Prayer.

Prayer is the only word I can muster through the shock and devastation here in Tuscaloosa. Pray for peace, courage, perseverance, hope, and direction. Pray for the eradication of apathy and complacency. Pray for ways that you can help.

For more storm and damage coverage look here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/30/us/30campus.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/04/29/severe.weather/index.html
http://cw.ua.edu/2011/04/29/storm-system-one-of-the-most-powerful-in-u-s-history/
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/04/alabama_tornadoes_close-up_sat.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ohIVzIZLuQ&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6giQ3csbUg&feature=player_embedded

For more information on ways you can help look here:
https://www.ua.edu/advancement/giving/donate/?division=2&account=349
http://helpalabama.com/
http://alabaster.myfoxal.com/news/weather/heres-how-help-donate-and-volunteer/79130

‎"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions were their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all."
{Acts 4:32-33}

GIVEAWAY: Josh Abbott Band.

Hello little ladies! In celebration of over 100 followers on Google, over 250 followers on Facebook, and over 300 followers on Twitter, it's about time for a giveaway. Today, I have a special surprise for you - two gift packages from Mr. Josh Abbott himself! Most of the swag he gave me went to my Delta sisters {and I may have taken a JAB tank for myself as commission}, but I left the best goods for you.

Package A: Purple JAB tee (ladies small), She's Like Texas CD, and pink JAB koozie {a.ka. hugger depending on where you're from}:

Package B: Black She's Like Texas tee (ladies medium), She's Like Texas CD, and pink koozie:

Two packages means two lucky winners! Not only is this a once and a lifetime opportunity to get free JAB merch, but also this is your chance to tell me a little bit about yourself. I'd love to get to know all of my new readers!

So here's how this is gonna go down:

1. To enter this giveaway, please leave a comment saying who you are, where you're from, and what's on your summer bucket list!

2. You can earn extra entries by doing the following: tweeting about this giveaway, posting this giveaway on facebook, and/or blogging about this giveaway. Please tell me in a comment if you do any or all of these!

3. This giveaway ends Wednesday, May 4th and the winner will be announced by Friday, May 6th. 

Looking forward to spreading the love of Texas country music. Good luck sweethearts!

Easter refleggtion.

This Easter weekend, I spent about 24 hours at home - not nearly as many as I wish I had but just enough for my heart to feel refreshed. I pray that you look forward to going home and that it is a place of peace and unconditional love for you. If it's not, know that God mends families and that you always have a heavenly home that overflows with abundant joy and does not waver! God has healed my family, lifted us up from the depths, given us hope in desperate cries for help, and taught us how to love when we've made up our minds not to. He softens bitterness, controls our sharp tongues, and shows us how to forgive and be at peace with one another. He can do the same for your family too.

This Easter season, I am thankful that Christ demonstrated how to be a living sacrifice - to deny ourselves, our selfishness, our desires, and our greed and instead choose God's will and purpose for our lives. When we turn away from our temptations to be self-centered, it is then that we allow God into our lives to work unimaginable wonders and to surprise us with adventures!

Easier said than done, right? Here I am, a soon-to-be college graduate big girl, and I'm still reluctant to take that other foot off the shore and jump in the boat. I'm too scared to leap off the ledge. I'm too hesitant to put all my eggs in one basket. So here goes nothing, Orchestrator of All Things, I'm putting all of my eggs into Your basket, jumping in the boat and pushing off the dock, and taking one gigantic leap of faith into the unknown. I'm ready. Let's do this.

{This is me putting all of my Easter eggs in one basket. I'm literally and metaphorically serious.}

{Homemade vanilla ice cream. Recipe to come once perfected!}

{A tad soupy, but still eyes-roll-into-the-back-of-your-head delicious.}

{We channeled our inner five-year-old blowing bubbles we got from the Easter bunny!}

{A little surf and turf. My lands, does my mama know how to cook.}

 

{A cornball Easter pic taken by Mark, the official family photographer. Please pray for Davis's healing after he broke his nose in a car accident!}

{Gorgemous rose bushes.}

{Look familiar?}

{DDD represent. I'll be pansy status soon!}

{I'm not going to even pretend to know what this is. My mama would be so ashamed!}

Big week coming up on the blog! Can you say GIVEAWAY? It may or may not have something to do with Josh Abbott Band. Perhaps, maybe, possibly...okay completely. Get excited sweethearts!

Hosanna in the highest.

With ZERO strength left to conquer this daunting week, I'm completely and utterly relying on the Big Man Upstairs for peace, endurance, and joy. And since it's Holy Week and all, I thought I'd give Jesus a shout out. So here's a power and praise playlist! {PS - Those drumsticks are straight from the hands of Les Lawless of Randy Rogers Band!}

1. Hosanna - Hillsong United
2. Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) - Chris Tomlin
3. Lost At Sea - Jimmy Needham
4. How Great Thou Art - Carrie Underwood
5. In You - Shane & Shane
6. Here I Go Again - Casting Crowns
7. Prayer of St. Francis - Sarah McLachlan
8. Psalm 118 - Shane & Shane
9. If We Are The Body - Casting Crowns
10. Washed By The Water - Needtobreathe
11. Don't Get Comfortable - Brandon Heath
12. Jesus Paid It All - Kristian Stanfill
13. Gravity - Shawn McDonald
14. Your Love Is Extravagant - Casting Crowns
15. Before the Throne - Shane & Shane
16. Nothing Without You - Bebo Norman
17. Precious Lord, Take My Hand - Selah

Stop and smell the tulips.

