Interesting Facts about Indiana

After reviewing some facts about our great state of Indiana, I found some quite interesting and fun facts about Indiana, that I would never expect to find. The most interesting fact that I found was that our state was the first to have electric streetlights; so basically our very own state invented the use of the much needed street lights. Another very interesting and unique fact about Indiana is that it is the hometown and birthplace of the oh so famous and funny David Letterman. Also, I found that the city of Santa Claus, Indiana receives over one half million letters and requests at Christmas time; how ironic is that? Some other fun facts about Indiana are the following:
-Birthday: December 11, 1816, the 19th state
-North of Lafayette is the site of the Battle of Tippecanoe, where on November 7, 1811, William --Henry Harrison's forces defeated the Native American confederacy formed by the famous Shawnee chief Tecumseh.
-Corydon was the scene of the only Civil War battle on Indiana ground. The battle was fought July 9, 1863 when General John Hunt Morgan attacked the city.
-Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis is the burial place for many famous figures in Indiana History. Benjamin Harrison, Oliver P. Morton, Kin Hubbard, James Whitcomb Riley and John Dillinger are among those buried here.
*Total Population as of 2005: 6,271,973; this is a huge amount of people.
Well, I have done enough blogging for one day, I will continue my awesome blogging soon.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Unique Recipes

After looking a numerous amount of delicious Thanksgiving desserts, I found that there are a few unusual, but tasty-looking foods, that people make especially for Thanksgiving. One of the many desserts that I found was a yummy home-made recipe of a "Turtle Pumpkin Pie". It is the same as an original pumpkin pie, but with chocolate whipped topping, and chocolate syrup drizzle, some nuts, and a little bit of caramel. Some even use a peanut butter topping, also. Sounds delish right? I can not wait to try this new and unique recipe out, especially for Thanksgiving. I am actually helping my mom, aunt, and grandma cook for tomorrow, and I will make sure that I cook this wonderful pie, and I will make sure that everyone tries it. Another interesting recipe that I found was "Pecan Sticky Muffins". I personally think that these would be delicious and very tradtional, since there is already pecan pie involved with the holiday dinner. Thanksgiving is the best holiday, to me, and I love how there are new recipes added to the holiday, almost each year. Have a Happy and delicious Thanksgiving everyone!

COLTS

The INDIANAPOLIS COLTS are now at an AMAZING record of ten and zero. They have done a fantastic job at what they do, and I believe that they will definately make it to the Superbowl. Although a lot of people have their opinions about the Colts and how they are going to screw it all up in the end, I simply ignore those comments and keep on believing in my home team. Many people are also saying that the Colts are probably going to lose to Houston on Sunday, but I think that they will dominate. Although the Colts have barely won, to many teams lately, I think that they will win against Houston, because of the way they have been playing, lately. Houston lost, badly, against Titans the other day, and seeing how the Colts can definately take the Titans, easily, I think that we will take home the win against Houston, for sure, this upcoming weekend. I would like to make a prediction of the score on Sunday. I think that we will win by at least 5, and the score will be about mid-twenty's to early thirties, and our INDIANAPOLIS COLTS will most definately win.

Little Boy Killed by Mom's Boyfriend.

I read about a little boy, who was just 5 years old, who was killed by his mom's boyfriend, by a gunshot to the head. It all started when the boy first lived with his mom and her boyfriend, and the boyfriend and the mom were constantly arguing and never got along. Not too long after the boy turned 3, the mom was then beaten, a few times, by her boyfriend, and never left. The boy was then sent to live with his uncle and aunt for a few years, where he lived the good life, with great stability, and they cared so much for him, as if he was thier own. No one knew that they were actually only his aunt and uncle. After a few years with living with them, the boy's mother made a phone call saying that she wanted her son back with her. Well, after the mom convinced the aunt that everything back home was better, the aunt allowed the boy back with the mom. Exactly five months after he was forced back with his mother, he was shot, by a gun to the head, by the mom's boyfriend. After reading this article, I realized how stupid people are these days, and never think twice about the outcomes of things. If I were a mother, I would not allow my child to live with his biological mother, and a boyfriend that beats her, ever again. I would not allow my child to even see his mother, barely, at all. If the aunt would have kept the boy with her, he would be just fine and safe. But because of a stupid choice, a 5 year old innocent and happy boy, has been killed and taken away from this world. For all of the parents out there, I suggest that you do not make any dumb choices like this one. You will regret it for the rest of your lives, and you know it. Stick with your gut feelings; they are almost always right.

