Author: Vanessa Anderson

Mamma Mia is hands down one of the best movies out there. I feel like there is no debate. Today I will talk about why Mamma Mia is one of the best movies out there.

1.Location

Have you seen the setting for the movie!?! Absolutely gorgeous! If the setting was New York this movie wouldn’t be as good but the setting was in Skopelos. If you don’t know what skopelos that is it is a Greek island. If Greece isn’t in your bucket list, you’re doing it wrong.

2.Bangers

 I won’t lie to you, my first choice normally is not musicals. But once you hear the BANGERS on the Mamma Mia soundtrack. Your opinion will change. My personal favorite that is always in my head is Dancing Queen. If you look at my Instagram you will see I used one of the lines in a birthday caption.

3.Plot

The story line keeps you guessing. You don’t know which one is her father, but of course you have your favorite. I won’t spoil the ending but I was kind of upset at the end of the movie.

4.Empowering

The movie has a strong female character. Donna brings to light the struggle of a single parent, but she does an amazing job at raising Sophie!

5.Icon

Meryl Streep is an iconic. This does not need an explanation.

Ted Talk

Those are my top 5 reasons why Mamma Mia is one of the best movies out there. I will respect your opinion if you don’t agree but I will judge.

Spring time

It is already spring, you know what that means. Track! If you are not excited for track season I can’t even look at you. Haha just kidding because I know not everyone likes track. I think the best part of track is the meets. In this blog post, I will explain why the meets are the best.

1. Practices are killer

I understand that you need to practice to become the best. BUT when the season starts and you are out of shape, it feels like the end of the world. Your legs hurt you can stand up or sit down without being in pain. It completely sucks, but at least your muscles are coming in.

2.Friends

I personally know a lot of people in track around the area and continue to meet new people every time I go to a track meet. It is especially easy to meet new people when you only do throwing events. But going to track meets and see your friends that you never get to see, hit differently.

3.Be the Best

At meets, you have a chance to beat your pr (personal record). That means a lot- not only are you improving but the feeling of accomplishment you get afterward is amazing. If you were wondering why you get that feeling in track is because this is not teamwork that makes you better it is you.

4.You can cheer on all your friends

You see the fan section at a basketball game but in track, you yell for your teammates anywhere. I cheered on my friends when I was next to the shot area with no shame. That what you do at track meets. Track is one of the only sports where you can see parents and coaches run inside the track yelling at a student to “stride out” or “close the gap” – it’s intense.

5.The high

I normally do not run at a track meet unless we need points. I personally am not a runner but I do not like to disappoint my coaches when they put me in an event that I have to run in, they give me the option to scratch but I never back out. After I ran the first time in a track meet I got runners high, which is something I never thought I would get. I can’t imagine what runners get when they have to run at every meet.

In conclusion, I find that track meets are way more superior compared to practice. The life lesson I want to give to you is- if you do join start a conversation with someone, they are not going to bite. A lot of track people are cool.

Band. I know what you are thinking- what weirdo play in a school band. I completely agree with you, band brings out the weirdos. Not in a bad way but kinda. I not trying to offend anyone by saying this but it’s true. Anyone in band is weird in their own way. But that’s not what I’m trying explain today. Today I’m going to explain how I survived being the only friend not in band.

Lonely

It’s harder then you think, as much as I like socializing with people I hate doing it when I can’t sit in or next to the band. For example at any assembly, I have to find someone to sit by because I hate sitting alone. Don’t worry guys, I find always find someone!

But the best times are when they play pep band for anything. I am allowed to sit next to them- actually, I don’t think I’m allowed to sit there but they have never kicked me out. So, if you ever see the Prairie Farm pep band, see if you can spot me holding Jayda’s music or sometimes you can find me playing random instruments.

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Second Semester

When is it the best time to join Band? I think it is the second semester of your senior year. It a great idea, you won’t learn anything but you can still put it on your scholarships- they won’t know the difference;).

Life Lesson

Today’s life lesson is suck it up and join whatever your friends are doing because you don’t want to miss out on anything. No one wants to be the one that is left out so suck it up butter cup.