Every Spring at UA, campus is always a bit cheerier when the tulips are planted. Crimson and white tulips have decked our monuments and corners for a couple weeks now, and I was waiting for the perfect afternoon to snap some photos. Well, turns out yours truly procrastinated just a moment too long because when I lugged my big camera over to the stadium, look what I found...a big empty flowerbed and a trailer full of dead tulips!

This Alabama heat fried those babies in no time, and now they are just a bunch of shriveled up stems. So disappointing!

I wish I had taken some time to enjoy the tulips before they were uprooted. Kind of like I wish I had taken more time to enjoy sweet friends before I get uprooted from college life. {That was a stretch!} These four years have FLOWN by, and not one part of me is ready to leave. I know God's plan rarely involves staying comfortable, and he has called me to move on to a surprising new adventure! But for this last month in Tuscaloosa, you bet I'm going to soak up the memories, the friendships, and the scenery. I'm going to miss this.

{The last survivor of Alabama's crazy weather.}

{The historic President's mansion. I die.}

{Tri Delta represent!}

{I basically live here.}

{Yep. This is my school. The most gorgeous place on earth.}

Any advice for a girl with one month left in college? AHHH.

Homemade hat.

Last weekend, I found myself in a predicament. I had to wear a black and white Kentucky Derby hat to the Tapping of The XXXI, and there was no time to go perusing through hat boutiques in Birmingham. So I channeled my inner Martha Stewart, did a few google searches, and jetted off to Hobby Lobby to get crafty.

Thank goodness, roomie Meg-meister let me borrow her sunhat for me to decorate...

Then I bought a bunch of stuff at Hobby Lobby that I didn't need {white ribbon, sheer ribbon, faux flower} simply because this sweet old lady was helping me, and I couldn't bear to crush her awful ideas. But I did find this lovely mesh, rosette material that I wrapped around the base of the hat to make it all purdy.

Feminine, simple, and super easy. Also, dirt cheap!

Have you been crafty lately?

Disney world.

This post title is only slightly misleading. While I didn't actually make a visit to Disney in Orlando, I do get to be a part of a magical place every single day. Welcome to Nott Hall, home of the Honors College where my photography exhibit is currently on display. Hold up, I'm still pinching myself in utter disbelief that this is real! Never in a million years did I imagine being legit enough to hang my own collection in a public place. But the Honors College never fails to make dreams come true.

My exhibit is a completely random collection of 15 photos chosen by super-genius-photographer-extraordinare Chip Cooper {who now teaches Honors Photography}. They were printed and framed by the Honors College FO FREE. The opening of my exhibit was part of an exciting hipster event called Xpressing Their Passions where we listened to stellar live music, enjoyed hor d'oeuvres, and discussed the philosophy behind my photography laughed with friends about how artsy-fartsy I am.

My biography reads:

Amber Goodwin is a senior business student from Germantown, TN majoring in Marketing and minoring in Psychology. Amber's fascination with photography began in middle school, snapping photos of her backyard with a disposable camera. As a student of Chip Cooper's inaugural Honors Photography class in Spring 2008, Amber developed a creative vision for using digital photography as an avenue to capture beauty in the ordinary. At the heart of Amber's photography is a passion for celebrating nature and seizing peaceful moments.

In the Nott Hall exhibit, Amber showcases photos from her international travels and home garden. Her study abroad trip to Greece opened her eyes to vibrant sunsets and ancient textures. In Costa Rica, she captured the spirit of a culture deep-rooted in the earth's magnificence. Although traveling broadened Amber's perspective, seeing her backyard through a camera lens enabled her to realize that the most intricately extraordinary things lie right under her nose.

Hi Mark.

And here them babies are from left to right:

{Warning: You've probably seen a lot of these on the blog before!}

 Twisted limbs.

Germantown, TN

 Flurry trails.

Germantown, TN

 Climbing ant.

Germantown, TN

Spiderweb dew.

Germantown, TN

 Donkey siesta.

Santorini, Greece

Fiery glow.

Santorini, Greece

Blushing dogwood.

Germantown, TN

Rain roof.

Germantown, TN

Deep roots.

Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

 Santorini sundown.

Santorini, Greece

Flighty hummingbird.

Monteverde, Costa Rica

 Caterpillar tightrope.

Germantown, TN

Light swirl.

Austin, TX

Peeking sunset.

Destin, FL

Snow globe.

Germantown, TN

Thank you to all of the encouraging and selfless friends who came out to the event to support me! I am overwhelmed by the beautiful people God has put in my life. He has blessed me abundantly! I thank God for each of you everyday. LOVE.

If you'd like, you can check out more of my photography HERE.