Author: Ana

Garden of the Gods

Yesterday, my dad planned a surprise trip to Garden of the Gods, in Colorado Springs. The ride in the car seemed to go on forever and ever but the long trip was definitely worth it.

Garden of the Gods is a national natural landmark and public park located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The park is 2.136 square miles and to tour the park, you can take a segway, walk, or drive.

On the way to Colorado Springs, my sister and I needed something to do to keep ourselves entertained, so we started looking at the license plates of every car that passed us. This eventually became pretty entertaining because there were a lot of cars from different states. I kept track of the different state license plates we saw, and in the end we counted 36 different state license plates! We saw, the Dakotas, Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, Indiana, Wyoming, Maine, California, Minnesota, Florida, Michigan, Utah, Pennsylvania, Washington, Montana, Illinois, Virginia, Kansas, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Arizona, New Mexico, North Carolina, Louisiana, Alaska, Arkansas, Ohio, Iowa, Maryland, and New York.

When we finally arrived at the Garden of the Gods, it was amazing. There was this mini museum that showed what kind of animals live around the area and a very interesting and entertaining fifteen minute video on how the rocks formed the way they did. The formations of the rocks and the nature all around was majestic. Since I’m in a cast, it was probably best that we didn’t take the four-mile walking tour, so my family and I took our car and traveled around the park.

Overall, the trip was wonderful. The views were great, spending time with my family was fun, the rock formations were beautiful, and the fudge at the trading post was delicious.

I hope you all are having a wonderful Labor Day weekend! 🙂

September 6, 2015
A Note to Incoming Freshmen…

School is starting back up. Yay? I remember coming in as a freshman into high school was a very new and overwhelming experience. So here’s a letter to all of the incoming freshmen. Even if you aren’t going to be an incoming freshman, you might be able use some of this advice.

Dear Incoming Freshmen,

Going into high school can be kind of scary and intimidating and overwhelming, especially on the first day, but you’ll get used to it. You might have trouble finding your classes at first and a hard time with your locker combo but like I said earlier, you’ll learn the tricks and remember what you need to, and everything will be okay. And if you don’t have problems with any of that stuff, then good for you! You really know what you’re doing. 🙂 The sophomores and upperclassmen might be intimidating and scary and mean, but they were once in your position and know exactly what you’re going through. They are actually pretty nice, helpful, and good to be around, once you get to personally know them.

Make sure you study hard and work hard in all of your classes. Take notes, ask questions, and try your hardest on everything. A lot of students think it’s okay and cool to put little effort into projects and papers. They think it’s cool to ditch class and “go to the bathroom” to hang out with friends. Honestly, it looks silly and kind of embarrassing. Think about it this way, is it more impressive to have good grades and be successful in school or be to known as the “cool” kid who never works hard in class, doesn’t turn in papers and homework, and ditches to go to Starbucks, or wherever people go when they ditch? In the end, all of your hard work will pay off and you can do whatever you want to do with your life. If you work hard in school, you can go to a good college, and then have a solid job and good life. Nothing comes just like that.

Also, be yourself. You probably hear this a lot these days. “Be yourself”, “don’t be afraid to show who you really are”, and “don’t listen to what others have to say about you” are all pretty common things said these days, especially to teens who are figuring out who they are. In high school, most people are figuring out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. You might already know what you want to do with your life and you might not, and either way is okay. People will pressure you to become something and do certain things like ditch class or cheat and things like that. If you want to take that road, no one’s stopping you. If you don’t want to do that, then say no and stand up for what you want to do and what you think is right. Joining clubs or sports in school are good ways to meet people you want to be around. If you want to wear sweatpants and a t-shirt everyday, then you do that or if you want to join theater or do sports then you do that. To sum this huge paragraph all up, you shouldn’t feel pressured to be something you aren’t. Do what you feel is right and, well, be yourself.
And of course, have fun. Enjoy every moment and make the most of it!

Sorry if this note turned into a pretty long letter! Haha. I know all of you will do well your freshman year. I wish you all the best of luck with this year and the rest of your high school career. Make the most of your year, class of 2019! Good luck incoming freshmen!

Best of luck,

Ana Horvath

August 23, 2015
Coming Back to Kennebec Cafe

Last year, around this same time, my family and I travelled to Hesperus, CO to a wonderful little restaurant and bakery called Kennebec Cafe. We also drove around the La Plata Mountains that day.

This past weekend, while visiting family in New Mexico, we decided to visit the Kennebec Cafe once again. They have delicious food so, why not? If you can remember my blog about the visit to Hesperus from last year, we ordered pancakes for breakfast and they were HUGE! The pancakes tasted amazing, but a break from pancakes was definitely needed after that trip. This time, my family and I went for a late lunch instead of breakfast.

I ordered a delicious southwest burger that had pepper jack cheese, green chiles, and avocado on it with a side of fries and an Arnold Palmer (half ginger peach tea and half raspberry lemonade). The Arnold Palmer was really refreshing and the food was so yummy! The burger was done very well and the flavors in it worked well together.

