Hi all! It's been many, many months since I last posted... Sorry about that! I honestly haven't exactly been up to anything interesting over the summer so there was nothing compelling me to make a post about my rather mundane life. But now I do have something to write about, so here it goes. 
As some of you probably already know, I'm now a freshman in college! Yup. If you think that sounds weird, think about how extraordinarily strange it feels for me. Seriously, how am I a college student? I still lowkey feel like I'm a freshman in high school... Definitely don't feel like a college student in the slightest. And yet here we are. 
Where am I going? Well, it's funny that you ask because it's a kind of complicated, long answer. The easy answer is I'm a freshman enrolled at University of Delaware.... but I'm actually writing this post from Spain so what's the deal with that? That's where the longer answer comes in. I actually got into this really unique and cool program called the World Scholars, where they send you abroad for your first semester. So the answer right now to where I'm going is Saint Louis University Madrid which is, shockingly, located in Madrid, Spain. 
So yeah, my first semester away from home is a lot more AWAY than I originally anticipated. BIG emphasis on away. Seriously, I was thinking that colleges in North Carolina were too far from home so I decided to go to Spain instead. That makes perfect sense. Anyway, as I am writing this post I believe I am still in the "honeymoon" stage of the whole process. See, I've only been here for a little over a week, which is short enough to feel like vacation or short term. I don't think it's really hit me yet that yes, I am here for a rather long time. Still, I'm really glad that I chose to participate in this program due to how truly unique it is and all the opportunities it provides me. 
The World Scholars Program is particularly unique because it's more than just a study abroad opportunity. It's a complete four year immersive commitment to teaching world stewardship and just an all around appreciation for other cultures and differences. In the first semester of freshman year, participants get to study abroad in one of four locations-- Madrid, Auckland, Rome or Athens. While abroad we're also required to take a Global Politics class to further educate us and expand our view past that of just our own home country. Though we don't study abroad our sophomore year, we are required to live in the International housing on campus, as well as take more courses and participate in other events to keep expanding our interaction and awareness of other cultures. Then junior year (jeez, that's really far away at the moment), we get to study abroad again, this time at a location of our own choosing that works best with whatever our chosen major is. And finally, senior year I believe we work with people from the Fulbright program / I'm not actually sure what goes on but it's something about Fulbright! Haha, that's so far away I'm not exactly thinking too hard about it. 
Back to me, because that's really what this blog is all about haha. So we arrived in Madrid about a little over a week ago now on Saturday Morning (August 31). It was a very long flight, which isn't usually an issue for me because I have this weird ability to fall asleep just about anywhere, especially moving things like planes, cars, trains and boats. This time not so much, I actually got sick on the plane which is not usual for me, so when we arrived in Madrid I was running on little sleep. Unfortunately since we arrived in the morning, we were encouraged to not sleep in effort to fight against the inevitable jet leg. It was actually a pretty packed day, too, so napping would've been pretty difficult anyway. We FINALLY got to find out our roommates-- due to something about Spain's privacy laws we weren't able to know who our roommates were until arrival, which was a point of anxiety and annoyance for all of us. Then we got about a hour to go up to our rooms and unpack and such before a required walk around Madrid to show us a bit of the campus and to a grocery store.
I have to say, starting off in a dorm in Spain has truly ruined American dorms for me. I might cry upon going back because these dorms are infinitely better. See, in Europe, the idea of communal bathrooms is gross, so we actually get our own little bathrooms in our rooms, complete with toilet, sink and shower. Being the germaphobe that I am, going back to America and having to use a communal bathroom is a definite nightmare. Not only that, but the dorms here are basically like staying in a hotel room, we even have little electronic keys AND once a week cleaners come in and clean for us, including giving us new sheets and towels. Ha, fun little difference-- in Spain they don't use fitted sheets. 

After the walk around the city and to the grocery store, we got lunch and got a smidgen of chill time before heading out again in groups. Each group did something different. In mine, we went to the metro and for those of us who forgot to order an unlimited metro pass ahead of time (*cough* me), we got some temporary metro cards. Then we took the metro to Puerta del Sol, which is where the first picture on this post was taken, though on a later date. There we wandered around searching for a phone store open enough for us to either get new SIM cards or new phones-- it took a few tries, though, eventually we found an Orange empty enough for our group to invade. I got a new SIM card so if you're trying to send anything to my old number I'm not ignoring you! I just am not getting any of those messages as I have a new Spanish phone number for the moment (I'll be switching back to my old number when I get back to the US.) If you want to contact me, I still have the same US phone number logged onto Whatsapp, which is actually the method most other countries use for texting as unlimited texting and calls is unusual outside of the US. So if you REALLY want to talk to me, get Whatsapp and text me, or you know, if you're someone who actually knows me well enough to really be contacting me frequently, you probably have enough information to be contacting me if you aren't already doing so. 
After going to the phone store, most groups went out for churros at Sin Gines or just back to the dorms because you know, we had just landed that day and were all exhausted. Not my group though! Instead, my group just went on a walking tour around basically the whole of Madrid and didn't get back until 8-- while all the other groups got back at like 5. It wasn't all that horrible because we got to see some really beautiful and cool places and monuments around Madrid. Like, it was actually a great experience because we got to see the city, but I was also just already exhausted and all that walking just added up. Seriously, that night my feet were throbbing so it hurt to actually just sit, and walking was beyond painful. (No, for those of you who know me and are saying it was probably the heels, I was not wearing heels. I actually wore some very practical sandals made for walking a lot.) When we got back to El Faro (the dorm), dinner had already started. It was actually pretty cute because the staff at El Faro threw a welcome BBQ for us Americans. 

In Spain, as with a lot of Europe I believe, the mealtimes are a whole lot later than us simple, hungry Americans have them. Here's the eating schedule for my dorm-- which actually starts a bit early to try and work around peoples' classes. 

