April 27, 2011

About 6 months ago tragedy struck the south east and destroyed a large portion of Alabama. A series of F5 tornadoes came through the south east leaving nothing but devastation in its path. One of the F5's tore through my city, Tuscaloosa Alabama and I watched it all happen outside my apartment window.

I woke up on April 27th at 4:00 AM to heavy winds and rain. All I was thinking was "We better not have class today". What a selfish thought. Little did I know that hundreds of people in Alabama would loose their lives later that day. We ended up having our morning classes and afterward me and my room mates were headed to Milos to get some dinner. The weather looked bad, but there had been warnings for weeks and nothing had happened so we thought it was okay. I turned on the news to check before we left and right then and there I knew, we were not going anywhere. I have known James Spann my whole life and I have never heard his voice how I was hearing it that afternoon. Me and my roommates, Amanda and Candice lived on the 3rd floor so we quickly ran down stares to our friends 1st floor apartment. We turned on the TV again and we saw it. Live footage of an F5 tornado in Tuscaloosa Alabama. We were watching destruction a mile down the road from us. It seemed like a nightmare, but we knew it was real when we all got frantic calls from our mothers. Everyone was screaming and talking on the phones with their loved ones when the power and cell towers went out. I was not sure If I was going to live that day, as I heard the train like sound outside of the building. As we were all sitting helpless in the bathroom all that was left to do was to pray.

I am so thankful that the LORD watched over me that day and made me stay at the apartment instead of going to Milos. After seeing the destruction, I noticed that Milos was leveled and I could have been in there during the storm. The devastation was horrible and the hundreds of lives lost was excruciatingly painful for the state of Alabama. Because of this storm our state has come together to rebuild Alabama. It was a life changing experience for everyone in the path of destruction that day. It has taught me to live life to the fullest and never take any second for granted.

The view of the storm outside of my apartment

Milos

The path down 15th street

The elementary school that I helped clean up

15th Street, October 2011

"The skies lay low where You are
On the earth You rest Your feet
Yet the hands that cradle the stars
Are the hands that bled for me

In a moment of glorious surrender
You were broken for all the world to see
Lifted out of the ashes
I am found in the aftermath

Freedom found in Your scars
In Your grace my life redeemed
For You chose to take the sinner's crown
As You placed Your crown on me"

Hillsong, Aftermath

Never Forget April 27, 2011. Ttown Never Down. We Are Alabama!

Woahhhh

So I have not blogged all summer! After the storms in Tuscaloosa I had so many other things on my mind, and then I had the busiest summer ever! I will be back to blogging asap! I promise :)

Justin Bieber: How This Hater Became a Belieber (Never Say Never)

Recently I have new obsession. His name is Justin and he's a 17 year old from Ontario Canada. I know you are all thinking; oh he's that little kid that sings that Baby song. Well your right that is him. If you were to ask me 4 months ago what I thought about pop sensation Justin Bieber I would tell you, he's annoying, he has no talent and he has obnoxious fans. Little did I know that I would soon be one of his biggest fans. On December 21, 2010 my opinion of the kid changed drastically.

Some shots I got of Justin Bieber in Birmingham, Alabama on December 21, 2010

Ok so this is the story of how it all began. Of how me, a Justin Bieber hater caught a bad case of Bieber Fever. In the summer of 2010 word broke out that Justin Bieber was coming to Birmingham, and little girls across Alabama began to freak out. At this point in my life I could care less about Bieber and I for sure would not be caught dead at one of his concerts. December rolls around and by this time my 9-year-old sister Savannah has a really bad case of Bieber fever. She has all of his CD's, books, magazines, posters, dolls, EVERYTHING! Well one day I picked up the book "First Steps 2 Forever" that Savannah had purchased at the school book fair. I began reading his life story, and I was blown away. So I thought to myself, I need to see what all the hype is about this kid. I asked around about tickets for the upcoming show and I was informed that they sold out within the first 10 minutes. I wanted to take Savannah for Christmas since I knew how much she loved him. I told her we could go see his concert movie in February and that the movie would be just as good. Well the week of the concert I get a phone call from a friend saying she has two floor seats if we wanted them. At that point I told Savannah that we HAD to go, because I wanted to see what this kid could really do.

So the big day rolls around, December 21, 2010. The day that THE Justin Bieber is in Birmingham. So Savannah and I are in rush hour traffic heading downtown and of course I get in a fender bender. It wasn't my fault but the lady who hit me insists on yelling at me, because that makes everything better right? So we get to the BJCC and I am in an awful mood and there are thousands of little screaming girls running around. I told Savannah this better be worth it. And boy was it.

Justin was 16 at the time and I have never seen a 16 year old with that much talent in my life. He came out on the stage with so much energy. I thought to myself, this cannot be that kid that sings "Baby". During his concert he played the 4 instruments. He's one of the greatest drummers I have ever heard! He also played the piano and the trumpet, but when he started playing acoustic guitar that’s the moment I fell in love. I never knew that Justin had talent, because I thought that the studio just fixed this kid up to make him a pop star. I basically thought he was a product. That was not the case at all. Not only is he very musically talented vocally and instrumentally, he is also an incredible dancer. I left that concert with so much respect for this kid. When I was leaving the concert, I knew I had Bieber fever, but nobody warned me about how fast Bieber fever spreads or how intense it could get.

So the past few months I have been a hardcore Belieber and my Bieber fever has gotten a lot worse after his movie "Never Say Never" came out. After seeing the movie 8 times, I made dozens of Bieber haters beliebers. :) The movie was a concert/ documentary about his life, and it was one of the greatest films I have ever seen. I recommend the movie for anyone. Even if you don’t like Justin Bieber, it is a great film. It tells the story of Justin’s life and how hard he has worked to get to where he is today. It teaches us to never give up. His story is incredible. The movie emphasizes to NEVER SAY NEVER. Justin had nothing growing up and he worked so hard for what he has today. He is constantly reminding people to follow their dreams and to never give up. God is working  in Justin's life and I enjoy watching him be so successful. He has a beautiful testimony and his mothers story is just as amazing as his. I believe that if Justin continues to stay humble and give God all the glory and praise he will go so far in life. He has a great support system and has made such a difference in millions of peoples lives already. He loves the LORD and has such a kind and giving heart. There will always be people that hate him, but this belieber is going to love him no matter what. 

NEVER SAY NEVER!!!

Sarahs Prom 2011

The Beggining of Many Wedding Showers......

Kelsie and Taylor are getting married in August. On top of that, 6 of Kelsie's best friends have weddings coming up this year too. So here is just a start to many wedding showers :) This should be a fun year full of new beginnings :) 

Kelsie and her best friends (the brides-to-be)

This year Amy will be marrying William, Shelly will be marrying Dustin, Kelsie will be marrying Taylor and Haley will be marrying Caleb :)

So glad we all get to be apart of your big day Kels :)

Brides-to-be :)

Future Ms. Kelsie Borders :)

Taylor and Kelsie

Kelsie and The Borders

Jon and Kristi