For lack of a better title, I'm just going to call this post "December," because I'm going to go over some of the fantastic adventures I went on in the month of... guess it. No, not May, December! (sorry, that was a bad joke.) 
This has been a pretty good month. I mean, half of it was off from school, how could it not be a good month? Actually, I take that back, this has been a FANTASTIC month. 
To start off my wonderful December of 2017, on December 10, Rayna and I took another trip up to the Big Apple. Why? To see a Broadway show of course! It was a fantastic day, if I do say so myself. We got up bright and early (or early for me, a teenager) to travel up, so we'd have plenty of time to walk around New York and get lunch before our 3 o'clock show. We ventured to the Rockefeller Center to see the giant Christmas tree... Which I found to be actually quite ugly. It's not the pretty sort of pine tree, the only thing it really has going for it is its size.  

Then we went to see Kinky Boots. Which, by the way, was fantastic. If you read my last post describing my obsession with musicals, you would know that I already went to see a production of Kinky Boots this year. Yeah. I went to see it twice. Why? Because I love the show, and also the two original leads were back in for a limited run. OF COURSE I had to go and see it. And boy, was the show worth it. Stark Sands and Billy Porter were an absolute wonder. They had the best on-stage chemistry I've ever seen, and an extremely compelling stage presence. Seriously, I couldn't take my eyes away from them, even when they were in the background. Also, their voices... Ah. They have to have been the best performers I've seen yet. I know there's not much time, but if you can get in to see the show before they leave on January 7th, I would HIGHLY recommend it. Seeing those actors is life changing. 

Then on the 16th Serena and I headed to the Talking Teacup (my favorite place), for a long overdue tea date. :) Later that evening my family and I left our house to head to a hotel by the airport. Why? Because we had an early flight the next morning. An early flight to another one of my favorite places-- the tropical paradise also known as Saint Kitts. Getting up early isn't an issue, even for me, when you have a tropical island to look forward to. 
The flight wasn't bad. Even the layover was quick-- barely enough time for Zia and I to get frozen yogurt before we hopped onto another plane in Charleston. Then, finally we landed around 5. Thanks to family friends, instead of going through traditional customs, we went through the Yu Lounge. Meaning that we were picked up in a car, driven to said lounge, and then fed food while our passports were being checked. Seriously, a great beginning to a great trip. 

Just shoutout to those family friends here. They made our trip to Sant Kitts a fantastic one, and also are just great people in general so. Thank you so much! Also thanks to my father for taking us there :). Anyway, that evening we went with our friends to the Salt Plage, which is an outdoor restaurant directly on the water. We would go on to eat at the Salt Plage for several other nights during the trip because of its amazing sunset and quality food. 
Then, the rest of the week was basically a variety of sun time. The for the next two days we went to a private club called the Pavilion and spent the day by the pool. Some unspoken universal law in Saint Kitts seems to be that all pools have to be infinity pools... which is fine by me, haha. 
The Pavilion had to have been my favorite place to go. Because it was a private club (we were able to get in thanks to our friends), it was very calm there, also the staff was extremely friendly and nice. (They even hugged us goodbye when it was our last day!) 

For dinner on our second day we went to the Salt Plage again, but on the the third day we went to the Spice Mill, which had delicious food... though, since it was outdoors and I'm a bug attractor I was quite literally getting swarmed with mosquitoes for a while. (You could see a black cloud of them around my head.) 
Then, on the fourth day instead of going to the Pavilion, we went to the Shipwreck. The Shipwreck is not actually a shipwreck, it's a beach area with a great coral reef and a restaurant called the Shipwreck. There we did several things a. lie in the sun b. swim c. snorkel. It was fun. There were also a ton of cute monkeys running around. (Monkeys are the squirrels of the island. (interesting fact: Saint Kitts has an issue with drunken monkeys aka monkeys who love to steal peoples' drinks and get drunk.)) 

Then, on our third day we went on a Catamaran, which is a giant boat with like nets on the front which you can sit on. That was fun. The crew was entertaining, and we got to stop at a beach in Nevis for a couple hours. We also stopped at a place to snorkel. It was a good day. It was also quite entertaining because the boat had an open bar... And well, since everyone was on vacation they were all quite hammered by the time we got back to the dock. Seriously, I had probably 5 drinks spilled on me (not the entertaining part). There were people who literally could not walk straight, when we were in the vehicle driving us back from the harbor, we saw a guy who literally fell over and was crawling because he couldn't walk. (That's the entertaining part). The very same guy stepped on me and very nearly fell on top of me on the boat (I was very afraid of him falling on me and kept backing up until I was against the side rope, and then I was very afraid he'd fall and I'd go overboard.) 

Our next and last day ( :( ) was spent at the Pavilion, much to my delight. Then we spent our last night at the Salt Plage. And... the next day we left... Well. That's sad. Oh! Just random side note, the Pavilion had these wonderful outdoor showers supplied with soap, shampoo and conditioner. These showers were private, with really cool stonework but open to the sky. 

