3/03/09
Okay...I know it has been FOREVER!!  I told you guys...I am REALLY bad at writing in journals.  I get busy and forget...and lots of other excuses too! ;)
So...first of all...if you are reading this...thank you for your support and for taking the time to be a part of my music and my life.  I have been working very hard and hopefully...fingers crossed...you will be seeing my face elsewhere.  It all depends on what God has in store for my life.
He has really blessed me recently with exciting opportunities!  I have joined an amazing tour...full of women who are inspiring and talented and we have already gained lots of momentum.  So keep us in your prayers!!
I have started the beginning stages of my next album which I hope to have ready by this summer.  It will have songs that I have written over the past couple of years...straight from the heart.  So keep your ears open...and keeping checking the site!! ;)
That is just a quick update on everything that is going on.  I promise I will write again very soon!  Until then...God bless!!
Ali
 
 
1/17/07
 
Well, I hope that all of you are having a wonderful new year and finding yourselves with a bright road ahead of you!  I personally LOVE the new year and am in great spirits that this year will be one of my best!!
I am finally recovering well enough from the accident that I can proceed with a somewhat normal life.  Looking back I can't believe that I have come this far...but God has shown me a kind of strength that I have never known before.  This excites me...and gives me hope that during 2007 I can not only change my life for the better...but also the lives of the people that surround me.  My hope and my plan is to truly make a difference in someone's life this year.  If anything...the accident has helped me to realize that everybody needs someone to lean on.  As stubborn as I like to be...I always figured that I could storm through life and pave my own paths without anyone else's help.  My experience in September proved to me that we ALL need each other.  God has given us such beautiful spirits if we can just forget our selfish motives and reach out to the people that are in need.
I don't want to get to deep with my first journal entry of the year...but I can't help finding myself eager to explore this incredible world.  My eyes are so much more open to what life is truly about.
YAH!!...I hope you are as excited as I am!  And don't worry...I do have new music on the way!! Let's start this year off with a bang!!!...
God bless!!
Ali
 
 
9-14-06
 
Many of you may have already heard about the terrible accident that I was involved in a few days ago.  However, it is always best to hear these kinds of things directly from the source...SO...I am going to give you the low down on the story.
My friends and I decided to take our annual camping trip close to Columbia, TN at Henry Horton State Park.  We had a wonderful first night and ended up renting some canoes for a Saturday adventure on the duck river.  After floating the river for several hours an unexpected storm blew up from absolutely nowhere and covered our sunny sky.  The current picked up, the wind was out of control, and lightning was causing a serious threat to the metal canoes that we were traveling in.  We thought that the smart thing to do would be to pull over on the side of the river and seek shelter.  We had just beached our canoe and I was stepping out when I heard my friend Mike scream "Watch Out!".
Unfortunately for me, that is all that I remember.  Apparently a tree had snapped in half and had fallen (approximately 40 feet) from the cliff above us and struck me directly in the back of the head and shoulders.  It knocked me headfirst into the canoe and bounced me back into the water where it eventually landed across my midsection.  Mike came to my rescue...pulled my head out of the freezing water and held me until I gained conciousness.  He sent my other friends to get help (not realizing that there was noone around for MILES).  My friends finally reached a small farm house several miles out...but noone was home.  So they frantically broke out the window...called 911...and returned to make sure that I was still alive.
Meanwhile...Mike was still trying to hold my head and my trembling body in the rushing river.  The water was so cold that I was suffering from hypothermia at this point...I had a massive head wound...two broken scapulas and gash on the tip of my elbow along with other bruising and scrapes.  BUT, believe it or not, the cold water was actually slowing down the rate at which my body was pumping blood and this kept me from bleeding to death.
The rescuers were finally able to find us and I was air lifted to Vanderbilt Hospital.  I spent the next several days there trying to recover from the trauma.  And I am doing really well...but I would still like to ask for your continued thoughts and prayers through this struggle.
I suppose that God has more plans in store for me and my life.  But I know one thing is for sure...this was a CLOSE call.  And it has made me seriously re-evaluate my life in many different angles and areas.  But I do know this...He is still good.  I only hope that I will be able to use this extra time that He is giving me to make a difference in the lives of the people around me...and I hope that you will do the same.  And to those four young people who saved my life...Clint King, Claudia Perry, Mike Junkins, and Andrea Greenway...I love you all!!  You truly are the reason that I am alive today and you were my guardian angels while I laid in that water.
 
