Super Bowl

Did everyone watch the super bowl game? Most importantly did anyone watch the commercials?! I wasn’t able to see too many of them, but I am interested in hearing what you guys thought. I went back and watched a few of them however. Even though they did not come out ahead on any of the top ratings I looked at, I still love the Budweiser commercial with the horse and cow. To me those are just a tradition.  I also read that this year, the commercials cost about 3 million for a 30 second spot. I guess that’s the price to pay because the commercials reach about 90 million viewers. Feel free to comment on which team you were going for as well. I personally was going to the Saint’s, but mostly because they had never been to the Super Bowl.

Baby Update: 35 weeks and 3 days down!  Only about 32 days left! Anyone want to take a guess as to what day they think I will go?!

Tax Return Time!

The tax season has arrived! Tax season has a lot of meaning for me and my family. My dad owns his own company, Hayden CPA, out of West Salem. The joys of owning your business is being able to take off when you want right? Well, when it comes to owning a business where a large amount of your clients come see you only one time a year in the span of a four months, you are a little restricted. During tax season my dad gets up before the sun (literally), comes home for  lunch and dinner (about one hour or so), and goes back to the office until maybe eight or nine. Needless to say he starts a count down at the beginning of the year for April 15^th. Well, if you were not born into a tax family, there is help for you! Western’s accounting and finance students volunteer to help assist those who have basic tax return needs. It is mainly for those who have low and limited income. If this is something that interests you, they will be available on Mondays between February 8^th and April 5^th from 4:45-8:00pm. You can go to room 114 in the Business Ed Center.  They also E-file so you can get your money back fast! If you would like more information regarding the tax assistance, call 608.785.9168.

Also, if you have not yet received your tax return, you should get it by this week. All tax returns have to be sent out by January 31^st. Do not quote me on this, but I believe it is a law that they have to have them post mark by that date. Western has already sent out their forms for your tuition statements. Plus, did you know that you can get credit for renting?! Make sure you have your landlord give you a renter’s certificate. If they say they do not have one, you can print one out from this site: http://www.revenue.wi.gov/forms/2009/09i-017.pdf. (Note: This is for WI only.)

Hope everyone is enjoying their semesters so far!

Coming soon: Inside story to the remodel! What is coming and how the students feel about it.

Welcome Back!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their time away, for school is back in full swing. The first week has come to an official end. This will be a busy semester for me though. I am taking 5 classes, working 25 hours a weeks at Kwik Trip Bakery, working 10 hours a week for the internship, joined WMMA, as well has having a baby! But, these were all choices that I made. However, we don’t always get to play a part in how things are run. So, here is your chance to say otherwise. If there is something you don’t like about your program, or services provided at Western, you have a chance to voice your opinion. On Tuesday, January 26^th from 3:30-5 pm at the Lunda Center, there is a student input session. There will be small group discussions where the information collected will be used to support Western’s upcoming applications for grant funding and continuous quality improvement efforts. PLUS… you will get the chance to win a PC! Also, what college student doesn’t like getting free food? There will be light snacks provided. This is your chance to put your money where your mouth is.

Haiti Earthquake

As many of you have probably heard, there was an earthquake in Haiti on January 12^th. Haiti is the western third portion of the island of Hispaniola, which is shared with the Dominican Republic. Haiti’s size is about the equivalence to the state of Maryland. (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107612.html) The earthquake was a 7.0. This is the largest in over 200 years. There were a countless number of buildings that collapsed into streets and over anything in their path. Obama issued an immediate response to the earthquake. Haiti might not be all that large in size, but in 2008 the population was just under 10 million. Plus, two thirds of Haiti is mountainous. It is hard to say at this point what the death pole is, but the Pan American Health Organization put it at 50,000-100,000. But, the Haitian Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, thinks that the 100,000 “would seem a minimum.” He also said that more the 25,000 bodies had been collected and buried. There have been aftershocks, include the 4.5 quake on Saturday morning that struck close to the capital. The earthquake forced more people to flee buildings. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8463490.stm)