As depressing as it was to leave Saint Kitts and return home.. Well, I'm still sad about it, but at least I got to spend Christmas in my own house with my lovely kitties. As per our Christmas tradition we went to go see a movie. Originally we planned to go see Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but, well, somehow I promised my cousin/best friend Ivan that I wouldn't see it without him so... We went to go see Jumanji instead. ( I partially agreed to go because I've heard good reviews and partially because the title has my name in it ). Surprisingly enough, I actually really enjoyed the movie-- I was laughing the entire time. 
Then I spent the 26th baking away. I think because I was on a baking fast due to having little free time during the school year I just kind of overdid it a little baking on the 26th. I started around noon, took a three hour break between 5-8 and then started up again until about 3 AM. Yes. I was baking until 3 AM. Like I said, I went a little baking crazy. My arms still ache from icing those freaking snowflake cookies. I don't know why I did it-- I hated doing it last year, and yet... Here I was again, icing a hundred sugar and gingerbread cookies. Joy. I also made a cake, key lime pie and french bread. I didn't get around to making more toffee because, well, it was 3 AM, and I still had to pack because we were leaving the next morning so... Yeah I was really done with baking by 3. 
The next morning we left to go and visit our cousins in the Middle of Nowhere, Maryland. Another Christmas tradition is the Christmas Party held at my Aunt Sharon's and Uncle John's. While I'm not exactly good at socializing during family parties, I do enjoy getting to see my cousins. Like I said before, Ivan is one of my best friends and since we live in different states we don't exactly see each other a lot. 
And now we've caught up to me time-wise. Ivan and I did go to see Star Wars today. And eh... I have to say I was disappointed. It was good, but I'm really disappointed with the way Luke was written into the movie, the tone felt odd at times, as well as some really strange dialog. All together not the perfect movie I was expecting, then again, maybe it's just because my expectations were too high, who knows. 
Anyway, it was a great year and thanks for reading! 
Anj 
P.S. If you're interested in seeing more of my very picturesque trip to Saint Kitts, check it out in my Gallery on this site. :) It will have more details along with plenty more pictures. OH ALSO BIG SHOUTOUT TO MY FATHER FOR TAKING FANTASTIC PICTURES WITH HIS PHONE AND BEING OUR PHOTOGRAPHER (and he was getting really sick of it, too. Love you, father!) 

A bit last minute for people and stuff, but incase anyone hasn't heard there's a funeral , excuse me, memorial service (aren't they pretty much the same thing?) For my mom this Saturday (December 5, 2015) at the Bryn Athyn Cathedral. To my extent of knowledge, music starts at 3 and the actual service starts at 3:30 (this is all PM, by the way, because having a funeral/memorial service at three in the morning would be crazy.) (No offense to anyone who has had a funeral at three in the morning) 

After the funeral/memorial service there's an after not party but gathering reception thing at the Science Building at the college. There will be food (I think) and a slide show and I don't really know what else will be happening there. Maybe speaking about my mom or something like that? I don't know, I don't attend funerals often. 
So anyway, that's just a little twid bit of information if any one was wondering. Sorry for posting it so late, I've been rather busy with school. Can you believe it's December already? Christmas is around the corner!

So, I'm sure as many of you heard. My mom, Sherri Cooper, died recently. It was a surprise and yet not that surprising at the same time. Meaning, I certainly was not expecting it that day, but I was expecting it in the near future. I guess you never really expect death, though, it just kinda happens. If you follow the blog about my mom's cancer fight/struggle (Thunder.stormbefore.com) , you'd know my dad uses all these fancy metaphors i.e. cards and gravity. I will not being doing that. Why? Because I suck at poetic metaphors. I'd probably end up comparing something to McDonald's French Fries or something. Who knows. 
Mom died at 11:23 PM on 11/23/15. It's quite the coincidence. Of course, it's not something I really appreciate yet, but sometime in the future I probably will. In the hours before her death, Mama was having a hard time. The thought of death had slipped into my mind, but I swiftly pushed it out. There's no way she could die now, I thought.
See, here's the thing with me. I have a vivid imagination. And this was not how I imagined my mom dying. I imaged it happening a lot slower, like I'd know a few days before that it was going to happen. Then again, thinking back on it, that thought was rather foolish. Death doesn't have an appointed date. It comes and goes as it wishes. 
In my mom's last hours, she was surrounded by her family- even the cats were sitting up on the bed with her. Her brown eyes were glazed over, seeing something we couldn't. I'd like to think that it was her mother, taking her somewhere the rest of us can't follow. Not yet, at least. 
Even though she was having trouble in the previous hours, Mom died peacefully with almost a smile on her face, staring out at something we can't yet see. 
I stood by her bed for a while. Just staring at her body. Waiting for her to breathe again. This must been some horrible practical joke. I guess that's what people call the denial stage. I think I still might be in that stage.
At the moment, my mom being dead is just a fact to me, it has yet to be an emotion and really sink in. I'm not sure when it will, but I'm sure one of these days it will sink in and hit rather hard. 
It feels surreal. My mom being gone. Not being able to talk to her and hearing her odd comments on things . This can't be happening, but it is. My mind still hasn't been fully able to wrap around it. 

