Giving Thanks.

Tomorrow is THANKSGiViNG DAY & millions of Americans will be sitting down to consume piles more food than we do on a normal day...completely ignoring the "PLEASE STOP BEFORE I BLOW" grumbles from our interior organs. As you do this, I ask that you stop to remember, or say a prayer, for those other people in our world who sadly do not have such a privilege, or even enough food on any day. May God bless them AND those who are volunteering their holiday to serve food to homeless families! :) ...also take a moment to consider those who cannot be with family or who have recently lost a loved one; many of us are very BLESSED for what we have & who we have in our lives. THANKSGiViNG is a time to be GRATEFUL & as one of my family's traditions, we always go around the table before dinner saying something we're thankful for, SOOO...

On THANKSGiViNG DAY 2008, here is my answer
(yes, some are cliche, but no less important):

Mom, Dad, my brother Cory, Josh, & all my aunts, uncles, & cousins

Grandma & Grandpa Berkenes who are still going strong in their mid-80's!

Dear friends, particularly as I go through a difficult point in my life

SIMPSON COLLEGE - for the education it provided me, my job as an Admissions Counselor, my incredible co-workers, the opportunity to travel the country, & the talented students I get to work with

God & my FAiTH

My car that continues to hang on by a thread at 190,000 miles so that after my LAST payment next month, I can be $264.23 richer (or less poor) each month, LOL...yeah, check back to see if this makes the list next year

Good health

Food - shout out to mac 'n cheese, ice cream, Jimmy John's, french fries & Reeses!

President Elect Barack Obama

Entertainment to occupy my mind during this difficult time - good books, mushy celebrity gossip mags, reality T.V., football & basketball games, board games, crossword puzzles, Facebook, my camera, good movies...

Animals - both real and stuffed, LOL...they're comforting either way :)

A home - particularly that we're trying to sell ours & our realtor just told us the people who looked at it last weekend have it on their short list, WOOT! With today's economic state, you'll hear my thunderous roar once it's SOLD.

Life.

Hope.

Now it's your turn...what are YOU thankful for?

...AND that's a wrap!

Starting in September & ending yesterday...my 11th Admissions travel season is officially over! I've been occupying MANY planes, trains, & automobiles throughout the states of Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, & Illinois in search of future SIMPSON students with hopes they find it just as SPECiAL as I do! :) Thankfully, it seemed as though it was a successful one & although I really enjoyed my travels, I very much welcome the couple months of "staying put"...it can get exhausting, not to mention my body is WAY out of shape! I'm excited to get back into my work out routine, catch up with friends & family, spend more time getting in touch with my prospective students, watching some LiVE T.V., & making sense of my organized ChAoS of a work space! As usual, come February, I'll be itching to hit the road again... :)

Saturday, me & fellow out-of-state Admissions Counselor, Jamie, plus two of our great student ambassadors, Sadie '09 & Sara '10, hopped into a mini-van & headed East for Chicago to work SIMPSON's annual Chicago Open House. Our usually CrAzY, ENERGETiC selves were unusally BEAT & so, our Saturday evening didn't consist of fun Chicago site-seeing...instead it was complete with DELiVERED Sarpino's Pizza, an American Next Top Model marathon, Internet browsing, & reading in the hot tub (the hotel's free copies of Newsweek & Budget Travel since both Jamie & I forgot our books - ARGH!).

On Sunday, Director of Academic Recruitment Marty Feeney, & alumni Zach '08 & Colene '07 joined us to help with the open house. They're very good representatives of SIMPSON! Zach is originally from Sutherland, IA & recently moved to Chicago to start a new job with Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity Headquarters. Colene is originally from Chicago & returned to the area to be a 3rd grade teacher in a Chicago public school. Overall, the event at a really COOL restaurant (Bahama Breeze) was a SUCCESS - we had some great juniors & seniors stop by with their families to learn more about SIMPSON! It was nice to end travel season on a good note. :)

Here are some other recent noteworthy
SIMPSON HaPpENiNgS:

* Nationally ranked STORM women's basketball won the Nebraska Wesleyan Classic with senior Whitney Franker named Tournament MVP. Read more here.

* 4 STORM football players were named First-Team All-Conference (2 of which were students I worked with, YAY!). Read more here.

* 7 STORM soccer players were named All-Conference. Read more here.

* Eric Osterhaus '09 was awarded All-Region Cross Country honors. Read more here.