Even though Haiti is not in our backyard, the tragedy does hit close to home. There was a graduate from Central High School, Ben Larson, which was on a mission in Haiti. His wife, Renee and his cousin, Jonathan Larson were also on the trip with him. They were staying the St. Joseph’s Home for Boys. It was located on a mountain near Port-au-Prince when the quake struck. The building collapsed and Renee and Jonathan were able to escape, but Ben has not. Nobody has heard from Ben and he has been presumed dead. (http://www.lacrossetribune.com/news/local/article_3c8de5de-0135-11df-bd8f-001cc4c03286.html )  For those of you have facebook, there is a group started for him, Prayers for Ben Larson. My thoughts and prayers go out to Ben’s family.

Winter Break

Well, the winter break is winding down and classes begin again on Monday. I hope everyone had a great few weeks off with family and friends. I don’t know about the rest of you, but my break went by way too fast! However, I was able to finally finish the baby’s room! When we found out that we were having a boy, we debated on what the theme should be. Everyone seems to do safaris, so I really didn’t want to do that. There are always monkeys, elephants, and any other animal you chose. But, I have always liked frogs and thought it would be kind of cute. When I told my husband about my idea, he came up with painting the room like a pond. So, like everyone else does, we googled for some ideas. We decided to split the room with two colors, one for the sky and one for the water. After that I went back and penciled in some cattails, a butterfly, a dragonfly, a bird, a bee, and two frogs. Here are some pictures…

Well I hope everyone is ready for next week to begin! Enjoy your next days of freedom.

Bringing in the New Year, 2010

Hope everyone had a great time bringing in the New Year! To start out my blog for 2010 I thought I would look back on some best of’s from 2009. Here they are:

Top 5 Movies of 2009

5. The Informant

4. Shutter Island

3. The Road

2. Watchmen

1. Avatar

http://www.movieretriever.com/blog/195/The-Ten-Best-Movies-of-2009—That%27s-Right,-2009

Top 5 TV Shows of 2009

5. Desperate Housewives

4. Criminal Minds

3. House

2. Family Guy

1. NCIS

http://www.tv.com/shows/top-shows/today.html

Top 5 Songs of 2009

5. 1901 by Phoenix

4. Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus

3. Outlaw Pete by Bruce Springsteen

2. Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys

1. Moment of Surrender by U2

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/31364221/the_25_best_songs_of_2009/5

Well now that we looked back a little bit on 2009, let’s look forward to 2010… 2010 has been declared by the United Nations the International Year of Biodiversity. What does this mean for us? Throughout the year initiatives will be organized to disseminate information, promote the protection of biodiversity and encourage organizations, institutions, companies and individuals to take direct action to reduce the constant loss of biological diversity worldwide. http://www.countdown2010.net/year-biodiversity

Did you know this week is National Lose Weight/Feel Great Week (1-8)? Got to love those New Year Resolutions

Just a reminder:

If you didn’t get a chance to sell your books back last semester, you have a second chance. Here are the times and dates:

Monday, January 18 — 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, January 19 — 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, January 20 — 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Happy 2010!! Hope it’s a good one for everyone.

Christmas 2009

I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and that the beginning of your Christmas break is going well. I got a new camera to replace the one my dog broke during our big snow storm! I also hope that everyone made it to and or from their destinations safely. Lucky for everyone around the La Crosse area, the weather was kind enough to stay warm so we didn’t get any really big snow falls. This post will be short and sweet, but coming to this week….

• Best of 2009
• Upcoming Events at Western          and…
• 2010- the Year of the Tiger, the International Year of Biodiversity (declared by the United Nations)

Fall Semester 2009-2010

As for me, the Fall 2009-2010 semester is complete! I had two presentations and three finals, not fun. Now I only have two more semesters left and I will hopefully be getting a job in Marketing. I went out and celebrated the ending of the semester by getting my hair cut and finishing the Christmas shopping. To say the least, I was a little tired out afterwards. It doesn’t help that I’m getting fatter and fatter as I enter my third trimester of my pregnancy.