I've been trying to get back to my normal life. For me, that's what helps. Some people need time to mourn, but I'd rather keep myself busy to not mourn. Maybe that's kind of bad. Good thing no one is in my family to tell me that. 
This Thanksgiving was rather lonely and small. I just wanted to stay home and with just family (not like the entire family, like just my sister and dad), so that's what we did. This is my first year making a whole Thanksgiving and let me tell you, it's a lot of work. (Y'all probably already knew that.) I feel rather sorrowful for those who host Thanksgiving every year because I was really slaving in the kitchen today and all I made was (from scratch) a turkey, stuffing, potato gratin, yams with marshmallows and green beans. Yeah, not that much and yet it took the whole day to make. 
It was a very unofficial dinner, probably about fifteen minutes max before we started cleaning the kitchen back up (trust me, it was a mess.) It felt rather wrong without Mama sitting at the table with us, but my mind still hasn't had the full emotion sink in. It's like there's a very strong stone wall in my mind, separating my emotions from the fact. One of these days, the wall's going to break and who knows what will happen then. 
Sorry that this blog post is all over the place, I'm just typing out my thoughts. 
On Wednesday we cremated Mama. She was in a cardboard box and we drew on it with markers. Which was a little strange, I didn't know it was really a thing. But I still liked it, It made it feel like there was a little more closure, I guess. Then I flipped the switch on the cremation burner thingy-majig. I half expected to break down crying at that moment, but all I felt was a sad emptiness. 

I knew my mom would die in the next six months, that was clear when we put her in hospice. What I didn't know was about a week after we put in her hospice, she would die. I don't know why, but I expected her to live past Christmas. Maybe it's because she really wanted to make it to her 60th birthday and I figured since Mama wants to make it there, she will. Because what my mom wants, she gets. Guess not. I've just been really busy this month and regret not spending more time with her. 
It's sort of funny, actually. And by funny I don't mean HAHA funny. I mean ironic. Hospice brought in one of those hospital beds to our den and as soon as I saw it, I called it a 'Dead Bed' because well, it's one of those hospital beds that people have a tendency to die in. What's ironic about that? the first day mom sleeps in it, she dies. 
It was weird, she was sleeping peacefully that afternoon and then in the evening she had a lot of trouble. It was a rather large change. 
Then the day after, the news spread slowly at first, but by afternoon my phone pretty much blew up with loving and supporting messages from friends and family and everyone else. It was really sweet and appreciated but a little overwhelming. So if you were one of those people who I replied "Thanks" or "Thank you" to, don't be hurt by that. I was just overwhelmed and didn't know how to reply to everyone's loving messages but be assured, they were very appreciated. 
I heard from a friend that she was hurt that I send her only "Thanks" while I sent another friend a heart. I was just trying to change things up in my replies, it was nothing personal against anyone. I really appreciated each and every one of the messages I received. 
​

Thank you to everyone who sent me messages and has come over to support me. All the support and love being sent my way has seriously been appreciated. 
Special thanks to all my friends who have taken time out of their days to come spend time with me. It really makes me feel better and less alone to have you guys over here with me. 
Thanks to Naomi Roth for coming over and helping me shop for Thanksgiving and bringing over stuff today when I realized somewhere along the way we dropped a bag. 
Thank you to my Aunt Sue for coming down immediately and helping my family out in this crazy time. 

And finally, thank you to my mom for being such an awe inspiring role model. I really appreciated all the time I had with you, getting to know you, and all the time you spent fighting the inevitable to spend extra time with me and Zia. I'll always love you, mom and I'm really going to miss you

Been almost a month since I posted on this site. Wow, sorry. I wonder if I'll start off every post from now on apologizing for not posting. Hopefully not. Hopefully I'll actually be unlash enough to log onto weebly more often. Hopefully. 
Anyway, summer hasn't been too eventful for me so far. Next next week is ANC Camp, which'll be an.. interesting experience. I'll admit, I'm not that excited to go. Not nearly as excited as Zia was. The thing is, I'm highly introverted so ANC camp just doesn't sound that fun to me. Plus I'm going to have to room with someone and it'll be just my luck that it'll be someone I either a. don't like or b. sleeps with the lights on. Hmph. I'll be sure to write about my ANC camp experience. Or, at least, I'll try to. I faintly remember saying I'd do a St. Kitts post.... but shhhh let's not think about that. 
Let's see, what eventful things have I done so far this summer? Oh! I went down to Virginia with my parents for my dad's work party. It was really hot and outdoors. Let me set the picture for you, I don't sweat a lot but it was so hot that while I was sitting in the shade and reading I was sweating. Yeah. That hot. And don't judge me for reading. I told you, I'm super introverted. That was kinda eventful. It was that weekend that I became obsessed with Hart of Dixie. I still seriously love that show. Watch it. 
For the most part of my summer I've been a lazy butt and just have been watching Netflix and doing absolutely nothing useful. I'll admit, that annoys me. I like doing something useful but I've just been, as mentioned many times before, L-A-Z-Y. 
This past week my dad and I went camping down at Assatague Island, Maryland. It's been a family tradition to go camping down there every year and if you know me, I love tradition. That's one of the only reasons I went because I'm not too crazy about camping. Though, according to some people we weren't even officially camping because we used a camper. Sorry, Camping Purists, but camping just using a tent? Nope. I'm not in for that. 
Assatague is quite fun and different because there are wild horses living on the island. If you'd read Misty of Shincatague (or however you spell it) you'd know about it. The horses are pretty funny because they've become so accustomed to humans that they now just walk into campsites. They also have figured out how to unlatch coolers and get food out of them. Assateague camping tip: HIDE THE FOOD. It's rather annoying and (this is the germaphobe part of me speaking) gross because there's horse crap everywhere. This year there was a lot on the beach, too. Egh. 
Anyway, I got my camping strategy pretty much down after all these years of doing it. Go to bed fairly early (11 ish) use a sheet and a comforter so if it gets too hot then a sheet can still cover you from no see ums (HATE THOSE). Do not go outside in the evening or at night if possible (bugs love biting me. I've decided to think of it this way- they prefer chinese food over american food.) Wake up around 8 ish (can't really control that but that's usually when I wake up camping) have breakfast and read until eleven ish to noon when it's time to start getting ready to go to the beach. Okay, I'm getting bored of saying my Assatague camping routine and I'm sure you don't really care. 
The real reason why I'm missing camping right now is because I'm missing my cousins, Anders and Ivan Croft. I don't see them that often and I really enjoy hanging out with them. Luckily, I'm seeing Ivan at ANC Camp. I'm definitely not missing the bugs. It was also pretty enjoyable just camping with my dad. Father-daughter time. I liked it. (plus I got the whole bed to myself instead of sharing it with Zia, that was pretty nice.) 
We had to end our camping trip early because, unfortunately, my mom was in the hospital. Fortunately enough, it wasn't anything majorly serious. Though, it looked like it might've been. She was all confused and it was a little scary. Yesterday morning we all believed that she might've gotten a stroke. Luckily enough for all of us, that wasn't that case. It was (as far as I know) a bad reaction to my mom's chemo. My mom's still in the hospital now, but hopefully she'll be released tomorrow. 
Now you may be wondering, why does the title have the word 'cereal' in it. Well, I've come to tell you all of my new obsession. With Golden Grahams. 

