Entry #0- The Prologue

Hello readers! My name is Julianna, but I'm often called anything but my name. Most call me Juli, my younger family members call me Juju, and my grandma calls me Juli Juli. I've had friends call me Jules, Angel, or Catalina (my middle name). I was born on June 15th right here in Glendale. Although my grandma and her kids live in Arizona, the majority of my extended family live in El Paso, Texas or Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. I am first generation Mexican-American on my dad's side and third generation on my mom's. However, I live with my grandma who adopted my three siblings and I thirteen years ago. Six years ago, my grandma took in my youngest sister, so we've had the ability to grow up together thanks to my grandma. 

Growing up, my grandma encouraged us to do show choir and be involved in band, and I did enjoy it for a while. I was in my elementary school's show choir for 2 years, and it was so fun to dance and sing in front of others. My grandma forced us to be in the church choir and I really did not like that at all. The teacher played favorites and really didn't like my family (that's a story for another time). I was also in band for all of middle school and high school, and I had a great passion for playing music. I can play 3 types of saxophone, (alto, tenor, and baritone) but I'm still trying to get used to soprano. I played in concert band, jazz band, and marching band. I believe a huge reason for my loss of passion was my high school band director, which is a whole other blog on its own. I absolutely love music; it helps me communicate, express, and label my inner thoughts and emotions. Do you ever feel so overwhelmed that you can't process anything? Yeah, that happens to me a lot. I'm not sure how, but music has a way of helping me organize my messy thoughts. Currently, I've been really into R&B, Latin, rap, and early 2000's music. Right now, my favorite song is Lauryn Hill's "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" 

During that past year, I've gotten really into makeup. Growing up, makeup was a big no in our house because it could "make the girls more insecure" (my Tio/uncle). I will admit that I did not have the best self esteem, but after experimenting with different styles of clothes and makeup, I have been able to feel more confident in myself. I'm still experimenting with my style and practicing my makeup. Personally, I really like glam eye makeup. My sister likes the no-makeup makeup look, but I'm much more expressive with my "art".

I also dye my hair a lot, and it's really fun. I've had it silver, blonde (twice), pink, purple, light brown, maroon (twice), and red. Yes, my hair is damaged. No, it's not falling out. 

I also love to bake. I am the designated "birthday baker" meaning that I make the birthday kid's dessert for their birthday. I can make cake, cookies, bread, pastries, and other sweets. My most famous dish is my brownies ( many have called them addicting!). The hardest dish I've made has to be a tie between my conchas and macarons. Another Tio of mine recently gave me some old piping tips for my cake decorating, and I must say, I can make really pretty flowers.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people are too naive to listen to me when I am so clearly right. It's so insane how many people come to me for advice. Then, when I do give the amazing advice I usually give, they don't listen to me! Why come to me if you're not going to listen? Make it make sense. I also have this small, so irritating. pet peeve of someone sniffling and not blowing their nose. In a class I had last year, there was this boy that was always sniffling. From the beginning to the end of class, constant sniffles behind me. One time, I got so annoyed, I (politely) told him "Hey, you should probably blow your nose" and he said "Yeah, you're right". How did he not feel the snot in his nose?  I understand babies having the sniffles, they're babies, but teenagers and up? Awful.

I also enjoy watching shows and movies of many genres. I like comedies, horror, thriller, romance, mockumentaries, and anime. The title of this blog stems from one of my favorite animes, "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure". Except I replaced JoJo for Juju because it's a more casual name for me. Like JBA, my family is generations of crazy mess, or adventures, so it only seemed fitting. 

I have this amazing best friend, and I like to tell her past and present events in my life. She often says "Juli, your life is like a telenovela", and it's true. Events that occurred before I was even conceived still affect my life today. Yes, life has its highs and lows, but I believe that my ultimate goal in life is to not regret anything. Things happen for a reason, it just takes some time to find out that reason. 

To Be Continued . . .