One more week and it is Christmas!! The week will be filled with lots of preparing and celebrating. I am lucky enough to have my family and my in laws close by. Christmas Day we will be going to Winona, to celebrate with my family. Then, on the following Sunday, we will be driving to Milwaukee for the In-Law’s Family Christmas. Then, on December 31,^st my sisters are throwing me a baby shower! Fun times ahead.

Here are a few events/reminders for the upcoming week:

Book Return’s Remaining Times and Dates:

Fri. December 18th   8:00am-3:00pm

Mon. December 21st   8:00am-6:00pm

Tues. December 22nd   8:00am-6:00pm

Wed. December 23rd    8:00am-3:00pm

Dec. 21 @ 12-1pm : The Wellness Center is having a Zumba Holiday Dance Party. There is no cost, but if you would like to be entered to win the prizes, bring a non-perishable food item or come in some holiday wear. If you do both, you get to enter twice! For more details go to: http://westerntc.edu/news/eventdetail.asp?rel_id=659

The festivities were back on as soon as school resumed on Thursday. There was a vocal band scheduled to perform in the Café on Wednesday, but was clearly cancelled because of the snow storm. We were lucky enough to have Chapter 6 perform on Thursday. Chapter 6 is made up of 6 vocalists and one arranger. I bet you didn’t know that they were featured on American Idol: 7! Chapter 6 tours the United States, Canada, and Asia. This amazing a cappella group started out at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. After they graduated in 2001, they decided to try to go into the professional market.  Western has been lucky to have this award winning group come and perform for us.

            For more information about this group (or to listen to a little of their music because you missed it) check out their website: www.chapter6.com

The Holiday Luncheon, which was also on Thursday, was a great success! They had 125 guests come and enjoy the excellent meal. The luncheon required a repurchased ticket in addition to a hat or mitten donation. The donations and proceeds were given to The Salvation Army. It is great that our school can do some much good for the community!

Winter Wonderland Means New Camera

Well, our big suspense of how big the snow fall was going to be has come to an end. Often times we are told a big storm is coming and it ends up being only a few inches. However, this time that is not the case. Here are the snow fall totals at the Western Campuses:       

                                  LA CROSSE 2S                 16.8

                                  LA CROSSE 3E                 14.0

                                  LA CROSSE NWS             12.7

                                  LA CROSSE 5SSE             10.8

                                  BLACK RIVER FALLS        12.0

                                  VIROQUA                         9.8

                                  TOMAH                            10.0

                                  SPARTA                            7.0

                                  INDEPENDENCE              10.0

                                  MAUSTON                        11.1

Dane County was reported with the worst hit of all, over 18 inches in some areas!

As many of you know, Western hardly ever cancels day classes. The reasoning for that is because, in their policy, the basic criteria for deciding to modify operations or shut down operations will be based upon a declared emergency by the National Weather Service, the National Defense Office, or other appropriate jurisdictional authority. (http://www.westerntc.edu/currentstudents/studentpolicies.asp) Governor Jim Doyle had issued a state of emergency for the blizzard on Tuesday night.

I am sure many of you enjoyed the snow day. But for me, it resulted in a broken camera. I was out taking pictures of my husband playing with our dog out in the snow. While our dog was getting all excited about his first big snow storm, he jumped up and hit my hands. With it still snowing and blowing, I was staying warm and had my mittens on. Well, because I had those mittens on, I didn’t have a really good grip on my camera. When Jackson jumped up, he hit my camera and down it went, right on the lens. Bye bye camera…. The camera now reads, “Lens Error.” Well all I want for Christmas now is a new camera! Oh, and a truck with four wheel drive!! Hope everyone enjoyed the snow day by being able to catch up on last minute projects or maybe playing in it a little.

OBSERVATIONS ARE COLLECTED FROM A VARIETY OF SOURCES WITH VARYING
EQUIPMENT AND EXPOSURE.  NOT ALL DATA LISTED IS CONSIDERED OFFICIAL.

(http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/scripts/getlocalprod.php?prod=MKETOTSNW)