~*Katina Denise*~

There's only one person in this world that I honestly can say that I can not live without and it's this beautiful, powerful woman named Katina Denise A*K*A the world's greatest mom! I love my mom with every ounce of my being. There is nothing that I wouldn't do to see this woman happy. She is my one and only. She is the air in my lungs, the beat in my heart, the blood in my veins, and the twinkle in my eye! If it wasn't for her I don't know how I could live. LITERALLY!!!! There has not once been a time that I have gone to her and not gotten the best advice in the world! She is basically the top reason I get up everyday and actually try to go on! Even though we have our times when we can't stand to be around each other, it never lasts longer than a day cause I just can't stay mad at her. It's just something about her presence that makes me feel empowered. I just can't figure out what it is! Could it be her friendly personality? Or her beautiful face? Or maybe its her beautiful spirit that could light up any dark place? Or maybe its her confidence that can make her walk in a room and everybody in her presence instantly falls in love with her? Or maybe its just that fact that she is Katina? Whatever the reason maybe, I will always and forever love her!!!

Christmas Break

Is it ever going to get here??? Christmas break that is. It seems like this final week is taking years to go by. I am so ready to be at home in my own bed, in my own room, using my own bathroom, around people I know, and eating non-cafeteria food! I am so ready for this semester to be over with that I can't even concentrate on my studies. I pray that I pass these last two exams I have on Wednesday. Its been a long week and there's still more to come. Another thing I can't wait for is Christmas. On Thanksgiving break I got to see all of my family all together. I'm just ready to do that again. I love my family with all my heart and when we are together it's like something out of this world! We have so much fun just being in each others' company. That's why I love those guys!! I also can't wait til Christmas so that I can get to open up some presents. I know I sound like a big kid but I honestly still want to get gifts on Christmas. There's noting like the surprise of receiving a gift to let you know that somebody is thinking about you. I don't want nothing in particular but anything sounds nice right around now. With me that old saying is true; it's the thought that counts!

Finals!

I think that I have never been as depressed and stressed out as much as I have been these last couple of days. I have had 2 papers, 2 test, 2 exams, and 3 more to go! And these final exams have really been a burden! Almost every single one that I have taken has made me feel like the dumbest person in the world! It literally looked like those tests were written in Japanese! They just left me wondering how in the (beep) could I have A's and B's in the classes and the finals look like something I have never seen before in my life! I mean is it possible for you to learn something and don't know it? I just hope that I don't fail them too bad that they bring my grades down really low. I have always been a smart student and I would hate to go off college and start disappointing my parents. And I really can't afford to take any of these classes over again! I mean once was way more than enough! I can't go through this mess again! I'm trying to get out of here not stay longer! But all I can do is pray and study, study and pray, and then study some more, and just hope for the best. I mean, there's no way that it could possible get worst! Or is there? I guess only time will tell. Hopefully I'm not proven wrong!

~Is it eva going to get here?!?!?~

Thanksgiving break is not getting here fast enough. I'm so ready to get home and see my loving family and friends. Is it a shame that I terribly miss them and I just was at home last weekend? Tuesday, November 25, 2008 is right around the corner and it feels as though its a year away. I can already taste my grandma's sweet potato pie and double chocolate cake, my aunt Dorothy's famous sweet ham, my mom's delicious dressing, my aunt Gloria's perfect cornbread with aunt Linda's tasty greens, and everything else that is going to be on the menu. I also can't wait to see all of my beautiful family members from all around the world. I can't wait to see my older family members tearing up the dance floor. I can't wait to see all of the youngsters running around enjoying each others company. I can't wait to hear all of the stories about what my grandmother and her siblings use to do when they were my age. I can't wait to get so full that I feel like I'm about to bust. I can't wait to see my mommy! Its just all going to be a time to remember. I just can't wait for it all to happen. Hopefully I can still concentrate on my work because just because I'm going on break doesn't mean that when I come back those exams are going to be waiting on me. I'm just praying that I can handle it all and I know the Lord will bring me through it... He always does.

A Stunt Not Intended for Humans

I have always been a person who loves to do a little bit of everything. I love to skate, sing, dance, act a fool, and basically anything there is to do in the little town that I grew up in. But there is one thing that I just can't do... bungee jump. It just seems like a sport you should do only if you are ready to die! But for some strange reason my friends are just hung up on the idea of trying to convince me to go do this crazy stunt when they have failed to do the stunt themselves. I feel if God wanted us to jump off of a bridge on a single piece of rope and not hit the ground and die... he wouldn't have created gravity! I probably wouldn't be so afraid to do it if I hadn't seen a video of this man who jumped off the edge of a cliff and his face was introduced to the ground because his rope was just a little bit to long. Or if I hadn't seen a video of another man who was introduced to the same ground because his rope BROKE! I think the only way I could ever do it is if I was knocked out cold and they pushed me over the edge. And then again, if they pushed me over the edge, it might just be time for me to find some new friends! I can't honestly say that I would never do it because maybe one day I just might get the guts to actually do it. Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the future has in store.

