The unemployment rate in this country is at ten percent and many are deciding that in order to improve their employment opportunities they need to improve their educational status. An excellent way to get into a new field is to take college courses and get a degree. Unfortunately, no all of us have the time. Good thing that there is an online university that is a good alternative.

Western Governors University (WGU) is an university that offers online courses. The university currently serves over 17,000 in 50 states and was founded by 19 governors of U.S. States. WGU is fully accredited and because WGU is a non-profit university it also very affordable

WGU offers an online nursing degree as well as degrees in teaching, business, information technology and other health professions.

While universities have been around for hundreds of years, online learning is a new trend that makes it easier for students to obtain advanced degrees.

This year I will be traveling to California for vacation so I am on the look out for great Disneyland packages, because Disneyland is a must see for my family. It doesn’t matter that I grew up just 20 minutes from Disneyland and I have been there at least 2 dozen times, I still love it!

One of our favorite things to do is to make lunch reservations at the Blue Bayou. As soon as the park opens, head to the exit of the Pirates of the Caribbean and there is a podium there that takes reservations. This restaurant can be seen as you ride Pirates of the Caribbean and it is only at Disneyland!

One of my favorite musicals is Oklahoma! But it didn’t take me hiring a Oklahoma criminal defense lawyer to find out that the movie version of Oklahoma! was not filmed in the state.

The 1955 musical starring Shirley Jones and Gordon MacRae was actually shot in Nogales, Arizona. It seems that Oklahoma had become far too developed to look like the turn of the century period in which the movie took place. However, the Governor of Arizona made Nogales an honorary part of the State of Oklahoma during the filming of the movie.

If you have ever considered booking Outer Banks vacation rentals, make a point of seeing the wild horses. The Outer Banks of North Carolina is one of the few places that you can see wild mustangs roaming free. These mustangs are descendants of the Spanish mustangs which arrived almost 500 years ago.

Once numbering in the 1000s, these horses roam the full length of the Outer Banks, from Shackleford Banks, all along Core Banks, Ocracoke, Hatteras, and on northward beyond Corolla on Currituck Banks. They are protected by state and federal laws.

When I was in High School, we had a vote. We voted for or against establishing a smoking area outside the cafeteria. I voted yes. They only reason was that I hated the smoke filled bathrooms. After the smoking area was established the bathrooms became smoke free!

The smoking area was used by the die-hard smokers and buy some members of the football team who would buy cigars and smoke them thinking they were cool! This was in the 70s and while we knew some of the dangers of smoking, I don’t think we realized the extent of the ill effects that could be caused by smoking. Needless to say, the smoking area no longer exists at my old high school and I am sure that the bathrooms are probably smoky again!

The first tract housing in the United States was built in Levittown, New York. The city itself was named after the building firm Levitt and Sons headed by Abraham Levitt and his sons William and Alfred.

The town was built on what used to be potato farms and while they were not a manufactured home, each home was built with speed, efficiency and cost-effectiveness in mind. The homes were all built on concrete slabs and utilized pre-cut lumber shipped from California. By July, 1948 30 houses a day were being constructed. Half of the first 2,000 homes were rented within two days.

Levitt and Sons decided to introduce a ranch home in 1949 that would be for rent, not for sale. The home would be larger, more modern and sale for $7,990. The homes were also built on a concrete slab, but included an attic, but no garage. Radiant heating was also included. There were five models available, but the only actually difference were window placement and exterior color choice. By 1950 the new models included a car port and a built-in television set and the 1951 model included a partially finished attic. Over 17,500 homes were built in the area by 1951.

Three other communities were built in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico.

Before there were thousand of diet fads and online information about the best diet pills, there was TOPS – Take Off Pounds Sensibly.

TOPS was founded in 1948 by Esther Manz of Wilwaukee, Wiconsin. America was just coming out of the Depression in the 40s, so the ideal American woman was not the thin waifs that you see today, but a founder, fuller more curvaceous woman.

Esther wanted to set up a support system for overweight and obese people that could help them lose weight. TOPS expanded its program over the years to include helping those with bulimia and anorexia, as well as other weight related programs.

TOPS has over 10,000 chapters in the United States. Club members who maintain their goal weight get extra recognition. Meetins emphasize nutrition and exercise and published materials are given to members. Membership fees are only $25 per year.

We have been talking about taking a trip to Rome for several years now. My husband’s father is from Italy and my husband would love to travel there and see where his roots come from. After watching the film Angels & Demons recently, I would love to visit the sites seen in the movie. In the movie, Robert Langdon visits various sites in Rome to try and prevent several murders. The path he takes was supposedly made by a secret group called the Illuminati.

After searching the internet for airfares, europass rates and international travel insurance, I came across an actual do-it-yourself tour put together by Sharon Holton-Schmitt of the Milwaukee European Travel Examiner. Part one of the tour takes you to St. Maria del Popolo Church in the Piazza del Popolo

St. Peter’s Square

St. Maria della Vittoria Church

and the Trevi Fountain.

This is only part one of the tour, so I am patiently waiting for part two to be published! Sounds like fun!

Recently, the New York Yankees have had to cut prices on their premium seats. Why? There seem to be some empty seats. The price of New York Yankees tickets for front seats is over $2,000 and other seats are well over $500 and $1000. An upper stand seat to the 1953 World Series sold for $7.00. What a difference!

Since I was thinking about Vegas vacations, I got to wondering what does “Las Vegas” mean anyway. Las Vegas actually means “the meadows.” When I think of Las Vegas, I think of a desert and not a meadow. The name came from a group of explorers, who came across a green area after walking through the desert. Thus, the name Las Vegas stuck.

Doesn’t look too much like a meadow, does it?