#TeenLifeStyle: Aunt Stella – November 30, 2015

By: Stella Alverson @StellaAPSB

Most people have to wait until they have a niece or nephew when they are in their twenties or thirties. For me, I am able to say I have a nephew as a sixteen-year-old. Tillman Gray Alverson is my brother William’s son. Tillman was born on November 6 at 4:09 am. My mom (Cindy Alverson) and I got the call that William’s wife Helen Anne was going into labor after school on Thursday, and we immediately got excited. Mom took our chocolate labs to the veterinarian, and I started packing our bags. We immediately made the four and a half hours to Dothan.

I tried to catch a nap in the car on the way down, but sadly, Mom kept waking me up for various reasons—none of which I found important as I thought I direly needed my sleep. Mom and I made it to Dothan at about 10:30 pm, and little Tillman didn’t come until 4:08 am. Dad (Bill Alverson) and I chose to head out to his car to catch a few z’s while we were waiting. Mom on the other hand was too excited to sleep and stayed in the waiting room with Helen Anne’s mother Kay and two close friends. My brother William came to get us all from the waiting room around 6 am, and Tillman was adorable. At 6 pounds 13 ounces, he was tiny, but he was the first newborn I’ve ever held.

William-Tillman

When my mom first put him in my arms, all eyes were on me keeping a watch out for any complications or issues. I didn’t mind of course, I had the least amount of baby experience by far, but I wanted to hold him so badly. Dad on the other hand refused to hold him until the next day for fear of dropping him. Tillman is two weeks old now, and he’s growing by the day. He’s only been out of the house two times: to go to the doctor and head to his grandparents’ house for Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t stop the family from bringing him clothes every chance we get. Thanks to his own dad and his other aunt Blanche, Tillman owns two different Houston Rockets outfits, including adidas sweatpants. I personally am trying to get him interested in my sport, so he also owns a volleyball shirt to support the cool aunt at her tournaments. In my opinion, he has two of the best parents around, and he’ll be just alright in the Alverson family.

Stella-A-PSBStella Alverson is a contributor to PSBPopCulture.com with her #TeenLifeStyle articles. Alverson has been around the PSBPopCulture.com Team since her early days and is well versed in how we do things around here. She is currently an Honor Roll student at Buford High School and is on her way to playing college volleyball upon high school graduation.

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#TeenLifeStyle: Buford Volleyball – State Champs – November 16, 2015

“State Championship Day” fell on Halloween this year. At Buford High, we call it that because it is one of the few days where two separate sports get to compete for the title of State Champion on the same day. We were fortunate enough to win both of these titles. The 2015 crown was the ninth (yes, ninth) straight title for the softball team coached by Tony Wolfe while the first ever title for Buford volleyball.

By: Stella Alverson @StellaAPSB

To prepare for our match, Coach Daniels called for a team focusing day with yoga and a dinner provided by a previous principal of Buford. Our coaches left us with a very inspiring and uplifting speech, and then we were left to our thoughts for the night. Personally, I was so excited and ready to play I had difficulty falling asleep, but when I did, I dreamed of the court, the stands, and the trophy that we all had envisioned so many times before.

In the morning, we met at the school for our breakfast of champions—or so we hoped. The bus rolled out towards Marietta High School at 8:30 am to face St. Pius, and we were pumped. After a song suggestion from my sister Blanche, I blasted “Big Rings” by Drake for the whole bus to hear, to be motivated.

ED’s Note: “Big Rings” is one of my favorite songs off of the Drake / Future collaboration “What A Time To Be Alive.”

About an hour later, we arrived at the school, and after signing in, we bounded down the hallway into the locker room, following the pregame ritual of listening to our warm up playlist despite not having any speakers other than the phone’s. Our favorites just happen to be “Pipe It Up” by Migos, “Halftime” by Homebwoi and Ying Yang Twins, and “Hotline Bling” by Drake, just to name a few.

Once it was time for the match to start, we were ready. BWOD was written on everyone’s fingers, Buford Wolves Or Die. Our team mantra. Right before the National Anthem, one common message was passed along the line, “Imagine the last point. Pass it down.” After we clapped St. Pius’s hands and wished them good luck, it was time for the match to begin.

The match was the closest match we’d had all year. It was a fifth set battle after we won the first two sets 26-24 and 25-12, and St. Pius won the next two 26-24 and 25-23. We were both playing our hearts out, it was time to battle once the ref blew the whistle signaling the 5th set to commence. Our faith didn’t waver any after starting the set off down 0-2 despite the set only being scored to 15. Then, we kicked in into overdrive, busting out of the gate with many service runs getting us to a 14-10 lead. Then, on match point, Tatum Shipes nailed a 10-foot-line kill in the face of a Pius defender, ending the match. The Buford side of the gym erupted. We charged the court, jumped in each other’s arms, and screamed at the top of our lungs. We did it. We had made Buford history. The road to the ring was complete.

