Cool Simpson Factoids...

Here are a few fun facts about Simpson that I hope you find interesting:

’99 graduate Colter Allison landed a role on the hit show 'Dawson’s Creek’

4 of the 5 Lane sisters attended Simpson-- together they appeared in over 60 movies—Lola Lane was the inspiration for superman’s girlfriend, Lois Lane

John Wayne’s father, Clyde Morrison attended Simpson

THE LEGEND OF THE HAUNTING OF SIMPSON’S COLLEGE HALL (the building that I actually work in!!) IS DOCUMENTED IN THE BOOK “HAUNTED HEARTLAND”

The Des Moines Metro Opera was founded by Simpson professor Robert Larson--30 years later, as one of the largest summer opera programs, they still utilize Simpson's campus

SUSAN B. ANTHONY SPOKE AT SIMPSON IN THE LATE 1800s TO PROMOTE WOMEN’S RIGHTS

JOHNNY CARSON’S MOTHER , RUTH CARSON-HOOK, ATTENDED SIMPSON

KIP JANVRIN, CLASS OF ’88, PARTICIPATED IN THE DECATHALON AT THE 2000 OLYMPIC GAMES IN SYDNEY

In 2007, Simpson won the Margorie Giles Women’s Sports Championship Trophy--The Giles Trophy is emblematic of the best All-Around Women’s Athletic Program in the Iowa Conference

11 SIMPSON ALUMNI HAVE PLAYED PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL

’01 GRADUATE NICK ACKERMAN WAS THE FIRST NCAA DIII ATHLETE EVER TO RECEIVE THE HODGE TROPHY, AMATEUR WRESTLING’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS AWARD

’99 SIMPSON GRADUATE KELLY SCHADE WAS HONORED AS THE HONDA AWARD NCAA FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

FOR HER PART IN UNCOVERING A NEW SPECIES, ’01 GRADUATE EMILY KISSINGER HAS A RARE TROPICAL PLANT NAMED AFTER HER, KNOWN AS ANTHURIUM KINSINGERIAE CROAT

GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER ATTENDED SIMPSON IN THE LATE 1800s—HE RETURNED IN 1941 TO GIVE THE COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS

BISHOP MATTHEW SIMPSON PROVIDED A EULOGY FOR THE FUNERAL OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN

SIMPSON’S SMITH CHAPEL CONTAINS ONE OF ONLY 7 MOBILE PIPE ORGANS IN THE WORLD

THE SIMPSONIAN IS THE NATION’S LONGEST CONTINUOUSLY RUN STUDENT NEWSPAPER

IN THE LATE 1800s, FINAL EXAMINATIONS WERE GIVEN ORALLY AND THE PUBLIC WAS ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND

SIMPSON COLLEGE IS ONE OF THE 2O OLDEST CO-EDUCATIONAL COLLEGES IN THE NATION, ALLOWING WOMEN FROM THE DAY IT OPENED ITS DOORS

SIMPSON’S FIRST STUDENT HANDBOOK PROHIBITED CARD PLAYING, THEATRE-GOING AND DANCING

A little froggy...

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday break. Mine was good, too. I mean, if you enjoy being sick. Wednesday I headed to my sister's house in the middle of the snow storm that we were hit with here in central Iowa. After work and four inches later, I headed out, and actually made it in pretty good time. I got through Wednesday night and Thursday morning like a champ. Then, all of the sudden, after stuffing myself with turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, and french silk pie, I took a turn for the worse.

The rest of my family was in the living room, sluggishly moping around in their tryptophan induced hazes, only mustering excitement when the Lions scored a touchdown, when I noticed that my throat was feeling a little froggy.

I have a tendency to be sick during the winter, and I was feeling a little sullen as the doom creeped in upon me. By Friday morning I couldn't swallow, and my ears ached terribly. My sister called the local doc for me so I could get some medicine. They prescribed some antibiotics that didn't work, and sent me on my way. Eventually, I felt guilty for being sick with little niece Emerson around--I didn't want her to get sick too, so Saturday morning, I packed up and headed for the hills...or Des Moines...which isn't really all that hilly.

Anyway, five days later, I am still feeling the effects of my like 6th illness of the season. My voice disappears sometimes, and my face is completely stuffed up. The point is, all of you should drink less soda and more orange juice. I've got to go schedule that flu shot...

May Term in the Wilderness

Today was wet, and grey, and misty and cold. It made me think of two things: my trip to London, and more importantly in terms of this blog, my May Term trip to the Boundary Waters (most of the weather was great, but there was a day or two in there that were just nasty!). May Term is one of the things that makes Simpson awesome! It's a 3 week term after second semester...starts in May. You can either take a class, do an internship, or take a trip, and it's great!!!! I know I gave you a little tidbit of my trip to the Boundary Waters in a previous blog, but dabbling in it doesn't do the trip justice. Thus, I will dedicate this blog to the trip of my lifetime to the Boundary Waters. Here I am, all decked out in wilderness gear!

