Hey everyone! Genevieve here, about to brag about my beautiful little niece Emily! She has gorgeous blue eyes and is starting to get reddish hair like her daddy- my brother.

Right now she is only about six pounds, but she is growing at an alarming rate. She was born only a little over four pounds, so she has made great progress. She is an amazing child that is incredibly intelligent. She tries to hold up her own head, grabs for things, and in a way we think she knows when we say something that she doesn’t want to hear.

 

This weekend I saw her for the first time since she got over all of her complications from being so small. I held her for nearly three hours and, even though my muscles are screaming at me even as I type this, it was the best three hours of my life. Tomorrow I have to go back to Batavia and I am dreading it, because I am going to miss the little peanut sooo much. Chances are I won’t be back home until spring break in March and by then she will be a whole different person! Well, at least I get updates on Facebook! And this effectively ends my bragging about little Emily! 🙂

 

Since my last blog post on the downs, a lot of interesting things have happened.  Every time I walk in to the downs, someone that works there greets me by my name because they know me from that last post.  They gave me a few hats, shirts and a cooler.  So cool.  But thats not what I wanted to  talk about.

Throughout the month of February, Batavia Downs has a special where you get a 5-dollar free play if you show up from 8am – 9am.  Many commuters who have 9 o’clock class could take advantage of this and maybe win a few bucks.  Also, if you go on Friday in the morning, you will receive the 5 dollar free play and the 10 dollar free play from Facebook Friday. (Like I described in the past post.)

Me and my roommate headed out there this morning before his 10 o’clock class.  I walked away with only 7 dollars and he walked away with $19, although he was one “7” away from winning the jackpot.  A few days ago, me and a friend turned 10 dollars in to $102 in one spin.

Try out your luck, maybe you will walk away with something !

Jordan

To whomever finds it hilarious to liter while walking the hill from College Village,
Is that really necessary? While walking it this morning, I saw all the banana peels, wrappers, soda cans, and even empty things of lip gloss and thought “was it really too much trouble to hold on to it until you got to a garbage can?” I have often said that the hill needs some garbage cans, but would that really do any good or would you just keep littering, putting those harmful materials out in nature? I just had to express myself on this point, because I get disgusted each time I walk that hill and see some new trash piling up. What do you think maintenance goes around collecting your things? Even if they did, should you really take them for granted? Be a friend, be helpful… DO NOT LITTER!
Thank you for listening and I hope you change your mind next time that banana peel is about to slip from your fingers.
~Genevieve~

The Superbowl started off a lazy slow game and then turned very intense late.  The Giants ended up winning 21-17, but thats not what I am here to talk about.

What does everyone else look forward too instead of watching the actual game?  The commercials.  I know when you are walking around GCC today, someone will bring up a commercial to you or you will overhear people talking about them.  Below, there is a link that has all of the commercials available to watch.  Check them out !

Link To Superbowl Commercials.

Jordan

No, you say, it can’t be done! It can! Take a microwaveable bowl, any desired size, and add the “raw” pasta to about half way (adding more will cause your water to boil over). Add water, leaving some room from the top for boil space, and place in microwave on microwaveable plate (this is for just in case your water does boil over). Read the suggested time to cook the pasta on the back of the box on stove top and add about 3 to 4 minutes, depending on the wattage of your microwave, to insure proper cooking.

 

While the pasta is cooking in the microwave- keep an eye on it in case of boil over or any other complications- prepare your sauce. That is not to say that you can only use spaghetti sauce either. Try something different, like Zesty Italian Ranch or Cajun Cheddar! Once your pasta is done- make sure to check for correct consistency- take it out of the microwave and strain water into sink and let cool for about 1 minute (Be careful! It’ll be hot!). Once the pasta has cooled a bit, add your sauce, cheese, spices, or whatever you want and place back in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds, depending on your wattage again. Take out, add whatever toppings you like- I recommend pepperoni- and enjoy!

 

~Genevieve~

Psst! Wanna know a little extra secret? If you have leftover meat or vegetables of any kind just laying in the refrigerator that you have no idea what to do with, add them to the top of your pasta dish and get a nice tasty surprise.

It’s Friday, the most exciting day for any student around the world because it is the beginning of the weekend.

If you are 18+, have a legal form of ID (Driver Licenses, Learners Permit), have nothing to do on your Friday, and want to try and win a few bucks, I suggest you go over to Batavia Downs. (located behind Tops)

You may think that I am crazy to be telling you to go there to just lose all your money by gambling, but on Fridays they offer a special deal called Facebook Friday. This deal allows you to get 10 free dollars to gamble away and you can walk away with whatever you make. The only catch is that you must play through the ten dollars on your coupon before you are able to cash out and walk away.  It is a really good deal, and if you are smart about it, you could walk out of there making anywhere from 5 to 500 (or even more). 

To be eligible for this deal, you must go on your personal Facebook page and “Like” the Batavia Downs Fan Page. (http://www.facebook.com/bataviadowns)

When you arrive at the downs, you show your ID to the person standing at the bottom of the escalators. They will give you a stamp, then you are going to go upstairs and wait in line for a representative at the desk to assist you.

I, myself attend this “Facebook Friday” each friday with my friends.  I have walked away with as much as 20 bucks, but usually i’ll get about 5 or 6 bucks.  One of my friends has once walked away with 40 bucks due to the free play.

Check it out! The offer starts from when they open at 9:00 am until 11:00 pm. Although the casino stays open until 4:00 am.

GOODLUCK!

Jordan

Ever have trouble figuring out what notes to take either during class or on your own time from the textbook? Well, we learned something in Criminal Investigations class this morning that I think might help. We were learning how to take notes at a crime scene and I feel that the “guidelines” we learned would work well for taking notes for anything.

1- Stick to the facts: Chances are you won’t be tested on the opinion of your teacher or of the author of your textbook. While you shouldn’t ignore those, they aren’t as important as the facts.

2- Write legibly: Make sure you can actually your notes when it is time to refer to them; don’t use a bunch of abbreviations that you won’t remember in the future.

3- Avoid opinions: We sort of already covered this in number 1. Remember, stick to the facts.

4- If you must use abbreviations or short hand writing, make sure to use standard ones.

5- Make sure to retain and file in secure location: Keep everything until after the semester is over! My Children’s Literature teacher can not stress this enough. Goodness forbid that you lose or throw something out and you need it later on for some reason.

6- Remember they are subject to court: Well obviously your notes won’t be being analyzed in court anytime soon, but they are subject to misinterpretation. Remember the purpose of taking notes in the first place; studying for important tests that you want to pass.

Follow these guidelines and you’ll never be worried about whether you are getting the right notes or not.