CAPITOLA, CA

Recently, I went home to California for just about 3 weeks. My mom had surgery on March 31st so I went home to stay with her for a bit as she recovered. My obvious main goal of going home was to just be there to help her as she recovered, but I also wanted to do a few things I was missing while living in Utah. (Yosemite, going to the beach, etc.)

I really love living in Salt Lake City but I find that no matter what, a huge part of my heart will forever remain in California. I'm really enjoying my life here in SLC but I know eventually I will want to move back to California, preferably Southern California. Southern California always calls out to me so hopefully in the near future I can figure out a good enough plan to make that actually work. I'll probably stay in Salt Lake City another year or two before moving on to my next adventure.

One day while I was home, I was sewing a skirt, and my mama was watching tv in the family room and I mentioned that I wanted to go to the beach. Before I knew it she was looking up little hotels in different beach towns for that night and I started packing. I think that's something I admire about my mom. She's like me in the sense of spontaneity. One minute we're being content little lazy kids and the next we're getting ready to go to the beach that evening.

We ended up finding the cutest little hotel in Capitola to stay that night.

I tend to be an early riser on vacations so I woke up early before the sun so I could watch the sunrise on the beach. It was so peaceful to be out there before the crowds of people, and watch the other early morning people enjoy the sunrise. There were a group of surfers out on the water and it was so relaxing to just watch them paddle around and chit chat out on the water on their boards. I've never surfed but I can appreciate the skill and beauty in it.

We found a cute little candy store next to our hotel. I'm not even that crazy about taffy but I love the idea of taffy/candy shops.

Lunch on the beach from Pizza My Heart. I finally bought myself a shirt this time. I feel like I used to always see everyone at my highschool wear Pizza My Heart shirts. I'm like 7 years late, but I'm finally cool like those highschool kids! :)

AN EVENING IN LITTLE COTTONWOOD CANYON

Yesterday it was raining all day in the city, so Jeremy and I decided to go up the canyon to Little Cottonwood Canyon in the evening. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite places around here. It was freezing, and snowing, and seriously gorgeous! We walked around in the snow/rain to explore and take photos. It was perfect.

Also, we went back to a river spot that we went to about a month ago, and the current was so high and strong this time around. It was nice to see it like that. I feel like this is going to be a good summer! :) 

It's nice to have new friends who like to go out into nature as much as I do. Also, Jeremy takes the coolest photos. You can check out some of his stuff right here: fosterimagery.weebly.com or on Instagram: jeremyfoster

You should. He's a cool kid.

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.