Rats are disgusting change my mind. Oh, wait you can’t! Rat are disgusting, they live in the sewers and eat trash. But…..the sewers in Shell Lake are actually pretty clean, I won’t lie to you. I can happily say I did not see a rat in the sewers when I went down there but something horrible happened to me.

The Perfect Day

It was a normal Tuesday, summer just started. It was a perfect day to hang with some friends and skateboard. That’s exactly what happened after we went into the sewers. I can not actually believe I went down to the sewers and lasted a good hour before the horrible incident but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The first thing is to explain who I let me go in the sewers- Emma, Joe, and Sam all wanted to go down there. I, on the other hand, would have rather stay above ground but Joe said: “come on V you know you want to go down there!” I didn’t want to go into the sewer but I wasn’t going to sit by myself.

Follow The Leader

I followed my friends blindly into the sewer. When I said the sewer was clean, I meant it. It was a hot summer day most of the extra water evaporated so it wasn’t as wet. We went down to this never-ending tunnel, we had to crawl down and my bucket hat got very dirty during this whole process. After this long straight tunnel, we had to do parkour. If you think me and parkour are friends you’d be right. I like learning cool tricks and doing cool stuff. BUT I am also short, not having long legs were not a blessing at this exact moment.

Short Legs

I am 5’5- this means I do not have long legs. Doing parkour to get to the next level was difficult. The tunnel we were in ended, but there was another tunnel that was higher. We all decided that we’re going to send it. Sam, Joe, Emma all made it, now it was my turn. It wasn’t as smooth as I wish it would have been. I ended up doing the spits to get to the other side. OUCH! I was wearing short shorts and now I got myself a nice scar on the back of my right leg. That baby would not stop bleeding, and the best part I did not even notice until we took a small break to catch our breaths. Soon after that break, we when back because I felt like I couldn’t breathe and felt very claustrophobic but I did not say anything because I didn’t want to ruin the fun. But thank god Joe said we should go back because I should clean my wound.

Life Lesson

Life lesson- always practice parkour before going into any sewers(I don’t know how the TMNT live) and ALWAYS carry hydrogen peroxide.

As you drive where are your eyes? On the road? On your phone? Well as teenagers we are all excellent drivers. We are never distracted from the road, but that doesn’t stop fate. Fate is fricking stupid. In the last two years in total, we have had a few incidents involving our cars and the ditch, but what matters is that we all laugh at each other for being f**kin stupid. Here are a few examples of us being dummies.

Wrong side

One of us has driven on the wrong side of the road. You think it would be pretty easy to drive on the right side of the road but some people have proven me wrong. Here’s the backstory she was leaving the Rice Lake movie theater if you have never been there I will do my best to explain it. There are two roads and they are one-ways, the closer one to the movie theater is a one-way towards Rice Lake (this is important information). The other road goes towards Cameron which is the road she takes home, but she ends up going on the other one. She drives on the wrong side of the road for about 5 mins before she realizes that she is on the wrong side of the road. The worst part is she wasn’t alone and the people in the car told her she was on the wrong side of the road but she didn’t listen and she also did not realize why the other cars were hoking and clicking their lights at her. What a dummy.

ANOTHER SUMMER DAY

In the summer, we do not have to worry about weather issues. So you can drive as fast as you want (which is always 55mph). Sometimes you can go 60 if you’re feeling risky, but the faster you go the more dangerous it gets. Someone I know went a little fast while driving on a back road. We all know that Wisco roads have a few potholes and if you go a little faster then the speed limit you could end up popping a hole in your wheel.

IRONIC

The day I started this blog post I ended up in the ditch. The best part is I have the best winter vehicle out of all of us. 

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LIFE LESSON

 So, the life lesson I’m giving you today is driving is hard. it’s completely okay if you end up in the ditch, just remember that your ego hurts a little less if you laugh at yourself first.

P.S Sorry there’s not a lot of pictures, none of my friends wanted to share pictures of their experiences. So, here’s a picture that will explain my next post!

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Don’t jump off cliff/bridges if you can’t swim.

As you can tell can clearly see in the title, someone I know can’t swim. That someone is me. Not being able to swim restricts you from a lot of activities, but I think I had a death wish last summer. That statement brings me to my advice- don’t jump off cliffs/bridges if you can not swim. It sounds like advice you don’t need to hear if you can’t swim, but some people don’t listen.

