iDesMoines.com

Lo Lo Jones Makes the Finals for the 100 M Hurdles

admin — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:02:07 +0000

Lo Lo Jones ran track for Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa. She landed a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team for the 100 m hurdles. In between, she has overcome many obstacles. Lo Lo ran her heart out in Beijing and made the finals for the 100 meter hurdles.
As the race began, Lo Lo was off to a great start…she was ahead of her competitors…then her right foot caught the hurdle…she stumbled and lost the lead. Jones ended up in 7th place. She looked devastated. In an interview, she said she hits a hurdle about twice a year…this was one of the two times. Why did it have to happen in the Olympic finals…one will never know. I do know Lo Lo Jones can hold her head high and be proud of all her accomplishments. In my eyes, she is an amazing athlete and an Iowa champion!

Shawn Johnson Wins the Gold

admin — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:56:53 +0000

Wow…what a performance for Shawn Johnson on the balance beam. She did a fantastic job and her smile says it all! Finally a gold medal for Shawn, making all the hard work pay off.

I was relieved she did not have to perform first on the beam–as she did in the floor routine. I felt her floor routine was great and it was difficult to sit through the rest of the athlete’s performances. In the end, she took the silver medal on the floor exercise.

I felt her strongest area in the team competition was the balance beam. I knew Shawn had a very good chance at a gold in this individual competition. As I sat on the edge of my seat…watching the balance beam routine…I thought she looked so graceful and smooth. Shawn nailed the performance! Finally…after 2 others completed their beam routine…she held on to win the GOLD MEDAL!

I am proud of this young and extremely energetic Iowan! Way to go Shawn Johnson!

Which Des Moines Websites Do You Visit?

admin — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 03:30:28 +0000

As previously reported on iDesMoines.com, the Des Moines Register (dmregister.com) and State Of Iowa website (iowa.gov) are two of the most searched and visited local websites. In addition to those, there are plenty of other local businesses and organizations that get their fair share of traffic/visits here in the metro. Based on data from Google, here are a few you might be looking for yourself.

Des Moines Airport    dsmairport.com (visit)
Des Moines Science Center    sciowa.org (visit)
Des Moines Visitors Bureau    seedesmoines.com (visit)
Des Moines Craigslist    desmoines.craigslist.org (visit)
Des Moines Art Center     desmoinesartcenter.org (visit)
Des Moines Partnership    desmoinesmetro.com (visit)
Des Moines Symphony    dmsymphony.com (visit)
Des Moines University    dmu.edu (visit)
Des Moines Public Library    desmoineslibrary.com (visit)
Des Moines Playhouse    dmplayhouse.com (visit)
Des Moines Metro Opera    dmmo.org (visit)
Civic Center    civiccenter.org (visit)
Des Moines Business Record    businessrecord.com (visit)
Des Moines Help Wanted    desmoineshelpwanted.com (visit)
Des Moines Public Schools    desmoinespublicschools.com (visit)
Des Moines Botanical Center    botanicalcenter.com (visit)
Iowa State Fair    iowastatefair.com (visit)
Iowa Health    iowahealth.org (visit)
Adventureland    adventurelandpark.com (visit)
Great Ape Trust    greatapetrust.org (visit)
Salisbury House    salisburyhouse.org (visit)

Enjoy some of the best websites in Des Moines, and we’ll bring you more soon!

Olympics…Des Moines Natives Going for the Gold

admin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 21:56:09 +0000

Des Moines, Iowa is going to be represented in Beijing. We have two athletes going for the gold: Shawn Johnson a current Valley Student…Lolo Jones a former Roosevelt athlete. Johnson is a talented gymnast and Jones is competing in 100 m hurdles.

Shawn Johnson is a West Des Moines native. In my opinion, Johnson is a shoe-in to win the gold in gymnastics. Shawn has a beautiful, contagious smile. It’s no wonder she has big sponsors like Hy-Vee, Adidas and Coca-Cola. With all her current success, it seems like she still remains well grounded. Best of luck Shawn!

Lolo Jones did not make the 2004 Olympics…leaving her with doubts as to where her track career was going. However, she continued to pursue her dream and won the indoor 60 m hurdles in March ‘08 which led her to Beijing. Her first round of the Olympic 100 meter hurdles is on Sunday the 17th….Good Luck Lolo!

Some other Iowans competing in the Olympics include: Ben Askren–wrestler, Jenny Barringer–3,000 m steeplechase, A.G. Kruger–hammer thrower, Jason McCartney–cyclist, Christine Thorburn–cyclist, Nancilea Underwood-Foster–diver, Leigh Smith–javelin.

Iowa is well represented in the Beijing Olympics—go kick some “booty” and bring home the gold.

Iowa & Des Moines Blogs. Add Yours Here!

admin — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:17:00 +0000

As a follow up to Cara Hall’s article in Juice (and on dmjuice.com) titled Get Blogging Already, I decided to create this post to help our readers find more Des Moines blogs and other bloggers in Iowa. If you live in Iowa and would like your blog added here, either add it to our comments section below, or send me an email and I’ll add it for you (info @ idesmoines.com).

In case this is your first time here, I’ll give you a little background on myself and this site. My name is Jeff Carey and I own an Internet consulting business in Clive. We mainly specialize in search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click advertising (PPC) to help companies find new customers online. In the summer of 2007 I launched iDesMoines to blog about interesting people, events and companies in central Iowa. It’s been fun to watch the site grow to several hundred visitors per day. Outside of work, my interests include golf and hybrid vehicles. I currently run about 20 blogs and have several ghost bloggers helping us create fresh content.

So, here is the list in no particular order!

The Rally Flag (Cale Johnson)
AndyDrish.com (Andy Drish)
WealthWithMortgage.com (Tyler Osby)
TheViewFromHere (Sarah Reid)
CoffeeToCarPayments.com (Derek Bough)
DowntownDesMoinesBlog.com (Josh Bickford)
LeadershipRamblings (Eric Peterson)
Converstations.com (Mike Sansone)
PleaseObey.com (Cat Rocketship Hall)
DesLoines (Tristan Frank)
DMFamilies (Kelly Moore)
DoYouQ? (Mitch Mathews)
MoveItDave (Dave Williams)
RobJensen (Rob Jensen)
DrewsMarketingMinute (Drew McLellan)
Best Kids Website (Molly)
The Des Moines Perspective (Steve Wilke-Shapiro)
Des Moines Rehabbers Club

Send me your Iowa or Des Moines blog information today (url and your name) so that our visitors can find you. If you think iDesMoines.com would interest your readers, we too would appreciate being noted on your site!