Cactusland, A Sleepout & the Northern Country

yes, I AM alive! ;P It's been awhile since I blogged as that's quite evident of the job of an Admissions Counselor - it's a lifestyle, not just a 9-5 job! So, I'll fill ya in on what I've been up to the past few weeks...

I spent a week in Arizona covering pretty much the entire state: Tucson, Phoenix, Flagstaff, Sedona, Flagstaff & Prescott...I hit the flat, HOT, desert and the beautiful, COOL, mountains. Being from Iowa, I enjoyed the 80 & 90 degree temps in October, but can't imagine being somewhere in the summer where it's too hot to go outside! Most of Arizona is also very brown & drab, so I really appreciate Iowa's rolling hills of pretty green fields & beautiful Fall colored trees! I did really love the gorgeous Arizona sunsets, though! My trip was successful overall, as I met some fantastic students of ALL ages - 8th grade on up to a student in his first year of community college. It was cool to also run into a Simpson alumnus & several former Iowans along the way. I did college fairs & high school visits, complete with driving right over road spikes the WRONG direction while heading into the Tucson Convention Center parking lot for a fair (yeah, my husband & co-workers like to call it a "Tiff Moment")...

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B: (yeah...I totally missed the warning sign!)

Exhibit C: ...the aftermath :(

Enterprise Rental Car roadside assistance got a call from me that night...oops!

Following my trip through the cacti, I returned home for a night & then headed to campus & Des Moines for Reggie's Sleepout on that Friday. Who is Reggie & why was I sleeping out, you ask?! It's an event to raise awareness & money for youth homelessness in Central Iowa sponsored by the Iowa Youth Homeless Centers. It was named after a young man who died tragically after aging out of the foster care system- you can read more details of his story here. I heard about the event through a local news website last year & thought it would be a great opportunity to volunteer my time to the community and get the Simpson campus involved with a good cause. I organized a team called the "Simpson Storm Sleepers" & invited faculty, staff, students & alumni to participate. From 7:00pm to 7:00am, we slept outside in boxes or tents in the cold Iowa November (20 degrees)! It was held in Des Moines & we ended up being the largest group who participated among the hundreds of other "sleepers". Last year, only 6 students braved the cold & this year we had 27 Storm Sleepers - including one of my freshmen from Fort Lauderdale, FL & one from Houston, TX! Our team raised $900 as well & was featured on this week's front page of The Simpsonian. It's nice to see Simpson represented & recognized positively. We were pleased with the event's success and I was so proud of the students who gave up a Friday night of hanging out with friends to help support a national crisis! Here are some more pics from Reggie's Sleepout (& yes I'm a 27 year old wearing a penguin stocking cap)...

Last week I visited a bunch of high schools in the Omaha & Lincoln, Nebraska areas, which was nice because I got to spend the nights @ home since they're within driving distance. I reacclamated myself to my husband who I forgot I had...HA! Saturday was a super busy day in the Admissions Office, as well as the day of the Storm's last football game against Buena Vista - we WON! I was pretty thrilled that within 2 days I had students visit from Florida, Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Mexico & Illinois...the word of the great SIMPSON COLLEGE is spreading quickly - YAY!

After working in the office yesterday morning, myself & 4 students headed up north to the Twin Cities. Today we had the annual Minnesota Open House in Minneapolis for prospective students & their families to learn more about Simpson right in their own backyard. Our Assistant Football Coach Joe Ashfield came as well. A couple parents of current students in the Twin Cities area stopped by (it was SO cute - one mom showed up all decked out in Simpson attire - sweatshirt & cap!!) & it was fun to talk with the alumni who came. Next semester I'm hosting open houses in Illinois & Nebraska as well. If you're from those states, I'd LOVE to see ya there!

Here I am with Cindy (mother of Simpson sophomore from South St. Paul, MN), Sarah '10 (Sociology major from Eagan, MN), Colleen '11 (Communications major from Andover, MN) & Sadie '09 (Criminal Justice & Spanish major from Altoona, IA)

The Minnesota Open House '07 crew - Assistant Football Coach Joe Ashfield, me, Glenn '11 (Criminal Justice major from Plainfield, IA), Sadie, Sarah & Colleen before they head back to campus

I finish off this travel season up here in Minnesota visiting high schools & then it's home to settle in for the Iowa winter. :) ...and clean my disaster of a house!