MY BACKSTORY WITH SWIMMING

I lied, I can kinda swim. If swimming equals not drowning. I’ve been swimming my whole life;). Haha jk, when I “swim” it looks like I’m drowning. For example, it takes me 5x longer to get across a pool compared to anyone who can swim. The best part is I’m not actually swimming, I’m just pushing off the bottom of the pool!

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ILLEGAL? No.

In good o’ Prairie Farm, we have a dam. I was told, “If you don’t jump off the dam, did you even graduate from Prairie Farm.” Personally, I would rather graduate somewhere else (except Barron). This dam led me to my first experience of jumping off bridges into water. In May, I decided I was going to be brave and jump off the dam! but I didn’t want to jump alone for safety reasons. Emma jumped with me, but before I jumped, I shook Emma’s hand and said “if I drown, save me” now I say that each time I am put into a situation where I could possibly drown. We jumped off the dam into cold water. I remember jumping and being in complete shock and remembering a small fact. I. Can. Not. Swim. But I do watch movies, and after a brief moment of pondering life, YOU’RE SUPPOSE TO GO TO THE SURFACE. So, that’s what I did, I’m very happy that they didn’t have to say “Vanessa drowned in the Prairie Farm dam” at my funeral-that would be embarrassing. Fun fact: Emma has jumped off the dam a lot, but the one thing she forgot to tell me was how to get out of the water. So, I now have a scar on my knee from lifting myself up to the railing. Thanks, Emma!

HOW MANY BRAIN CELLS

After jumping off the dam I felt accomplished but then someone told me I had to jump off the bridge in Haugen. If you have never seen the Haugen bridge then you’re missing out, it’s roughly 45 feet high. If you ever need a group of people to jump with you hmu, my friends and I will gladly come! After jumping off Haugen, I realized how bad I am at swimming. After you jump you have to swim a good distance to get back on land. Let’s just say I jumped second out of five and I was the last one out of the water.

EAU CLAIRE CIFFS

After my struggles in Haugen, I didn’t think It was a good idea to jump off a cliff into water, but I think I lost brain cells after jumping off the dam/Haugen. Or peer pressure at it’s finest, but I jumped off a cliff! After an hour of sitting and debating, it was mad scary.

BE SMART

At the end of the day, I don’t recommend jumping off anything into the water if you can’t swim. That’s just stupid, but on the other hand just do it!

As a teenager, I have learned many valuable lessons over the years. In my blog posts, I will be sharing what to do and not to do. Most of the life lessons I will be sharing is what not to do.

To start off any good story, you need to have the background information. The most important background information is who will be in my stories. My stories will constant of my friends Emma, Jayda, Cedar, Kiara, Ivy, Evan, and myself. These people are the most important people in my life other than my family of course.

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This leads to my first life lesson have a good support system. I mean everyone has a family, but you also need a family that you pick (aka a friend group). My support system is amazing, if I ever need them they will be there for me. We share many great memories together but before I start sharing life stories I should explain who my friends are.

My Friends

Emma is the boy crazy one but not in a nasty way (this is a Christian sever). Everyone thinks she a B because she makes fun of everyone but she will be there if you ever need her. She is always down for an adventure, she wants to go to college for Biology.

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Cedar is the party animal of the group. She will do almost anything if it makes us laugh or peer pressure. She doesn’t know what she is doing in life, but she’s here to have a good time.

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Kiara is the mom of the group. If you ever need anything she’s the one to ask. Her purse holds everything you need, and she always has gum. She’s has a major RBF but she cares a lot, she wants to go to college for physical therapy.

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Ivy is the adult, by this I mean she works 24/7. She is never off work, so she’s lame and can never hang. She wants to go to college for special education.

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Evan is the athlete one, he’s a god at all the sports he plays. He acts like he hates all of us but he loves us. He going to go to college to become an FBI agent.

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I am super funny but I say some of the stupidest stuff you will ever hear. I’m one of the best drivers in the group, I come up with stupid ideas that we end up doing, and I want to go to college for marketing communication.

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Now that you’ve met the team, in my next blog posts, you will learn what not to do in life- all from real-life experiences. Featuring my wonderful friends and some special guests along the way.