Home Sweet Home

Coming to La Crosse was not that difficult of an adjustment for me although it is greatly bigger than my hometown of Rice Lake, WI. Rice Lake has a population of about eight thousand, which is obviously much lower than the population of La Crosse. Although La Crosse is a cool town, Rice Lake is still and will always be my home.

All throughout high school, I always complained about how bored I was and how bad I wanted to get out of the town. I always was mad because my friends and I could never find anything to do or had to travel to other cities that were far away to solve the problem. The basic activities in Rice Lake are limited to going to the movies, bowling, hanging at someone’s house, or bumming around town. These activities can be fun for a while, but after so many times or repeating these activities it gets awfully boring.

Now that I have been away from home for a while and am not with my family or friends, I really realize that I shouldn’t have been complaining so much. I am always so excited when I am able to go home now, which I never thought would happen. I thought that I was going to move away and have so much fun, never be bored, but that was simply not the case. I am not saying that I have had no fun while I have been out on my own but I now realize just how much fun I truly had when my friends and I simply hung out at each others houses.

Overall, I finally realized that your home will always be your home and that it really is not as bad as you think it is. Looking back now, I do not really understand why I thought it was sooo rough and sooo boring. Being out on your own is sure an adventure and can have its benefits but that feeling at being home is just so wonderful after being away for a while. I will never underestimate my love for Rice Lake or my childhood house again, I absolutely love it and always will.

I want the sun back!

Today I drove home from La Crosse to my hometown of Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Rice Lake is about two and a half hours north of La Crosse and is much smaller. Although my hometown is a great place, that is not what I am going to talk about I this blog entry. The entire drive home, all I saw was rain and snow. I am very sick of such awful weather. It rains almost everyday and I know its just going to be worse when the snow returns.

Its not that I hate winter, I just prefer warmer weather. I would much rather be in the sunny, hot weather than the cold and sleet that we are currently experiencing. I like winter right after a fresh snowfall. I like seeing and being out in the bright white snow, but that is not what I have seen yet so far.

The amount of snow we have had so far has also been a bummer for me. Like I said, the bright white snow is alright, but the sleety stuff is not ok. I like walking with the snowflakes falling down on me, but when they are slush and are melted, I do not like it at all. I especially do not like the snow or rain when it soaks through my shoes, specifically my moccasins that I love to wear.

Overall, I hope that this winter is either rather dry, or that it is very short. I just want the warm weather and the sun back!

Warnings upon Warnings

So first of all I will start out by saying that I believe myself to be a pretty good driver. I have never gotten any speeding tickets which is great because my parents would kill me, seeing that they still pay my insurance. So even though I haven't been written any tickets, I have received a couple of warning. But when I say a couple, I actually mean five! I swear I am really not that bad of a driver, I do things that almost everyone else does, but I somehow am always the one to get caught doing it. Here are my stories...

My first warning I ever got was really upsetting. First of all, it was the first day that I was able to drive to school by myself so I took a little extra time getting ready in the morning since I wouldn't have to go early with my brother. When I was finally done getting ready I realized that i would need to rush, so I ran downstairs to grab my keys. All of a sudden I had no clue where my keys were so I ran around the house searching frantically. I shouldn't have been so crazed, I mean how much trouble can you really get in for being late to high school one time, but I am a nut case who always has to follow the rules. Anyways, I finally found my keys and sped out of the drive way. As i came to the first stop sign I made a very quick stop, apparently a "running stop." So of course I got pulled over. I couldn't believe it, on my first day of driving to school ever? Really? So that was my first warning.

My second warning occurred after school one day on my way to dance practice. Wisconsin Ave is the main street in front of my high school and of course you are only supposed to drive fifteen miles an hour. I thought that I had gotten out of the school zone but apparently not because all of a sudden I saw the red and blue flashing lights. I was then given a warning for speeding because I was driving twenty five miles per hour in apparently still a fifteen. That one was pretty embarrassing cause almost everyone who drives to school drives on that road and I'm sure they allll saw me!

The third warning I got was actually not my fault, well not fully anyways. I was riding with a friend one night on the back of his moped and got pulled over. Apparently you cannot ride two people on a moped which we honestly did not know. So that night was pretty lame because the cop left the lights on for like twenty minutes while we just stood there on a sidewalk, waiting for a lame ticket, from a scooter!

