Black Friday

Black Friday is probably the biggest shopping day of year. Sounds fun right? Not if you have to work. I have had to work on Black Friday for the past three years, so I'm starting to get used to it now. The first Black Friday I had to work was actually only my second day working at Shopko. That really taught me the ropes fast. Now, if I wasn't working in retail, I would probably be right out there with all the rest of the crazy shoppers that get up very early in the morning. Since I work at Shopko though, I never get the chance to go out on this day anymore.

Last Friday I started work at 4:30 in the morning. Shopko doesn't open until five, but they thought it would be a good idea if we got there 30 minutes before the crowd. On Black Friday, we always have to use the back doors to the store, because there is a lengthly line out the front. No one told me this last year, so I just butted in and out of people trying to make my way to the front of the line. You wouldn't believe how many people yelled at me, so I tried to simply explain the fact that I work there and I need to get in. One thing I hate about black Friday is how people are so rude and pushy. Once we open the doors at five, people go nuts. They start pushing and shoving to get carts, and then they take of in a mad sprint. They act like it's some sort of race, and that the person who gets to the register first, will win a prize. We had around 15 cashiers working that morning, and everyone was busy the whole time. I had to work for eight hours, but the time flies by when it's that busy. I was planning on going shopping after I got done with work, but after deaing with all those customers, I was too exhausted. Well, at least I only have to put up with Black Friday once a year. :)

Thanksgiving

I can hardly believe that tomorrow is thanksgiving already. Wow time has really been flying by these past few years. Thanksgiving is one holiday I always look forward to. I love thanksgiving time, because it's a time when all my family comes to town. Another reason I love thanksgiving is because of the food. I always eat way too much, but it's worth it.

Tomorrow morning I'm heading out to Rushford to celebrate thanksgiving at my boyfriend's grandma's house. I haven't met all of his relatives, so that should be a lot of fun. After that, I am going to my grandma and grandpa's house in Genoa. I always have a great time going there, but it's a little crazy. My mom is one of fourteen kids. So you can just imagine what goes on when you bring that many people together with good food. The house is completely packed and you usually have to wait in line between 10-15 minutes just to get your food. After we eat, everyone just hangs out and enjoys eachother's company. We usually stay there pretty late, but this year is going to be different. I work on black friday at 4:30 in the morning. I'm not too excited about getting up early, but it's kind of fun to see all the crazy people rush in the doors, when the stores open. It is also always super busy so it makes those 8 hour shifts go by quickly. Well, hopefully everything goes smoothly on that day.

After the concert

So it's Tuesday night and I'm still exhausted from the concert. It was a lot of fun, but it definitely wore me out. I got to the La Crosse Center about an hour before the concert started, but the doors were going to open soon. I was freezing as I waited in line, but it was all worth it in the end. After I got in the doors, I had to wait more. I couldn't figure out why the line was moving so slow, and then I realized it's because they had to search each and every person before they were allowed in the building. As I got inside, I realized there were thousands of people there and it felt like it was over a hundred degrees in the La Crosse Center. The concert started out with Saving Abel performing. They did a great job and really got the crowd involved. Everyone was singing and having a great time. After that Shinedown and Avenged Sevenfold performed, and the crowd went crazy. They actually broke the barricade and the concert had to be stalled. We had to wait probably 15 minutes before they could perform because of this problem. The bands said they have never seen an audience that crazy before. People were crowd surfing right over my head, and I was getting knocked all over the place. Half the time I could barely stand up straight, because I was packed so closely between people. I've never been to a rock concert before, but I guess that is usually for a rock concert. I also saw a few fights and a ton of mosh pits. It was pretty crazy, but it was kind of fun to watch. It was definitely a new experience for me, but to my surprise I had a lot of fun.

Concert

So I couldn't really think of anything to write about so I decided to talk about the concert I'm going to this weekened. Sunday night I am going to the Buckcherry, Saving Abel, Shinedown, and Avenged Sevenfold concert. I usually listen to mostly country, pop, and rap, but I'm starting to like rock more now too. My boyfriend always listens to rock music and now he is the one making me go to the concert with him and his friends. I'm actually really excited though. I really like Buckcherry and Saving Abel, so it should be a good time. The only thing im nervous about is the people at the concert. I've never been to a rock concert before, but I've heard they get pretty roudy. I am also somewhat clasterphobic, so this should be interesting. I just hope I don't get caught in the middle of a mosh pit. Anyways, the concert starts around seven o'clock Sunday night which kind of sucks, because I have class early Monday morning. The concert will probably go till late, but o well. Tonight I'm going to make t-shirts for my friends and I to wear to the concert, but I have no idea what to put on them... If anyone has any ideas let me know. :]
I'll be sure to tell everyone how the concert goes in my next blog.