Monday-Friday 
Breakfast: 7-10 AM 
Lunch: 1-4 PM 
Dinner: 8-10 PM 

Weekends & Holidays 
Breakfast: 9-11 AM 
Lunch: 2-4 PM 
Dinner: 9-10:30 PM 

So basically when you have to get up around the same time for classes, days feel a whole lot longer when you gotta wait until 8 for dinner. Then again, days here do just seem a whole lot longer, because in Spain it's more common to stay up later. Honestly, I'm not sure how much sleep most Spaniards live off of, because people really do stay out pretty late around here. 
The eating habits are also very different here than they are back home in America. While us Americans tend to eat smaller meals and just snack all day long, Spaniards seem to have three big meals and then two planned snacks-- one around noonish and then another in like the four to five time zone depending on when they eat lunch. 
Honestly, the eating habits have been one of the hardest transitions for me (have been, haha, it's definitely not past tense). In an effort to really immerse myself into Spanish culture and also because the portions here are so huge, I've been trying to balance my diet by snacking less. This is a bit of an issue because it leads to me being absolutely ravenous at meal times and scurrying down to the dining hall as soon as the meal starts. I wonder if I'll ever be able to go to meals later than the earliest possible times. Back to the issue though, I just gobble down all the food way too fast-- which is surprising because I'm the slowest eater I've ever met, but I'm pretty freaking fast during the meals. Still slower than most people around me but it's fast for me haha. Waiting for meals is pretty painful on the stomach. In America I just sorta snacked whenever I wanted, and I'm really trying not to do that here. To encourage my less snacking policy (notice I don't say no snacking because I know that isn't gonna happen), I don't let myself buy snack foods, though, I have been to the grocery a lot recently to LOOK at snack foods. All I have in the food cabinet is a giant pack of Maria digestive biscuits, a smaller back of dark chocolate dipped digestive biscuits, ORANGES and two types of cereal. (And also all the Pan de Leche I steal from the dining hall, but we're not gonna acknowledge that). So basically the idea behind this is I don't want to eat too many cookies because the freshman fifteen is real and I am very, very afraid of it. So I will occasionally nibble on a Maria, but I never chow down on them. The chocolate dipped ones are for special occasions and I haven't really touched them yet, haha. So basically the main snack I go for is the oranges, but eating too many oranges can cause you to gain weight as I found out in the 8th Grade when I did a research paper on oranges, so I limit myself to one orange a day around 4:30-5 time. The cereal is another story to be told later, haha. 
It's actually pretty interesting that we all give Americans a hard time about giant portions, but from my experience so far and my past experience in Valencia, the Spanish actually have larger portions, they just eat less between. So there's a thought. 
Anyway, this post is getting a little long so I'm thinking that I'll split it up! Who knows when or if I'll actually finish it by writing more parts we'll see haha, but I'll try, or thinking about trying. With school catching up, I'm not sure how much actual free time I have! We'll see! 
So thanks for reading, and hopefully another post about my first week in Spain will pop up eventually if not soon. 
Adios, 
​Anji

It's the end! It's the end of everything. But of course, to be totally cliche, the end of everything is also the beginning of something. For those of you who don't live around Bryn Athyn, and didn't read the title of the post, you may be asking yourselves "The end of what? It's not the end of 2018, we're only about half way through it..." And to that I'd reply- it's the end of the school year. Or we're past the end of the school year now. The seniors have officially graduated and the juniors (aka me) have officially become seniors. 
Scary thought, right? And how exactly did that scary thought become reality? And how did it become reality so soon? The answer to that is that I have no idea. While junior year felt like the slowest possible time ever, looking back it feels like a blur. (Isn't that how life always is, though?) The end of this year just feels like it sort of jumped out from behind a corner and surprised me. I can't believe this year is over, and I most certainly can't believe that I'm a senior. Even writing those words feels wrong. I. Am. A. Senior. That's wrong, that most definitely can't be right. Me? A Senior? Just the other day someone asked me how old I am, and you know how I answered? I said I'm 15. 15. You know how off that is? I haven't been 15 for two years. TWO YEARS. Where did those years go? HOW AM I a SENIOR? 
Excuse my (not) mild freaking out. I am just in total awe and disbelief by the fact that I'm a senior. This really is coming close to the end of my high school career. A year from now I'm probably going to be writing on this blog about how senior year really just flew by and I can't believe I'm off to college. A YEAR FROM NOW I'M GOING TO BE OFF TO COLLEGE. And more importantly to my freaking out brain, this year I have to make some big life choices such as which college I'm going to go to and what I might want to major in. How can I be making these choices when I literally still feel like I'm 15? 
And no, this is not a philosophical post answering that question and all the life questions you've been dying to have answered. I'm just splatting out words on a post because I haven't posted on this blog in a while, and also in a tribute to my senior (now college freshman) friends. 

Here's a quick little word of remembrance (no, they're not dead... I'm just going to see them a whole lot less next year :( ) for my senior friends. 
Caitlin-- thanks for being my partner in crime this year. We did everything together, ranging from tackling defense on field hockey to producing a play and a musical to being the best statistician and statistician's assistant for the wrestling team. (Guess who was the assistant. Hint: It wasn't me.) You're one of my bestest friends, as proven by how well we've gotten to know each other-- we literally know each other's food orders. I'm not sure it gets any more personal than that. Love you so much, and can't wait for the shenanigans we're going to get up to in the months and years to come. 
Rayna-- thanks for being my Broadway buddy. We made some pretty great memories together going to some fantastic shows. I loved having you there to experience the magic of theater with me, despite the fact that people around us start to think we're crazy. Of course, going to Broadway with me isn't the only thing I love you for. I love you for making the field hockey and capes team fun for me this year. Nothing will be the same without your bright, smiling face. 
Ellie-- thanks for being one of my oldest friends. We're so close that we literally finish each other's sentences and thoughts. I can't believe you graduated this year. You're such a talented musician, and I'm so lucky to have you as a friend. You know I'm always down to play you (crush you?) in video games or just to hang out and have oddly deep talks or really random, light discussions about random occurrences. 
Waverly-- thanks for being my lacrosse and musical buddy. You helped me to endure hours upon hours of dry tech and tech, and you made me feel included in the lacrosse team, even though I'm just a statistician. It's a real shame we didn't become friends sooner, because I feel like we really bonded this year and since you're going to college down south next year... Well, it's likely that I'm not going to be seeing you all that much. :( Good luck, though, and I hope you have the best time next year. :) 