And finally my last warnings. I actually was given my fourth and fifth warnings in the same stop. My roommate and myself were driving back to La Crosse from our home town on a Sunday night. The driver ahead of me was driving the actual speed limit of fifty five but it is sooo hard for me to keep at that speed, I always want to go at least three to four over which I don't even think is that bad. I was in the passing lane so I decided to pass the car. As I approached the car I saw the cop car just sitting there, waiting for someone to mess up. Of course the red and blue lights started flashing so I finished passing the car and pulled over. Once the cop pulled over and came up to my window he started asking me all the normal questions. He told me that I was speeding and that I did not finish passing the car in the no passing zone. Being that I always feel the need to defend myself, I sort of argued with the cop, bad idea I know but luckily it didn't really hurt me. He admitted that he was sitting right where the zone changed from passing to no passing so I guess he had to be right there. He ended up giving me two warnings, one for speeding, and one for not finishing a pass in the passing zone.

Overall, I just need to start following the laws of the road. Seeing that I have already been given FIVE warnings, I think the next one would for sure be a ticket. I do not know how I have been so lucky so far because I think the number of warnings I have been given is ridiculous. Especially since in the last situation I was given two at one time! I would think that if someone did something wrong that they would for sure be given at least one ticket but I am definitely thankful that I did not! Hopefully no more warnings are in my future!

Rivoli Theatre

This past weekend my roommate and I were bored on a Saturday night and were contemplating what to do to occupy our time. Of course we could walk between the UWL or Western Campus on a Saturday night and find tons of parties but we wanted to do something different. As I searched the Internet for things to do in La Crosse I came across several movie theatres. According to Google Maps, the Rivoli Theatre was the closest theatre to where I live. Without any other grand ideas of what we could do, we decided to walk downtown to see a movie.

As we came up to the theatre we were surprised by the outer appearance. The movie theatre looked like an old movie theatre, which it turns out, appears the same on the inside. As we waited in the long line with tons of other college students we became very excited seeing the options of movies we could view. My roommate and I decided that we were going to watch The Hangover, but that wasn’t even the best part of the night.

When we got to the cash register, we found out that we would be able to watch a recent movie at such a low price, which any college student would appreciate. With a student ID, any student can watch a movie for only three dollars! It is such a great deal, especially when the movies have been very recently released. Adult prices are also cheap at only four dollars, while Seniors can attend a movie for three dollars. Children can get into a movie for only two dollars, as well as everyone else for matinees. So even though the theatre’s movies are not brand new, they are still very recent and you cannot beat the prices. You can’t even rent a new movie for that price!

The Rivoli Theatre has only two viewing rooms, the main theatre, and the smaller screening room. We were lucky enough to sit in the main theatre to watch The Hangover. The main theatre is absolutely gorgeous. First of all it can accommodate so many people with all its seats, but the surrounding walls look like a seen from Romeo and Juliet, it honestly looks like a scene of an old play. The seating is also great because there is floor seating with tables, but also seating above, set up like bleachers (but actual chairs) so that each level rises, providing each person with a great view of the movie.

The Theatre is also great because it had such a wide variety of food and drinks. You can search the theatre and on there site is a full menu of great snacks. You can purchase sandwiches, pizzas, gyros, ice cream, the traditional popcorn and candy, and even more. The theatre is also very fun because it gets everyone really into the movie. It does not require the viewers to be quiet or serious. I mean obviously people are respectful but everyone is able to laugh, clap, and cheer together which definitely occurred frequently during the viewing of The Hangover. The overall feel and atmosphere of the theatre was just great and I would advise everyone to attend a movie at the Rivoli Theatre.

FINALLY starting to learn!

Throughout high school I never seemed to study and if I did it was the night before a test or quiz. For me, high school was sort of a joke, it didn’t do much to further my knowledge or test me. I am not saying that I did not learn anything throughout my four years at Rice Lake High, but I do not feel I was pushed as much as I should have been. Since most of the material came naturally to me I never fully developed adequate study skills, which I now realize will kick my butt if I do not improve upon these skills.

Now that I am in college, I have realized how bad my study habits really were. To be honest, I don’t even know if they would be qualified as study habits. I never took time out of everyday to review my notes like I was told to do each day. I know that it is easier to remember material when you review it each day but I never felt motivated enough to do so. Instead of reviewing my notes or taking real time to finish my homework to the best of my abilities, I would lie on the couch and watch TV or hang out with my friends.

Since my first Anatomy and Physiology exam was sort of a bust, I decided that I need to improve upon these study skills now! The thing is, since I was not a great studier in high school, I do not know which method to use now. I do not know what will help me remember information, which is critical for me seeing that I have a bad memory to start with. I am starting to review my notes a little each day in hopes that it will help.

I have also started putting way more into my courses, out of class that is. I devote more of my “free time” to studying and preparing different activities for me to practice with. I realize now that I really should not have had much free time during high school, I just chose to make it, therefore disenabling my opportunity to learn more. Now, I chose to devote my time to anything that will improve my grades or help me better my study habits. If anyone has any study habits that work wonders for them I would very much appreciate any suggestions. I am willing to try anything to better my studying, hoping to improve my grades here at Western!