Decatur Book Festival 2011

Today begins the weekend I have looked forward to for a year. Not only does Auburn football start tomorrow but this weekend is the Decatur Book Festival!

Last year was my first year attending and I had such a good time that I couldn't wait to go back. This year I'm looking forward to seeing Beth Revis, Victoria Schwab, Libba Bray, Lauren Myracle, and Stephanie Perkins. I'm also excited to see Rachel Hawkins, Terra McVoy, and Jackson Pearce again.

The books and the authors ARE pretty awesome alone but what I'm REALLY excited for is getting to spend a weekend with some of my awesome online friends. Some of these girls have become best friends offline and others I'm only getting to meet for the first time this weekend.

If you've read my blog at all, you'll know that Julie is one of my BFF's. We met in person for the first time early last year and although she lives a couple hours away, I've seen her more since then than I've seen my friend who lives 30 minutes away. I haven't seen her in about 2 months and I miss this girl.

Heather lives in Florida and I met her for the first time in Atlanta last year. Considering she lives about 12 hours away from me, I became spoiled last year after seeing her 3 months in a row (in different cities too!) and not at all this year. She's just a fun person and I can't wait to see her!

I met Tameka for the first time in May when I went to the LA Times Festival of Books while on vacation. I've known Tameka online for several years and finally getting to meet her was like meeting up with an old friend. The fact that I'll have gotten to see her three times once this year is over is just awesome (my husband is going to LA for a work conference and I'm tagging along). This is also her birthday week so I think it's going to be an epic trip.

I'll also get to meet Jacki, Jennie, and Ashley. I've known these girls online for several years as well and I am beyond ecstatic that they're coming from as far away as Canada (Ashley) for a weekend in Georgia. They may be online friends now but I know after this weekend, they'll just be regular friends who just live to damn far away.

Friday Five (1)

In order to back to regular blogging I thought I'd add a meme to my blog so here we go.

1. Does anybody remember the 90's boyband 5ive? This was their hit single and I was reminded if them while typing the word "five." Enjoy. If you were wondering, yes, I had their CD and probably still do somewhere.

2. I'm back in school! I'm currently going to a community college nearby to get a few courses under my new major in, Business Administration, then hopefully transferring to the local university. College has been a bumpy ride for me but after taking the last 2 years off, it feels good to be back in the classroom. It DOES help that my head is in a better place too. I'm currently taking Statistics I, Accounting I, Macroeconomics, and Business Law.

3. I was recently given the chance to be production manager on my friend's independent film. It was absolutely amazing. We wrapped filming this past Sunday and I cannot wait to see the finished product. Everybody that worked on it did a great job and I really hope I get to work with them all in the future.

4. The Decatur Book Festival is next week! I can't wait because I get to see some friends again and I get to finally meet some other friends from my online book club. It's going to be a fabulous weekend of book nerdery and it is going to be much needed.

5. Today was one of the most emotionally draining days I've ever had. My Mother-in-Law, my husband, and I had to say goodbye to their dog of the last 14 years, Annie. She's been having a a rough time lately and it had gotten to the point where her tail was always tucked and she couldn't even squat to go to the bathroom, among many other ailments. The three of us said goodbye together and dug a grave for her in my Mother-in-Laws backyard under a tree. I've cried so much today I didn't think I had any tears left. I just proved myself wrong. You will be greatly missed and forever loved pup.

RIP Annie 6/9/1997 - 8/26/2011

All 4 Alabama Update

As many of you know, earlier this year tornadoes ripped through the south and left nothing but destruction in its wake. Wanting to do something, I teamed up with the fabulous Courtney and we began All 4 Alabama that consisted of auctions to benefit and rural Alabama town that needed a little extra help.

The town Courtney and I decided upon was Hackleburg, Alabama and I am beyond ecstatic to say that with the help of so many wonderful people, we were able to donate $8,309.41 to Hackleburg Helping Hands.