Every now and then I get cereal obsessions. Sometimes honey nut cheerios, sometimes frosted flakes, sometimes Special K etc. But this one is new. Parents, if you're reading this, Thank Dara Rogers for you guys having to buy so much of this delicious cereal. She was the once who introduced me to it. If y'all haven't tried Golden Grahams, I highly recommend it. It's delicious. Yum. 
Xoxo, Anj

After dinner was Cold Stone, which I felt a little awkward about, too because, Serena's diet. Luckily everyone else was able to get something. At Kyoto (my favorite Sushi restaurant ever) they figured out it was my birthday so they came down with a big drum, sang happy birthday to me and gave me a free ice cream dish. Rather embarrassing, actually. I was laughing the whole time in embarrassment. When we got back to my house, we all went into my room and just hung out for a while. Serena knows how to do this muscle testing thing so we had a lot of fun seeing what people think and things they didn't know about themselves. Once Dara came over I opened presents. Camryn got me this really cute dress from Forever 21 that I wore on ballroom dancing week 4 (look below.) It's an extra small, which I was shocked to find fit me. Then we played a few stupid games. Watched a movie and fell asleep watching the movie. The next morning I felt super bad because Fiona had to leave due to a migraine. She is now banned from sleepovers at my house for the time being. Ugh. 
The next morning Dara left (Serena had left the night before) and Camryn and Ursy were the only two remaining. We ended up shopping at the mall for the excellent mother's day mall sales. 
From the mall, I bought two white strapless dresses from Charlotte Russe, heeled boots (on sale because they were out of season!) and oh yeah, a crap load of things from Bath and Body Works. 
Remember how I had that post about a flashback to Ballroom Dancing? Well ballroom dancing is back! Well, it's about to be over but I'll write a little about it anyway. Some people don't like it, but I find ballroom rather enjoyable. We've learned the Cha Cha, Tango, Jitterbug and uh one I can't remember and this friday we're having the final dance which is two hours and we have to dance with the 7th Graders. Not that I'm complaining, it's just the majority of the boys in that class are the same height or shorter than me... and I have an affinity for heels. 
Mother's Day was this weekend! And guys, I decided to work really hard on Mother's Day. All Saturday I spent getting my mom' gift ready. I made two scented candles, scented soap and a exfoliating sugar body scrub (IT REALLY WORKS). If you want soap or body scrub I'm thinking of starting to sell it, so... And trust me on this one, they smell amazing and work great. Mother's Day was a little disappointing since mom was tired all day, but that's okay. 
I've found some new friendships in the last months or so, too. I've befriended my old friend, Atticus Boatman recently. He's a really cool guy, a lot of fun to talk to and willing to listen. Camryn, Serena and I are becoming friends. 
So I'm trying desperately to think of new topics to talk about, like I can think of them when not blogging but when blogging? Totally blanking. Sorry guys! I'll write soon (graduation is just around the corner) 
xoxo 
Anj

Sorry for picture blurriness, obviously I didn't take it. 