What Happens in Vegas

I've seen the previews for this movie before, but I never went to it in theaters. Once it came out, I thought I might as well go rent it. Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz have the two leading roles in the movie, so I figured it would be alright. To my surprise, I actually really liked this movie. "What Happens in Vegas" is a movie about two people who get married in Las Vegas. The two people were very differnt from each other, but after a night of drinking they got married. There is a twist though. That same night they won a huge jackpot at a casino. In the morning they realize what happened and want to get out of this mess. They tried to get a divorce, but the judge would not let them. Instead of getting a divorce, they were both forced to live with eachother for six months. They tried to remain married, so they both could get some of the money. The rest of the movie is pretty much about the hardships they encounter along the way. Jack is a very messy laid back kind of guy, and Joy is very neat and organized. Each of them tries to annoy the other one so they will leave and lose the money, but this doesn't work. It is absolutely halarious some of the things they do to try and get rid of the other person. In the end they both are actually attracted to one another, which they thought wouldn't ever happen in a million years. Overall I thought this movie was halarious and would recomend it to anyone looking for a movie to watch this weekend.

The House of Shadows

It was a cold and windy night, and I was bored out of my mind. I decided that I needed to get out of the house and do something fun. So, I called up a group of friends and we all went to the House of Shadows. The House of Shadows is a haunted house in Sparta Wisconsin, and is said to actually be haunted. As we approached Sparta, I realized I was actually getting a little nervous. We got to the house and bought our tickets. Then we waited two and a half hours for our turn to go through the house. In the meantime we huddled in a group and pretty much froze. It was a cold and long wait, but it was all worth it in the end.
Finally the old witch called our number which meant our group was up. We nervously waited by the guide, and I asked her if the house was in fact haunted. She assured me that it was, and that ghost busters even came there this year! I was shocked when I heard this. I was starting to think I didn’t want to go anymore, but it was too late to back out. I walked slowly into the house, and my group pushed me to the font. The people from the house separated me from my group, and I ended up walking through half of the house by myself. The house was full of dark narrow hallways, and there were people jumping out from every corner. I just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, so I began to run through the whole thing. I ended up tripping over one guy and falling flat on my face. I’m a ditz, I know, but to my surprise it was actually a lot of fun. I got really scared a few times, but it I still had a blast. It was a fun night, and I would definitely recommend it to others.

Pumpkin Carving :]

Halloween is right around the corner, and I can’t wait. Halloween is always a fun time of year. Last night I decided it was about time to carry out all of the Halloween decorations. I couldn’t believe all the junk we had in our closets. We still have the costumes from when I was five, along with numerous wigs, and decorations. So I decided to get started. I put up light up pumpkins outside my house, got out the candles, scare crows, and went to buy candy. I also bought a few large pumpkins for carving. My sister, boyfriend, and I spent about two hours carving those sticky pumpkins. I have always enjoyed carving pumpkins, but I hate taking out the orange gross stuff inside. It’s cold, gooey, and it always seems to get all over the place. On my pumpkin I carved out a sign that said trick or treat, with small pumpkins and bats surrounding it. My boyfriend carved a skull, and my sister carved a ghost. We followed the stencils, and to my surprise they all turned out really nicely. It was well worth the time. After that, we found a few candles, stuck them inside the pumpkins, and tried them out. They looked great. I was hoping that they would last for a while, but by today, mine was already getting bad. My boyfriend brought his home, and later that night he called to tell me that his dog had already eaten part of it. Well so much for that idea. I guess we can always carve more before Halloween gets here.

Follow up on homecoming

So as I told you about in my last blog, homecoming was last weekend. Everything went very smoothly. Friday night was the football game. Central High School played Wausau West, and they ended up losing by only two points. What a bummer. Actually, I didn’t really care, because I was more interested in watching the kids next to me get in trouble. Four students at Central were taken away one at a time by the police. Everyone wondered where they were going, and what they did. Later we found out that all four of them got drinking tickets, and were suspended for three days. Even though that kind of exciting to watch, I had other things to worry about. Homecoming was the next day, and I was stressing a little because I worked until five o’clock, then I still had to shower, get my hair and makeup done, and be ready in time for pictures. My group decided to be annoying at the last minute, and they decided they no longer wanted to go to the Three Rivers Lodge for dinner, so we ended up just going to TGI Fridays. Dinner was still delicious though, so I couldn’t complain. After this we all headed for the dance. There were tons and tons of kids there. I couldn’t believe how many people they could pack into that gym. It felt like it must have been over 100 degrees in there. It was a lot of fun to be able to go back for a dance, because that is one part of High School that I actually have missed. When the dance ended, my friends and I went over to one of my other friend’s house and just hung out for a while. It was a very eventful weekend, but I got no sleep at all. I’m still totally exhausted. Hopefully I’ll get to bed a little earlier tonight so I’ll have some energy for school tomorrow.