~YES WE CAN!!~

OH MY GOD!!!! He won!!!! I am so glad that this HUGE change has happened in my lifetime. Barack Obama is my president! I just love how those words roll off the tongue! Say it with me now, "Barack Obama is MY president! I was just so totally overwhelmed with joy at 10:27 p.m. Tuesday, November 4, 2008! I honestly think I my heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds! My heart just couldn't believe what my ears were hearing! There is a BLACK man moving into the white house! I hope that people really give him a chance to make the changes that I KNOW he's going to do! I say this because of a lot of people think that he will get assassinated before he even has a chance to do anything. He will be in my prayers every night. I hope that through this huge change some people realize that change can sometimes be good... and this is one of those times! I remember, when I was younger, my mom use to always tell me whenever I felt sad, "Don't be sad. Your going to be the first black president one day." I brought this to her attention Tuesday night she said, "If anybody deserved to win the title before me, Obama DEFINITELY was the person." And I couldn't agree with her more. So for anyone out there that has the slightest bit of doubt, I just want to tell you, YES WE CAN!!!!

Is the world ready?

'Is the world ready for a black president?' is a question that I am so tired of hearing. My answer to this question would be 'Why wouldn't the world be ready?' When I brought this issue up to my mother she just said that people are just afraid of change. I feel like people are more afraid of the fact that a black man could possibly be the president more than the fact that they are afraid of change. Which brings me to another issue that I just can't get over. Why is it such a big deal for a black person to have power? I just don't understand why people would rather kill someone than let them possibly make the world a better place for more people. I am disgusted at the people that have already set up plans to kill Obama if he wins. It really makes me sad to think that there are people out there that would kill another human being just because of that person skin color. Just the other day, a man was put in prison because he had written a blog on Myspace(if I'm not mistaken) stating that he was going to kill 88 black people and decapitate 14 of them and make Obama his final target. Now I can only speak for myself but I personally think that the world calls the wrong race the 'ignorant race'. I have never heard of a black person ever saying that they would kill the president just because he's white. But I guess that just lets you know just how much the world has actually changed.

Da Showtime at the Apollo

Although the medicine that I took was starting to kick in, obviously the only thing I needed to do was have a good laugh and the Showtime at the Apollo delivered a great dose of that last night. I literally was laughing from start to finish. I would have never guessed that we had that many talented people here at Southern Miss. Even though some got boo-ed off the stage (still laughing at that) they had a lot of people who sounded pretty good. But I tried to look at it in a positive way because it takes a lot of courage to get up there and but yourself out there to be judged by everybody. Courage that I will never have. So to all the contestants, "Great job and I hope you win next time!" Although everyone did good, there was one girl who out shined them all. I will never be able to spell or pronounce her name but she brought the place down last night. LITERALLY!! She sang a beautiful song and had a beautiful voice to back it up. I wish her all the luck in the future and if she every makes it big, don't forget the little people who hollered for you at the Showtime at the Apollo. I kinda wanted to go up there and sing a song but I was just too nervous to do it. Maybe before I graduate (hopefully 4 years from now) I will finally get the nerves up to sing in front of a huge crowd.

Da day God brought me to dis Earth

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to me!!! As of 12 o'clock this morning, I am official 19 years old!! Aren't you just so happy for me? There ain't no telling all the things I am going to get into this weekend! I jut pray I'm able to calm down and actually do some work cause I know I have mid-terms when I get back and I still have to paper to make perfect (uhh mm)! lol... I hope just because I'm in college my family don't think that they don't have to make this day all about me because that will be the case until the day the Lord takes me. I hope it don't rain tonight cause I plan on going to the fair tonight for Midnight Madness and I plan on shutting it down!! It has been awhile since my birthday has been on a Friday so I'm going to enjoy it til the last drop! As of now it is 9:53 a.m. and I have yet to receive any gifts?!?! A million people have called and texted me but have they forgotten one of the most important parts of a birthday? The showering of the gifts?!?! But seriously I'm not this shallow and selfish so let me stop acting like it before someone gets the wrong idea about my personality. I would like to say thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday, your acknowledgement means a lot!!!

Dorms vs. Apartments

When I first decided that I wanted to go to college, I was excited about the idea of meeting new people and being able to live with friends. But when reality hit me and I realized that most of my friends were going to other colleges and I would have to live with some complete stranger, that excitement left quickly. Although my roommate and I are cool (we haven't had any arguments thus far) is it bad that I am ecstatic that I will have the room to myself this weekend? I have always been a person that loved to meet new people but having to live with a person that I know nothing about was not part of my plan. Although the dorm situation is not as bad as some people try to make it, I seriously plan on having an apartment next year. I just like to have my own space and not have to worry about making too much noise so that I won't disturb anyone's studying or worry about checking my friends out on time so that I won't have to deal with my RA. I have a couple of friends who have apartments and say they wouldn't go back to the dorm life in a million years. It seems like they are always having fun and I just feel left out sometimes. So if you had the choice between living in a dorm or an apartment, which would you choose?

Student parking or lack there of!!!

