What I'm Loving

I'm linking up with Jamie again today for another What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving that Lee put a new wireless card in my computer last night! It had been messed up for a while, and the other day my wireless quit working all together. It was really frustrating, but it's all better now :) Lee had to pretty much take the computer apart to put in the new card, but he got it back together with just one screw left inside!

I'm loving that I got to go to Bama Rising last week!
It was amazing and it raised $2.2 million for tornado relief! You can read more about it here.

I'm loving that I finally got around to organizing my closet yesterday. I got a bunch of clear plastic shoe boxes from The Container Store a couple of weeks ago and I finally got them all arranged. I feel so much better now that it's done. Now let's just see if I can keep it clean!

I'm loving that Lee got a welcome basket the other day from his new job!
Isn't that adorable? And so thoughtful! It had chips, crackers, peanuts, candy, all kinds of stuff! He seems really happy at the new job so far :)

I'm loving that I'm going to see Miranda Lambert in concert next month! I just adore her!

Lastly, I'm loving that my cousin Lauren has started a new book review blog, Lauren Gets Literal. It just launched this week. You should go check it out; I know it's going to be awesome! [Lauren introduced me and Lee to The Hunger Games books, which certainly didn't disappoint!]

Bama Rising

Bama Rising was held last Tuesday night at the BJCC in Birmingham. Tickets sold out in about 15 minutes the day they went on sale, so I was so excited that I was able to get tickets. I went with...

Sunny...

my friend Cally...

and my friend Erica.

None of the husbands were too interested in going, so we had a girls night. I haven't been to THAT many concerts in my life, but this was hands down the best concert I have ever attended! There were so many good people there: Alabama, Sara Evans, Dierks Bentley, The Commodores, Martina McBride, Alabama boys Bo Bice and Taylor Hicks [remember them from American Idol?], Darius Rucker, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Sheryl Crow...I think there were like 20 people/groups there to perform!

It started at 7:30, and we didn't get back out to the car until almost 1:30 in the morning, but it was so worth it. Our seats were pretty good, but they were a little bit far from the stage so it's pretty hard to tell who's who in all my pictures. This one is from the end of the concert when everybody who was still there [or awake maybe?] came back out and sang "My Home's in Alabama." Definitely shed a tear or two during this one.
I'm so glad I got the chance to go to this concert. All of the performers came for free, which made me like them more than I already did [and I already liked them a lot!], and Bama Rising made about $2.2 million for tornado relief. It was such a good time, and something I'll never forget!

What I'm Loving

I'm linking up with Jamie today for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving that Lee and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary yesterday!
{You can't really see in this pic, but his Groom's Cake was a Celtics cake,
and they ended up winning the championship that year!}
I remember thinking that May 17, 2008 would NEVER get here, now it's already been 3 years! We went to the beach last week and went out to celebrate our anniversary while we were there, so last night we had dinner at home. Lee cooked steak and I made sweet potatoes and macaroni and cheese. He got me a fondue pot and we had strawberries and cheesecake with chocolate fondue for dessert! But we made WAY too much fondue for two people and ended up throwing most of it away :(

I'm loving that I FINALLY got to read The Help while we were at the beach!
I had been wanting to read this book for so long, but I was so busy this semester I didn't get to read anything besides books for class. I said as soon as the semester was over I was going to get this book and that's exactly what I did. It DID NOT disappoint! I couldn't put it down! The movie is coming out in August I think and I can't wait!

I'm loving that Lee got a new job! He starts the day after Memorial Day and we are so excited. His new job is closer to the house [but with traffic it might take him the same amount of time to get there] and it's more of what he went to school to do. I'm so happy for him! I got a job for the summer too! I'm going to be working at the pool in our neighborhood making sure people have paid their HOA fees when they come in and keeping the pool clean and whatnot. I have orientation today and I'll get my schedule then!

I'm loving that the group Alabama is putting on Bama Rising in Birmingham next month!
There are going to be a ton of awesome people performing and the money will go toward tornado relief. Hopefully I won't have to work that night...if I do I'm gonna beg somebody to switch shifts with me. I REALLY want to go!!

I hope everybody has a good Wednesday!

Isaiah 54:11

"You are sad and discouraged tossed around in the storm. But I, the Lord, will rebuild your city"

Isaiah 54:11

One of my best friends works at Regions Bank in Tuscaloosa. Her branch was okay, but a lot of them went to the branch right on the corner of 15th Street and McFarland, which is right in the middle of all the damage, to cook and give out food to people working to clean up. They had a tent set up too so people could sit and eat or just rest if they wanted. [It's crazy to me that the mall and that branch of the bank are still standing...everything right across the street from them was absolutely destroyed]

We went out there yesterday afternoon to help out. It was absolutely amazing to see all the people wanting to help and just doing whatever they can. Donations were pouring in the whole time we were there. It really did my heart good to see that.

People from our rival schools are getting donations together and sending them in. I read yesterday that the New York Yankees donated $500,000. Charlie Sheen was in Tuscaloosa today and I heard he spent/donated a million dollars for supplies and such. [I'm hearing now that's just a rumor]

{via}

It's been about four years since I lived in Tuscaloosa, but I think I will always consider it home. I've never been so proud of my home.

No Better Today

Things seem even worse today. I can't stop crying.

I heard on the radio about an hour ago that there were 45 confirmed dead in Tuscaloosa and 446 still missing. I read that 8 University students had been confirmed dead. It's just devastating.

All of our family and friends are safe, but my heart is broken for the people who lost their homes and family members and friends. I can't imagine what they're going through right now if I'm this emotionally hurt.

Lee had a friend who had damage to his house in Tuscaloosa so he went to help him clean up instead of going to work today. I was going to go help, too, but Lee told me to just stay home. He said it was chaos and it would have taken me 3 hours to get there.

Tuscaloosa will never be the same again :(

Heartbroken

My heart is absolutely broken right now.

At about five o'clock yesterday afternoon a mile-wide tornado absolutely destroyed the city where I spent five of the best years of my life, the city that I still consider home.

All photos via tuscaloosanews.com

We live about 30 miles from Tuscaloosa right now, but I'm there for school every day and Lee works there. I was home all day yesterday because my school was canceled and Lee came from work at lunch [thank goodness] because of the threat of bad weather, but Lee's brother and sister and lots of our friends live in Tuscaloosa, so watching this monster on the news was terrifying. It went right by his brother and sister's apartments, but they're okay. Our friends are all okay too, but some had damage to their houses.

Here's a video somebody took from the parking lot of the mall. I'm not sure how the mall is still standing. I'm also not sure why this person was in the car filming this and not in a safe place, but it's an amazing [and terrifying] video. This thing was a beast.
The damage is horrifying. It looks like bombs went off in Tuscaloosa. It beats all I've ever seen.

The pile of rubble on the left was a Big Lots yesterday morning

So many cities in Alabama are absolutely devastated right now. I'm so thankful all my family and friends are okay, but heartbroken for those who lost their homes and family members/friends. What a crazy day.

If you're reading this, could you please take a minute to say a prayer for everyone affected by this storm?