busy week

This past week has been the busiest week of the semester. Finals are next week so I have been studying extra to get prepared for them. On top of the studying. I had a test on Tuesday, paper due Wednesday, 2 papers and a test on Thursday. I was so stressed. Monday night I dedicated all my time to study for psychology test on Tuesday. Tuesday night I spent hours working on my Theatre paper due Wednesday. Wednesday night was the worst. I wrote 2 papers and I had to fix another paper that I had previously wrote. I also studied for a math test that was on Thursday. Every night, I didn't go to sleep till past 12. To add to all the chaos, my fraternity was doing what we call the "Teeter Totter" all week. This is where we ride a teeter totter for 72 hours straight in order to raise money for MDA. Each brother had two shifts they had to work. Mine were Monday and Wednesday from 5-9 at night. So some of those papers I wrote and tests I studied for, I had to do after 9p.m Monday and Wednesday. 3 papers, 2 tests, and 8 hours of "teeter totter" later I am here typing this blog. I still do not know how I got everything done and on time. This week as defiantly been the most stressful week of college.

Lambda Chi Alpha

Going into college, I had always wanted to be in a fraternity. I wanted to be able to party and have fun while I was at college. I was the typical person who thought fraternities were just a bunch of guys that partied and had a good time. I couldn't wait to be apart of that, but once I got to AUM, all that changed. As rush week started, brothers of Lambda Chi Alpha approached me. They told me what this fraternity was about and that they would like me to rush for them. I thought it over and I decided I would go for it. As the semester went on, I eventually became and associate. Other fraternities call their "new boys" pledges. At Lambda Chi, we use associates because being a pledge is almost demeaning. As an associate, you have every right as a brother, except knowing ritual. Another reason I chose Lambda Chi is because we do not haze. We believe you can not create a true brotherhood if you are hazing and disrespecting the associates. Now an official brother of Lambda Chi Alpha, I look back on why I wanted to join this fraternity in the first place. Now my mindset is totally different. I am apart of something bigger than myself and I would do anything for this fraternity. Recently I was voted High Delta. Meaning I am in charge of recruitment in the next year. I take full honor in my position because for the next year, I am in charge of the future of this fraternity. Joining this fraternity is one of the best decisions I have ever made.

SEC Title Game.

This Saturday, the Alabama Crimson Tide will face the Georgia Bulldogs in the South East Conference (SEC) Championship. Both teams worked extremely hard to just get to this game, but this game will not be the winners last. The winner of the SEC Championship game will face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the BCS National Championship. Georgia played hard to get the chance to play in the National Championship, but Alabama's story is a little more interesting. About a month ago, Alabama was ranked number 1 in the rankings and was looking forward to going to the National Championship. The rest of their opponents were easy, except Texas A&M. Everyone knew it was going to be a tough game, but we thought we would win the game easy. As time showed, that was not the case. Texas A&M beat Alabama in a good game. Alabama fell to number 4 in the standings. Most fans had lost all hope in playing in another National Championship. The championship game is played between the number 1 and number 2 teams in the nation. This means that Alabama had to be at least number 2 before the end of the season. Everyone, including myself, counted Alabama out of the picture. The weeks went on and Alabama kept winning, but so did teams 1-3. As long as they won, Alabama would not play in the big game. If Alabama wanted any chance, they needed 2 of the top 3 teams to loose. It was a slim to none chance, but miracles do happen. One Saturday night, 3 weeks ago, that miracle would happen. The number 2 team in the nation, Kansas State, lost horribly to Baylor. I was ecstatic! But we still needed the number 3 team to loose. That same night Oregon played Stanford. The game was all ties at the end of regulation. Overtime would decide the winner. Stanford had one field goal to win the game and knock off the number 3 team in the nation. The kick went up and through the uprights! Amazingly the number 2 and 3 teams went down all in the same night! That moved Alabama into number 2 and a spot in the National Championship game, if they beat Georgia this Saturday. An amazing season so far, but it will all mean nothing unless they win this weekend.

Christmas Decorations

It seems as the years go on, the earlier and earlier Christmas decorations get put up. I know people who put up their Christmas tree the day after Halloween. That is just ridiculous. To me, Christmas decorations should be put up NO EARLIER than the day after Thanksgiving. That is a whole month of enjoying your pretty tree and lights. Now another hot topic is when is an appropriate time to take down your decorations. To me your decorations should be off within the few days after New Years. But as long as you get them off within a few weeks after Christmas, you are fine. But please do not leave your Christmas lights up all year. They are decorations, not house light. Another issue I have been noticing is that more and more houses are over decorating their houses. Please do not make your house visible from space. Lights edging your roof and on your bushes or trees is fine. But buying out Lowe's of Christmas lights and covering your house with them is just too much. Now when it comes to blow up decorations, a Santa here and a snowman there is perfect. Having your yard looking like the North Pole is tacky. Follow these simple rules and you will have a very successful Christmas

worst teacher

Out of all the teachers I have ever had, there is one that can easily be my worst teacher ever. My senior year, I had Mrs. London for English. What made her the worst teacher was her papers. Each week she gave us about three poems and by the end of the week, we had to have written an analysis on each one. Every one always made horrible grades on them. What made everyone mad was she would tell us what we were doing wrong, but once we fixed them, she found something else wrong. It was like she never wanted us to make and A on any of her papers. Another thing that I didn't like about her is she lost our papers a lot and tell us to write another one. The only thing we got graded on in that class was her papers and vocab tests. Which I didn't mind. But one time we had to read a book and take a test on it. What made everyone mad was that she never graded the tests. I know I made a good grade on it so I was especially mad. Even though she would let us watch movies sometimes, it still doesn't make up for all the little things that make her the worst teacher.    