I've been to a lot of places, but none was ever as challenging as that week I spent in northern Minnesota getting my butt kicked by the wilderness. Why's that, you ask? Well, let me give you a little background. I'm not much into sweating...I don't like getting all gross, and I really hate smelling. I'm a clean girl--I shower daily (except on some Sundays, but that's a different blog). I'm not what you would have called the extreme canoeing-wilderness type. I didn't own watershoes, wool socks, vinyl hiking pants, a camp stove, or a sleeping bag for that matter. This was definitely going to be a trip that was going to push my limits.

What was the trip, exactly? It was 4 canoes, 8 people, tons of lakes, and miles and miles of hiking. We packed all our gear in a five portage packs (big gigantic backpacks), all our food in two bear barrels, strapped on our hiking shoes and took off on a 7 day adventure through the wilderness--real wilderness. No cell phones, no computers, no people, no houses, just us and the moose and the bears. At least one of my best friends, Lucy (in the pic--we met in our LAS class freshman year) was going to be there, too!

Did I have my doubts? Oh, heavens yes. On the walk over to the parking lot where we all met at 5 a.m. to head north, I was convinced I had screwed up, but I was this far in and I knew my canoeing partner probably couldn't steer the boat alone. I had committed. I was in for the long haul. In all honesty, before this class, I had never canoed before, and after signing up for this trip, I questioned my sanity. I was very unsure of my ability to get through it. It is highly physically taxing, and requires a great deal of mental and physical effort—neither of which I was sure I had the Sunday before we left. Me and my partner, Mosa, are in the picture to the left.

When we finally got on the water Tuesday morning, I thought for sure the beauty of the scenery would outweigh the anxiety I was feeling…that hope lasted for all of 15 minutes. Soon enough my arms started to tire and the portages definitely tested my strength. The first couple of portages were short and pretty easy—you just strap everything on like a pack mule and hike through the wilderness until you find more water. The first long portage we did was 190 rod long—which is over a half a mile. It was on this portage that I convinced myself that this trip may not have been a good idea. I had my backpack on my back and a canoe over my head resting on my shoulders--I was carrying this canoe all by myself. After I started walking, I wanted to cry, and I was certain I wouldn’t make it half the distance I needed to. After lots of struggle and a little help, I made it through. This picture is a couple of us taking off on a long portage.

To make it worse, I found a tick burrowed into my back which totally freaked me out, and my partner and I lacked a little communication and subsequently ran our boat into rocks several times. This picture is Leah checking my head for ticks, pleasant, I know. Also, getting over the fact that I would be drinking lake water and wouldn’t be showering for 7 days (uck!) was a great big mind hurdle. I just had to get up the motivation to jump. By the end of the week, we were having a blast, and walking a mile long portage was just another thing we did. The trip went faster than I ever imagined.

Going out in the wilderness is very much like embarking on any new journey in life. At times, starting out, we may find that we’ve run into a rock, or that we cannot quite maintain our balance. In fact, we may even discover a tick attached to our side and feel as though it is sucking the life right out of us—in these situations we cannot panic, but calmly find the tweezers and take care of the problem. And, sometimes you have to sleep on the ground--there's a pic of one of our campsites. Eventually, there may come a time when we aren’t sure that we will actually be able to go on, and at the end of the day we might sit down and ask ourselves what in the world we were thinking to head in this direction...but the end is always in sight--even if you can't always see it.

I think this trip is also a testament to the lessons I learned at Simpson. Strapping a canoe on your shoulders and committing to hiking several miles in the wilderness was not neccesarily my thing--but by the time I came out of the beautiful landscape, I knew I was changed. I was physically, mentally, and emotionally stronger. I was faced with a challenge unlike any I had ever faced before, and I conquered it--and it felt great...even better after the four dollar-fifteen minute shower I took when coming off the water! And, most of all, the 7 strangers I went into the wilderness with were now great friends, and we spent 7 days having a GREAT time. May Term is great, the Boundary Waters was fantastic, and is just one more awesome thing I add to the pile of cool experiences I had at Simpson.

Where do you get a teething baby?

As I told you in my last blog, travel season is nearly over (Monday is my last day out on the road). I have to let those of you coming to campus tomorrow down easy, though, as tonight, after I get home from work I am going to hop back in the car to go be a bridesmaid in yet another wedding--unfortunately, I won't be here to see you. I've been to lots of weddings lately, and I think this is at least wedding number four that I have been in, if not five. Being in weddings makes me nervous. It is such a big day for the bride and groom, and that I have to be part of it puts an incredible amount of pressure on me. Our dresses are fairly long, I'm not the most graceful person, heels are somewhat troublesome, and I have a tendency to be quite clumsy. My falling down the aisle or knocking over a lit candle is one one of my big fears--the whole wedding could be a debacle, just because of my presence.

