 shirts on sale at Target... Maybe that's just the type of fashion blogs we need though, realistic ones. haha)

I went to Sugarhouse Park with Alex, Andres, and Caleb to watch the Sugarhouse firework show. I had heard from a couple people that it was a good show, and I'm glad I listened to them! We sat on a hill in the park facing northeast, so while we waited for our show to start we were able to see 4 other areas in the distance shooting off fireworks as well. 

Looking back now, I realize that I kind of did a lot that day. I went to the Sugarhouse Arts Festival with Forrest and his friend Kristine. I got some barbecue food with Alex. We got ice cream. We went to the movies to watch Terminator which actually was a lot better than I thought it would be! Alex and I got candy at a candy shop. We sat on the porch swing for a while and watched the rain. And then he and I drove over with Andres and Caleb to watch the fireworks.

Overall, it was an awesome day, and I'm excited for more fun summer days to come!