Now Southern Miss is really tripping!!! Are they really serious with this parking situation for the students?! You would think with all the money we paying to be here, there would at least be parks available for us close to our classes. I literally believe that I have done enough walking for a lifetime! You have to pay 50 dollars for a parking decal and still can't park where you want. It should be set up where whoever gets to the park first its theirs. Their either needs to be more parks for students (in a reasonable distance) or no such thing as a resident or faculty parking. I understand that the teachers don't live on campus and they should have a park close to their class when they make it here, but even though we live on campus, that don't mean that we want to walk everyday! Sometimes I just want to be lazy and drive to class. Is that such a crime? I guess it must be since I have received 3 tickets since I moved up here. Even though they are only 20 dollars apiece, 20 dollars can go a long way when u don't have a job and are in constant need of a little cash flow because your parents are tripping about giving u money every week like they seriously have something else they could be doing with their money. I know there are parks available for students but they are seriously a mile away from everything else on campus. Come on now Southern Miss.... we got to do better!

Da saddest story I have eva heard!!!

This story is by far the saddest, most ridiculous, and outrageous thing I have ever heard in the 18 years that I have been on this earth. It is so crazy that I honestly did not believe it until I saw the story on the internet with my own two eyes. If you are a person that gets mad when you hear stupid stuff like I am, I advise you not to read any further because this story is pretty sick and it really got me rived up. Well this story is about a 28 year old woman from Ohio who was stupid enough to kill her baby by putting the one month old baby girl in the microwave and cooking her to death after having a fight with her boyfriend. You'll never be able to guess why this nut case did all this. her reason was because her boyfriend loved the baby more than he loved her. Her first trial ended in a mistrial when new witnesses surfaced. But on her second trial, the woman was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole after 25 years. The jury spared her the death penalty because they could not reach a consensus. Even the judge lashed out at the woman when she opted to watch her sentencing from a side room on a monitor. Even to this day, the woman is claiming to be innocent. I can't personally say that she is guilty, but I know that the baby didn't kill herself. But for anyone who wants to get more information on this story, the woman's name is China Arnold.

USM so far..........

So I've at school for about 3 or more weeks now and its gradually growing on me. This weekend will be the first weekend I will stay on campus so that's going to be interesting. Classes so far have been ok but they are gradually getting tougher. Hopefully I can get this idea that I need to drop-out out of my mind long enough for me to concentrate on my studies. Which is weird because I have never been a person that has ever had to really study for anything (but I am smart... number 2 in my high school class) so now that I have testes, like the one I will have on next Wednesday in my boring history class, I will really have to make myself study cause I already feel like there is no possible way I can pass it because I don't understand anything my teacher be running her trap about. I really enjoy this English class but I know it's going to be a challenge because all we seem to do is write in the class and I have never been that excited about writing since I have never been a good writer. My chemistry lab honestly puts me to sleep every time I have to attend the class. It's not because I don't understand the material it's just the TA gets on my last nerve and I just want to walk out but I know I need to be there so the next best thing to me is to just to go to sleep! But I know you are probably tired of reading about my boring problems so go do some work or something and leave me be... Just playing Ryan... don't fail me!!!!

Long, late classes!!!!!

I would never in a million years ever take or advise anyone to ever take a night class. It might not be so bad if I didn't have to stay in there for 2 HOURS AND 45 MINUTES!!!!!!! Is USM serious?!?! I literally had to physically make myself not just walk out and drop the class. And to make matters worst, I have one of the most boringness (if that's even a word) instructors in the world teaching the subject. She might as well be up there speaking Spanish cause I definitely don't understand a word she up there saying. I understand that she have to teach to us in one class period what she teach her other classes in maybe 2 or 3 class periods (cause I only take the class on Wednesdays) but dang. And to make matters even worst, ever time we go to the class we have a quiz or a test!!!! Today I almost slapped her with that paper but I realized she was only doing her job. So learn from my mistake... NEVER TAKE A LONG, LATE CLASS!!!!
Sincerely,
~Dat Undergraduate Nek~

My first experience with the Payne Center!!

Well it all started yesterday, when my friends and I noticed that we were already paying for the services in our tuition regardless if we go or not, so we decide to go check it out. It was my first time seeing it and to my surprise it was HUGE! It was so big that we didn't know where to go first. Since we saw some people coming from the pool area laughing like they had just had the time of their lives, we went there first. As soon as we walked through the doors, all eyes were on us. They probably were thinking, "why are these fools in the pool area fully dressed?" Feeling like complete idiots, we rushed out of the room before anyone had a chance to say anything. So our next stop was the weight room. Again, as soon as we walked in the room, all eyes were on us. But this time we ignored the stares and checked out some of the equipment. After taking a couple of snapshots of us acting retard on some of the equipment, we decided to get out of everybody way and headed to the basketball court. After laughing at one of the most hilarious games we had ever seen, we went to the racquetball room and played around in there for a little while. After playing and laughing, and laughing and playing, we left the Payne Center in desperate need of showers. So we parted ways, and as the old people say, the rest is history! LOL