This organization was created after the tornadoes hit by the people of Hackleburg FOR the people of Hackleburg. Courtney and I are SO thankful to everyone who donated items for the auctions and to those who bid. You are all rock stars in my book.

I can't begin to tell you what I'm feeling after this experience. I am BURSTING with joy and am so happy that all the hard work has paid off and we can start seeing this money be put to good use. 

So THANK YOU to everyone who was involved. I am not joking when I say that it wouldn't have been possible without you and you have a fan for life right here.

To Courtney, you are an amazing and caring person and I am so happy to call you my friend.

To everyone else, just because we aren't in the news anymore, doesn't mean that all is well yet. Every day I drive by areas where there's nothing but rubble. Where trees once stood tall and strong, you can see what's left of the houses behind them covered in tarps. 

Remember, every little bit helps and although the auctions may be closed it doesn't mean you can't still donate to Hackleburg's Helping Hands. They would appreciate it more than you know.

Ringgold Reads

Many of you know I am 1/2 of the All 4 Alabama team to help raise money for a rural Alabama town that was hit hard by the destruction of the April 27th tornadoes.

Originally my friend Julie and I were going to team up together to raise money and help tornado victims but in the end we each decided to focus on different things. I really wanted to help rural Alabama and she needed to help her own community.

With the help of author Susan Gregg Gilmore and the participation of Random House, Ringgold Reads was created with a mission to rebuild the school libraries of Ringgold, Georgia and help to promote reading and writing as a way for students to express themselves after experiencing such a life-altering event.

Considering the number of books in a library, the number of different books needed is relatively small. However, the number needed of each book (70) isn't a small number. The list of books needed can be found under the Info link on the Facebook page.

Are you getting ready to start back to school shopping? Why not pick up an extra copy of The Great Gatsby or To Kill a Mockingbird? Did you see a copy of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas or A Walk to Remember marked down in your local bookstore's bargain section? Have an extra copy of The Hunger Games laying around?

Why not donate it? Every book helps and I know the teachers and students will greatly appreciate them.

Have a few unused credits on PaperBackSwap? You can use them at no charge to you AND help a great cause!

If you DO plan on donating, make sure you email them at RinggoldReads@gmail.com to let them know the book and number of books you're donating so they can keep track of what they need. As for the books, you can mail those to:

MARK PIERCE, RHS ENGLISH DEPARTMENT HEAD
29 TIGER TRAIL
RINGGOLD, GA 30736

I know I'll be on the hunt this tax free weekend to see what books I can snag. Will you?

 

Prelude to NashCon 2011

Hi, my name is Crystal and I fangirl over the TV show Supernatural. If you know me at ALL you will know that this is my absolute favorite show and if you call me while it is on, I won't answer. If you want to do something the night of a new episode, I will consider your offer but don't be surprised if I say I'm busy.

Ever since I heard about certain movies/TV shows having conventions, I of course looked to see if there was one for Supernatural. You can imagine how giddy I was when I found out these really existed! I, Crystal, could have the chance to meet the cast one day.

For the last few years I have been STALKING Creation's website hoping and praying that Salute to Supernatural would have a stop near me. Until recently, the closest stop to Birmingham was Chicago. If you're any good at geography, you will know that this is not exactly close.

I know, I know, a true fan would drive the 11-12 hours and be happy but I can't really do that.

So imagine the squee-iness that happened when I found out they were coming to the South..and that it was only a THREE HOUR drive. Cue the jumping up and down and high-pitched noises coming from the other side of this computer. YES, that was me.

After mentioning NashCon, my internet friend and fellow Supernatural freak, Courtney, and I talked and decided we were going to go. After days of trying to get my husband to say whether he was going with or not, we finally had a yes from him and we were able to order our tickets.

To say that it was fun is a serious understatement. All four of us (Courtney's husband came with her too) had a blast and I spent most of the weekend laughing. Since it was so awesome, I'm going to post about each day so I can share it with you and also have my first con documented.


