YAY for Christmas!!!

I LOVE Christmas!!!

I get so stoked about the decorating, the fun traditions I have started with my family, and just the celebration of Jesus' birthday :) Seriously, I could listen to Christmas music all year long. My husband and I have been battling the playlists because he has to hear Christmas music all day long at work. I'm all like...Bah Humbug to you Mr. Scrooge ;)

So I have my sister and her husband in town and tomorrow night my mom flies in! EEEEEEK! I'm SO excited! It has been awesome having my folks here together...surreal even. I took the two love birds out for the fastest shoot I think I have ever done. I would have gone longer...BUT...we had to beg him to do it in the first place so when he was done I didn't push it. It's supposed to be fun anyway right???

I wanted to post a teaser of what we did today and also some pics of my house decorated for Christmas! Look at my knock-out sis and her awkward feeling hubby..hahaha!

You know I love ya Cam :)

I decided to do a fun red black and silver tree this year for the main tree. Main tree you ask???Yes, I kind of have a Christmas tree addiction...

Our very first Christmas ornament as a hitched couple :)

It's so much fun to have my kids doing all the fun crafty things for Christmas. I'm getting so many wonderful ornaments hand made with love. I made these stockings for the boys a while back...they are replicas of a stocking my Aunt had made for me many many moons ago...when I was a wee baby...

If you walk in the foyer, you will be greeted by a sweet little purple, pink and gold

vintage tree...

This is the tree that I dolled up for the guest room...love the green, black and blue...sounds so horribly violent for a Christmas tree but I think it's pretty :)

What fun traditions does your family have for Christmas?

It's alive!!!!

YAY! I am so excited about launching my new website! If you've noticed I have been kind of non-existent to my blog, it's because A number 1. I have been madly cleaning my house for my family who starts to get in tomorrow :)

And also because I have been workin' my now, not-so-large, derrière on this baby. I've poured everything of me into it so I really hope everyone will take a peak and let me know whatcha think. I finally took pictures of my trees so I'm hopin' to get those on here BEFORE Christmas. Can't wait to see my family...it's been almost 6 years since we have had a Christmas together...so much fun!!!

Poor Kitty

I don't know how many of ya'll check out my facebook, but we just recently adopted a 6 year old Mastiff. Makayla's family had abandoned her. Yeah...that's what I was thinkin'...Who flippin' moves and just leaves their dog in the front yard?!?!?! This sweet dog was just waiting in the front yard for her family to get home and they never returned. It's ok...I totally started cryin' when I heard this too. She started wandering the neighborhood and this older lady took the pooch in. This lady had severe MS and knew she couldn't keep Makayla long term. She knew a guy who was somehow involved with the AKC and called him. He really didn't want to turn her into the pound as HE wanted to screen who Makayla went to. He used his own resources to board Makayla at a pet resort.

This is where I come in. Long story short, we were worthy of owning her and we adopted her. She was a little bit aggressive with Sam...but I just think that it's because Sam is so "IN YO FACE!!!!" kind of a dog. After a week, her and Sam were best buds. She is such a sweetheart and I have never seen her show any aggression towards the kids. My munchkins were told to not get near Makayla unless we were around though. Anyway, back to what happened...we were told that Makayla (BTW-we named her that because it went so well with Sam...for all you Transformers fans out there :) was good with cats. My cat is ESPECIALLY trusting with Sam. If he goes to smell her tiny head (compared to his) then she will head butt him in affection. So, my little kitty was starting to get trusting with Makayla and last Tuesday, I had to take my cat to the Emergency Vet.

I didn't see what happened but I heard. I knew Sophie was sitting in her normal spot under our counter top height table and Makayla was near her. Perhaps just staring? Sniffing? I don't really know. But all I heard was a bark and a cat squeal-ish thing...never have heard that in my life...and then Sophie was a huge poofy thing and went running up the stairs. Makayla bit her head and there was a deep puncture in her left cheek and another bite mark above her right eye. I was concerned that her skull was fractured or something so I took her in just to be safe. Ended up that there were no fractures and she will be fine but is in a bit of pain.

SO...all THAT to say, we have to find a new home for Makayla. I am so torn up about it because she is such a sweetie, and she just got a family who loves her, but Sophie was here first and I can't trust Makayla now inside with the cat. I don't want Makayla to be an outside dog. This is so hard for us. I can't turn her in to the shelter either or they will black list us from adopting...the officer said that unfortunately, it isn't a case by case basis. So I have to find a home for Miss Makayla on my own...one that doesn't have little critters she could get too excited for and I would say preferably with older kids. I've put up an ad on Craigslist and we are going to carefully screen anyone who inquires about her. If you know anyone, they can see her pictures here.

Here is my kitty...many apologies for no make-up and crazy hair...it was a rough night...

In lighter, more exciting news, you may have noticed the new look? Well, I'm super excited about a little surprise I've been keeping...."Hmwhoooowah HAHAHA"...that was an evil laugh ;)

Dustin&Suzie {plus sweet munchkins}

When Suzie called me up for some pictures, I new right then, what a sweet hearted person I had encountered! They all were so amazing to put up with the windy weather too. This is the same session that we took the crazy cape pictures...I was relieved that Suzie said Dave and I were quite entertaining to watch. I'm so glad I can have fun with what I do!

