Lessons from Iowa City

I am missing Iowa City hardcore today! I don't know whether it is the fact that I got an email to attend a thank you dinner for volunteering with Summer of the Arts today (a 3 hour drive for dinner on a Wednesday night seems a little excessive), or if it's because I went to HyVee (there used to be one 2 blocks from where I lived...now the closest is 20 minutes), but the nostalgia is real.

Iowa City and I were not always best friends. Coming from a small town (population ~1800) and going to undergrad in a bigger small town (~8000), Iowa City was an adjustment. We definitely had our differences. Parking, for one. Parking had been free for the first 22 years of my life, and generally easy to find. Iowa City, on the other hand, often required knowledge and stealth to secure a parking spot, usually along with money and sometimes a winding trip up to the (almost) top of a parking garage. Biking seemed like an easier, less expensive option, but I definitely did not have the road to myself. Biking in Iowa City is very different than biking on the beautiful Trout Run Trail in Decorah or through the streets of small towns where there might be one car every couple minutes. Iowa City has great accessibility and lanes for bikes, but I still felt anxious riding alongside all the traffic. My first year in Iowa City, it also felt more congested and less 'nature-y' to me than the places I was used to. However, Iowa City and I became pretty close over the 3 years I lived there and I learned a lot from my experiences there!

Iowa City taught me:

1. That Iowa City is MUCH more than Kinnick Stadium. Before moving to Iowa City, my ties to Iowa City were going to football games at Kinnick and going to Coral Ridge Mall (which isn't even really in Iowa City). Iowa City has so much culture and SO many things to offer (a wonderful farmer's market, free concerts and activities, soooo many parks!, etc.). Although it is sometimes hard to determine the separation between university and city, Iowa City is a beautiful place with a lot of culture!

2. That Iowa City does not ALL feel cityish. You CAN be in Iowa City without feeling like you are constantly surrounded by 71,591 of your closest friends. I was lucky to find a quiet place to live with a large lawn and grove of trees and greenery around it! It was right on a main road, but you could barely see our place when driving by (this did make it difficult when people were TRYING to find us). We had a lot of birds, rabbits, squirrels, lightning bugs, and even deer that stopped by regularly! Even though Iowa City has the word 'City' in it, it also has the word 'Iowa' in it. It's not really that big.

3. To appreciate local foods! Growing up in a small town where the closest Wal-Mart, McDonald's, etc. was at least half an hour away, I got very excited about chain restaurants. There were still so many I hadn't tried or even HEARD of by the time I was in college. I didn't discover Chipotle (Yum!) until my sophomore year of college! However, once I moved to Iowa City, all the chain restaurants were there ALL the time. There were also an overwhelming amount of local restaurants. I tried to try as many different places as I could while I was in Iowa City and came to love local restaurants. Don't get me wrong, I still love Olive Garden, but local restaurants have so much cuteness and uniqueness to offer! Whenever I travel somewhere new, I now want to find the fun local places to eat (thanks for your help in this venture Trip Advisor!) and I greatly appreciate them!

4. That I REEAAALLLLLYYYYY want a dog! Okay, I already knew this, but there are so many cute dogs in Iowa City! Seeing all the cute dogs all of the time made me want a dog even more (if that was possible). I was lucky enough to get to dog sit for a super cute puppy a couple times while I lived in Iowa City. This gave me a reason to hang out at the dog park (dog parks are another awesome thing Iowa City helped me discover) and relieved my dog fever a little bit!

5. That Froyo is AH-MAZING! Okay, I already knew this one too, but I had A LOT of froyo while living in Iowa City. Again, I LOVE local places. If you haven't been to Yotopia in Iowa City, GO! What are you waiting for?? And Froyo March Madness is a thing! Giving up sugar for lent while living near Yotopia? A BAD idea!!