A Delicious Veggie Holiday

Who needs Turkey to have a delicious and satisfying Thanksgiving dinner? There are so many other wonderful, traditional dishes that will fit right in with the veggies. For some quick examples, there is the CREAM corn. We all love our creamy and sweet corn with our turkey, but who says you can't have your corn with your stuffing? My opinion, about the whole vegetarian Thanksgiving topic, is that you can simply replace the turkey with a great, big, yummy and quite filling, dish of the traditional stuffing. We all know that turkey is not very flavor-full or tasty; I mean, sure it's good and it's the main thing of the whole holiday, but when you really think about it, don't we all spend most of our time filling up on the satisfying side dishes and desserts? Yes, we most definately do this every year, which is why a vegetarian holiday dinner is not really different from the traditional holiday dinner. Most of us can't get enough of our pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes. Or how about that green bean casserole or the wonderful warm buttery rolls? I mean, if you really think about it, Thanksgiving food is mostly healthy, anyways. The only meat that most people have at Thanksgiving is the turkey, and everything else is vegetables and sweets. This proves my point exactly. Vegetarians can have an equally as good and craveable dinner, with one hundred percent of it containing great flavor.

WNBA

After finding out that the Indiana Fever almost won the WNBA championship, this year, I was very interested, all of a sudden. I honestly never thought that our home team would ever make it that far, in anything. The only team, within our state, that I believe in, at all, is the Indianapolis Colts. The Indiana Fever is a great team, but it never occurred to me that we would ever even come close to winning a championship. Being born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, I am not used to hearing about anyone or any team, from Indiana, on the radio or television. Indiana is just not a very successful state involving sports. We all hear about how great the Los Angeles Lakers are, and how terrific the New England Patriots are playing, but we barely ever hear about anyone from Indiana. The state of Indiana is a great and wholesome state with a lot of positive values, but sports is just not Indiana's best value.

SNUGGIE FOR YOUR DOG!

After seeing a commercial, about snuggies being made for dogs, the thought of stupidity came to mind. I personally think that dog snuggies are pointless, and dogs should definately not be made for any type of animals. Animals already have tons of fur, that already make them warm enough for cold weather; a snuggie is not going to do anything for a dog except make it more hot and uncomfortable than it already is. The way the commercial was advertised was very cheesy, too. The commercial said "Snuggies are great....blah..blah..blah.... and NOW, there is even a SNUGGIE for your DOG!" I thought that this was the most cheesiest and unprofessional advertisement that I have, so far, ever seen on television. Besides, snuggies are just huge blankets with arm holes. We can make these at home, for heaven's sake. Snuggies are already unnecessary, and dogs clearly do not need any more warmth than they are already provided with.

Swimwear

I know that summer just ended, and it is a long way away, but I really admire all of the different syles and types of bathing suits and bikinis. This particular style of a bathing suit, seems to be one of the most popular, worn bathing suits this year. I really love the cut-out look of the suit, and I also love how it has that silky and sensual look to it. Loving the suit as much as I do, there is one, big, negative downfall to wearing this outside. Wearing this suit outside, in the sun, would leave someone with a horrible and unattractive tan line. This past summer, in the summer of 2009, this particular type of bathing suit was the most popular and most worn piece of swimwear of the year. I think that this sort of style is going to remain with us in the next few years, at least.

09' Style

For the style of 2009, the best and most loved stylish clothes just happen to be the baggy-shirted, wide-legged, high-heeled look. I, personally, love this style, because my personality is very outgoing and bubbly, which just happens to match this particular style. I am a big kid, yet a woman with class, at the same time, and the big necklaces represent this; the necklaces symbolize the little-girlish vibe, while the high heels definitely symbolize the classiness and sophistication. I also love flat shoes, because they also sort of represent childhood and youth. A lot of people seem to love this certain style, because it can definitely work with both the party occasion and the casual, everyday look. Another thing that is so great about these types of outfits is that they can be worn by young teens at school, while also being worn by professional adults in the career world. These outfits are wonderful and gorgeous, and can be worn at any time, by anyone.

DESSERT!

