...: MY Travel Season Staples! :)

Current H!GhL!Ght @ the S.C....

SiMPSON DiD iT!

...we UPSET our BiGGEST RiVAL, the Central Dutch in a nervewracking, but AMAZiNG football game last Saturday!

It was a COLD, COLD day, but the STORM was HOT...we went ahead 17-7; Central fought back to tie it (thankfully we held 'em to only a field goal) & the game went in to OT. We scored on a 2nd down 25 yard pass. Then on Central's 2nd down, STORM senior Tim Stover INTERCEPTED it to WiN 24-17! The fact that it was AT CENTRAL made the win even better.

I wish I could see the replay! :D

This was the PERFECT end to a 7-3 season & PERFECT beginning to a new SiMPSON STORM DOMiNATiON..it was very special for the seniors, the NEW coaching staff, the 8 SPiRiTED shirtless guys cheering on a freezing day, & the entire SiMPSON community.

READ The Des Moines Register article here.
READ the SiMPSON press release here.
CHECK OUT photos from the game here.
APPLY to SiMPSON for FREE here.
Be a STORM athlete here.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

MY Travel Season Staples! :)

Here lie the items that, despite their simplicity, are MY must-haves to survive 8 weeks of travel in the fall & spring!

I get the USA Today free @ my Fairfield Inns everyday & I've always really liked how they present the news - it's very reader-friendly AND they have word puzzles in the Life section that I enjoy doing (their's don't make me feel like an idiot like the New York Times Crosswords, LOL!)

YMCA Membership - FREE to use anywhere in the country! Granted, I don't use it as much as I should, it's very convenient & can be a nice stress-reliever. My favorite classes are Body Pump & Pilates.

Often times I'm out & about doing college fairs & high school visits ALL day w/o returning to my hotel till 10pm, so being dressed up & eating is a bad mix for Tiff...Tide to Go is a life-saver! :)

NOT just ANY map - the "EASY TO FOLD" maps! Sorry, but I don't have the patience, nor a high enough IQ to get a regular paper map back to it's original state.

GREAT food, FAST! ...I'm a pasta freak & my FAVES @ Noodles & Company are the Wisconsin Mac 'n Cheese & the Buttered Noodles!

Hotel pens. Yeah, strange huh?! I'm on the go constantly, so it's easy to misplace things, so FREE hotel pens are GREAT...not to mention they tend to disappear easily @ college fairs.

I LOVE crossword puzzles, particularly the ones I can actually get close to completing...this is a book I have FULL of People magazine crosswords & it's quite nice on airplanes or before bed.

I'm sure you see a recurring theme...word puzzles. Well, I also LOVE Scrabble AND competition. The Internet makes it easy to play with other people who are miles away, so my brother & I hash it out many evenings. Check out www.lexulous.com & search "ilvsports9" to challenge me...I DARE you! ;P

I'm already a year-round supporter of flip-flops, but they're particularly handy for trips to the hotel pool areas AND for getting through airport secruity QUiCKER!

Hotel HOT TUBS...ahhhh! After LONG 8am-10pm days & many hours on my feet, hot tubs are the PERFECT relaxing way to end a day.

Yep, I have a CrAzY addition to celebrity gossip magazines, LOL. Add this to the hot tub visit, clear my mind, & LiFE iS GOOD!

iPod - thanks to it, I can drown out the screaming children, loud snoring & annoying, repetitive airport announcements! My Enya & nature tunes are calming when I can't get to sleep, too...

DELiCiOUS Slim Tunas w/ cheese "FREAKY FAST"...'nuf said. :)

I'm on the road for WEEKS & sleep in several hotels, so a few days or a week in a homey bed & breakfast is SO comforting, particularly the home-cooked big breakfasts! Heck, if I can do this for the same price as my hotel, there's no comparison...

My Travel Buddy, a.k.a. Blackberry. :) My friends live in it, I can look up directions & maps, e-mail, look up phone numbers; ALL at the touch of a button, AND my CNN shortcut keeps me connected to what's going on in the world beings I really don't know during travel season, LOL.

I'm a photographer, so travel is one of my FAVORiTE parts of my job. I get to see the country. You just never know what you'll run across, so you CAN'T leave home without a camera!

View my photography here.

McDonald's in general, EWW. BUT, I'm a regular many mornings for their cinnamon melts & a chocolate milk, mmmm...

An invisible person? No...a denim jacket! You can match it with ANY outfit & you're ready to go!

Lastly, the item that makes not only travel season complete, but my LiFE complete...iCE CREAM! In any form...DQ Reeses Blizzard, Cold Stone's Peanut Butter Cup Perfection, McDonald's 99 cent Hot Fudge Sundae, a Haagen Daaz Vanilla Bean Pint bought from the local grocer, I RARELY go a day with out it. A bad day can instantly turn into a GREAT day with a bite of this HEAVENLY treat. :)