Best Moment

I have been blessed with many things in my life. As I look back, many instances could be considered the best moment of my life. But one I think beats them all. My senior awards day was my greatest moment. That day was when all my hard work was recognized. Out of a honor court that only had three guys, I was one of them. I was ranked number 8 in my graduating class and I had a 3.8 GPA. That day I won many awards including the Terry McFadden award. This award is given to the student with outstanding academic credentials and character. This award is one of the most profound awards given by the school. When my name was called, I smiled so big. Another award I was recognized for winning prior was the category winner in the Joe Sewel award. The Joe Sewel foundation selects 4 student from each high school in the Elmore County. Being selected is an honor in it's self. Although I did not win the overall award. I did when the category award for Outstanding Church and Character award. Winning this award was just as exciting as winning the overall award. Seeing my fellow students, faculty, and family watching me on that stage was the greatest moment of my life.

sentence series

He is accredited for my actions, my successes, my failures, and most importantly my self-esteem.

Society is responsible for their actions, their ideas, their personality, and their future.

Thankful for...

As I become older, I pay more attention to what I am blessed with. I try to take time out of my day and say thanks to everything that I have. I have so many things to be thankful for, so this will be difficult. The first thing I am thankful for is my wonderful family. I was blessed to be raised in a family that is great. They always provided for me and showed me with love. They taught me everything I know today. I am so thankful for them. The next thing I am thankful for is my health. I am so blessed with my good health. It is sad to see children today with birth defects and it breaks my heart. I always thank the Lord for blessing me for my health. Another thing I am thankful for is where I live. It is so sad to see children in other parts of the world, and I am so blessed to have been born in the U.S. Another thing I am thankful for is our military. Freedom is not free and without our military, America would not be the same. I am so thankful for the millions who serve and protect this great country. There are so many more things I am thankful for, but I would be here all day if I talked about them all. These were my top things I am so blessed to have.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has to be one of my favorite holidays ever. Between my family getting together or all the delicious food, Thanksgiving is the best. There is nothing better than sitting back and watching football while stuffing your face with really good food. Speaking of food, Thanksgiving has the best food. Here recently, my family meets over at my sisters house. Everyone brings all sorts of food,  but the turkey is left up to my sister. She smokes the turkey for hours and it is the best. Usually we would bake our turkeys but every since my sister smoked it a few years ago, we have always ate our turkey smoked. Another delicious food is one that my mom makes. It's called pineapple casserole. Its pineapples, cheese, and Ritz crackers. It might sound a little weird, but trust me, it is so good. She only makes it on special occasions, and Thanksgiving is one of those. One more thing I cannot forget about is my moms homemade mac and cheese! She spends hours on it and its always delicious. It's so cheesy and gooey. It will always be my favorite mac and cheese! From the food and family, top the football, Thanksgiving is easily one of my favorite times of the year!

Technology

One topic that I have seen come up more and more is, "Should children have more technology in schools?" This has been a discussion for some time now. I have thought about it alot and I think there are reasons for, and against more technology in schools. I believe that more technology is a good thing because it makes learning more fun ands easy. From the kids view point, it is easy to pay attention if the material is on a computer than on a blackboard. Using Smart Boards was way more helpful than watching the teacher write on the board. More technology also speeds up the class, allowing more one in one time between the student and teacher. But one reason why more technology is a bad thing is that it makes kids lazy. Now it seems if students cant type there paper then they are doomed. Some of the smartest people ever to live didn't have much technology. I believe why they were so smart is because they had to work harder to actually know the material. Yes technology makes learning easier, but sometimes if it is too easy, then the student wont get the whole idea. I believe there are many reasons for and against more technology. But I believe the schools that find a fair median of not too much and not too little technology seem to work the best

Holiday Memory

Over my lifetime, I have accumulated many memories. The holidays are the best time of the year to me. You have great food and all your family is around. The one memory I can remember the most is one Christmas about 7 years ago. In the months leading up to it, I have been saying how my friends four wheeler was so awesome. I would always go to his house and ride it. I never asked for one because I knew they were very expensive so I was not expecting one at all. I wake up that Christmas morning, and in my living room was a red four wheeler. It was amazing! It was just like my friend's and I was so happy. The best part of it all is that it was snowing that morning. So I went outside in the snow and rode my brand new four wheeler for the first time. It was so fun sliding all over the place. My parents said I was out there for hours, but I was having so much fun I couldn't tell. Out of all my holiday memories, that was Christmas was the best.