Homecoming

Homecoming is always an entertaining time of year. At my old school we always had the week before homecoming designated as homecoming week. This week was full of activities and funny outfit days. We would have pajama day, clash day, and dress up like your favorite celebrity day. We would have hardly any homework during this week, and we would just all have a lot of fun. We also usually had guest speakers come in and talk to us. Last year we had the opportunity to meet Gilbert Brown and Santana Dotson. Jeff Suppon also came in and talked to us. Both were neat experiences, because it’s not every day that you get to meet famous football players and baseball players. Then on Friday night there was always the big football game. Everyone would get decked out in their blue and gold, and be ready to cheer. The following day then would be the homecoming dance.
This year is going to be a little different considering I am now in college. I am still going to go to homecoming though, but at a different school. My boyfriend is a senior this year so I will be going with him and some of our other friends to his homecoming. My boyfriend and I have been going out for almost three and a half years now, so we have become accustomed to this sort of thing. It’s usually always the same routine. Everyone gets dressed up, gets their hair done, and gets their makeup done. Then everyone gets their pictures taken together, and the parents never know when to quit. After that we all get together and go out to dinner. Last year I had a small group with only 6 people in it, so we went to Ciatti’s. This year my group is a little bigger though, we have 14 people so far. We thought we would switch it up this year and try somewhere new, so we are going to the Three River’s Lodge. This is a restaurant that is inside the Radisson Hotel. I have never been there before, but it looks like it would be nice. I’m really excited for this weekend, and I hope that everything goes according to plan. I'll be sure to tell everyone how everything goes in my next blog.

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest is such a great time of year. In my last blog I talked about the Oktoberfest parade, and what I usually do for it. Even though the parade is over, there is still a lot going on. Oktoberfest lasts until Sunday. I went to the North side fest grounds on Friday night, but it was pretty lame. There wasn’t nearly as many people there as I thought there would be. As I was walking around there I saw a couple of my cousins. They were saving our spots for the Oktoberfest parade. Did you know you can’t rope off your spot until midnight? Well, that’s one of the rules for the parade. I ended up sitting on the side of a hill for about five hours, just so we could get a good spot for the parade. That was definitely not my idea of a good time. It was entertaining at times though. I got to see all the crazy drunk people walking around and the cops chase after one guy.

On Monday night I also went to the fest grounds. It was absolutely freezing outside. I was going to go on the rides, but I always seem to get sick on them. That doesn’t seem to stop me usually, but this year I decided I would rather skip getting sick. After that, I went to watch the different dance teams perform. One of my sister’s friends performs on the Aquinas dance team, so we stayed and watched. There were only four schools competing. In the end, Onalaska took first place.

Tomorrow is the torchlight parade. This parade is always a lot of fun. I already went out and bought some glow sticks and light up stuff for it. So that should be a good time. I’ll tell everyone how that went in my next blog. :]

Fall is here.

Fall is finally here. The leaves are changing colors and the weather is getting cooler. Fall is probably one of my favorite seasons for various reasons. The main reason is because fall to me means Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest starts tomorrow and goes until next Sunday. That means one week of hanging out with friends and family. Usually I am in the Oktoberfest parade, but this will be the first year I can actually sit down and watch it. I’ve been in the parade for about the last seven years with my uncle and his fire truck. It sounds kind of lame, but it’s actually a lot of fun. I get to throw candy and beads to all the screaming people. Oktoberfest for me is a time when all my friends come into town and we can just catch up. All of my family also comes into town. After the parade I’m going to go my great aunt’s house. There my extended family gathers and has a huge meal. This is always worth looking forward to. There is everything you can imagine and more to eat. There I hang out with my younger cousins, nieces, and nephews. After spending a couple hours there, I usually go check out the fest grounds with some friends. The fest grounds are always exciting and there is something to do for everyone there. There is food, rides, and just a bunch of people. I always end up running into people that I haven’t seen in years, which is nice. Then I usually just go back to my house with some of my closest friends and watch different movies. All in all it is a great time, and this is just the beginning. I usually go to the fest grounds every night following the Oktoberfest parade. I watch all the singers at the gong show and the dance teams perform. Then on Thursday is the torchlight parade, but that is a story in itself. Fall is always so much fun, because there is an endless amount of activities to do.