Oh my word...and the baby!!!! This baby was AMAZING! She was so patient with me as I bundled her up...It's babies like her that tempt me into having more kids ;)

This family pulled my heart strings in a big way and I'm so thankful they let me peek into their lives and capture their fabulousness. Thanks guys for the fun time and laughs!!!

Look at that sweet yawn...

Is it creepy that I want this picture on my wall???

I'm still sayin' it Suzie...you are fierce...in a hot way ;)

Ali 2.0

Weight had really never been an issue with me...that is of course until I carried two little - NAY - over-average sized munchkins in my tummy. I guess I thought I could just get away with eating potato ole's every single day with the first one...and Mocha Moo-lates every single day with the second. Seeing as they are 14 months apart, one can easily understand how I had a good 60 pounds of weight added to my once small frame.

But it didn't stop after the pregnancies. I now had TWO babies to care for, no time for myself and the only thing that I could run to and instantly feel good about was food. Cookies in particular. I think when peeps think of me, it wouldn't be too far fetched for them to say...."Oh yeah! I know Ali...the cookie monster..." Ask most my friends and they can tell you I almost always had a batch of homemade cookies in the oven when they would come over. In fact I think some of my friends were probably a bit upset when they were a pound or two more on the scale...by me making the delicious warm gooey wonderful treats. Ok I'm really salivating now...

"NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!"

Anyhoo, I had tried, on my own, to eat better...and I did lose a few pounds but nothing to write Oprah about. I then started workin' out. I love to run! It was so hard though running when I was so heavy...but I worked out nonetheless and a couple more pounds came off. I was getting very frustrated with not seeing the results I wanted after going at it pretty consistently for 4 years...and that's when I learned about Go Figure.

I started in August and to date have lost just around 50 pounds. It was tough but I HAD to do something about my bad eating habits. I pretty much kicked my metabolism back in gear and changed the way I felt about food. I will eat to live and not live to eat.

I also feel like I have grown so much inside as much as I have changed on the outside. That is what truly matters anyway. I have seriously tried to do a makeover on my heart just as much as my body. I really hope that this post isn't sounding vain to folks. That's not my intention...I just feel so good and feel like I've worked very hard to achieve this goal I have had for over 4 years. I figured I would just share with you the success I have had.

My young padawan Matt Ehnes took me out to do some "after" pictures. I seriously had about 45 minutes of daylight left and was rushing to get my mask on. It was really weird being in front of the camera and actually feeling good about myself. I think I kind of worked it ;) So, with Matt's permission I thought it would be cool to show ya'll some before and after pics...because:

a. number 1. Dave and I were looking at older pictures of me and I was all like, "WOAH!"

and

C. I have this guilty pleasure of enjoying those types of pics. Whether it be for some kind of face cream or hair removal...it's just cool that there's an instant result right there...does anybody else feel that way???

So here I am...Ali and Ali 2.0 ;)

p.s. there was no help from photoshop to get me to look this small and big for that matter

scout's honor

I was having OODLES of fun spicin' up the dance floor at a wedding in this next image...s'rsly...

And here's one more from Mr. Matt...Cuz I can't resist...

Ling-Stowers {fam}

Did anyone else drift away into a food coma yesterday?!?! I think I had turkey 'roids' on my brain too much yesterday because I was tired before I even ate one oz. of the injected poultry. Weird...

Anyhoo, last year I had the opportunity to donate to a couple of auction fundraisers and for one of the auctions, this sweet family outbid the rest! They wanted to stay on their property for this session which was SO much fun because they had miniature donkeys, guinea hens, and turkeys that I could "talk" to. I know I'm weird. Be what it may, but I actually enjoy it when I can get a bird to gobble back at me...

...maybe I was subconsciencly trying to warn them of their popularity

associated with the upcoming holiday???

The afternoon light was beautiful!!! We romped around letting the kiddos play. Their dog was SO well behaved that I had to get a shot of him...I think I really confused him though because he kept looking back at his fam...like he was asking mom and dad permission...making sure it was ok to listen to this crazy woman ;)

Dave snagged this shot...

Warmth of the wheat + sweet innocent eyes = ali's heart strings tugged

RaD flowers for RaD brides

My friend Corrie mentioned to me awhile ago that she was thinking about starting a flower business. And if anyone has ever talked to me, you know that I was quick to jump on that bandwagon. In a nutshell:

I love encouraging people to follow their dreams.

I LOVE helping folks with their businesses.

I love finding the unique brand that each person has.

SO...after a wedding she was able to keep the bouquet of the bride so I could snag some shots for her. I knew Corrie was amazingly creative...but I seriously did not realize just how genius she is with flowers! I have never seen a bouquet like this in Great Falls!

If you are a future bride that oozes style and just plain awesomeness, then I'd encourage you to shoot her a message. Not only are her arrangements beautiful, but her heart too. She is so sweet and truly adopts the vision of each bride's day. She creates unique and gorgeous arrangements that do not distract from the bride's beauty, but compliment her in every way!