And... the Class of 2019 is about to be the top of the school. You hear that underclassman? You have my permission to start running and screaming now, because with my class in charge, I'm sure it's going to be a chaotic year. Of course, hopefully that also means that's it's going to be not just a fun year, but the best year of our entire lives. Look out senior year, because here we come! (and I'm still not so silently screaming about the fact that how are we seniors, what are we going to do, how is this end so near???)
Thanks for reading, 
​Anj

Yeah, so sorry, as usual I'm apologizing for not posting enough but this time I have a legit excuse! (which just so happens to be the same excuse I use every time so...) This excuse comes in the form of one, single, torturous word: School. And you can give me a break, right? It's the spring of my junior year so I have AP tests as well as the SAT coming up. That's a lot of stuff to be panicking over. (Which I am, I really, really am).
Another thing other than the mountains of homework that has been keeping me busy is ANC's spring musical-- Shrek. And here's an obviously placed ad for it, because I'm the student producer and gotta try and get as many people to come to the production as possible. Y'all should come to Shrek! It's the closing weekend this weekend-- last two shows! Tomorrow night at 8 PM and Saturday at 7 PM. If the hard work of the cast and crew doesn't instantly draw you to the show, the never ending hard work of the production's top of the line student producers (myself and Caitlin Irwin) should! (haha...) So with that extremely subtle yet totally convincing ad, I'll be seeing you all buying tickets from me at MPAC's box office... right? Hehe. 
No, but seriously, the cast and crew of Shrek have worked so hard these past few months, and I can attest to that! I've been at (most) of the practices and have had the joy of seeing this show come together. It's a great production, and I promise, it'll be worth the $15 for an adult and $12 for a kid that you gotta pay for it. (See what I did there?) It's a family friendly show that will be fun for everyone, ranging from on-the-death-bed old to just came out of the womb infants. Please, come see our show! (also my best friend is starring in it, no big deal or anything...) 
Anyway, that's what I've been up to, sorry I gotta keep it short because there's so much else do!
Thanks for reading, 
​Anj

Oh, also, P.S. another one of my best friends, Ellie Taylor, is having a piano recital at 7PM on Wednesday, May 16th. She's a wonderfully talented pianist and it's not a performance you're going to want to miss! If you're interested make sure you RSVP by May 2 so she knows how many people are coming :) (At the Settlement Music School in Willow Grove-- 318 Davisville Road) 

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!) 

For those of you who don't know, I'm a bit (more than a bit) obsessed with theater. No, I do not like actually being on stage, due to my condition of stage fright and attention fright in general. I love watching theater. Which, actually makes perfect since seeing as I love stories, and story-telling, which is basically what theater is. (Sorry for any major theater geeks screaming at me somewhere.) Basically, I get really obsessed and attached to shows, mostly musicals. (Ask my dad, he has to listen to them ALL THE TIME.) 
I've always liked theater, but the big obsession started two years ago when I began my career as a Cappies Critic. (Cappies is a high school group that goes around and reviews other high schools' plays. It's actually king do a big thing, with a giant "Tony" awards at the end of the season). Les Mis was the first theater production that I absolutely fell in love with, blasting the music at all times of the day. Then came Rent. Hamilton. Spring Awakening. Something Rotten. Wicked. Kinky Boots... etc. Basically I'm very, very obsessed. 
And when I get obsessed with things, it's not a low-key obsession, it's a grand obsession. Meaning I know basically every detail about the show, story-wise, actor-wise, etc. I know a lot of random facts about my favorite musicals. Like Lin Manuel Miranda wrote the song "Dear Theodosia" on the day he adopted his dog, not when his first child was born. Or that the melody for "Burn" is playing in the background of "Take a Break" to possibly signify an emotional affair? Or that Jonathan Groff and Lea Michelle became best friends after originating Melchior and Wendla in Spring Awakening. OR... You know what? I'll shut up now. I research and study these shows for FUN when I get obsessed. Yeah, that's how weird me and my obsessions are.  (Side note: I also know every word to every song to most of the musicals listed above. Want to badly rap along to Hamilton with me? Give me a call, haha) 
Anyway, back on topic. I love theater. Last year was the 25th Anniversary of Rent, so there was a touring cast going around. I really, really wanted to go, but my dad was busy on all the nearby dates... So I was left to be disappointed having never seen the show. Why am I telling this story? Because my dad knew how much I wanted to see Rent and therefore promised to take me to Broadway this summer. 
This would be my first Broadway show, hopefully the first of many. So when the time came, I chose Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 to be my first. Why? Because 1. Okieriete Onaodowan (Hercules Mulligan from Hamilton's Original Cast) and Ingrid Michelson were in it, 2. the plot sounded interesting 3. I'd heard good reviews and finally 4. Philippa Soo (Original Eliza in Hamilton) originated the role of Natasha (Yeah, that's how much of a nerd I am.). 
It was a great show that was extremely unique. It interacted with the audience, performing with audience members actually seated on the stage and actually interacting with random audience members as part of the show as well. It was fantastic, and I'm so bitter that it left Broadway so soon. Well, that day trip to Broadway was probably one of the best days of the summer, and I still think of it fondly. (Shoutout to my father for putting up with my theater obsession and taking a day off to actually take me to Broadway. Love you father!) We left early, and got to New York in time to wander around and see the Broadway area, even visiting the Richard Rodger's Theater AKA HAMILTON. Not that I actually saw that show, but even being at the theater was awesome . (Yeah, I'm a nerd. Sorry) The actual theater for The Great Comet was pretty amazing as well. It was built just for the show (as are all Broadway Theaters) and was extremely unique. (See picture below). Before going to the Comet, though, we stopped in a little Italian Restaurant on Times Square and had the best Italian food I'd ever had. Basically what I'm trying to say, and what I've already said is that was a great day. 