The service was great, the food was tasty, and the company was wonderful. My family and I had a relaxing and fun day and a short but good weekend together. If you’re ever headed to Hesperus, CO or just traveling through the area, make sure to add the Kennebec Cafe to your list of things to-do, it’s worth it!

August 16, 2015
Back in the Boot- Peroneal Tendon Subluxation

You all remember the blogs about my first boot and the sesamoid fracture, right? Well guess what’s back! August 4th, 2015, the boot comes back on. This time it isn’t for a fracture but for peroneal tendon subluxation.

In your lower leg, there’s a collection of muscles and tendons. They originate from the fibula and travel down the leg and into various areas of the foot. Behind the bony prominence on the outside of the ankle lie the two peroneal tendons, peroneus brevis which attaches to your fifth metatarsal (toe), and peroneus longs which runs under the foot and attaches near the big toe. These two tendons are held in place by a strong, connective tissue called the peroneal retinaculum.

Peroneal tendon subluxation is when one or both of the peroneal tendons slip out of position and come over the bony prominence on the outside of the ankle. Once the tendons come out of place, they may remain there or return to their original position. It’s not a good feeling.

Peroneal tendon subluxation can occur because of a torn retinaculum which would allow for the tendons to move freely, shallow grooves which make it easier for the tendons to come out of place, and also a loose or weak retinaculum which is least common.

This is can be treated with immobilization (like a boot), rest, orthotics, and also surgery for retinaculum repair, tendon repair, or groove deepening.

So my boot is back for another month to immobilize and hopefully keep the peroneal tendons in place. Now you know a little bit about peroneal tendon subluxation and I hope to get better soon and see you all back out on the courts!

And as a little side note, my dad and aunt’s birthdays are tomorrow so, Happy Birthday to both of you! 🙂

August 9, 2015
Tips for Blog Writing

Blogs are super fun to read and write! If you’re interested in starting a blog or even already have one, here’s a few tips for blog writing:

1. Have a day you regularly post on. For me this is Sunday’s. This way your readers will know when you post and they look forward to it every week. You can post more than once a week, but I feel like it’s lighter on the writer if you only post once.

2. Write about lots of things. There’s nothing wrong with sticking to one topic but wouldn’t it be more fun to write about all kinds of things? Writing about many topics is not only fun, but entertaining for you to write and the readers to read.

3. Use pictures to help with the blog posts. Pictures make reading much more interesting and enjoyable to everyone. They can also help support your points and arguments.

4. Keep it sweet and simple. When blog writing, I find it super easy to get carried away and go on and on and on forever. For the readers, this can get boring sometimes, unless they’re really into the topic or something like that. All you need to do is make your points, say what you need and want to say, and be done. If you’re sharing a research paper or something longer, that is okay, just don’t post something like that regularly.

5. Have fun with it and get creative! Writing a blog shouldn’t feel like torture or the worst thing you could possibly be doing. Enjoy it and be creative with what you write. Maybe you add little videos to your posts, or you end it with signature. It’s all up to you, and there are plenty of ways to make the blog your own and have fun with it.

I hope all you blog-writers out there found these tips helpful. Even if you don’t keep up a blog, it might be something fun for you to try out. Have a good week! 🙂

July 26, 2015
Tips For Tryouts

Whether it’s for volleyball, tennis, or whatever sport/activity you compete in, you’re going to have to tryout to make a team at some point. Tryouts can be stressful sometimes and I want to help make it easier and less stressful so here are a few tips for tryouts.

1. Relax and have fun! If you end up making the team, that’s great. And if you don’t make the team, so what? At least you had fun trying. There will be plenty of other opportunities to make teams and try other sports or activities. So knowing this, you should just relax, play your game, show off your stuff, and have fun.

2. Control what you can control. The two things you can control are your attitude and effort. You can’t control the coaches and evaluators (although that would be pretty cool), the place and time the tryouts are held at, the other people trying out, the drills you do, and so on. So many people worry about those things going into tryouts that they forget what’s really important and what they should be focused on controlling. When you focus on controlling only your attitude and effort, you perform well, feel relaxed, and have fun.

3. Wear something bright so that you stand out from the rest of the crowd. From experience, a lot of people will either wear black or white to a tryout. You want to be noticed and have the coaches and other players watching and keeping an eye on you.

4. Stay positive and don’t get down on yourself. This goes along with the first tip for tryouts. If you shank a pass or miss a layup, or hit your serve in the bottom of the net, it’s not a big deal, just as long as it isn’t happening on a consistent basis. No one’s perfect and we’re all human, so if you make a mistake figure out what you’re going to do right next time, and execute it. Relax and you’ll do fine. Also, don’t get down on yourself if you don’t end up making the team, there other teams to tryout for and other opportunities.

So when you all head into tryouts just remember to relax and have fun, control what you can control, wear something bright, and stay positive and don’t get down on yourself. I really hope these tips will help you all succeed in tryouts. Good luck and have fun!

July 12, 2015
A Wicked Review

Last night, my family and I went to see Denver’s most popular musical and Broadway’s biggest blockbuster, Wicked. And I have one word to describe it. It was wicked! Haha, pun intended.