A Bad Incident

Well I think I’m going to use this post to tell everyone about an incident I had when I was thirteen years old. I love going sledding, and every winter I make sure I go sledding a few times at suicide hill. For people who don’t know, this is a huge hill by the bluff. My friends and family always have a great time sledding here, but for me it just brings back horrible memories. About six years ago I decided I wanted to be a dare-devil and go sledding off this really big jump that my friends and I made. This was not as great of an idea as I imagined it to be. I thought it would be exciting and all of my friends would think that it was cool. So, I grabbed my saucer sled, got a running start, and darted straight for the hill. I couldn’t believe how fast I was going. Before I knew it, I was flying high in the air. I could feel the cold remnants of snow blowing across my face. My stomach dropped, and I couldn’t even open my eyes. I could just imagine what was going through everyone else’s minds as they saw me soaring off the jump. After I made land fall, I felt good about myself, because I went off such a huge jump and survived. Then I realized my sled wasn’t going to slow down anytime soon. I just kept going and going. Before I knew it, I could barely see any of my family members who were watching me from the very top of the hill. Right as I turned back around to face the pathway, I hit a tree head on. I got knocked out, and the next thing I could remember was waking up in my house. I had a horrible headache and bruises all over my body. I was very confused and didn’t know how I got all the way from the hill to my house. Was this a dream? I wish. Later on that night when I came back to reality, my mom told how after I hit the tree my dad and cousin carried me back up the hill, and drove me home. I didn’t remember any of this. So in the end, I did survive this incident, but I still get nervous every time I go sledding there.

My Summer

Wow, I can’t believe we are a few weeks into the school year already. It seems like just yesterday I was outside enjoying the summer. Summer is my favorite time of year. There are always tons of things to do. Going on the river is one of my favorite things to do in the summer time. I go tubing almost every weekend. It’s a great feeling when you are speeding across the river, and holding on for your life. I’m always so scared that I’m going to fall in, and then I always do. It is still fun though. I also love camping on the sand bars, fishing, and just relaxing by the sandy riverfront. It’s always enjoyable just sitting by the fire, roasting marsh mellows, and making s’mores. It’s a great way to get friends together, and enjoy each other’s company. Summer is also my favorite time of the year, because summer means no school. School is fun at times, but it is so nice just to have a break once in a while. Since I don’t have to go to school, I have more time to spend time with my friends and go on vacation with my family.

Every year my family goes on vacation for about a week. This year we spent a week at Wisconsin Dells. It was a lot of fun, and we had great weather while we were there. We did many different activities while we were in the dells. We went to Noah’s Ark and on the Ducks. It was interesting, because usually the ducks go on land, and then travel into the water. This year was different though. All the water in Lake Delton emptied into the river, so all that was left was an empty lake. It was definitely a site to see. The once large populated lake was now an empty dry pit. Everyone there was taking pictures, because they could not believe their eyes. Many tourist locations in the Dells suffered because of the lake. Tommy Bartlett’s was giving away free passes for people to come to their show, because sales were down so much. Vacation was fun, but after a week I was ready to come home and spend some time with my friends.

For me, summer is just a time to get away from everything and hang out with friends. My friends and I go over to each other’s houses every Friday night and have a fire. We also play cards, play basketball, go swimming, and jump on my trampoline. It is always a great time. Then the weather starts to get a little cooler, and everyone realizes that summer is coming to an end. It is always sad to see summer pass, but everyone looks forward to the beginning of a new school year. Now that the new school year is here, I guess I’ll just have to wait until next summer, then I can start this cycle all over again.

A Little About Myself

Hey everyone!

This is my very first blog, and I would like to start by telling everyone a little about myself. My name is Danielle, and I am a freshmen at Western Wisconsin Technical College. I enjoy playing volleyball, camping, and just hanging out with friends. I also love traveling and taking pictures. Photography has always been a passion of mine, and I would like to pursue a career involving photography in the future. I am writing this blog for my written communications class, and I will be adding new posts every week. Keep checking my blog to learn more about myself, and what’s going on in the world around us.