bReAkInG {eggs, bad habits, and myself}

Lots of fun stuff going on here:

*Showing the house about every day...

*sweatin' bullets "power cleaning" right before 'em...

*Learning new ways to dye Easter eggs (they're SO pretty)...

*Miraculously stopped biting my nails after 20 years of biting 'em

*Goin' to the circus for free, thanks to my kids' winning a coloring contest...

*Shooting the Foothills Banquet and meeting Mr. Mike Huckabee. AWESOME...

*Finally realizing that it's OK to take a day off...

My little rant comes from that last blurb. Many of you awesome photog peeps may know where I'm coming from...or maybe ya'll already have it figured out. Kudos if ya do :) But for me, it's so easy to be consumed every second of the day with what I do since it's so close...

We meet. We shoot. We edit.

...and this is where I sit. For hours. In front of my computer:

culling. processing. retouching. emailing. researching.

deviating. facebooking. youtubing. refocusing.

I'm absolutely passionate about what I do. I LOVE meeting new people and telling their stories but can anyone else relate with me here? Does anyone else feel this crazy need to get everything done like yesterday? Anyhoo, it was kind of stressin' me out and it's completely my fault. But I'm stoked to tell ya that I'm OK now with taking a break for day. A WHOLE day...to do whatever the heck I want. Sure, I talk to my clients and email if I need to. But, I really try to do stuff with the fam...and stuff for me...for a day. And ya know what I've learned? I am SO much more motivated when I do take that time for myself...to just rest and give my mind a break of what needs to be done. It's like I charge up for another awesome week of my life :) Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm just preachin' to myself, but if there's an "amen" out there, be encouraged...it's totally OK to be lazy for a day. To do something completely for recreation's sake. To snuggle with the kids and watch movies in bed. To go to the park without the pressure of getting back home to edit. To keep the computer off...unless of course you want to youtube your brains out.

You NEED a break...weekly if ya can. God took a day to rest. Why shouldn't we?

So anyhoo, there's my little rant...I'm done now :) Hope everyone had a super fun Easter with their fams! I thought I would post a couple pics of our egg dying fun...this year, we did confetti eggs, or more formally known as cascarones. SO much fun! I totally was spacing that I could use my hole puncher to make the confetti, so you know what this mean mamma did? I made my kiddos (and myself) cut up streamers to make the confetti...because I didn't care to go out that day and buy some. And besides, it builds character right???? You know, workin' diligently at something for a long time towards a really good/fun goal?

Well, I'm definitely doing the hole puncher thing next year :)

To the right: Parker watching the first egg come out of the dye...

To the left (uh uh): 'now dip baby dip' oh woops...had a "Tootsie Roll" moment

anywayzzz when Ash was cuttin' confetti he dropped a long string and it happened to fall right on Sam's face...did he care? Obviously not...my dog is SO cute :)

Some of my faves!!!

logan {pArKoUr}

A couple of weeks ago had the awesome opportunity to meet Logan. He's a fun lovin', screamo rockin', baseball playin', street runnin' dude. Yeah. He's that cool :)

When Logan told me he could "street run" I wasn't sure what that meant. Then he showed me:

He plopped down from that last shot and proceeded to tell that if he was street running he would do that kind of stuff while runnin' around in the alleys and streets. Then I was like...."ohhhh...like Parkour!" Then of course my mind immediately visited "The Office" episode where they featured parkour. TOO FUNNY!

Logan, you're fun personality, talent and faith are gonna take you places you've never dreamed! I'm so excited to see the fun things that will happen in your life :)

Mmmm...yummy sunflare...

I'm pretty sure these next two tie as my fave shots of the day :)

And because you need a good laugh today, here's some awesome parkour stunts by none other than your crazy Office guys:

Marcus {loves his shoes}

Marcus let me know on a couple of occasions that he likes, nay, loves his converses :) I was so stoked that:

1) he would brave the weather with me...AND

2) would drive 2 hours and 14 minutes (according to

Google maps) to have me take his pictures!

Can we say "honored???"

Well, I sure was! And it was so worth the sloppy mess we played in. As I make it mandatory...we laughed our faces off...and stuck 'em back on at the end of the session :) From dodging toilets, to the 'one-braid' pose to me freaking out that we were going to disturb a homeless man's sleep...turned out to be a bumpy tarp...

...this session was full of adventure and new inspiration for me. I've had a little lull from the weather but it's so encouraging that the break was not as big as last years. That, to me, means growth...it means that people like what I'm offering. It means that I truly am doin' MY thang. And it SO blesses me that folks, like Marcus, are willing to do something out of the box to humor my crazy ideas...it makes me happy :)

THE awesome shoes :)

I love these next couple of shots!!!

insert annoying busy signal {HeRe}

I think I made it into the Guinness Book of World Records...yup...

you know what for :)

But I'm totally cool with that because my life has been exciting, scary, fabulous...you can put any emotion probably at the end of that statement because I've probably felt it...

So to update everyone on my life, because contrary to popular belief, I'm still breathing...Dave and I finished up some last minute hizzay repairs/updates and listed By Owner...we had about 4 showings I think...2 of them being divine appointments...not because the folks wanted the house but because they had some awesome encouragement to give Dave and I regarding our new adventure that's about to unfold.

The whole by owner thing lasted a little over a month and then Dave felt pressed to list the house with our realtor friends who sold us the house. Not that we're being anxious, because believe me, I'm really not looking forward to the efforts of moving over 1,000 miles away, BUT we strongly sense that we need to "get'er done" and get to Texas as soon as we can. I think our urgency is in the fact that we were getting comfortable with the idea of NOT moving because there were no nibbles on the house when we were trying to sell it on our own. And if we get too comfy, then we won't be listening to our heart.