In case you don’t know the story of Wicked, it’s about the two witches of Oz, Elphaba and Glinda. It’s all about Elphaba and how she became the wicked witch of the west, her life story, and also Glinda’s life story. The plot and flow of the story was smooth and extremely well done. There was also a lot of good humor. I won’t spoil the actual story for you all, in case you haven’t seen it.

Alyssa Fox starred as Elphaba, the wicked witch of the west and Carrie St. Louis starred alongside her as Glinda the good witch. They had phenomenal vocals and were both extremely talented and worked very well with each other. Ashley Parker Angel played Fiyero, the lead male in the show. He loved Elphaba and Glinda loved him, so that made things interesting. Ashley also had a lot of talent and helped make the show funny and memorable.

In addition to the plot and main characters, the music was beautifully done and very catchy. Some of my favorite songs from the show are “No Good Deed”, “Popular”, and “Defying Gravity”. “Defying Gravity” is probably my absolute favorite because Alyssa Fox did an extremely good job with it. She was very powerful with her singing on this song and it sent good shivers down my spine.

Credits to the photographer of this image.

Overall, Wicked is a wonderful show and good for the whole family. I would definitely go see it again and I highly recommend it to everyone. I hope you all are enjoying the holiday weekend and have a good upcoming week!

July 5, 2015
Why is the Crosscourt Game So Important?

In tennis there are many strategies and ways to play the game. My personal favorite and favorite of most if not all professionals is going crosscourt with the tennis ball. Here’s why having a strong crosscourt game or at least developing one is important.

– A crosscourt shot is the highest percentage shot you can hit. By hitting crosscourt, you have a high chance of getting the ball in and an even more likely chance for your opponent to error.

– Most of the time, when hitting crosscourt, you are swinging across your body. Swinging across your body is one of the most natural and smooth ways to hit groundstrokes. You can hit inside out crosscourt shots and those can be pretty awesome and fun to hit, but simply going crosscourt can be good enough.

– Crosscourt shots allow you to recover to a closer spot behind the baseline. After every shot, you should recover to the middle of the angle of possible return, which is in the middle of where your opponent could hit the ball. When you hit a crosscourt shot, you can recover slightly off-center from behind the baseline. You want to be slightly diagonal from where you hit the ball. If you hit the ball down the line, you would have to recover a lot faster and a lot further from the middle of the baseline. Hitting crosscourt is efficient.

– By hitting crosscourt shots you can set yourself up for other shots that can help you be successful. You could go crosscourt several times and then when your opponent is cheating crosscourt you can hit hard, slice, or with top spin down the line. And if you get pulled wide on the court, you could hit a hard angle or buggywhip-like shot crosscourt. Hitting crosscourt is strategic and sets you up for success in points.

Having a good and solid crosscourt shot is very important to your game. It is a high-percentage shot, feels natural and smooth, is efficient and allows for a quick recovery, and is smart, strategic, and sets you up during points.

June 28, 2015
Happy Father’s Day!

Father’s Day is here and to celebrate this day for the dads, here’s a poem. Enjoy! 🙂

Dads are pretty special,
They really make your day.
They help you learn to play sports,
And are your head cheerleader when you play.

Dads support you when you need them,
And help you with homework.
Stay cool, calm, and collected,
They bring a big smile when they come home from work.

So Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there,
We all love you and want you to know we care,
Have a good and relaxing day,
Happy Father’s Day!

All material protected by © Copyright 2015 by anahorvath.com

This great day is a wonderful time to get out and do something fun with your dad. For example, my sister and I usually play tennis on Father’s Day and then go where our dad wants to go for dinner. Make memories, enjoy yourselves, and show your dads how much you care. Once again, Happy Father’s Day to all of you dads out there. And to my dad personally, I just want to say thanks for everything and I love you! 🙂

Happy Father’s Day! Happy Father’s Day! Happy wi love you daddy! You’re the best coach and role model anyone could ask for. Love you lots!

June 21, 2015
It’s a Blogiversary!

Last Monday, June 8th was the official one year anniversary of this blog, anahorvath.com! I’m really proud of all of the work I’ve put into this blog and what it has become. I’m also super excited for the years to come with this blog. I guess you could say this was a blogiversary!

Over the past year, I have published 53 blogs, 54 including this one. There have been blogs about tips for tennis tournaments, setting tips for volleyball, modeling stories, top ten kids’ TV shows and rainy day foods, cupcake reviews, a tribute to JFK, poems, little videos, “Did You Know?” posts, life stories, business related essays, weekend reviews, things I was hoping for in the new year, holiday gift ideas, stuff about dogs, and all other kinds of things.

I hope to keep this blog up and continue writing. I also hope that all of my readers have enjoyed this blog over the past year and look forward to it in the future. I will still post blogs every Sunday and do my best to keep it up to date.

WordPress has been a wonderful website to work with and put my blog onto. It has been super smooth and whenever there were issues, the people working for WordPress were extremely helpful and solved the problems quickly and also answered questions when needed. If you are looking to start a website and a blog, I highly suggest using WordPress to run it.

Thanks again to all of my readers and there are more exciting and interesting blogs to come!

June 14, 2015