Hmm.. What happened since the last time I posted a WHOLE MONTH AGO? (sorry about that, to say I've been busy would be an understatement) The answer to that question? A whole freaking lot. Where to begin? Did I talk to y'all about graduation yet? Well that's coming quickly and it's just around the corner. Yeah, I'm actually graduating this year. The thought that comes into my head about that is FINALLY. Seriously, I've been in BACS long enough. If you want to come to my graduation it's at 11 (I think...) at the Bryn Athyn Church School on June 6th. You should come! It's a boring ceremony but it means a lot to the graduates *smiles sweetly* 
My BIRTHDAY was last month! I turned fourteen on the 22 of April :D I'm not sure how I feel about the whole bing fourteen thing. I still wasn't used to be thirteen. You may be wondering, what did Anji get for her birthday? 
This year wasn't a big year for presents, but I'm very satisfied with what I got. Usually I have a specific thing I want for my birthday but this year I realized I'm pretty satisfied with what I have. There wasn't anything I was dying to get. Though, I am really happy that I got a Jambox. It's nice having a portable speaker :D As a gift my parents also offered to buy shelves for my room, which may be more costly than we originally thought. 
See, my dad and I went to Ikea the weekend before my birthday and looked at shelves. We realized that the studs in the wall are so close together that it'd make the shelves (trusses?) be weirdly close together. So now we're considering getting me another bookshelf, but if you've seen my room, you'd know there's no room at the moment for another. We'd have to completely rearrange my room which would mean having to buy new drawers for the other side of my bed, also. Actually, I wouldn't mind moving my bed away from the wall a bit, it would make making the bed 900% easier. 
The school year is drawing to a close, which is weird because I can remember my first day in 8th grade like it was just yesterday. As a team bonding experience, the 8th Grade Girls go rock climbing every year. If you were unaware, I have a devastating fear of heights. For a long time before this rock climbing trip I was sure I would 'splat.' Climbing the wall for the first time was very  nerve racking. It felt like hours. I don't know how long I was actually climbing the first time but... There was a place where I was like 4 feet close to the top and I froze. I was the first person to make it up that wall and the second in my class (very close to first) to make it up the walls at all. I ended up climbing the wall five times and making it up four. The one time I didn't make it up was when the wall was slanted outwards and by then my limbs felt hideously enflamed. I tried that wall again. And I made it up. Then I was done with it. Rock Climbing was a fun experience though I'm not sure if I'd want to try it in my free time. 
On the wedding topic? My cousin's wedding was this month. I'd been looking forward to it FOREVER. And it was a lot of fun. My dress is shorter than the pictures make it look, I swear. We drove up to Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania for the wedding. It was about forty minutes away from Bloom, but I didn't really mind. 
The wedding was really beautiful and the reception was well thought out and enjoyable. I thought it was very interesting seeing a Christian wedding as of the fact that at the moment, I'm New Churchman (Swedenborgian is the official name but hey New Churchman sounds better) 
Ballroom Dancing started too, but I think I'll get to that in another post because, jeez, I need to post more. 
xoxo 
Anj

Merry Christmas! I might make another post later today on Christmas gifts and stuff or I might not. I don't know, I'm actually writing this pre-christmas on Christmas eve and scheduling it to post on Christmas. So here's another life update! Yayy. So when did you finish all your Christmas shopping? Weeks prior to Christmas or on Christmas eve? I finished mine on the eve of Christmas Eve. And I also wrapped everything then too. Now, since I'm posting this on Christmas day I won't spoil any of the gifts I got for anyone, except maybe for Caroline... Sorry if you're reading this Care! Which you're probably not since you don't, you know, READ MY BLOG THAT I WORK HARD ON. 
I was worried that we might not have that many presents this year, since there were like four presents under the tree on friday, and those were ones I wrapped for my friends and put there to look like we had some presents. But WOW as Christmas neared the gifts just started piling in. Now I think this might be one of the most gift full years. 
Some group is dropping off gifts for the twelve days of Christmas anonymously  and it's really sweet. Although, Day 6 never arrived, we have gotten stuff for all the other days. Like, we got pears, a tree and a patriarch ornament for the first day and stuff like that. Yeah I'm using the word 'stuff' a lot, aren't I? My apologies. 
Back to the gifts I got for other people. 
I got Dara, Ursula and Fiona all individualized mugs with collages of us on them, they're really cute and a gift I like, so I hope they actually like them too. Then I got Caroline a travel mug with these pictures of us on them. See, where Fi and I take pictures together all the time and have years worth of pictures, same with Urs and Dara, Care and I don't take that many pictures so I only put three on. 