The other thing about weddings, though, is that I am very frustrated that I never seem to catch the bouquet. Well, that's not entirely true. I did catch it once--at my sister's wedding. And by 'catch' I mean it came and hit me in the face, cutting me across the nose, and I bled. That was a great moment...there are photos to prove it.

The best part about this drive today is that I get to go with a teething baby. I am sure she will be grumpy and slobbering everywhere. I was explaining this to my coworker, Andy, today, and he says: "Okay, so tell me again where you are going." So I tell him. And he says "then you're going where tomorrow?" So I tell him. He continues to look perplexed. "Are you confused?" I ask because it's obvious he's thrown off by something. And he says, "where do you get a teething baby!?" "Actually, Andy, they're on sale at Target!"

The actual story is that my sister who lives east of Des Moines is coming to pick me up with her husband and my niece--the teething baby, on our way west to Nebraska. So, that's where the teething baby comes in--and she's so friggen cute she could chew my finger off and I probably wouldn't care. I've even included proof of her cuteness (and her teething--notice that nice slobber spot on her elbow!). Yes, I know, a-dorable!


Alright, dear readers, I best get some things finished up before the day is done. I will hopefully have some pictures to post when I get back, and I'll let you know if I mess anything up too badly! :)

Highways and...upgrades?

There is really only one thing I want to do at 6 AM...Sleep. It might be because I have a really incredibly comfortable bed--it's also very warm, and as the weather gets colder, it is continually more difficult to get out of bed; it might also be because I just really like to sleep. I like to go to bed early and get up late. Thus, this morning, when the alarm clock went off at 5:45, I really didn't want to get up. I knew I had a long drive ahead of me and had to finish packing, though, and more than I love sleeping, I hate being late.

I drove about 2 hours and 45 minutes to get to my first school today and talked to several great students! It was a really great visit. At my second school this morning, I ran into a Simpson alum who is a year older than me and now the band director for the high school. It was great to run into a familiar face! All in all, it was a great day of high schools--lots of students with great questions!

This afternoon, I got to my hotel to check in. The lady at the front desk is all "King, smoking room, right?" And I'm all, "Yah..no. Non-smoking." And she's all..."oh, well, um, this says smoking, let me see what I can do." (*I have allergies--smoke messes with my face and it's not pretty--especially sleeping in the remnants of it. I enjoy breathing in the morning.) She ended up having to upgrade me to the king suite with a whirlpool, couch, and an actual comforter--rather than those silky gross things! So, here I am, living the hotel high life in Cedar Falls.

Travel season is coming to an end, and as nice as it will be to stay in my own bed on a daily basis, I have grown accustomed to this nomadic existence over the last few months--especially when upgrades are involved! It's gone fast, and I realize how many people I have met--lots of great people that I hope to see at Simpson in the coming years!

What will I miss about travel season? Cable, mostly. :) And of course, listening to NPR for miles on end--seriously, it's interesting and you'll learn a ton. 640 AM, in case you were wondering. I will miss the curiousness of the great NE Iowan unknown and using my map on a daily basis. I have decided, as much as I hate getting out of bed, I really love mornings--nothing really beats an early morning misty drive in the pale rainbow of sunrise down a winding country road. I like small town restaurants, and random phone calls on the road. Roaming the streets for the biggest, oldest, coolest houses--Osage has a ton of them! And, of course, meeting new people in the schools and towns I've never been in before.

That being said, now that I've come to see all of you people, I'm pretty sure it's your turn to come to campus and visit me...

An Inner Monologue...

I've spent the last several days thinking of what to blog about next. As you may or may not have noticed, I have sort of been slacking on the blog front lately, and in my own defense, I have been sick, but nevertheless, I realize it's been all too long. Never fear, dear faithful readers, I am back. The problem for the last few days, though, has been that I have had serious writers block. I have mulled and mulled over ideas to blog about, and have come up with nothing substantial. I have, however had a very interesting inner monologue that went something like this:

"Self, what are you going to tell the people about this week?