Our listing went live on the 8th and since then, we have had 5 showings with 1 couple really interested. So we'll see. In the midst of purging my home of crap, packing & organizing what I can, keeping the house pristine with two busy little boys, getting kicked out of my house for showings with two busy little boys, continuing to serve on the worship team at church, editing, closing up orders from last year, lots of album design, editing and more editing...I have been shooting some sessions rather spontaneously. Mainly due to weather and also because I'm just not sure when we're leavin'. So, my blog has kind of been on a hiatus...

But can I just say this?

HOW AWESOME YOU PEEPS ARE FOR STILL DROPPIN' BY!!!!!

{HUGE CYBER HUG TO YOU :)}

(that kind of looks like a double chin smiley doesn't it...hahaha)

But seriously, I am just flippin' ecstatic about the biz!!! I've nailed down my workflow, I've established my brand, I now offer some awesome collections with THE latest product offerings. Can I get a "whoop whoop?!"

So, I AM still shooting...Lawd knows I can't keep the camera away for long, but I'm not sure how long I'll be here...in the Great Fizzle that is.

It's kind of spontaneous, but in Ali world...it all works out :)

It would be so wrong of me to have a post with no pictures after this long right?

So...I won't leave without posting some pics of one of my seniors from last year...

Meet Cheyenne...the rock star.

who gave this kid the mouse??? {what?!?!}

So for whatever random reason I was looking through my old pictures...I dunno...to reminisce I guess. That's what this whole picture thing is about right? I stumbled upon some images of my son. Now...I don't remember taking these and I especially don't remember taking over 50 "gangstah-ish" pictures of him. Ok...there's my chair and my printer in the background...

*GASP* He's in front of my computer!!!!

Anyway...I must have left Photobooth open. I'm not even gonna lie...to probably take some silly pictures of myself or make my own dance video to "Forever" by Chris Brown that will probably embarrass me later. BUT...my little sponge, seein' mommy, knew he had the power to take his own pictures of himself...I was probably on the phone or something while he did this.

HILARIOUS!!!

Here's my son...I don't know what was going on in his head while he was doing this but I just think it's too flippin' FUNNY!!!!

My son+hat (worn in a crazy way)+"gangstah-ish" poses =

lots of laughs for mom :)

CoWs {artsy fartsy}

I was on this hilarious, fun and quirky photogs website the other day. I heart this woman SO stinkin' much! Whenever I'm at the computer and my obnoxious laugh rumbles through the house...my husband knows I'm probably reading her blog :) Anyhoo, I remember how much I LOVE all her cow pictures and remembered that I had snagged a shot of a cow when we went camping this last summer. I have been waiting for the perfect image to make a ginormous metal print of...wanna hang it on my wall going into the kitchen...oh gosh! Now that I think about it maybe that wouldn't be the best place to hang it...poor Hank.

Anyway...I think I've found it. I want it BIG. I know I won't regret getting this even if we do move. And I can hang it somewhere other than the kitchen in my next house right?

Who wouldn't want a Montana cow starring at them with that look...

...you know, that sweet "Huh?" look...

c'mon phil {more winter}

I know I should be used to this by now, but really...I'm not sure if I can stand 6 more weeks of winter. Actually, 6 weeks in other parts of the nation computes to like 3 months in Montana. Seriously! Phil, couldn't you just have ignored that little blob on the ground that followed you around? Couldn't you have just said a little white lie?

Whatever.

It wouldn't be so sad if I were living....say....in Texas...

Yup. My husband and I are not 110% sure yet, but we feel a huge pull in our hearts to move to Texas and help his Uncle's church down there. My hubby approached me about this desire last October. And I was all like, "HECK NO!!!!" I bursted that bubble real quick! I ranted on, "Are you serious! I absolutely have the perfect house, I absolutely LOVE my friends here and to top it off, my biz is so fruitful now! God would have to give me a lightning bolt from the sky with a written message telling me to go before I would even consider it!!!"

It's funny how the desire that was placed in my heart about a month ago was bigger than a physical lightning bolt. I don't know why...but's it's there. Deep down. My mind is screaming "I don't wanna!" but my heart is saying something different. My mind is screaming, "I'm scared!" but my God is saying, "I will take care of you." My mind is screaming, "But but but what about my business?" my heart is saying, "seek FIRST....and ALL these things will be added."

I'm just keepin' it real now...It's hard to hear your heart when your head is screaming. So, I'm learning to tell my mind to SHUT IT and learning instead to listen to that still small voice. It's a process and that's why this decision is not a for sure. Lots of things are up in the air...and it's very frustrating. Believe me. To not know. But I am confident that if I can be still. wait. I will know in time. In His perfect time.

So, there ya have it...I've been missing from my blog and the world it seems because I am doing just that. Being still for the moment. I just figured I would ask ya'll to keep us in your prayers. That God's good and perfect will would happen in our lives. This is a huge decision to up and move my family to a place I've never known...to give up everything I have grown to love here in Montana and leave for a new adventure. It's difficult when God asks us to get uncomfortable for Him...but I know He loves me and I'm at peace knowing that now.

I don't wanna leave all somber because I'm not...I have so much joy right now! In fact, here's a fun touch card I designed for the church down there. How cool is it to have a church card that is fun, thought provoking and catches folks attention...so I'll leave ya with this.