Then Caroline's travel mug has the quote "Real friends are the ones you can count on no matter what" from Since You've Been Gone by Morgan Matson. Honestly, it was hard for me to find a good quote that I liked that had nothing to do with heartbreak, death or sadness. Yeah, I like meaningful quotes. Not that some happy quotes aren't meaningful. 
Anyway, I'm excited to see whether or not Caroline likes her gift. 
Then I got Zia Stila eyeliner and seriously that stuff is $20 for one tube of it. Talk about over expensive. I also got her one of those charging things that you can take with you to charge your phone and a new phone charger (she's always breaking and loosing those) Seriously, I usually buy her soap from Bath and Body Works to use in our bathroom but she was guilting me about it so I bought the eyeliner. And then she told me that I never go there good presents and I was horrible at gift giving. 
So I contemplated keeping the eyeliner just to piss her off. 
But when my dad and I were shopping on the eve of Christmas eve, he told me I should probably get her more stuff because she got me a lot andI only got her eyeliner, so I only spent like over $75 -_-. If she says that I get her crappy presents I will literally freak out and probably steal the stuff for myself. 
(ended up selling the soap to my parents) 
I got my mom a lot of things. The first thing I got for her are 2 large 3 wick candles form Bath and Body Works, I get her candles every year, I love the smell of them and my mom likes them too. I also got my mom some stuff from aerie, earrings, more soap and other stuff that isn't currently coming to mind. 
I didn't really get my dad that much this year which I kinda feel bad about, especially since he's been driving Zia and I around pretty much nonstop for the last five days. But I got my dad a starbucks mug filled with yummy munchies from Sam's Club. 
Then for the family, my dad and I bought an amazing mixer from Sam's Club. Yeah, I've only been telling my family we needed one of those for thirty million years. I was honestly shocked when y dad was like, yeah we should get one, when I was saying we should get one at Sam's Club. The surprising times when my dad actually aigrets buy the things I beg for. IT doesn't usually happen and is an extremely rare occurrence. 
We also bought that amazing fuzzy blanket from Bath and Body Works for the family and uh, we got pens and an extension cord! Yay for pens and extension cords. 
You know what I'd love to get for Christmas? My main focus for a gift is an iPad mini. It'd be really nice for reading since my kindle fire is like freezing a lot and then I could buy a key board case so when I travel, I don't have to risk Alec (my mac book air I'm typing this off of) getting stolen or hurt. 
I love Alec, he's my baby. 
Well, if I don't get an iPad mini for Christmas (I doubt I will, I wanted a new laptop last year, and trust me, I really needed it, all I had was the crap box, a computer I got like 2009 that was literally breaking down overtime I used it and I didn't get a new computer until June when I decided to pay for it.) I mean, I doubt I will get an iPad mini but I'm still holding out hope, there's a box that looks like it'd fit one and is the right weight, but it's the right weight and size for a book too, so... I'm prepping myself so I won't be disappointed. Though, I guess by the time you're reading this then I'll know what I got for Christmas! 
I'm probably the best person for present guessing you'll ever meet. I'm an expert when it comes to guessing what's in the box, so if you ever need someone to help you figure out what's in the box, I'm your girl. Though, it's not really that usaful of a talent except around Christmas time and my birthday. 
Anyway, I'm really excited for tomorrow/today. Christmas is probably the most wonderful time of the year, it's my favorite holiday! Least favorite you may ask? Thanksgiving. I hate turkey and all I really do is eat stuffing during Thanksgiving. Guess what we're having for Christmas dinner? Turkey -_-. 
Haha, hope you guys got what you wanted for Christmas. 
Love Anj

The day after London we left the place in Oxford and drove, three to four to five to six hours up to The Lake District. The Lake District was definitely my favorite place to stay maybe it had to do with the fact we stayed there for six days or maybe because it was so pretty or maybe because the bed and breakfast we stayed at was very comfortable. Zia and I stayed in room three while our parents stayed in room six. I got the big bed in the bedroom since Zia made me sleep in a cot last time. We also got the good bathroom, but not a good view. Unfortunately no air conditioning so if we were in the room during the day it was boiling, especially the days without any breeze outside. Howard, Rosa, John, Sophia and Francesca were also staying there, except in a cottage instead of in the bed and breakfast. We had dinner with them the first night, it was a three course meal, the main course being roast beef and dessert was custard and a cookie. After that we went our separate ways. So the wi-fi in the place we were staying sucked unless you were in a certain place, the best wifi spot was on the stairs which was right outside Zia and my room. So we were sitting on the stairs a lot. I finished the Bloodlines books 1-4 there as well as the Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi. Actually, I finished the Shatter Me series in one day. So the first official full day we were in the Lake District we took a boat across the Lake. Except, of course we had to walk to the boat landing. That was rather complicated since we had to walk through a bunch of sheep fields, climb a few fences and then walk all the way back because it was the wrong way to get there, we nearly missed the boat after running to get there. After going across the lake, we were at a small place where there were a bunch of ducks, and people. We ate at the cafe that was right next to the dock, I got a smoked salmon sandwich and a smoothie, sound familiar? I got A LOT of smoked salmon, from the airports, cafes, etc. After lunch, I went out and fed the ducks the crust from my sandwich and that's where my duck feeding obsession started. Our families separated, Francesca wanted to stay by that area and run in one of those blow up hamster ball type things that float in the water, so while their family stayed, my family walked about an hour through a bunch of sheep and cow fields to get to the fair that was on the other side. 
Guess what? We would've had to pay like $12 US each to get into the fair and only have been there for like six minutes before having to walk back, so we just walked back. We walked all the way there for nothing. Joy. 
On day two Zia, John, Francesca, Howard, and my dad went to a place called Go Ape. I decided not to go because 1. I'm slightly scared of heights 2. It didn't sound fun for me. So I saved some toast from breakfast and after having a lunch of half a scone and some tea with my mom, I went down to the lake to feed some ducks. Unfortunately on our side of the Lake there weren't as many ducks and the ducks were scared of me. I did feed them though, there was one duck which I affectionately named TMD, meaning The Mean Duck because it chased away and bit any other duck trying to get bread, though I was able to evade that duck throw bread one way, and while the duck was getting it, throw some to the other ducks. I read most of the day, but for some reason by the end of the day I was exhausted. I think it was the time zone difference. I have no idea what time tone my head was in, it wasn't England's or New York's lol. 
I was really missing my friends by then, especially when Zia and I got into fights. Because of the time difference it was really hard to find a way to text Caroline on Viber, plus, Caroline if you're reading this, you're really bad at replying in the next five minutes. or replying. period. 
On day three we took the bed and breakfast's row boats and went rowing across the lake for the whole day. It was really hot. We stopped at a hotel across the lake for lunch, I got, guess what, a smoked salmon sandwich and a glass of lemonade. The lemonade was amazing there, it was like French lemonade but a little lighter. I saved half of my sandwich to feed the ducks later (the bread not the salmon) and stuffed it in my dad's backpack. After about an hour of rowing after lunch, it got hot. I was wearing my bikini under my clothes so I just lay across the front of the row boat in the sun, that got pretty hot after a while too, though. We eventually stopped at a beach a long ways away from the bed and breakfast. It didn't look like anyone had ever been on that beach, how do I know that? There were a bunch of skipping stones on the beach. I went swimming for a bit but the water was freezing so I got out pretty quickly. And Ugh, guess what I found? A sheep carcass what in the world ate it I have no idea. It was a bunch of fur and bone. And ew I found it's foot. That was really gross. 
So rowing back was hot and took a while, once we got back I showered, and then went outside for dinner, which was fish and chips. I finally got a coke, and Raziel it was refreshing, I'd been living off tea and water for the last few days. If you didn't know, I hate water it tastes horrible. 
Day four we went pony trekking up the mountain. I was seriously scared my pony would run off or something, Kitty was not being a good pony. she kept stopping to eat and walking off the trail. I don't have a fractured skull right now, so I'm okay. It was REALLY hot out and wearing sneakers and long pants was not helping. It was a really fun pony ride if you put those two things aside, and my upper legs didn't hurt too much afterwards. After we got back to the Coniston (town closest to the bed and breakfast) we stopped at a place and got ice cream, I got honey comb, it was new and interesting. Oh, I forgot, while I was on Kitty, a fly bit my hand and it swelled and the bone in it hurt. For dinner we went to a pub like dinner place, getting dinner took forever so during the wait we talked about some pretty random things. I was able to convince Francesca that the Shatter Me book cover was a mountain. 

