Random Life Update

Yeah, so basically I try to post at least once a month on this blog. This month I had literally no idea what to do, no new recipes and nothing particularly interesting happened in my life, so here's just a random talk about what's going on. I actually have a good excuse as to why I haven't been posting a lot recently (aside from the fact that I'm extremely lazy-- also don't I always have a "good" excuse? Because yeah I'm pretty sure I do.) Basically I've started my Junior Year in high school this year and, well. It's busy. Junior year is probably the most important year for colleges, and I've decided to take all honors (why???), so yeah, I'm going to be very busy this year aka probably not going to be posting very often. 
Seriously, I have a book review back up on my book blog (AnjiBooks). I think I have like four or five reviews I have to catch up on, which is a pain. And there's always more books piling up, too. On the brighter side, if you're looking for a good book, check out my book blog. Yeah, and if you say you don't read, I say lies. Everyone is a reader, some just haven't found the right book yet, so just go out and find the right book. 
Even with all the stuff I've been busy with, I try to find a little time to read almost every day. Now, on to what I have been up to. Well, as I said earlier I started high school. And all honors. Which means the majority of my time has been spent doing. *sigh* homework. So, so much homework. I feel like I've been buried under a mountain of it, and I've only been in school a month! Crossing my fingers that I'll be able to survive the year. At the moment I'm stressing over the number of tests I have in this upcoming week, which is a lot. And then I had a few tests last week, too. Basically Junior year is keeping me pretty busy. 
There are probably a lot of you out there reading this and laughing like "Oh yeah, I have a real job. You know nothing of work" or you're in college and I know nothing of being tired. Maybe that's true, but so far this is a very tiring time in my life so I have nothing to compare to. Sorry if I'm offending you by all my complaints of being busy and tired, but for what I've done in my life, this is a busy and tiring time. 
On top of my honors courses (and their tons of homework), I'm also doing field hockey again. While last year I made varsity and started a couple games, this year I'm actually starting varsity. I've been starting as right back (which, for those of you who don't know, is defense.) I, along with everyone else on the team, was very nervous for this year. We lost four of our starters last year to college and we also lost our goalie, so I was very worried about the team this year. Now, a month in, I can't be cocky about anything, but I do feel happy with where the team is at the moment. We're obviously a different team from where we were last year, but I'd say we're not horrible. Sorry, I don't want to say anything too confidant because karma. And I don't want to jinx anything, also don't want to be an idiot and say something incredibly cocky and then lose. 

We've been playing pretty well this season, winning our last three games all ___- 0. I'm just very nervous for our upcoming game for this Tuesday. On Tuesday we play Shipley, which is a team that is in our league, and they're also pretty good. The two teams in our league that I'm most nervous about playing are Shipley and Westtown. We haven't played Westtown yet, and I'm not sure when we will, but Shipley is this Tuesday. And I'm nervous for the game. Very, very nervous. Especially considering the game is on Shipley's turf, while we're used to playing on grass. And the defense actually hasn't had much to do in the last three games-- they've all been offensive. Well... Crossing my fingers for that game. 
As you may have noticed, all my pictures are of field hockey because that's only time I actually really ever get any pictures of me. The rest of the time I'm really just doing homework. 
Not to mention I'm about to start working on the play (and in the spring, the musical) as a student producer, which is a time commitment. Which means I'm going to be even more busy-- hopefully I'll be able to work out my routine to be able to balance everything (school, field hockey and play). Well, I guess I'll have to. 

Oh! I'm writing this late at night while drinking my homemade water kefir. So I can tell you all about that, because that's a subject I'm very excited about. Over the summer my family has taken to brewing kombucha. Kombucha is a very healthy fermented drink that is really good for helping you digest and for your gut bacteria. It gets fizzy, too, and really I find it to be really delicious (it's an acquired taste, though.) All summer I'd call the kombucha "kefir" because, well, they're both brewed drinks that start with "K" very easy to get mixed up. So near the end of the summer, I decided I'd start brewing kefir so I couldn't get mixed up. 
After a while of arguing as to why I should be allowed to get kefir, my dad finally let me buy the ingredients to start brewing water kefir. I've been brewing it for about a month now, and have been having a lot of fun playing with the flavors and what not. I've been sharing my water kefir with my friends since it brews very quickly and I get about 1/2 a gallon every other day, and gotten good reviews. It's quite good, in my opinion. My favorite flavors so far have been lemon and lime, but I'm still testing flavors. I just finished making a berry batch, so we'll see how that one turns out! 
For those of you who don't know, kefir is also a brewed drink, like kombucha. The flavor is very different though, and as is the brewing process. The brewing process of kefir is a whole lot shorter than kombucha (kefir 1-2 days kombucha 1-4 weeks, depending on how brewed you like it). I've been asked the difference multiple times of the health benefits of both and the main health benefit difference is that kombucha is more of a help to your digestion while kefir is just a really good probiotic. 
One more thing to update you all on is that over the summer I got my driver's permit. I didn't immediately get it on my birthday, but waited a couple months because I had to get a physical. Funnily enough I'm writing this exactly three months to the day of when I got my permit. Which means I'm at the halfway point. Exactly three months from now I theoretically could get my license. I say theoretically because I highly doubt I will have my license in three months. For one it'll be two days before Christmas and two my dad hasn't set up a date yet for it, so... I have a feeling we're going to have to wait a little longer. 
Let the record show that I don't actually care that much to get my license. I think that's a really older sibling/extrovert thing to be excited for. Being the youngest, it was never that hard for me to get a ride somewhere if I needed to go plus I'm an introvert. I probably shouldn't admit this because then you'll all know how much of a dweeb I really am (if you hadn't already guessed), but I don't actually leave the house that often so really, I don't actually need my license. That's why I wasn't all that excited to get my permit, which is why I didn't immediately get mine on the day of my 16th birthday. 
I have, however, been noticing recently how useful it would be to have my license. For one, my sister's off at college, so that's one less option for a ride, and two, my dad isn't always around. And I hate constantly having to ask people to rides or, *gasp* walking. For instance, my dad goes out of town a lot for work, and that wasn't really an issue when my sister and I were left home because Zia could drive us wherever we needed to go. But now when my dad is out of town I'm basically stuck at home or have to ask someone for a ride. Like this weekend my dad is out, and I had to get to an AKM event (it's a sorority at my school). I had to get a ride from a friend, and it was kind of a pain because I went through this whole worry period that she'd forgotten to pick me up and that I was also pestering her. And also this Monday would be the perfect time to host a team dinner, but we couldn't  because my dad is out of town and I don't have the ingredients-- so I need to go grocery shopping. Basically no team dinner, and it's also going to be difficult to bake anything really seeing as my usual heaps of ingredients is running a little dry. 
My point is, while I was never really excited about getting my license, I've been starting to see how useful would be. Then my dad wouldn't have to worry about picking me up from practice when the time and place change and then I don't have to worry about asking for rides or worrying about rides. So, probably, six months from now, I'll have my license and not be worried about these sorts of things. Of course, that doesn't mean I'll be going out more because a. driving makes me nervous and b. I'm still a dweeb who's an introvert and stays at home at almost all times. 
Anyway, thanks for reading, I'll see y'all next time! 
​-Anji