The next professional theater show I saw wasn't actually on Broadway. I went to go see the touring cast of Wicked when the came to the Academy of Music this summer with my father and Zia. It was a good show, I was already familiar with Wicked, so I just wanted to actually go see it live. It wasn't the best show for several reasons that had nothing to do with the story. The show itself is great, just circumstance wasn't. First off, I left my glasses at home, which is totally my issue. Then secondly both Glinda and Elphaba were the standbys. Glinda was good, but Elphaba? Her acting was really choppy, like she was just saying the lines, but don't get me wrong, her singing sent shivers down my spine, especially during the iconic song "Defying Gravity." And then there was also a guy listening to the show on headphones like right next to me, and I could hear the electronic-ized voices for the entire time. Still, it was a very good show and I did actually enjoy my time. (sorry! My inner critic is showing.) 
Then the next show came as a bit of a surprise. One of my best friends, Rachael, got two free tickets to Kinky Boots at the Academy of Music. Knowing my love of theater, she invited me along. Of course I accepted, despite the fact the show was on a school night and I also had a field hockey game that day. Basically how that worked was I came home right after the game was over (had to miss watching the JV), and throw on a dress over my sweaty body (sorry, too many details?) before jumping into Rachael's car and racing off to the train station. Then we got to Philly and may or may not have gotten a little lost trying to find the Academy of Music due to malfunctioning GPSes on our phones... Yeah I'll just say this circles and RUNNING DOWN TO TRY AND GET THERE IN TIME. We ended up getting there at about 7:26 when the show started at 7:30. So yay! we made it in time, even if we were sweating and panting in our seats for a bit into the show. 
Kinky Boots was a great show, show's humor is spot on and it's music is so catchy. I added basically the entire album to my ever so long and ever going Musical Favorites playlist. 
That night getting back is actually a bit of an interesting story, too. Being the adept duo that we are, Rachael and I couldn't figure out a way to get back into the train station. See, we got out from the Comcast Building, but it was 11 at night, so that was closed. And then the main entrance to the station was closed due to construction. Basically we were a little worried about being stranded in Philly on a school night, but then we saw a security officer, and asked for a way to get into the station... He proceeded to point about twenty five feet away from us where there was an underground entryway. Whoops. I did say Rachael and I are a very adept pair, didn't I? We got back late, and I was EXTREMELY tired the next day, but for the show it was all worth it. Also just want to say I love Rachael so much, and not just because she took me to a show (but that's a bonus, haha). Rach, if you're reading this, you're the best. 

Alright, because I wanted to go back to Broadway so bad, I talked to my friend who is actually very good on stage, Rayna, about if she'd want to go to New York sometime to see a show. Luckily enough for me, she was very enthusiastic about the idea and soon enough we had a plan to go to not one, but two shows in the oncoming months. The first show we went to see was Cats. I really wanted to see this show because literally it seems like ​everyone talks about it, and seeing as it's leaving Broadway in December, I figured now would be the time to take action. Rayna wanted to see it because she heard it had amazing choreography (which it did!!) Basically, it worked out. 
So a couple weeks ago, Rayna, my dad and I all got up early on a Sunday Morning (November 12, to be exact) to head to New York City for a matinee performance of Cats. It was a fun time, walking through the city, stopping to get lunch and then going to see the show. Cats is an amazing show. Sure, I'll admit I had no idea what the plot was, but the singing, dancing, and set? All of it was so impressive. I wish everyone could go see that show because it'll leave you stunned. 
That Sunday had to be one of the better days of the year, and the most exciting part? WE have another one planned this December. What show are we seeing? Well, I fell so much in love with Kinky Boots that I looked it up and found out that the two original leads are back for a short time. OF COURSE I had to see that, so Rayna and I are going back to New York to see that soon next month. I'm so excited, too, because it's such a fun trip. Hanging out with Rayna is great (Love you, Rayna!), New York is great and going to Broadway is great. All the combined makes the best day ever, so as you might imagine, I'm getting pretty excited for the best day ever part II. 
Anyway, thanks for reading! If you ever need any theater recommendations, I'm your girl. :) 
-Anj

Contrary to popular belief, Charter Day is not, in fact, meant to be a cult holiday. For everyone outside of Bryn Athyn that follows this blog or anyone outside Bryn Athyn period, Charter Day may look a lot like a cult thing (as does most of Bryn Athyn to most outside viewers). I mean, I can see where people are coming from... A ton of people in robes and red sweaters marching down to a cathedral... Well, it's not mean to be cult-like, it's actually just meant to be a celebration of our school being granted a Charter. Hence the name Charter Day. 
Charter Day is basically the homecoming for our school, of course we couldn't actually call it homecoming because we're ANC. It always happens close to the midterm (after 6 weeks), though this year it was a little later, taking place on October 20th. 
The only proper way to kick off Charter Day is with the Charter Day Field Hockey Game under the lights. Yes, that is the only proper way. For anyone who didn't attend... Well, your does your Charter Day even count as a Charter Day? No, I'm not a biased opinion at all. 

Our Charter Day Game was also our senior game. That basically means that we honor all our senior players by the Juniors making them posters, and then they walk up on the field, get flowers and we announce their life plans and whatnot. Anyway, you may be wondering, Anji, why did you creepily post a picture where you are in no way shape or formed involved? To that I reply, well, I wanted to show off my amazing best ever, never going to be topped senior poster. Caitlin is part of our conjugal defense line up, so of course I made her poster. Did I stay up till 1 doing it? Maybe, but it was worth it. (FYI she's  number 1 so that's why the i is a 1) 
(Also side note: why didn't I post a fockey picture we me in it? Well, because I don't have any fockey pics with me in them from Charter Day.) 

