Thanksgiving break

Thanksgiving Break was awesome! It started out with a trip to Aimes to watch the Iowa State Cyclones take on the Minnesota Gophers in basketball. It was an intense game. Unfortunately, Iowa State lost. But they have this freshman on their team named Craig Brackins who is a stud! He is going to be great for a long time, even in the NBA one day.

The next day, Wednesday, my friend Nick Savov went to get his wisdom teeth pulled. I don't know how anyone could get there wisdom teeth pulled on the day before Thanksgiving. On Thursday we celebrated Thanksgiving. We ate at about 2 o'clock. After eating and hanging out Nick called some friends to come over and hang out and play some Risk. We started at 10 o'clock that night and did not finish until 2 o'clock. It was extreme!

During Thanksgiving break I also experienced my first snowy day! It was minimal, but being from Florida it was awesome! I was hoping it snowed a little more the following days. But it was just cold.

Well, Thanksgiving Break came to an end, and it was time to head back to school. The entire week I told myself I was going to take pictures but I forgot to. So in a last minute desperate attempt I took out my camera and took pictures as we were leaving. I was very grateful to have a friend like Nick Savov who would allow me to come to his house during break and enjoy such a great time with his friends and family.

Once again, Thank you Nick and the family!

God Bless,

Greg

NAACP Dinner

Last week I was invited, by President Byrd and his wife, to join them at the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) dinner in Des Moines. I was very grateful to have this opportunity to hang out with President Byrd, and also learn a lot about the issues concerning the NAACP. Also invited were, Emili Johnson, Steven Ramsey, Mike Wilson, Carolyn Dallinger, and Walter Lain.

Mike Wilson, Greg (me), Steven Ramsey, and Emili Johnson

Emili Johnson and I rode with President Byrd and Mrs. Byrd. While on the ride there and back, I realized something. My first impulse when getting into a car, is to turn the radio on. We did not turn the radio on at all in the car, instead, we talk with each other about everything from journal entries to cold weather. To tell you the truth, I enjoyed it! During the ride back, when I realized we hadn't turned on the radio, I felt bad for all the times I turned the music on in my car. I felt like I neglected the opportunity for conversation that may have been fruitful.

While at Embassy Suites in Des Moines, we met some important people. Of these important people are Rev. Gill L. Ford who is the NAACP Region IV Director. Rev. Gill L. Ford was also the speaker for the night. Fortunately, I was able to get a picture with him, as he was a high priority man.

Rev. Gill L. Ford and I

Being the great conversationalist that we all are, we also with the President of Des Moines NAACP Branch Mrs. Linda M. Carter-Lewis. She was so very kind to us. She gave us all hugs and made each one of us feel as if she was sincerely happy that we came. Again, we managed to take a picture with this wonderful lady!

Greg (me), Linda M. Carter-Lewis, Mike Wilson, and Steven Ramsey

The event was a great turn out. We all enjoyed ourselves and have applied for NAACP membership. We are also planning on getting a Chapter started at our school. So be on the look out! Thanks for reading!

=)

God Bless, Greg

Reggies Sleep Out!

Hey there!

Ok, so last Friday I was just turning in a paper at 4 o'clock and I saw my friend. Prior to seeing her I thought about what I was going to do for the weekend, and I decided to just get some work done since nothing exciting was happening. So I asked her what she was doing this weekend and she was like, "I am going to Reggie's Sleep Out tonight." Now I knew next to nothing about Reggie's Sleep Out, but I have seen pictures from last years on Tiffany's facebook. So anything cool enough for Tiff to go to has to be cool enough for me to go to. So I told her does she have room for one more. And she said yes. Next thing you know, we were on our way to Drake and I was excited. Everything was going well until they remembered that I had to sign in. But it was ok because on the pace we were going, I was gonna be there in time for registration. That is until we got separated from our friends in traffic and then got lost. But with our superior direction skills, and a few calls here and there, we were able to get back on track to Drake. Only this time we were running late. But what were they going to do? Not let me come sign up? Then I'd really get the homeless feeling. Luckily, there was no real time constrictions and I was able to sign up when I got there. After getting all signed up, it was time to make "Our Box".

This was to be our house for the night! So as I am constructing what I would call home for the night, I started to see everyone else around me putting on layers of cloths.

Colleen

I started to feel like a real Floridian. Before we left school, everyone was dressed in mildly cold attire. So, I didn't want to be the oddball with tons of cloths on as if i was preparing for a blizzard. So I wore jean shorts and a jacket. So while everyone was putting on cloths I was thinking the worst. Fortunately for me, it didn't get too too cold right away. After our house was made we went to go check out the artist performing on stage.


He was really good. Christian Rap is always good stuff!! So after checking him out on stage, I felt like doing a little singing myself. And wouldn't you know, there was karaoke singing in the food tent. I think I was there for about 3 hours straight, just singing and dancing.

"You are, my fire. The one, desire.......I want it that way!" Lol.. Backstreet Boys Karaoke.

Rippin' it up on an imaginary guitar

Crank that Soulja Boy!!

After that, I went to the gym and watched Freedom Writers and Pursuit of Happiness until I was tired. By the time I was ready for bed it was freezing! I was under dressed but thankfully I had this huge, thick blanket that my friend gave me from his house and it kept me warm through my sleep. That blanket was seriously a life savior. When we woke up the next morning we tore down our "Home" and packed up for Simpson.

Reggie's Sleep Out is an experience that I will never forget. It was seriously hard for everyone to sleep and we were all prepared with multiple blankets and layers of cloths. Just imagine how hard it would be with out those luxuries?

Greg