* STORM volleyball players were named All-American, All-Region, & All-Conference. Read more here.

* The Department of Music held its annual Madrigal Dinner over the weekend. Learn more about music @ SIMPSON here.

* Professor of History Bill Friedricks was awarded the the Iowa History Prize, "a biennial award of $90,000, was created to promote the state’s past and generate public discussions about Iowa history. The award designates Friedricks as Iowa’s public historian for the next two years." Read more here.

GO STORM!

"Sleeping under the STARS, so kids can REACH for them."

BiG THANK YOU!

Last Friday night, 40 students & alumni braved the FREEZiNG temps & 4 other alumni or friends donated to the SIMPSON STORM SLEEPERS team, contributing to another SUCCESSFUL year of Reggie’s Sleepout!

The SIMPSON STORM SLEEPERS raised $525 for Iowa’s homeless youth. Overall, the event had over 1,200 sleepers & collected over $100,000
in donations!

2006: 6 Sleepers
2007: 27 Sleepers
2008: 34 Sleepers
2009: Help us continue to grow for awareness
of this national crisis!

Check out more photos here.

Learn more about Reggie's Sleepout
in my previous blog or here.

Sleeping in a box in BELOW FREEZiNG temps...

...for Reggie & thousands of other homeless youth in Iowa! If they can do it each night...I can do it for one.

That's what I'll be doing tonight with a team I created 2 years ago - the SIMPSON STORM SLEEPERS. The event is called "Reggie's Sleepout" & it's held at another college's football stadium in Des Moines overnight; sponsored by the Youth Emergency Shelters...right now over 1,000 people are signed up overall - 47 for OUR TEAM! We are also only $35 from our goal of $500. The KiNDNESS within the SIMPSON community has been wonderful with several donating their evening or their money for this national crisis. It warms my heart. :)

I will share photos & stories of the night next week, but I wanted to dedicate this blog to the young man the Sleepout was named for. Here is his story:

Reggie Kelsey was a young man who aged out of the foster care system in 2001, and within three and a half months, died in the Des Moines River.

Reggie had an endearing personality, but functioned at a third grade level and suffered from hallucinations and depression. He worried about how he would survive on his own. After being kicked out of his latest foster care placement, Reggie bounced from one shelter to another, and occasionally camped outside while working with Iowa Homeless Youth Centers' street outreach staff and others to try to qualify for federal disability payments.

As a result of Reggie's death, Youth & Shelter Services, Inc. (IHYC's parent organization) led the effort to develop the Iowa Aftercare Services Network to provide services to those aging out of foster care. The program has now been expanded to include a monthly stipend and additional services and is referred to as the PAL (Preparation for Adult Living) program.

Reggie's Place Coffee Shop and now Reggie's Sleep Out were named in honor of Reggie and our commitment to prevent another like tragedy.

Learn more about Reggie's Sleepout and/or donate here.

Crash.

I just finished watching the movie Crash for the first time & thought it was BRiLLiANT!

I highly recommend everyone rent it & definitely agree with its 2006 Oscar for Best Picture!

In response to some people's accusations toward the future administration of our new President Elect AND to this eye-opening flick...here are my afterthoughts...two quotes from one of my idols, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

“An individual has not started living until he can RiSE ABOVE the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the BROADER concerns of ALL HUMANITY.”

"Whatever affects ONE DiRECTLY, affects ALL INDIRECTLY. I can never be what I ought to be until YOU are what YOU ought to be. This is the INTERRELATED structure of REALiTY."

Also, despite whom you voted for, I think we can all agree what an unbelieveable STEP for OUR COUNTRY this election was regarding racial barriers. It was so AMAZiNG to watch such a historical election night unfold in MY lifetime! It was particularly special to me after my SIMPSON Spring Break Mission Trip to Southern Alabama last March. Me & 9 students visited all the Civil Rights Monuments & Museums, attended a service @ Brown Chapel, listened to original Civil Rights foot soldiers' stories, saw pictures & films of the indescribable horrors people endured, AND participated in the reenactment of the Bloody SundAy March across the Edmund Pettis Bridge. One cannot comprehend what happened to INNOCENT HUMAN BEiNGS without seeing it firsthand. I never could have imagined.

So, hopefully over the coming years, our divided country can truly become the wonderful UNiTED States of America.

Peace & God Bless!