Hard Decision

I haven't made too many hard decisions in my life, but one that I can easily remember happned this past summer. I was working as a summer counselor at the YMCA. It was about 1/3 through the summer and I had a problem. Most of the kids I take care of start off bad, but eventually learn the rules and obey them. Well I had one bad apple. He would not listen to me or any other counselor. I was constantly putting him in time out and calling his mom, but nothing seem to work. Finally I could not take any more. I took him to my boss Shaun(which is a bad thing for the kids) and told him that this one kid was horrible and that I am tired of him. Shaun talked to him for a minute and told me. There are two things that can happen; You get kicked out of camp for the summer, or you get ONE more chance. The twist is my boss made me make the decision. "Your around him more than me so I think it is only fair you choose". My first thought was send him home. But I looked at the kid and saw something I have never seen out of him. I saw that he was truly sorry. He was almost crying and I could tell he wanted to be here. I told him this is his last chance. He hugged me and smiled really big. I could tell he was truly grateful. Ever since that day, he never acted up again.

Politcs

Now that I am older, I have been paying more and more attention to our nations politics. One thing I saw with the last election was that some, not all, but some African Americans voted for Obama just because he was "black". I think this is down right ignorant. If you were a African American and you voted for him because you had the same beliefs, then that is fine, but to vote for him just because he was black is ignorant. Another thing I have seen within the past few years is that people voting either Democratic or Republican no matter who the candidate is. Most people will deny this, but I know some people that who do this. I believe that you should vote on the person, not the party. Of course if you are Republican, then chances are you will normally vote for Republican, but do not let that stop you from giving the other party a chance. I will vote who I believe is best for this country, no matter what party he or she is from. People need to look past their pride and ignorance and look at what is best for their country.

The one chore I hate the most

With my oldest siblings grown and moved out, I am stuck with all the chores. Now I don't mind doing chores, except this one. Cutting grass will always be my least favorite chore. I believe the reason why is because my yard is pretty big. I have to cut around 4 acres without a zero turn tractor. The only time you cut grass is in the summer, so the heat makes me hate cutting grass even more. It's always around 100 degrees when I have to cut grass. Another reason I have cutting grass is I usually have to cut it during the weekend. I don't have time to cut grass during the week, so that leaves me stuck with doing it on a Saturday or Sunday. There is nothing id rather not do than waste my weekend cutting grass. Now cutting my yard takes forever. If I do it by myself, it takes around 2 or 3 hours. It is so exhausting. In my yard, there are some spots where the tractor can't get to, so I have to use the push mower to get it. I had using the push mower to cut grass. It always takes forever. One summer, our tractor was broken and I had to cut the whole yard with just the push mower. That day was one of my worst days ever. I don't mind doing chores, but don't expect me to get excited when you ask me to cut the grass.

My idea of a perfect vacation

My idea of a perfect vacation is a easy one. I have always wanted to fly out to Hawaii for a week and enjoy everything it has to offer. I would take a few of my closest friends along for the fun. As soon as we landed we would go find the perfect hotel that was right on the beach of course. The first day would be nothing but relaxing on the beach, playing volleyball and swimming in the ocean. As the night came we would go out and find a Luau to have dinner at. The next day, me and my buddies would go golfing. I love golfing, and I have always wanted to golf in Hawaii because they have some of the best golf courses on the world. After we had golfed all day, we would come back to the hotel and just grill out. The next day, we would all go snorkeling in the ocean. I have never been and what better way to start than on vacation in Hawaii. I have always wanted to go on an exotic vacation and Hawaii would be the perfect spot! between the beaches and the golf courses, Hawaii would be the perfect vacation

Alabama or LSU?

This Saturday, marks the key match up between the Alabama Crimson Tide vs. the LSU Tigers. This is one of the, if not the, biggest game of the regular season for both programs. Last year LSU came into Tuscaloosa as one of the nest teams in the Nation. Whichever team one, they were going to the SEC Championship. It was a close game all night. At the end of regulation, the score was tied. When it was all said and done, LSU won by a small 3 points. Bama fans shouted in grief, they thought their season was over. But time would eventually tell otherwise. As the season went on, Many high ranked teams lost unexpectedly. This allowed Alabama to once again move into the number 2 spot with only LSU above them. As the season ended, the only question unanswered was; "Who will play against LSU in the National Championship?" On a Sunday Afternoon that question was answered. Shockingly, Alabama was that team. A rematch for the National Championship was unheard of. But that was all Alabama needed. The second game was totally different. Alabama had a chip on their shoulder. Alabama dominated both sides of the football and won the 2011 National Championship against their rivals. Now one season later, the two teams match up. Bama is hungry for their 15th National Championship, but LSU looks to seek revenge against the Tide. Battle at the Bayou. Alabama vs. LSU. Only the strong will survive.