W.I.S.E.

My roommate and I are just beginning to get involved with the W.I.S.E program offered by the Three Rivers Martial Arts Academy, located right by campus.  W.I.S.E. (Women Initiating Safe Environments) covers common sense assault prevention, home and vehicle security, stress management, escapes, tactical awareness, and countermeasures.    It's an 8 week program and it is promised that you will feel more secure with your ability to defend yourself.  I would strongly advise any women to be involved in this program.  I am only on week 3 and I have already experienced a feeling of power from the energy and strength I've learned to use.  I'm not athletic in the least bit and I'm not an extremely muscular girl, either.  I'm already surprised at the progress I've made. 

Three Rivers Martial Arts Academy
123 South 6th Street
La Crosse, WI 54601
http://threeriversmartialarts.com/

Halloween

Halloween is coming up in a few days.  We're all excited about it over here on fifth avenue!  My roommates and I have big plans to have awesome costumes.  My close friend, Britton, looks like Dora the Explorer, so she is working on getting a purple backpack and a stuffed boots to accomplish her look.  My roommate and I have been taking a karate self-defense class.  We're going to celebrate our new moves by dressing up as ninjas.  I'm very excited to see the finished product.  We already have our swords, which are only plastic, of course.  I would love to hear what everyone else is dressing up as for Halloween.  It's one of my favorite holidays!

Sorry Blogger...but is Facebook taking over the world?

I recently read an article about facebook's future plans.  I'm not going to pretend that I am not guilty of this cyber addiction, but I couldn't help but wonder the negative effects of this explosion of social networking.  With a little help from the texting phenomenon, face-to-face contact is not required to communicate.  I've noticed personally, that users often use facebook as a tool to say whatever they want with the comfort of having the ability to be miles away.  I've noticed that people use facebook to prove to their peers that they have an awesome and interesting lifestyle by posting pictures constantly and adding as many friends to their friends list as possible (even if they've only met once and will probably never meet again).  Last, I've noticed that facebook's grown so much that I can't delete my profile feeling like I've been cut off from the rest of the world.  It's become one of the most common ways to communicate.  So, when I read the article on the future plans of facebook, I wondered how far this was going to go.

http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article750838.ece.

Oktoberfest!!!!!

Oktoberfest is here.  We all know what it's about.  Drinking too much and having a good time!  Actually, that's not all it's about.  So here's the 411 on Oktoberfest.

Oktoberfest is most widely practiced in Munich, Germany where they hold an ongoing festival for 16 days leading up to October.  It began 200 years ago, in year 1810.  Interestingly, it did not become a tradition to have a parade until 1835, when German citizens wanted to celebrate the marriage of King Ludwig I and Therese of Bavaria. During the current festivals, they serve hearty meals that include chicken, roast pork, fish on a stick, sausages, pretzels, dumplings, cheese noodles, potato pancakes, and the list goes on.

Here in the college town of LaCrosse Wisconsin, many college students use it as an excuse to get crazy and celebrate to celebrate!  So have fun while I'm at work : ), go crazy, and celebrate to celebrate.

.......and be safe! 

Another Family

I remember being so scared to move away from home.  I was only 18.  What would I do without my mom and dad to take care of me when I was sick, sad, excited, lonely, or heartbroken?

Well, the time came when I figured that out.  Last year, when I could barely pay my bills and had to drop out of school, my roommate and neighbors helped me get by.  Not only financially, but emotionally.  During what should ahve been the worst 4 months of my life, I never stopped laughing.

So, I did figure it out.  I still rely on my family.  They may not be biological, but they are just as precious.

I love me friends. : )

The Girls from Upstairs : ) My Roomie and I

Who's On Fifth??

LaCrosse is an interesting college town with alot going on, but I want to know what's happening in our apartment complex where there is also alot going on.  First of all, I'd like to keep tabs on our landlord, Bruce.  For example, he told me that he'd fix our running toilet, "I'll be over later today.  Don't worry, I never forget."  Well, Bruce, you forgot.  You've forgotten every day for the past month now (luckily we don't pay for water).  Second, I'd like to know what's going on at UWL, Western, and Viterbo.  Almost every resident here is part of these college communities, but each college holds valuable programs.  I, for example, attend Western but I'm interested in the football players that play for UWL.  Last, I'd like to share my annoyances of living on this block.  Sue: stop mowing every saturday morning.  So, all in all, I want to let you, who are on fifth, know what's going on in our very small but very interesting block in LaCrosse.