Scratch that, here's a picture of me from Charter Day! Yeah, that's me playing my game. Am I 20? Nope. That's me in the background, 22, looking like a dweeb. Hey, what else is new? 
Anyway, for those if you who didn't attend the annual Charter Day Field Hockey Game Under the Lights (*gasp* how could you?), we won! yeah 6-1! I'm proud of my team for that... It was almost a shut out too... Almost. 
Anyway to continue on to the Charter Day festivities, after the amazing game under the lights that you shouldn't miss, we go home and get to sleep in. Well, unless you're a senior, then you gotta go in early the next day... (Oh, dang, that's me next year, isn't it?) Anyway, most of the high school gets to sleep in the next day, and then we go into school in our Charter Day attire and have our march to the Cathedral. Also known to some (possibly) as the cult march. But, like I said before, that's a common mistake to make, despite how it may look, it's not actually a cult. I don't think... I'm technically a part of it so can I really be a proper judge of the cult factor? 

When you're just an awkward blob... 

Anyway here's what we do after our (not) cult march. We sit through a long, arduous chapel service... Oh, sorry I mean an enlightening hour long chapel service (or is it an hour and a half?), we all walk around to the back of the cathedral to sing (not) cult songs. Actually though, the Charter Day songs are really fun to sing. Then it's picture time! (as seen above). Seriously, if you get in front of the big, fancy cameras for Charter Day, there's a good chance of you getting added to all the ANC advertisements. My face got put on a billboard in the mall (along with other people) last year, it was weird. But seriously, I swear they enhanced my acne in that picture, which continually horrifies me because that's in the mall. 

Then, after taking about three-thousand, five bajillion pictures, I left the cathedral to go and get my nails and eyebrows done, and proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon half getting ready for the dance and half just lazing around. I always hate it when I have plans but nothing to do in-between because I don't want to start anything but then I'm bored, too. Seriously, I took FOREVER to get ready just because I had FOREVER. 

Alright and shoutout to Camille. She's basically just like an older sister to me and I love her so much. She came to stay with us over Charter Day weekend (yay <3), and took time out of her horrendously busy schedule to come home and help me figure out my hair situation. So thanks Camille, I love you. You're the absolute best. 
Anyway, spent a ton of time just getting ready for the dance/ lazing around. This included make-up, hair and scrubbing the shite out of my legs. 
Yeah, you weren't expecting that last bit, were you? Well, if any of you read my blog last year, I get horrible rashes all up and down my shins from my shin guards. Yes, I wear rash guards every single day, but it just can't be prevented apparently. Well, I spent a good half and hour using my sugar scrub (if interested, the recipe is on my blog) to scrub them down. And then I proceeded to use cover up, you know, to cover up those hideous rashes. Not many people contour their legs, eh? 
Then I got picked up by my date at 7. Yeah! I got asked to Charter Day! which is fantastic because a. I really didn't think I would be asked b. all my friends had plans so if I didn't get asked, I probably wouldn't go and I already bought a dress :(. anyway, I got asked so yay! (When people say "asked to Charter DaY" they mean the dance. Not just the day in general). 
It was fun. We got to Rachael's for pictures, despite my horrible directions, and then got to Bernie's for dinner. Then we went to the dance. Yeah, I'm not big fan of dancing, but like... I love dances, so it was worth it. 

Then on Saturday I did an open house and attended a movie night thing (it was on an outdoor projector, freezing but fun) and Sunday I had Cappies training (Ugh) and then Monday I got to sleep in. Yay. Charter Day weekend (there's a whole ton of other events, but I just didn't feel like writing about them, sorry. ) Anyway, thanks for reading! 
​Anj

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

This year I made an odd decision to participate in the Spanish Exchange. You may be wondering why I said this choice was a strange one, well, at the time I'd taken about zero spanish classes. I was just going into Spanish 1 when I signed up for this trip. Yeah, interesting choice, I know. The reason I signed up for it is pretty obvious, though. It's a Spanish Exchange! meaning I get to go to Spain and host a student from Spain, sounds pretty fun-- and it's a really unique experience. Not one I wanted to pass up. Therefore I signed up to participate in the Spanish Exchange, despite the fact I knew little more than Hola, Gracias and Adios. 
About a week or two before the Spanish students came to America, I received a rather exciting email from my girl-- Adriana Gallego-Heras. It was the first contact I had with my student and it was fun getting to know her. She's the girl standing directly yo my right in the picture above. 
The students were visiting the week before Christmas break started, so a pretty busy time in the school year. I was nervous, very nervous to meet my girl. What if she didn't like me? Well, that would make one awkward week. Luckily, that did not happen.
To prepare for my Spaniard, I tried to tidy up the house (key word: tried). It helped that our cleaner came that week, but still. Somehow my house doesn't stay clean for very long. Probably has something to do with two very busy teenage girls living in it who are too preoccupied to clean up after themselves, but I'm going to blame it all on the cats. 
After what seemed like an eternity of nervous excitement, the night finally came when the Spaniards were scheduled to arrive. That was the night the nervous excitement reached its peak. It was cold, so we all waited inside MPAC, looking out the window and waiting for the bus to arrive. When it finally did, I couldn't believe what was actually happening. We all went outside as the Spaniards climbed from the bus. Adriana found me and almost immediately ran up and hugged me. A bit of a surprise, I have to say, because one, I didn't actually know her that well or at all, aside from a few emails, and two because I am not a hugger. 
My dad and I helped lug her massive suitcases to the car, and then drove her home. By then it was ten-ish at night, so I knew Adriana must be super jet lagged after being on a plane for eight hours and the six hour time difference, but she didn't seem tired at all. In fact, she seemed energetic and excited to meet with me. A bit of a surprise for me, especially since I still had homework to complete that evening. We talked, took some selfies (typical teenage girls, I know.), and she gave me some gifts. Two books-- both in spanish-- one a romance (since I said on my sheet that I loved to read), and a cook book (because she'd seen my pictures on snapchat). Adriana also brought us a bunch of Spanish candies from their Christmas time celebrations, which were very interesting to try. There was a slight language barrier, but it wasn't too bad. By then I'd had three months of Spanish and got to know a lot of basic vocabulary and Adriana's english was pretty good, so we got the gist of what the other was saying. 
After a while, I finally told Adriana I had homework, so we said goodnight and I went back out to my desk to do my homework. 
The next morning I knocked on her door at seven-ish to get up for school. Interestingly enough, the Spaniards don't eat breakfast. Or at least, my Spaniard did not. Instead, she drank a cup of hot chocolate in the morning. So before I ate my breakfast, I'd mix together some hot chocolate in a travel cup for Adriana. This happened every school morning. 
Then we went to school. It was exciting to show my Spaniard what my normal american life was like, especially since she seemed ten times more excited than I was. It was pretty cute actually, Adriana was amazed by what seemed like the smallest of things to me. 
After school ended, I was surprised to find Adriana and I were invited to go along with the rest of the hosts and their exchange students to Starbucks. I guess beforehand I didn't realize / think that we'd (all the hosts and their students) be hanging out nearly as much as we did. 