Have you ever been to a con? What was it for? If you haven't, would you?

All 4 Alabama

While on vacation, I started thinking about the Do The Write Thing for Nashville auctions and how successful that seemed to be. It was like fate. My friend Julie sent an email saying she was wanting to do some kind of auction to raise money (her town was hit pretty hard too) and that's when I knew this is what I needed to do. I immediately e-mailed Lindsey Leavitt and her enthusiasm for what I was asking her was inspiring. I couldn't wait to ask Rachel Hawkins but I did (I didn't think she'd appreciate her phone going off at 2am) but as soon as I asked she was on board as well.

Lindsey did a LOT of searching the internet for people who may have been interested in helping. She then e-mailed me saying that she found out that a few other people had already gone live with Help Write Now. Did we continue? Should we try to team up with them?

After talking to Julie, we both decided that we still wanted to continue but we would focus on smaller communities and try to adopt them. When I shared this with Lindsey, she replied and said I should contact Courtney who was coordinating something with the same sentiment. So I did.

Courtney replied and after a few emails and my flight home, we decided to meet up and discuss All 4 Alabama. We had the same vision and the same excitement for what we were going to be doing and we joined forces. In the few days since, we have emailed quite a few people in the writing community and have gotten a LOT of great feedback. As I was going through the list of people donating things for our auction, I was smiling so hard my eyes started welling up with tears.

I feel so blessed to be a part of an online community that cares so damn much about others. I have seen some of the most horrific destruction I have ever seen in the few days since I've been back home but I have also heard of so many volunteers showing up that they are turning people away! Isn't that amazing? 

So today is the day that all the hard work and planning Courtney and I have done gets shared with the rest of the world.

The goal of All 4 Alabama is to raise money through auctions and donations so we can "adopt" a rural Alabama community that may not receive as much attention in relief efforts as the larger cities such as Birmingham and Tuscaloosa and their surrounding areas. Right now these people have broken hearts and spirits and can use all the help they can get.

With all the other stuff going on in the world right now, let's not forget what happened in the South last week. There are people who are still picking through the rubble trying to salvage anything they can from their life before April 27th.

Check us out at http://all4alabamarelief.blogspot.com

Also, if you make a purchase at ANY Barnes & Noble or on their website from 5/7-5/14 and you use bookfair #1048605, 10% of sales using this code go to the United Way's West AL tornado relief. Thanks to Lindsey Leavitt for this!

Devastation & Destruction

I've been sitting here trying to figure out how to start this post and there are just no words right now. To be honest, I started this post days ago and had to come back to it. The last two weeks have been full of excitement, heartbreak, laughter, and sorrow and I've been fighting with myself over everything.

For those of you who don't know me, I live in Birmingham, Alabama. Unless you've been disconnected for all things electronic, you know that on April 27th tornadoes ripped through the south leaving one of the biggest paths of destruction. This series of storms was like no other and although this storm produced over 400 tornadoes in three days, 249 of those occurred on the 27th. As of now, the death toll is at 239.

My husband and I were on vacation while all this was happening and not only did I feel terrible for enjoying myself but I felt helpless. We glued ourselves to our local ABC affiliate's iPhone app while things were still happening and as soon as we checked into our hotel, we perched in front of a TV taking it all in.

I was anxious to get back home. The rest of the trip we watched as much as we could and kept updated on family through text messages and friends through Facebook. The whole time I could only think about what I could do to help while sitting in California.

We were very fortunate. Our friends and families all made it through the storms with little-to-no damage but there are hundreds of people who cannot say the same. I can't tell you what it felt like driving through a place only 10-15 minutes from my house, to see nothing against the night sky where houses and trees should have been. My heart breaks for everyone that was affected on that day but we will rebuild and the people who lost their lives for no reason will never be forgotten.