Justin Campbell

One of my first Mississippi friends.  I probably wouldn't have done near as good in school if it weren't for our fierce academic competitiveness with each other.  If you need something, he will be there. You can count it!  After high school we rode together to ICC which was a lot of fun and were roommates at UNA for a semester.  Justin was my connection with the Ozark Baptist crew (Adam, Cassidy, and JD).  So through Justin I got to know them.  He has been married the longest of any of my friends, so I might have to turn to him for some marriage advice.  

Tara Morgan

You know, I really don't know when I met Tara. I feel like we've grown up together.. and I reckon that we have. I'm pretty sure that Ashley McMillen introduced me to her as, "This is my best friend. She's the one that I skipped your graduation to go see." Thanks Ashley. I got over that, though. We all became friends and did whatever the heck it was that we did at ICC. After our fun-filled years in Fulton, Mallory, Kallen, and I transferred to the W and the original Apartment 12 girls took us under their wings for our weekly escape from Hogwarts.. I mean, the W. I'm still very grateful for all of the those conversations at the Starkville Abner's. 

Tara was also part of one of one of my and Ben's very memorable first dates. It was sometime around the spring of 2009 when Ben asked me to go to Oxford to watch an Ole Miss baseball game. I'm sure that he wasn't too happy with me inviting my friend on our date, but she took the edge off of the awkwardness of a first date, so I invited her along anyway. (Btw, Tara, I'm not sure that I told you upfront that it was a date. Thanks for going along with me.) Anywho, off we went; me, Ben, and Tara; to Oxford.

Once we got there, Ben suggested that we try the Japanese restaurant called Kabuki. We sat down at the hibachi grill and Ben ordered shrimp. Let me stop right here and say that I hate shrimp. If anyone ever wants to make me sick, just slip some shrimp juice in my food, or surprise me with a bucket of shrimp, or, shoot, you could probably just show me a picture of one. I just don't like the little fellas! But Ben didn't know that, so he ordered the shrimp. I really thought that I would be okay with just ordering the chicken hibachi and avoiding eye contact with the uncooked slimy sea creatures on the table in front of me, but I wasn't. At the end of our meal, I started feeling super sick and the nerves of being on a date with a super cute fella didn't help either. 

I made it out of Kabuki and into the truck when things turned for the worse. I asked Ben to crank up the air and put my hands over my mouth. I've never seen someone pull out of a line of traffic that quickly. Before I knew it, I was puking my guts out in the parking lot of some unlucky tire store. I was more than embarrassed about the whole ordeal, but Ben was real sweet. After I had left my entire meal in the parking lot, he drove me right over to Wal-Mart to buy me some new flip-flops, a Sprite, and a pack of gum. And then the sparks flew. I say all of that to say this.. Tara has been right there through many of the ups and downs of our relationship. :)

I think that I'll keep Tara around as a friend for a while. I mean, she is probably going to be the governor of Mississippi one day and that's somebody that you want in your corner. Honestly, she's wise like an owl. I have went to her for advice on everything from boys to the Bible to how to cook those cheese biscuits to who to vote for. She recently even gave me advice about losing a few pounds. "Just switch from Coke to Diet Coke." Wise words from a wise friend.