I'm still not exactly sure how. I got scampi for dinner, it came with chips *cough fries and coleslaw. The fries were really good but I got full after the scampi and coleslaw so I let Zia, John and Francesca have the rest. Apparently I put too much salt on which is funny because I would've added more if I were to continue eating them. 
Day five I really enjoyed, everyone else went out to climb the mountain but since I didn't bring my inhaler with me I didn't go so I had the whole day to myself. For the first part I was up in my room sprawled across my bed, reading, but after I went down and had lunch (crisps, smoked salmon sandwich, tea) I sat on this green leather couch in one of the extra rooms that I had recently (the day before) found comfortable for reading. I read the whole Shatter Me series that day. 
Over dinner we were talking about british and american words. We got into an argument over cookies and biscuits. Apparently they think cookies like Oreos are called biscuits. Even though it clearly says 'Milks favorite cookie' on the box. It even has milk on the box. Ugh now I'm craving Oreos. Anyway biscuits are those delicious flakey layered bread rolls. 

Day six we got breakfast,packed up, said goodbye to Howard's family and drove to Scotland. On our way there we stopped at Hadrian's wall, it was hot out so Zia and I were none to happy to be stopping. Also, the walk up to Hadrian's wall was like ten minutes and it was really hot, smelly, and stinky because it was a sheep field and the sheep crapped everywhere. I was pretty much done with sheep by the time we left England. Hadrian's wall in on the border of Scotland and England so on one side is Scotland and the other England. The England side of Hadrian's wall was a whole lot stinkier because of all the sheep crap, I did not enjoy walking on the pathway covered in it. Sorry, but I was in a bit of a bad mood then, but I calmed down before Zia did. 

In Scotland we stayed with Helen and Neil Laidlaw. Helen is a really good cook. On day two of being in Scotland and our first full day there went to Edinburgh. By then I was just ready to go home, not because I was home sick but because I really missed my friends and honestly, I was getting kinda/really annoyed with my family, I don't usually spend that much time with them. Usually/never. Edinburgh was cool, we got to go to the Elephant House which was where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter, the bathroom is covered in writing, people saying thank you to JK  Rowling and such. Edinburgh castle was kinda cool, I was kind of/pretty bored of sightseeing by then, though, plus Zia was making me really grumpy so I didn't take many pictures there. 
Day three of being in Scotland we visited Tantallon Castle, I enjoyed looking around. For lunch we went to a place where I got a bunch of smoked fish samples to eat. We ate outside, so it was funny because there was a pool in the ocean and a bunch of people were swimming in it. Where it is too cold for us to go swimming, it was warm for the people in Scotland.  In Scotland and England the currency is pounds, which pretty much you double the amount of pounds and that's the amount of US dollars it is. Stuff in Europe was expensive. 

So from Scotland we flew three hours to Iceland then flew six hours back to New York. I was 92% done Lola and the Boy Next Door when my Kindle Fire shut down so I had to wait the last thirty minutes, plus going through customs, then renting a car, to get in the car, and charge my kindle so I could finish the book. That pissed me off. So we had the two hour drive home and when we got back, we were all really jet lagged, I stayed jet lagged for a couple days after. All in all the trip was pretty good. I read 23 books in two weeks, which I was pretty proud of. 