"You could tell them about how you forgot to get gas before leaving town for a day full of school visits, even though you knew the night before your gas was gone, but thought it was too cold and too windy to stop and fill up. You thought you would just wait til morning to take care of the gas. Then, you had an allergy attack and were sneezing all morning, so on your way to get some breakfast, you decided against getting the gas as you were afraid the sneezing would somehow create a spark as you were sneezing/convulsing/holding the gas pump. You didn't really want to blow up, so you decided you would wait and get gas after you got food. Well, you forgot. Remember, you got a few miles out of Cedar Falls and looked at the control panel of the car to find that the little yellow light was there, shining in your face...Empty. Now, in one of her previous blogs, Tiffany proved to everyone that one can drive nearly forty miles on empty, so you weren't seriously scared about being gas-less and stranded on the side of the road, and since Tiffany previously blogged about being gas-less, this idea is no good. You can't use it.

"You could go back to the atrocious condition of your car, even though you've already used it once or twice, but, this time you could spin it along the lines of survival. Yesterday, as you looked around to find that six day old piece of pepperoni Kwik Star pizza next to a half eaten Zebra Cake on the floor, and that apple cinnamon Nutri-Grain bar in your purse, you realized that you actually could survive in your car for a few days. And, to combat the cold that is constantly creeping in, you have, as your co-worker Jeremy said, a closet in your car. There are clothes basically covering the entire backseat. There are also two winter coats--so as far as layers go, you would probably be fine. I think you could survive. Especially since there are a few bottles of water in the back seat...but, since that's the extent of the blog idea, it probably wouldn't survive.... :(

"What about the trip out of Des Moines to Cedar Falls at 6am in 60 mph wind? Beth already took the wind story...

"Blog about multitasking...You could tell the story about driving down the road the other day and decided to call the grandparents. You were talking to grandpa--he's cool, but I think he underestimates your ability to be a successful multi-tasker. You're talking to him, and he's all : "girl, you can't be driving and talking on the cell phone at the same time, you know, I really hope you're using one of those blue teeth thingys because your hands need to be on the wheel, right there at ten and two, now, come on girl you'll give this old man a heart attack worrying about what you're doing while not paying attention to the road (insert huge disgruntled sigh here)." And you're all: "Grandpa, if you only knew four minutes ago, I was texting, eating Kwik Star pizza, taking my antibiotics, checking the map, looking for a new CD, driving with my knees, taking the fingernail polish off my nails, and leaning over to answer my other cell phone all at the same time, you probably wouldn't be so concerned!" Again, decent idea, just difficult to develop.

"You could blog about nasty greasy food, but Beth just took that idea.

"How about blogging about running over your bare foot with your very heavy suitcase, and how after you finished screaming/crying/holding your breath your whole foot went numb? Yeah, you're right, that one just makes you sound stupid.

"You could blog about the soy candle store you stopped at to buy your grandma a candle for Christmas since soy candles are cleaner and burn slower, and they smell really really good, but what will you do if grandma takes a break from bidding on pink-colored crystal dishes on Ebay and decides to read your blog? Then the surprise would be ruined."

So, dear fans, there you have it--every little idea that crossed the train of blog thoughts that have run through my mind in the last few days--every little thought I never wanted to tell you about...sorry if I ruined your Christmas gift, grandma.

Travel.

You know you're in the middle of travel season when:

*You refer to your cozy, budget friendly hotel as "home."

*That guy at your favorite restaurant in the town you've only been in for 5 days starts recognizing your face and remembers your name.

*The first thing you do upon entering your own bedroom on those very few days in which you actually get to sleep in it is take your comforter, fold it up and place it in the corner. You're simply acting as you (or I) do upon entering a hotel room--remove that silky, weird bedspread and place it elsewhere.

*When you're talking to another Simpson admissions counselor on the phone, and you say "I'm sitting on the couch in my hotel room" and she says "What!?! You have a couch?! Ugh!!" Well, it's at that point that you realize there might be a little furniture deprivation happening.

*You can't really remember what your co-workers look like.

*Your bank statement shows that you've purchased a tank of gas at least every two or three days.

*Since you see your roommates an average of 12 hours a week, they forget that you actually live in the same apartment as them. You do stop home occasionally to pay the bills though.

*Even when you are home, you don't bother unpacking and continue to live out of your suitcase--you'll only be home for a day and a half, what's the point?

*You're visiting your sister for a day, and your dad happens to be there, too--when he looks in your car he about passes out on the lawn over how you've just gone and "trashed" it. *I just don't think he quite understands what it is that I do. Sheesh. If he knew that my car was essentially my home for the last month or so, he might realize that it happens to be my bedroom, office, living room, and that little place on the floor of the passenger seat just so happens to be my temporary garbage can--what of it?!

*When you actually do go out for dinner with another person (which is seldom), you automatically pull your book out of your purse and start reading it anyway.

*You can't really recall the last time you did laundry...

*You haven't seen Andy in weeks.

*You have 20x more interaction with people via Facebook or texting than face to face.

*You have, however, seen a ton of awesome kids in only a few short weeks!