Next up is the club volleyball season. I’ll keep you posted once I get my schedule and team finalized.

Stella-A-PSBStella Alverson is a contributor to PSBPopCulture.com with her #TeenLifeStyle articles. Alverson has been around the PSBPopCulture.com Team since her early days and is well versed in how we do things around here. She is currently an Honor Roll student at Buford High School and is on her way to playing college volleyball upon high school graduation.

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#TeenLifeStyle: “Coach Charming” Series Premier – November 5, 2015

Wednesday marked the World Premier of the new TLC reality series, Coach Charming. The series hits close to home as my dad, Bill Alverson, is the focal point of the storyline. Coach Charming is based on my dad and his lifestyle as a father, lawyer, and, perhaps most importantly, a pageant coach. My brother (William), sister in law (Helen Anne) and sister (Blanche) are all in the show along with various clients and pageant girls of my dad. I even got to be a consistent part of the filming and appeared in both of the opening night episodes.

By: Stella Alverson @StellaAPSB

After making the 600-mile round trip drive from Buford, Ga., to Andalusia, Ala., to film multiple times this past summer, it was awesome to watch the footage rolled into televised episodes last night. Various clips that aired included contestants preparing for pageants as well as bickering between my dad and Helen Anne over foods to eat during her pregnancy. I thought I’d heard all of Dad’s sayings and other phrases he likes to use but I guess not. He had some ultra funny one liners during pageant prep that I had never heard him use before. I laughed harder watching it on TV last night than I did when we were filming.

The first episode was centered around a disagreement over what type of family portrait to take. Dad wanted to take a poolside picture mainly because he wants the world to know that he’s been working out. The rest of us outvoted him going with a studio based portrait instead. Even though he didn’t get his way, I think he was more than happy with the final result. In the second episode, he coached up Britain Bennett on how to overcome obstacles to reach her goals. It’s the same way he’s coached me since Day One and I thought it was awesome to watch it positively affect her life too!

Hopefully this is the start of even more episodes of dad helping his contestants shine on stage while the rest of the family keeps him busy trying to keep pace with our lives off of it. Coach Charming airs on TLC weekly each Wednesday at 10 pm EST/9 CST. It’s a MUST WATCH so make sure to tune in next week.

Brandon Clay’s NOTE: I’ve known the Alverson family over 10 years and thought the show was a very accurate depiction of their life as I’ve come to know it. I’ll be glued to the screen weekly for this. Job well done TLC.


Stella-A-PSBStella Alverson is a contributor to PSBPopCulture.com with her #TeenLifeStyle articles. Alverson has been around the PSBPopCulture.com Team since her early days and is well versed in how we do things around here. She is currently a Honor Roll student at Buford High School and is on her way to playing college volleyball upon high school graduation.

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#iTunesSounds – Adele – “Hello” – October 25, 2015

Adele gave us “19” and “21” then took a break to live life for a while. On Thursday, we found out: she’s back. She’s been working on her latest project, “25”, since the summer and will release the album in its’ entirety on November 20th. I can’t speak for anyone besides myself but I’m thrilled to hear it.

SIDENOTE(S):

1) I’ll review both “19” and “21” in the weeks to come. If you missed either one, take a listen before “25” hits the shelves next month.

2) Assist to Blanche Alverson, Taylor Johnson and Dain Pool for the varying conversations since the single “Hello” dropped on Thursday.

By: Brandon Clay @BBallPlusMusic

“Hello” is the lead single off of “25” and has garnered over 40 million video views since the Thursday release. The track is classic Adele as her voice ramps up and floats over the soft melodies in the background. There is definitely not a rust after the hiatus. Truth be told, Adele’s voice seems richer and more mature given the four-year gap in since her last studio album. If “Hello” is any indication of what we can look forward to on November 20th, expect Adele to clean up in iTunes sales this holiday season as well as at the 2016 Grammy Awards.

Check out Adele’s “Hello” Music Video:

Brandon-Clay-Bio-2 Brandon Clay is a contributor to PSBPopCulture.com through his #iTunesSounds reviews. A self-professed entertainment & music junkie, Clay has been on his game since picking up his first Nintendo and Sony Walkman in the early 90’s. You can follow him on Twitter @bballplusmusic.

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