kentuck art festival.

justin and i were pumped to make it to the annual kentuck art festival this weekend. tuscaloosa isn't exactly the most happening place for fun things like this, so we were glad we were in town for it!

one sure fire way to have people stop at your booth: dog paintings.

of course we got one of her magnets that looks like millie.

already looking forward to next year...

what adventures did you have this past weekend?

learning to say roll tide...

we were blessed with tickets to the alabama game this weekend. this is our first one as alabamians...we went to the uga vs. bama game our junior year of college, our first taste of tuscaloosa!

we had lots of fun even though i had no idea what was happening the majority of the time. their cheers and songs were foreign to us and i almost said "goooooo dawgs" during the kick-off. 

it was fun to cheer on the tide and our friends on the team!

bye cedar crest

this summer we have seen the progression in cleaning up after the tornado as they inched closer and closer to bulldozing our townhouse.

justin went back in one last time and managed to grab a few more things that were salvageable, thankful for that. the ceiling had caved in and things were pretty nasty inside. i guess anything left exposed to the elements for two months would be gross...

[you can see the sinking roof on the back.]

we stopped by at night when they were halfway finished with the demo to collect a few mementos. we grabbed a couple bricks and our address placard before the bulldozing, but then we also got two window panes. hopefully we can make something special to remind us of God's provision during the storm and in the weeks after.

on our way out of town we stopped and took a couple more pictures before it was all cleared away.

it's tough to picture, but there was our complex and another set of townhouses plus lots of mature trees in this area. it's heartbreaking to remember all that was lost in the storm.

but we are thankful to have closure on our old place as we continue to get excited about our new house. we close on it as soon as we get back in town from colorado! 

it is still surreal to think about everything that has happened since april, truly thankful and in awe of God during this time.

life update.

woah, where has the time gone?

we got back to tuscaloosa about 2 weeks ago, but it feels like we have been back 10 minutes. so much has gone on in these days. 

we are still blessed to be living in our friend catherine's house this summer as we explore options for the fall. unfortunately things aren't looking too good. lots of options were either destroyed by the tornado or are already occupied by other tornado victims. still trusting God for His perfect option. we are checking into the possibility of buying a home, which kind of freaks me out. i wish this was as easy as HGTV makes it look...

we are deeply thankful and in awe of everyones generosity to us. we have been praying for replacement vehicles and are blown away by how quickly He answers those prayers. we are now the proud owners of two SUVs....the families who gave them to us will never know how much of a blessing those cars are.

our employer, Campus Crusade for Christ, established a disaster assistance fund to help replace our possessions, help towards housing needs and cover our expenses before insurance money comes in. we deeply appreciate all who have donated to us in that way. we have been so blessed by the donations received through this fund and thankful for anyone who feels lead to give through the fund.

throughout the post-storm recovery, justin and i have clung to Romans 8:28. 

"and we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose"

God has a plan and a purpose for this storm and we are glad to be a part of Him working in tuscaloosa and the community. 

for those who haven't seen our Fox news interview, here is a link.

june 4th.

this weekend justin and i went back to our neighborhood for the first time since we moved everything out of our town house.
it has been almost 40 days since the tornado. i am blown away by how our city has responded and already made a huge comeback.

it was an emotional morning as we drove the streets we walked so often. the tree lined streets are now crowded with debris and rubble.

it was eerie as we pulled up to our townhouse to see something so familiar but not the same as we remember it being. the massive trees that were in front of our home have been cut down, therefore it was extremely hot as we walked around our house.

someone tarped our house and boarded it up. it appeared as if our house was caving in much more than when we left it, yet other than that it was all the same. we peeked behind the wood in the back and our house smelled like mildew [might be one of the worst smells i have ever smelled]

while it was tough to go back and see our town house, it was good to remind us of God's providence. He is good and has a purpose even in tough things like a tornado. i feel like we both have a much better sense of closure.

the new normal

i can't believe it has been a week since the tornado hit our town, these past few days have been a blur.

we are so grateful for our safety and sometimes this all seems so unreal. maybe tomorrow i will wake up, drive back to our town house in cedar crest and life will resume. but this is the new normal, cop cars blocking our neighborhood, bulldozers and cranes taking away the rubble and relief efforts around each corner.