Thanks for reading! :) 
Anji

Our flight to London was three hours. Somehow I was more cramped up after our London flight than the one to Iceland. So, England is five hours ahead of New York time. Joy, that took a while to get used to since I still wasn't used to Icelandic time. So when we got to England we went to a Hertz place to rent a car. It took forever, the lady that was talking to us there took forever to do everything and by the time we were done there it was dark out. Oh, here's an interesting thing that makes Caroline laugh every time I talk about it, so on our way to the hotel we were staying at, we got lost. Yeah, getting lost in a different country, that sure is fun. Especially when it's dark and you have yet to have dinner. I didn't get dinner that night. We spent three hours trying to get to the hotel when it only should've taken one and a half. It wasn't as bad for Zia, because she went to sleep, but I was up the whole time, reading (what else was I going to do?) so it was hard to ignore my growling stomach. We finally got to the hotel rather late and then Zia made me sleep on the cot instead of a bed, gee, thanks sis. At least we had adapters this time. The cot wasn't too comfortable and made a lot of noise when I moved. We were all in one room together so it was kind of crowded. Plus, Zia and I don't exactly get along, so... 
The next day we went to my dad's friend from college's house in Oxford. Howard is a professor at Oxford University so he showed us around. Oxford is a place where some of Harry Potter was filmed. It was really cool. So I should probably explain a packing thing before I forget. So my dad tells me it's going to be cold on this trip so to only pack like three pairs of shorts and a few short sleeved shirts. That turned out to be untrue so the whole trip I was pretty much rewearing the same outfits every other day. Of course when we visit and I bring a minimal amount of short sleeved stuff the UK magically decides to have only hot days. I mean, it was nice for pictures, not so nice for sitting on top of a tour bus. Also, it seems that not a lot of places in the UK need air conditioning, since it's cool and rainy most of the time. That was a high complaint of mine, I'm hot-blooded so I get hot really easily and not having air conditioning didn't bode too well with me. Another complaint of mine was that the wi-fi in all the places we stayed didn't work too well, and since we were in a different country we couldn't really use our phones. 
Back to Oxford, it was interesting to walk around, we stopped at a place for lunch and got sandwiches, I got a tuna melt on a panini. After lunch we went to a bookstore in Oxford. It was so much fun seeing the British version of the covers to all my books. Apparently they don't have hardcovers of Cassandra Clare's books, that would depress me if I lived there. I finished Last Sacrifice while sitting in the room where they filmed The Great Hall in Harry Potter. After walking around Oxford all day, I was really hot and ready to go back. We stayed at Howard's house for dinner, he has three kids, John (18) Sophia (15) and Francesca (11). It was fun hanging out with them, Francesca had a lot of energy. 

So the day after visiting Oxford, Zia, my dad and me took a bus to London. The bus ride was one and a half hours long and unfortunately the 'free wifi' on it didn't work. I slept most of the way since I had nothing to read. Apparently Zia enjoyed taking a bunch of pictures of me while I slept. After we got off the bus, we walked around and found a tour bus, we decided to start off with taking the Big Bus tour Red. Sitting on the roof was hot and it was hard to understand the person commentating since he 1. had a confusing british accent 2. was speaking way to closely to the microphone. We got off at a stop near an area with a blue rooster statue. There were a bunch of money making things there, like one person was drawing incredibly detailed pictures of all the world's country's flags in chalk on the flagstones, there was a dance show/tricks show, a yoda etc. After crossing a few roads and walking around to random places we stopped at a cafe to eat lunch. I got a smoked salmon sandwich, salt and vinegar crisps, and a berry smoothie. The wifi didn't work there either. 
After lunch we got back on the bus, except we got on a Big Bus Tour Blue instead of Red because the Red took forever to find. I liked the Blue one better 1. because we got free headphones 2. because we got to listen to a prerecorded voice that was easy to understand. We went past the bank where they filmed Gringots in Harry Potter. I think our next place where we got off was a cathedral because I wanted to go to Blackfriars Bridge and that was the closest place to it. Problem, I hadn't looked up what Blackfriars Bridge looked like so it took a bit to figure out which bridge it was. Blackfriars Bridge really was the only reason I wanted to go to London. Why? Because of a book, obviously. The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare to be specific. Yeah, I was really happy that we went to Blackfriars, though, I was ready to go back right after, haha. 
We left Blackfriars Bridge and next went to a Starbucks nearby, I got a grande Caramel Frappuccino, and guess what? The intranet actually worked there, so I bought the first two books in the spin off of the Vampire Academy Series, Bloodlines. After Starbucks we walked around, I bought another postcard (Postcard count 3). Then we got ice cream, and I'm not even kidding I saw a kid with an ice cream cone as long as my arm, that was just gross. Then after getting ice cream we went on a water boat tour down the Thames. The boat tour was definitely my favorite, the guy commenting was easy to understand and it was funny. Also, the wind downed the heat amount. We went to Buckingham Palace and watched the guards for a bit, it was rather boring, do those guards ever get hungry or hot on the job? 
We almost missed the bus back to Oxford, my dad lost track of time, imagine what we'd do if we'd missed it. Actually, I did imagine it as we ran to the bus, I'm guessing we wouldn't sleep on benches but the image did pop into my head. I couldn't get into Bloodlines (click here to read my review on Bloodlines) on the bus, so I just slept on the way back too. So when we finally got back to Oxford it was dark but I absolutely refused to go back and not have dinner again, after walking all around London in the sun yeah, I was hungry. So we stopped at a food cart/truck. Have you ever had a gyros sandwich? Those things are amazing, we got something similar to that at the food truck thing. Pita bread, spicy/sweet sauce, lamb, mayonnaise, salad. Yummy. It was delicious. The fries, excuse me, chips, where pretty good too. Zia and I had already eaten 1 1/2 of the sandwiches before my dad actually came out to eat. 
See you guys at part three :)