We Americans love us some delicious dessert! Especially ones that melt in our mouths. Out of the millions and billions of yummy sweet-toothed foods, there are five sweets that us Americans most definately love the most, and can NOT get enough of. The fifth favorite dessert is the wonderful and sophisticated cheesecake. The fourth is the amazing jello, proceeded by the all-time favorite apple pie. The second is the mind boggling chocolate cake, and the first, number one best tasting sweet, is the mouth watering, creamy and icy, mind craving ice cream. There are so many different ways and combinations of eating ice cream. Unlike other desserts, we can eat it in both a bowl and a cone! Other desserts can only be eaten in a boring bowl or an everyday cup. Ice cream is not only the best tasting thing in America, but it also the most fun and creative food there is! It is an ALL-time favorite that will NEVER go extinct.

Thanksgiving

Well, as we all know, and are looking forward to, Thanksgiving is only five days away! For those of you who did not know, Thanksgiving takes place on Thursday, the 26th, which is the Thursday coming up. I, and everyone else, is so, very excited to eat all that we can, on the wonderful and crave-satisfying, delicious and food-filled day. We all have that one favorite food that we try to hog each year, and the food that I just absolutely can not get enough of is the fabulous PUMPKIN PIE! Did you know that the largest pumpkin pie actually weighed 2,020 pounds? Yes, it is quite unbelievable! Another fun fact is that there is a limit to the number of states that actually produce turkey. Just six states—Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri and Indiana—will probably produce two-thirds of the estimated 271 million birds that will be raised in the U.S. this year. Therefore, we should be thankful that our state is one of the only 6 states that sell turkey. I wonder what Thanksgiving would be like without turkey. Anyways, Thanksgiving is a great holiday for us to enjoy our meals, and give thanks for everything and everyone that we have.

Wii

After reviewing several different web sites, and searching for the most popular Christmas gift, I found that the top five wanted Christmas presents were the Nintendo Wii, digital camera, Ipod Touch, fancy jewelry, and perfume. In my opinion, I think that the Nintendo Wii is the best gift that someone could ever receive, because it is not only a fun system to play video games on, it is also a great digital fitness center. Instead of sitting down lazily on the couch for hours on end, you can now get up and move, dance and even excercise with the Wii system. Also, the Wii is not just for young children and teens, there are Wii games that are specifically made for the older persons, such as yoga games and pilates. The Wii game system is the perfect, and most loved gift of the year, and if you can afford one, you should definately get it for the one that you love.

Slouch more!

As everyone can clearly see, the number one style for women, of the fall/winter season, is the slouchy boot. A lot of different top websites, such as Google, Ask and Wikipedia, all state that slouchy boots are at the top of the list for this season's apparel. A woman can wear slouchy boots with many different types of outfits and moods. She can wear the boots with a skirt, for a party kind of look; with skinny jeans, for either a casual or going-out type of look; and also with a pair of big-legged pants, but of course you would keep the boots underneath the pant legs, which would create the best professional look. The professional look is usually the most preferred look of any different type of mood or occasion, so why not wear the most liked pair of boots with your most professional outfit, and look gorgeous at any time of the day? As you can see, slouchy boots are the number one pick of the season, and will most likely repeat their wonderful and loved stylishness for the next few years, at least.

Parking

As most of you know, IUPUI is building another parking garage for us, in order to produce more spots to park, and reduce much stress that comes along with parking. They are building a garage with about 1,300 spaces, and it is going to be placed by Blackford St, which is in the IT parking lot, which is where most of us park. In order to keep the chaos to a limit, our school is allowing us to receive absolutely free parking permits, to park on Indiana Ave.while the creation of this garage is made. There is only a limited time on the parking permits, and they are going very quickly, so I suggest that everyone get their permit now!
My opinion on this certain topic is that I absolutely love it. I love how the school is caring about our feelings and stress issues. I think that we would all agree that parking is probably one of the top stress producers, dealing with school. So, therefore, I think that the producing of this garage is a great and very useful strategy that everyone should definately take advantage of, now!