8-06-06
 
I've never realized just how cathartic moving into a new house could be...until I found myself staring at a big pile of memories that most normal people would consider "junk".  Old pictures, love letters, and torn up sweatshirts currently line the floor of my room.  Some are reminders of great memories... (good times with good people)...and some make me wonder what on earth I was thinking at the time!  But as I stare at our half empty house, I can still remember the very day we moved in...the fights over who would take out the trash...the many people who came in and out of my room/life quickly...the wonderful dinner parties packed with laughing guests...the midnight ice cream runs...the block parties that always fell the night before a big exam...the crazy neighbors who always made life interesting for us...and as I ponder on these things I have finally come to one conclusion.  Life is definitely a ride!  No matter how hard I try to make everything right...sometimes it will be wrong.  No matter how bad I want someone to stay...sometimes they will leave. And no matter how stubborn I may want to be...sometimes I have to give it all up and let God do his thang.  Afterall, He knows what he has planned for me.  I just forget to trust that sometimes.  BUT...I can only look forward to starting a new ride in our new house!  One thing is for sure, this time I will live it differently.  This time I will cherish those nights when I stay up late talking to my roomate...I will cherish the time spent playing dance-dance revolution with new friends in the living room...I will not forget to take time to enjoy my family...and finally, I will not let someone else's opinion of me become my opinion of myself!  It seems that this new house is working wonders...or maybe it could be that I'm finally seeing what has been right in front of me this whole time.  I can't wait!! New house...new outlook...fresh start...
Ali
 
 
7-27-06

So yeah....Tianna (my roomate) and I are sadly moving out of our home/office/studio/whatever of five years.  We grew up in this house and we're finding it so hard to leave.  Apartment shopping has not only opened our eyes to some of the worst apartments in Murfreesboro but it has also made us realize that we are poor, our current house is wonderful, and it smells really good too. Having our own bathrooms was taken for granted not to mention the moments shared in the tiny kitchen with the giant dress picture towering above us.  Its funny how we never really thought of this place as home until we were on the brink of leaving it behind us. Even the stains on the carpet are nostalgic.  This was unplanned and life has thrown us a new challenge that we must face together yet again.  But facing it together is better than facing it alone.  We realize that by leaving this house we are leaving behind many broken hearts ( 4 to be exact, 2 for each of us) but our new house will be our refuge.  Pure and untainted by the evil that they call man. :) So for all of you that plan on dating us you're not allowed to break up with us or we will be forced to move from our home! ;)  This of course would be a huge inconvience.  So here's to never having a broken heart, never having to say goodbye to those questionable stains on the carpet, and never using zebra as an accent color for your couches. Forget the sugar and water...we're biting straight through the lemon.
Ali & T
 
 
7-11-06
Hey Guys!! I told you I was bad at this whole journal thing...but here I go with another life & times of Alison Parson.
    It's amazing to me how the most simple things in life are so often the hardest things for me to see and to feel.  I know this to be true and yet there is always a lesson waiting around the corner for me when I least expect it.
    I have had a busy summer with various projects, summer school, etc...but it occured to me the other day (while I was getting ready for work) that I might be missing out on some of lifes sweetest gifts.  Now...I know this all sounds strange...but a person knows when there is something missing.   So...........I packed my bags and headed toward the Mississippi line (for those of you who don't know me...that's where I live! And for those of you who do know me...you know that I fly by the seat of my pants and will pick up and go to Mars if the mood strikes me!).   Anyway...I pulled into my driveway late that night and ,like many times before, my sweet mother opened the door with a smile and welcomed me home.
    Now...I've never been a real "home body".  I'm not even sure if I know what it feels like to be home-sick.  I've always been so head strong and independent...but...the moment I stepped foot in that door I knew that I was right where I needed to be.  I spent the rest of that week painting, picking blueberries, working on the farm, and catching up with old friends.  It was so wonderful to be in a place with no traffic, cell phones, or some other distraction often associated with my life.  My family has always been important to me and for a solid week we had a chance to sit down at the dinner table together!  I thought about how many times I had taken that opportunity for granted.  It's the simple things!
    When the time rolled around for me to leave I watched as my mother packed a cardboard box full of vegetables and fruit for me to take back with me.  She doesn't have a lot...but she would give me the stars if they were in her reach.  Her love for me and her faith in me is priceless.  It's the simple things!