6. To greatly appreciate libraries, summer reading programs, author visits, and all things literature! It was quickly brought to my attention that Iowa City is a UNESCO City of Literature. This is pretty awesome. Iowa City is full of creative people, festivals, and scenery related to literature. I got to enjoy book sculptures and literary quotes imprinted into sidewalks on a daily basis. There was also an adult summer reading program at the library each year. Summer reading programs were my FAVORITE as a child (really anything to do with reading and reading quizzes, lists, or activities was my favorite). I was more than excited to get my card each summer and fill out the books and how many hours I read...and get a book as a prize when I turned my card in! During my time in Iowa City, I was also able to see and get books signed by Lois Lowry, Melissa Gilbert, and Reyna Grande. I had not heard of Reyna Grande before living in Iowa City, but I have now read all three of her books and LOVED each and every one. The Distance Between Us was the 'One Community One Book' choice for 2014. One Community One Book is a project in Iowa City and surrounding areas. Each year a book is chosen and related community events and discussions are planned. The goal is to bring people together through reading and stimulate discussion about human rights issues. How cool is that?!

7. That the Blue Zones project exists and it is awesome! Iowa City was designated as a Blue Zones city while I lived there and I got the chance to participate in some great events promoting wellness! Blue Zones started out as an exploration into the longest living cultures in the world and now includes some great overall life wellness tips. Check it out!: www.bluezones.com

8. That there are white fluffy bugs. A very random discovery, but I did discover a white fluffy bug while living in Iowa City. It had a small blueish body and the rest looked like a tiny feather or fuzz ball.

9. That ice cream trucks are a real thing and they really do play music!! Sadly, I never actually have gotten ice cream from an ice cream truck, and I only saw the ice cream truck in Iowa City once, but I heard the truck many, many times! I loved hearing the happy music flow through my windows!


I love all that small towns have to offer (friendly neighbors, recognizing people around town, free parking, less stoplights,...maybe this is a list for a future post), but Iowa City grew to hold a special place in my heart and is now another place that feels like home. I definitely need to make plans to go back and visit soon!

Lists!

I love making lists. To-do lists. Shopping lists. Bucket lists. Lists of things that bring me joy. Daily gratitude lists. Lists of the books I read each year. Sometimes I get Carried away with my lists (with a name like Carrie I have to embrace the puns!). I think one of the reasons I love making lists so much is –might as well start off my first post with a…list!

1. Lists are often still created on paper with a pen (at least mine are). I do sometimes use my phone to make lists but only if pen and paper aren’t available. I love technology most of the time and typing is so much faster (and results in less hand cramps) than writing when it comes to long things, but there is something about holding that pen in your hand and watching the ink transform into something beautiful on the page. It results in something unique and specially created. No two written things are exactly the same. The handwriting is different, the spacing between words and letters is different; it’s pure beauty!
2. Lists create order by bringing everything together in one place. Sometimes my thoughts are so scattered and random that I need those lists to keep everything together!
3. Lists are fun to look back at! For the past few years I thought I had lost the journal with my bucket list. Amongst cleaning and moving, I found it! While I still have many things to do, (I still have never been golfing, touched a penguin, or learned the Thriller dance, among many other things!) I was able to cross a few things off! I have now accomplished my life goals to:         
             a.     “Graduate from college with a degree” (Can you graduate from college without a degree…?)         
             b.     “Go to a KFC in Kentucky!” (Thank you Cadiz, KY for being a convenient stop on the way to Nashville!)         
             c.      “Go to Harry Potter Theme Park” (Mmm…commence cravings for butterbeer)
4. Lists allow for quick and enjoyable trips down memory lane! Almost two years ago I started keeping a daily gratification journal. Each page has a date and I use one line of the page each year to record positive things that happened that day. It has been fun to look back at what I was up to a year ago as I make my second round through my journal! It only takes me about 30 seconds to record something each day and forces me to find the positive in every day! Usually that is not hard for me, but there have been a few days where, if it weren’t for my journal, I may not have noticed the positive.

I have always loved to write and have had interest in starting a blog for awhile, but I never knew what to blog about. Why not start a blog of lists? I already love making them and lists can be created about ANYTHING! The options are unlimited! :) I’ve already started creating my next list! 

P.S. Guess who just crossed “Start a Blog” off their bucket list!?