Denny's Cares

As being a current employee for Denny's restaurant, I want to propose the big Toys for Tots celebration. In the spirit of holiday giving, Denny’s is proud to announce its continued partnership with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation in a nationwide “Denny’s Cares” holiday program beginning November 2nd and ending on December 21st. At participating Denny’s restaurants, you can donate $1 to the “Denny’s Cares” holiday program to help the local U.S. Marine Corps Reserve purchase and distribute toys for needy and disadvantaged children in your community. As a thank you for making the holidays brighter for local children, guests will receive a coupon for free Pancake Puppies™ for their donation to the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Foundation. This Friday, the twentieth, Denny's will be having a get together and celebration for less fortunate children, to help provide toys for those who can not afford them on the Christmas holiday. Anyone and everyone can come, and help out, or to simply come and experience the greatly appreciated event. I will see you there!

Vegetarian

After searching for about twenty long minutes, I found that there are way a lot more people in the world that do not eat meat. I knew that there were a great amount of vegetarians, in the world, but after finally reading that there are actually, and surprisingly, over four hundred million vegetarians on earth, so far. I actually am working on a project for one of my classes, that involves vegetarian and vegan food, therefore, I am all of a sudden interested in the whole general idea. I also found that there were definately people that do not even eat fruit, just strictly vegetables. I can not understand how someone can not any eat fruit at all, let alone any meat. I mean, doesn't everyone get a craving for something sweet? Everyone has to have a sweet tooth right? Maybe, or maybe not; but this just does not make any sense to me, whatsoever. As long as a vegan is happy with their lifestyle, eating strictly vegetables, and nothing else, than more power to them; I, on the other hand, personally, could not do it.

Thanksgiving

Earlier in class today, I overheard one of my classmates and Professor Mannheimer talking about what kind of food they have for the delicious, wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving. I heard the student say that their family actually provides crab legs, instead of the traditional turkey, for Thanksgiving dinner. Unlike them, my family simply prefers the original and desireable turkey, as well as ham, for our great holiday celebration. If it were my choice what would be served for my family's Thanksgiving dinner, I would actually love to try something different as a main dish for my dinner. I wonder what chicken would be like? Or pork? Or steak? I am now going to ask my mother and grandmother if they would consider my new idea for something different for our main dinner of the year. I think that they will definately try it, but will they keep it as a tradition? I will have to wait and see. I am now on a mission to get my family members to try something other than turkey, for Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving!

WAYNE

Time magazine states that Lil Wayne is most definately the best rapper alive, and I have to agree 100%. He has sold more than 6.5 million albums, worldwide, and of course, it helps that Tha Carter III is one of the best albums of the year. Wayne actually signed his first deal at age 11 after rhyming on a record executive's answering machine. Since June 10, when his latest album, Tha Carter III, sold 1,005,545 copies in its first week, he's been the undisputed champ. He is also more than just there for his fans; Time magazine states, "Besides coughing out guest verses for seemingly anyone who asked, he sometimes recorded three songs in a night and gave them away on the Internet minutes later on a series of superb mix tapes." Lil Wayne is not only the best rapper alive, but he is one of the people that I can kind of look up to, and believe that if Wayne could make it that far in his career, than why can’t I make it that far in mine? He inspires me, and SO MANY other people in the world, in many, many different ways.

COLTS!

How bout them COLTS?
After watching the Colts vs. Patriots game on Sunday, me, and everyone else in Indy, got highly excited to see the Colts finally beat the Patriots, while also maintaining undefeatable. The Colts are my home team, and I will always support them no matter what may happen. I think that Manning is the real deal behind it all, and I think he has his sneaky little ways of making sure that we win, every, single time. I think that he sometimes purposely lets the other team get some points in, before he really goes all out with points. I may be wrong, but does it not sound like a great way to win? every time? We get the other team's hopes up, at the end, and then score on them with no warning or expectations. This prediction is a great one, and you know it, and it makes perfect sense. If we think about almost every game that we have ever played, we always either win, or come back in the end, with a very close score. It makes perfect and brilliant sense, right? Regardless, the Colts are doing their thing this season, and I really do predict that they will MOST DEFINATELY make it to the SUPERBOWL, and WIN!

Banned Smoking

After reading an article on indystar.com, I was very surprised to read that: "A proposal to ban smoking in most Indianapolis workplaces will return to the City-County Council for a vote later this month.
The council voted 16-12 tonight to overrule an Oct. 26 vote to table the proposal, which would strengthen an existing ban to include venues such as bars and bowling alleys. It now is scheduled to go before the council at its Nov. 30 meeting."
I support this ban all the way, because second hand smoke is terrible for all of us, in many ways, shapes and forms. I think that they should have definately banned smoking in all public places a long time ago. It is not fair, what so ever, for all of the non smokers. Studies show that second hand smoke is twice as bad as the actual inhaled smoke straight from the cancer stick. Personally, I think that they should stop the sales of cigarettes, altogether, but I know that this will not happen any time soon.