After Starbucks, we went to Libby Allen's house because there was not enough room for all of us at Starbucks. There we made some cookie dough (to make Christmas cookies for the Spaniards). Then we went to an ice hockey game. It was only the first day of the Exchange and I was already exhausted... I could tell it was going to be a long week, but I was still looking forward to what was to come. 
From the ice hockey game we went to Panera (there was an argument from the boys to go to Chipotle... but seriously we were not going to take Spaniards to get fake Mexican food. It just didn't seem right). This was where some of my FANTASTIC Spanish vocabulary came to use when I had to explain the menu to Adriana. She got mac and cheese and loved it-- no surprise, Panera's mac n cheese is heavenly. 
After Panera, everyone else was going back to Libby's, but I hadn't realized everyone was going to hang out 24/7, so I'd already made plans to do other things with Adriana. That is, we were going hot tubbing at my friend Camryn's house. It was freezing outside and I thought it would be fun for Adriana. So when everyone else left, Adriana and I waited for my dad to pick us up. By then, I'd developed a pretty bad headache and was absolutely exhausted. Both Adriana and I were falling asleep for a while until my dad came. 
Hot tubbing was really fun. It was cute when we had to go out in the cold to get to the hot tub, Adriana just started yelling Corre! Corre! (Run! Run!). Being from Valencia, she already wasn't used to it being so cold... and she was only in a bikini, so I'm sure she felt even more freezing than Camryn, Serena and me. 
While in the hot tub, and then as we were hanging out after, we all had fun talking to each other. I think Adriana enjoyed talking to Camryn and Serena as much as they did. Of course, we all had to speak slow English using as small a vocabulary as possible, but it was all good. 
The next morning (Saturday) we slept in. (One of my favorite past times). Then I made cinnamon rolls (Adriana had never had any!), and for lunch I took Adriana to BeWell-- a place I meet up with my friends a lot for lunch. Something I'd begun to notice was that Adriana ate almost nothing, which was a little bothersome-- like I was worried she was starving to death because she didn't like any of the food, but as I talked to the other hosts, it turned out that most of the girls didn't eat that much so I assumed it was normal. (I learned later that that was not true when I visited Adriana in Spain... Huh. I still don't really know what was going on there... I just hope she wasn't starving to death.) 
Saturday evening Adriana and I walked over to Serena's house for a cute little Christmas party Serena had put together-- there we decorated cookies, exchanged gifts (Serena was nice enough to get Adriana one as well), and watched a Christmas movie. (Well, kind of, it was the Good Luck Charlie movie.) It was fun, though, I felt bad because the other Spaniards and hosts were all hanging out together, but Adriana said it was fine. She was very willing to just do whatever and didn't get overly upset if we weren't with the group at all times, which I appreciated since I'd already planned out the weekend. 
Then on Sunday I took Adriana shopping, but I didn't just want to take her to the small Willow Grove Mall, so I'd been planning for a while for us to go to King of Prussia mall. Serena came along with us, and it was a great deal of fun. We stopped in Hollister a couple of times because, according to Adriana, it was a lot more cheap here than it is in Spain. 
Before leaving, we stopped in at Coldstone and got ice cream. Though it was cold outside, it was totally worth it. On the way home we also got cheesesteaks-- how could we not? It's classic Philly food. 
After KOP we all went to the Tableaux. I'm not really sure how much of it Adriana understood, but I know she already knew the story, so hopefully she got the gist of it from the scenes. 
The two hardest things about hosting a student were these: constantly being tired and trying to find time to fit in homework. Seriously, I was up very late that night doing homework, because I wanted to do stuff with Adriana // also just didn't want her to be bored. 
Monday we went back to school, and Adriana accompanied me to class again. Then after school I'm pretty sure we just hung out-- oh yeah, we watched The Fault in Our Stars (with Spanish Subtitles). It was cute, we did really just hang out. Then I did homework. I can't really remember if we hung out with the group that evening... I think we did. One reason hosting was so tiring was that we hung out in the group every night until later in the evening, so I'd get to bed later. Something that never seemed to bother Adriana much-- I swear they don't sleep. They just simply survive without it. 
Tuesday all the hosts and their Spaniards went to Philly... except for me. Because I'm weird and even though I absolutely abhor school and working, I didn't want to miss a day of school and be behind on work. Trust me, I had several conversations with people that day who were convinced I was crazy for not going. 
That evening I took Adriana out for sushi (something she wasn't very fond of) and then we went to all hang out at Caroline's house. It was interesting how much drama could go down in one night, and also how LOUD they all could be when together. It was funny, most of the Spaniards were all together, tossing cups around and just all together being pretty lively and energetic, while most of the hosts sat tiredly together on the couch or at the table. 
That evening was pretty stressful because I agreed to take Caitlin Irwin's Spaniard, Sara, for the night as well because Caitlin had to get up early in the morning and then both Adriana and Sara went off to another house when my dad was already on his way to pick me up. So I came home alone and was extremely stressed out (even though someone had agreed to give them a ride back to my house, it was still extremely stressful.) See, hosting was kind of like babysitting. It felt like you had to watch the student at all times-- because you were responsible for them. That was definitely the most stressful night. 
Then Wednesday, I don't really recall much. Then on Thursday I was sad knowing that it was Adriana's last day, but a little relieved as well simply because of how tired I was. We went to see the Art's Night and then there was a goodbye party as Libby's house. I'm not really great with parties, so I just basically hid out in the living room with Caitlin and Caroline for most of it. I wasn't the only host who was absolutely exhausted from the week. 
That evening after we got back to my house, I brought Adriana a gift I'd been accumulating for her, filled with little things like chocolates (which she loves), cookies, eos (they don't have it in Spain) etc. She cried when she hugged me. It was really sweet, and I knew I'd miss her. 
The next morning I got up as usual, knocked on her door and then proceeded to get ready for school. Adriana started crying when she said goodbye to Zia (I would be crying as well. Tears of joy. Sibling joke). Then we lugged all her stuff to the front of school, and said goodbye to everyone. A ton of the Spaniards were crying. It was sweet, but hey we were going to see them again in like three months so... Anyway, when we finally saw them off it was sad, but like I said earlier, a little bit of a relief because I could finally rest. All in all, I did actually enjoy hosting and if I get the opportunity to do it again, I think I'll take it. 
(Pt. 2 will be my trip to Spain) 
Thanks for reading, 
Anj <3