as i think back over the past few days i realize how much i have to be thankful of. while we might have lost a significant amount of our possessions, but i can honestly say that i trust and know God more through this experience. i am learning that depending on others and allowing others to help us is a good thing and one God calls us to do. i am learning to praise God even when we don't see nor understand His plan and trust Him when there is so much uncertainty.

we were so thankful for our friends who showed up at our town house last thursday to move what we could salvage to a friend's apartment. i could not believe that over 30 people came over to move our things, felt very loved by our tuscaloosa community of friends.

we spent a couple of nights at jeff and rachel's house in northport before relocating to a hotel across town. we are so blessed to move out of this hotel and into catherine's house, a friend who is graduating and starting her job in birmingham this summer.

a sign i wrote [and didn't really like] that was in our closet.

we left it propped in the back of our house and someone else nailed it to the front of our house.

now we love that little sign and have it with us at the hotel.

psalm 34:3

"oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!"

tuscaloosa

"For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come."

-Hebrews 13:14

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
   my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
   my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

-Psalm 18:2

4.27.2011

this post is going to be scattered, just like my thoughts. hopefully it will tell our story and help you understand how to help tuscaloosa and other places with tornado damage.


i got home from working on campus around 4. justin got home a couple minutes later and turned on the local news. and that's where i lost track of time.

justin jumped into action and put the coffee table in front of our sliding glass door, grabbed our comforter and pillows from upstairs while i grabbed Millie. we all huddled in the downstairs half bathroom. we couldn't have been in there but a minute before our ears started popping and we heard the roaring of the tornado. justin and i both started praying and holding on to each other. we felt the tornado try to suck us up into it's vortex, but we held each other even more tightly and prayed even harder.

once the tornado passed, we looked up and saw the bathroom wall was not there. we had been exposed to the storm, praise God for our safety. justin pushed open the bathroom door to find glass, debris and our possessions strewn around our downstairs.

the next couple of hours were plagued by fear, anxiety and lots of rumors. i wish i could remember what happened during that time, but i am thankful that we can't remember those terrifying details.

everyone at our complex was safe so we started walking around the cedar crest neighborhood to make sure others were okay.

we were so blessed by how many friends came to check on us and get us out of the disaster area.
it truly is by the grace of God that we are still alive, if we were anywhere else in our house we would not be alive today.

i honestly can't remember the next few hours and the past few days have been a huge blur.

the front of our town house

our bedroom.

brick exterior wall is down.

wall is pulled away from house.

going upstairs.

my 'rolla. officially totaled.

last picture at our house.

tuscaloosa tornado.

this is going to be brief.

as you might have already heard a tornado did hit our home. justin and i are completely safe. our town house is destroyed. our exterior wall is gone and our cars are smashed by huge trees.

but praise be to the Lord for our safety and the safety of our neighbors.

continue to pray for tuscaloosa and alberta city. 


pray for those who have it much worse and are without family members tonight. 

we cleared as much as we could out of our town house and moved it to a friend's apartment. we are staying at our director's house in northport.

will update with more news/pictures/information when i get the opportunity.

 check my twitter page for more up to date information and my Facebook has some pictures that other people have taken.

here is a link to a crimson & white article with more information.

arboretum

We took today off to catch up and rest from the weekend, so after we picked Millie up from the kennel (she was out of control excited to see us) we walked around the University of Alabama's Arboretum for the first time. Lots of friends have recommended this as a great place to take a walk, I especially remember Katie telling us about it!

This place is gorgeous, I couldn't believe how pretty it was. Millie loved smelling and running around, while Justin loved talking about the trees, game paths and trying to get me to stop taking pictures. We didn't get to walk around much of the area because we needed to get home, so I could do fun stuff like grocery shopping.

Near the end of the walk, Justin spotted other dogs playing in the water. So being the adventurer he is (and me the EXACT opposite) he decided to get down to the lake and let Millie get in. Literally as soon as she got in the lake, she stopped listening to us and swam in the opposite direction...this should not have surprised me.  After about 5 minutes of us urging her to come back to the shore, she finally got tired and came back. She had the best afternoon and we can't wait to go back.