Swine Flu

After having a little talk with my stepsister, she told me that her school, Greenwood Middle School, is having a major problem with the H1-N1 virus. This scares me to a long extent, because I do not live too far from Greenwood. She also told me that her school principal has sent out mail saying that if one more student receives the deadly flu, they are going to have to completely shut down the school for two weeks, and clean and sanitize every single thing 100%. I just can not believe this, because knowing that so many people, that live so close by, have had or currently has this virus, makes me realize that the virus is real and it can actually harm anyone, really soon, really fast. Studies show that there have been 36 deaths in the state, as of Friday, which is very scary and makes everything realistic. The Swine Flu is very deathly and real, and everyone should definately be extra careful about their health, especially as of right now.

Colts!

The Indianapolis Colts are now 7-0 in the football season. The last game, which was against the San Francisco 49ers, was a close, but successful game for the Colts. Although we were pretty sure that Reggie Wayne, our team's best wide receiver, would be too hurt and not able to play this game. We were totally wrong, Wayne came out of nowhere with his amazing play. "Wayne chased down running back Joseph Addai's pass deep in the corner of the end zone for the 22-yard fourth-quarter touchdown that lifted the Colts to a bitterly contested 18-14 victory over the San Francisco 49ers", The Indy Star states. "Tuesday, I didn't think I was going to play," said Wayne, who was hobbled by a groin injury. "Wednesday, I didn't think I was going to play." We all know that that play was completely unexpected and highly appreciated by not only the team, but also by the thousands of Colts' fans.

Michael Jackson

After reviewing US Magazine's Article on "How Michael Jackson's Pill Addiction Began", it made me have to agree with the magazine. Everyone is always talking about the way Michael Jackson wanted to be a white man, bleached his skin, and so on and so forth, but I believe that the start of all of the weird actions of Jackson was simply caused by the horrid event that happened years ago. This event was the 1984 Pepsi commercial. During the sixth take, the pyrotechnics went off exploded way too early, and gave Jackson second and third degree burns on his scalp and face. I think that his whole face-changing had a lot to do with this accident. I think that he was just trying to cover his horrible scars with cosmetic surgery. I also think that maybe he bleached his face on accident some way, and ended up actually liking the color of his face better than before. I believe that he simply wanted to change his appearance from being disformed and scarred up, to a different face, but better than it was before. I also believe that it was all caused by the terrible Pepsi accident, and it was not planned, like everyone thinks. Michael Jackson was a fabulous, historic, and amazing pop artist and musician, and deserves all of the respect that he deserves, and not all of the rumors and lies.

Selena Gomez

Singer Selena Gomez is going to try to raise $1 million for UNICEF by the end of 2009, for healthcare and education programs in the U.S. After reading this article, made by US Magazine, I was very happy and excited about Selena's choices regarding the children. In an Oct. 22 post on her Facebook fan page, Gomez reported she and her fans have raised more than $45,000 to date. The 17-year-old’s current fundraising efforts include the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF campaign. She also took a UNICEF-sponsored trip to Ghana, Africa, earlier this year. Her idea is just absolutely wonderful to me, and is something that I want to eventually do. One of my future goals is to also raise funds for the less fortunate children of the country. It is simply the best idea anyone could ever think of, and is definately one of the most successful events in America, as well as many other countries of the world.

Why Marriage?

After viewing US Weely's article "Why Marriage?", I do not agree, at all, with its presented points. The article says that couples are now thinking twice about marriage. It also says that we should no longer get married, because it has too many consequences. It says that marriage only ends in divorces, unhappy couples, angry and broke husbands, and major child custody issues. “Many argue that marriage is an outdated institution. Others say it's changing, moving as society moves and evolving as lifestyles and philosophies evolve”. I disagree; I believe that marriage only causes happiness and endless love, along with happy children and devoted lovers. As long as we are 100% sure that we love our significant other, and stay committed, the marriage that comes with it should be 100% positive. Marriage also teaches the importance of commitment before sex. It teaches pain avoidance. Altogether, marriage is a very wonderful thing and has made thousands of couples better off.