I don't know about any of you readers out there, but I, Anji Cooper, am an extremely competitive human being. In my mind, almost everything is a competition, and almost nothing motivates me more than competition. An easy example of this is an exercise competition my friend Ursula and I had back in... February?  Here's the little story behind it. Back in December, I got a Fitbit Charge for Christmas. Since then, I have found that I quite enjoy the product, it helps motivate me to get more exercise, because really, it's almost shameful to look down at my wrist and see I only got 3,000 steps in a day. I have to at least get to 6-7k. 
Anyway, this isn't a product review (though, I highly recommend fitbits, because in my humble opinion, I see them as making exercise more fun). Back to the competition. On the fitbit app, there are several challenges you can challenge yourself and your fitbit friends to. One of these challenges is called the Workweek Hustle. You can challenge up to ten people, I believe. The point of it is to see who can get the most steps inbetween Monday and Friday. So, let's just put this out there. I wasn't doing a sport at the time, and Ursula, was doing ice hockey for ANC as well as for the Lady Patriots. I knew that if I even wanted any chance of winning, I was really going to have to step up my game. (pun intended) 
Monday, Ursula and I were really into it. Staring each other down as we paced across the classroom before each class began (on mondays we have all the same classes.) By the end of the first day, I had over 20,000 steps. Only once before had I gotten 20k steps, and that was when I'd been walking around in the woods all day. And this time, it had been a school day. That whole week, I had the minimal of 20k steps. Reaching even 30k and on Thursday evening, I even got to 35k. How did I do this? I would get on the treadmill as soon as I got home, running for a while, and then walking. Stopping only to eat dinner and do homework for a short time. 
This challenge was pretty even. Ursula didn't have time in the evenings to run/walk, so she literally got up at five in the morning every morning to go on a run. I thought it was a little bit insane, but then again, I was saying up late on my treadmill, so I guess you could say that we were both going a little crazy. By Wednesday, both Ursula and I were tired out, and decided that we would never, ever, do this again on a school week. It just took up too much of our time. I actually was eating lunch at 10, in class, so during our lunch period I could go on a walk. It was a crazy week. By Friday we were both so tired out that we decided no walking past nine. We would both take out fitbits off after nine and be done with it. 
At the beginning of the week, we were both very into the competition, taunting each other and everything. By Friday we were both so tired by the extremes we had taken it to that we were so ready to be done. It came rather close. I won with 140,174 steps, but Ursula was quite close on my heels with 137,737. And that week, I dusted my dad and Zia in the step competition with over double their step amount. 
This shows that yes, Anji Cooper is highly competitive and competition motivates me to work harder. I guess you could say for the fitbit, that it was in a good sense because well, I was getting a lot of exercise and  I ate so much food- like 1,600 calories worth- and I could because of all the calories I burned! Very satisfying. 
Now, Ursula is rather competitive, but Ellie Taylor, my sophomore friend, and I get very competitive with each other. About almost everything. It's rather entertaining, actually. We compliment each other as we're throwing insults at the other. Yeah, we're competitive about a lot of things but the one thing that we're the most competitive over is the dumbest thing in the world. Super Smash Brothers. Yeah. a video game. Now, you may be thinking, wow, a video game, that's the dumbest thing in the world. I agree with you. It's seriously so dumb. Both Ellie and I acknowledge that it's seriously idiotic, but does that end the vicious competitive aura when we play? Nope. Not one bit. 
If one were to listen to a conversation between the two of us as we fight on the video game, it'd probably sound like we're mortal enemies, that is, until we both burst into laughter at one misplaced comment. It's fun. Like seeing who will break the comeback streak first. (It's usually not me.) 
I do believe the highly competitive aura stems from two things. One, we're both seriously competitive people, and two, we've been playing this game since when we were eight or nine. Ellie taught me to play it on her Gamecube back when I was in third or fourth grade. And then we got it for my wii. We played that game almost every day in my fourth grade year. It was an interesting year, let me tell you that. And then it kind of faded out. We'd occasionally play it, but usually chose to play Legend of Zelda over Smash. But recently, our obsession has risen up again. 
This time, it's even more intense. One, because we're older and two, because we're equally matched now. Slash, it is my personal opinion that I have now surpassed her skills in the video game, but she'd probably kill me if I said that for sure, so, haha, I leave it at 'personal opinion.' The thing is, Ellie is very used to beating me easy when it's just me against her, but now, I have beaten her countless times in the game. And given, she's beaten me as well (not as many times recently.) And it just gets very heated and intense between us when we're playing, especially lately. 
Now, I do strongly believe that having a bit of a competitive edge in a friendship is a good thing. But last week, instead of being a fun competitive thing, I feel like we were both about to punch each other in the face. Haha. (not actually) We've since then decided that maybe instead of facing off against each other, we should, instead be on the same team, to avoid situations like that for just a short while. I think that things were getting actually heated between the two of us because neither of us like losing much. Since then, both Ellie and I have acknowledged that it's the stupidest thing ever, arguing over a video game. Not that this hasn't happened in the past, there was quite a grumpy experience that occurred when playing Skyword Sword, but Ellie would legit kill me if I actually told that story. It might've been one of the low points in her life story, haha. 
Basically, I just want to say that competitive friendships are often good and they provide a good spice in friendships. I personally find more competitive relationships more entertaining and fun, because of it. I just thought it was funny to bring up- how competitive my friends and I could be. 
Anyway, thanks for reading, 
-Anj
P.S. I realize that I am a supreme geek for playing things like Legend of Zelda as a child, and know I am a ultra supreme geek for playing Smash now. I accept the title with pride. 

So it's been a while since a life update. A long while. Why? Um. My usual excuse- I've been rather busy. With school work piling on top of school work as well as the deadline for the completed rough draft of my novel, I've hardly had any free time. On the bright side though, GUYS I'M FINISHED THE ROUGH DRAFT OF MY NOVEL.
​The deadline was yesterday- the 31st of January and I finished writing it on Friday, arguably Saturday because it was like one in the morning, but I'm going to say Friday. I spent all Saturday morning putting it together- arranging the chapters how I wanted them and stuff like that. I know it's only a rough draft, but I find the prospect of even being this close to finishing my own book very exciting. See, I have finished other books, but all of them had been fan fiction, so it doesn't exactly count (not that there's anything wrong with fan fiction) for the last two years, I've been trying works of my own. My biggest issue with my own stories is self doubt, what if no one likes it? blah, blah, blah. Yeah, everyone says write for yourself, but really, if you only write for yourself, what's the point?
My self doubt causes me to get 200-300 pages into my stories, before deleting the entire story and starting again. If you don't believe me, ask Ursula, she would know. My second biggest issue with my own stories is that I have so many ideas in my head, I stop halfway through one story to start another one. Yeah, it's an issue. 
Anyway, I finally actually finished one of my stories. Sure, it's only a rough draft, but I'm still super proud of myself. I know there are a bunch of grammatical mistakes and spelling errors, but I'm excited to be revising my own book. See, it's getting printed into an actual book form and I'm going to be editing it from there. I'm not too happy about the cover look, but I can work on that later. Anyway, that's the update on my writing hobby! On to other things. 
As many of you probably know, it snowed recently. Snowed a lot. Now it's all gross and muddy but let's not think about that. Back to the snowing, you probably are not wondering, hey, what was Anji doing during that snowstorm? But I'm going to tell you what I was doing anyway, because I'm bored and have nothing to do (slash am procrastinating) On that wondrous three day weekend, I watched the entire X-Men franchise. Little known (not really) fact about me, I'm obsessed with comic book characters, and it was only a matter of time before I binge wanted the X-Men movies. It was wonderful and I highly recommend y'all watch the series. For the most part, the movies are quite good and I'm very excited for Apocalypse to come out. Extra excited because SOPHIE TURNER is debuting as young Jean Grey and we'll get to see more Scott Summers (which is also quite exiting) and Scott may probably meet Alex Summers. YESS THIS IS SO EXCITING. Also, Batman v. Superman, Captain America Civil War, Suicide Squad and Dr. Strange come out this year. It's very exciting. I'm very excited. Haha, can you tell I'm excited? 
Anyway, aside from being a lazy butt and watching movies in the evenings, I also baked a batch of red velvet cupcakes for Sadies (more on that later) and went to see The 5th Wave. If you're interested, my review is here. I'm trying to think of what else I did, but I'm kinda forgetting, so moving on. 
Sadies. Yeah. That's coming up soon. For all y'all who were unaware, Sadies is our school's winter dance. It's switched, though, so the girls ask the guys. I decided to ask this guy named Will, and this is how I did it. 

So I made cupcakes because, well, I'd be more likely to get a yes if I gave the boy cupcakes. I decided to make my usual- ultra moist red velvet cupcakes with whipped cream cheese frosting. Whipped cream cheese frosting is just as good and sweet as regular cream cheese frosting but more light and fluffy. I heard they were delicious. Anyway, back to how I asked. 

Tada. Anyway, I added my number to the card and just expected him to text me yes or no. Haha, yeah that didn't happy. Um. it was a bit of an awkward exchange. If you hadn't figured out, I'm a very awkward person, I mean, obviously, because I'm blogging right now, but whatever. And by bit of an awkward exchange, I mean a very, supremely large awkward exchange. I would account that mainly on me, because come one, Awkward is basically 90% of the part of my brain that I use. In my free time I write on my blog, read books and talk to my cats. If I did not already establish it, I am probably the most awkward human being on this planet we call Earth. 
​

This past Thursday was my mom's 60th birthday. Kinda. I mean, the birthday is kind like the time you've lived on Earth so I'm not sure if it really counts, but I'm going to count it so... Yeah. Happy Birthday, mom! And I just realized I put her age online. Aren't you not supposed to post that past like twenty five or something? Whoops. Sorry, mom. Anyway, for my mom's birthday, I took a break from my writing and made chocolate cupcakes with fudge buttercream icing. : )

So... I should probably go now. Thanks for reading my life update (if anyone's still reading this far down. FYI those are no fry yeast doughnuts. They were very fun to make and quite delicious- texturized just like a regular fried donut. If you don't want to miss a any of of my confections, feel free to follow any of my Social Medias, I usually post a picture on instagram.com/anjimcooper (my 2nd Instagram), my Facebook  (see About/Contact) and on my Snap Chat (which is anjicooper) 
Thanks for reading!
​-Anj