I'm stalling....

because it's time to decide if I give this blog up.  I pretty much blog all my stuff over there...yeah, over there to the right...my photography blog.  So, this one's been pretty much abandoned.  We're having lots of fun over there.  You should cross over and just see what all you've been missing.  I just think that my life's got too much in it for 2 blogs.  And since I am very close to being able to quit my "day job" and pursue my photography full time, I will probably be over there more than here.  So, until then, I will keep stalling.  Tears well up just thinking about it...ok, sorry little blog...I've been a bad blogger....forgive me of my absence...(but really do check it out over there ;-)

M-I-L visit

Dave's mom, Denise, visited a couple months ago and I took some pics outside on the porch.  I didn't get around to them till now...bad Ali.  

So anyhoo, I thought they were cute and thought you might like to see:

I love how the boys are so relaxed in Grandma's lap

Ashton and Parker LOVE their Grandma

I just couldn't resist posting this one...here's the story..

Dave has chronic yawninitis - but ONLY when getting his picture taken.

Almost every shot he was yawning, so Denise decided to get in 

on the action too :-)

A duplicate...

I think I am on my other blog now more than this one...it's kind of hard balancing a business that you are trying to run on  your own and a life together.  I might just make this blog my photography blog...and be happy with one.  Then again, when I buy my own domain name, I am going to have it in a blog format because I think it's important for clients to get a feel for the kind of person I am (and it's easy when I get to type my heart out of things I admire, feel, struggle with).  So they aren't totally clueless when showing up for a shoot.  With all those bunny trails said, I wanted to post the stuff I put on my other blog in case you don't check the other one out.  So, hope this isn't too redundant...but it happens to be something crazy that took place over my ever so quiet weekend - no photo sessions :-( ...so here ya go:

Due to the icky weather I had to cancel my session with the wonderful family I was going to shoot.  Ahhhh!  So frustrating!  So, what do you do when you're in the mood for shooting and there are no subjects?  Torture one of your own offspring...

Ashton has been very proud of his new battle wound.  He gashed his head open yesterday.  I heard some crying upstairs during their quiet time, and had a little voice inside tell me to check it out.  To my discovery, blood...everywhere!

Thankfully I am one of those, stay-calm-in-an-emergency kind of folks.  So, as I cupped my hand under his ever flowing wound, I tried to encourage him that everything would be OK.  A roll of toilet paper later revealed that his gash was about 1/2 inch long and maybe 1/8 inch deep.  He probably could have used stitches from a doc, but I just got some butterfly bandages, and cleaned the area. A doctor friend of ours was returning a saw and was able to see if I did a good enough job cleaning it and closing it up.  I did.  :-)

Here is my dear, brave, subject...my son.  And his lovely boo boo.

ps.  It has been so timely that I have begun reading the book "Bringing Up Boys" (sorry, I can't find an underline on here) by Dr. James Dobson ;-)

The Burn

So the idiot of the month award goes to

.....(drum roll)......

me!  In the excitement of baking a pizza from scratch, crust and all, I grabbed the metal stone thingy (you know, the one that goes under the stone?) upon difficulty in cutting the pizza. 

 So, I am typing this with one hand and must apply some more aloe pronto.  The throb is almost unbearable and I just hope my fingers are well enough by Saturday to do my photo session...

Vicodin, here I come...(thank goodness for left over pain meds...prescribed of course)

Wedding crashers???

So, my guitarist Cory, a.k.a. "Shmorgasport" got married last Saturday.  I didn't think I would cry but alas, I was a mess.  Kim was SO beautiful and Cory was just glowing for his bride.  

At the reception I wasn't sure if I was gonna dance or not.  Well, the first couple of songs weren't those that I could get my "groove on" so I opted out...then came the bee bops.  

OK, ya'll may not know, but I LOVE to dance.  I probably look like the biggest nerd on the dance floor but I have so much fun.   Actually, not to toot my own horn but "TOOT" - Dave had 5 guys and 1 girl come up to him saying that I was "an animal"  and had some "sweet moves." 

Thankfully I had an awesome friend that would get wild with me!!!  YAY!  I was having a blast.  All Dave could do was stare.  I wanted him to join me but the only male who was letting loose completely was Pat...he's great :-)

So, by about 11:30 the DJ killed our music...but I wasn't done yet...so what did my dancing buddy and I do?  Went to the reception in the other room of the airport to keep dancing.  People kind of looked at us weird but no one came up to us.  I think we livened up the party more than anything.  I did recognize this woman that I had saw earlier in the bathroom...and she recognized me too...uh oh.

She was completely plastered and said to me, "Are you from the wedding next door?"  We told her yes and she was absolutely thrilled that we would crash their party.  She was the mother of the bride and called to her daughter.."These are people from the reception next door (all this very slurred), they're the wedding crashers."  The bride just laughed and they wanted the photographer to take our picture with them.  

We were then shortly pulled away by our tired husbands... :-(  

They thought we were nuts.  But I am so happy to know that I have a dancing buddy now!  What a fun memory.  We even contemplated the idea of looking up dates for weddings and just showing up at the airport to dance...hmmmm.  Still a good idea....

I've now got a photo blog!!!

Here it is... the new blog for my photography.  I am hoping to devote equal time to each.  Enjoy!!!

What a journey I've taken...

OK...I am back from Canadia and oh my, what stories that would fill the page if I went into all of them...

I woke at 7 am and took the kiddos to Daycare on Wednesday morning...so I could get the slews of things I had to get done accomplished.  Then the day just flew by.  Before I knew it I was saying my goodbyes to Dave and on the way to the airport to pick up my dad.  We decided to just truck on to Canada from the airport (this would be a great way for the kids to sleep most of the trip).  Only one problem, the way my new bro-in-law told me to go, though supposedly knocked off two hours of the trip, would give us more delays than trimmings.  We get to the little border at 4:30 in the morning and it's CLOSED...till 9 am.  AHHH!  

So we decided to park and then catch a few zzz'z before moving on.  Well, if any of you know my dad, which I think most of you don't, he can be a very impatient man.  After only about 1 1/2 hours of trying to sleep he decides to go back and keep moving East...to another border....with the thought that "by the time we get there it will be 9."  

On the long stretch back to the nearest city, I notice a yellow jacket in the car...**Flashback** "Mom, there's a bee in the car!"  Me:  "Ok honey don't worry about it"(thinking it was just a nat because my child calls any flying insect a bee).**

back to the story..I freak out because I don't want anybody stung...roll down my window and what does the bee decide to do?  Go under my shirt up my back... after getting stung, I yell for my dad to stop the car and I fly out of my seat tearing my shirt off.  I'm running around in the middle of nowhere flailing my arms and only in a bra....in from of my dad...can we say awkward?  

It hurt and I had to drive the rest of the way with my back throbbing.  We turned what map quest called an 11 hour trip and what Cam called a 8 hour trip into a 16 hour trip.  My sister and mom were sure we were dead as we didn't have a cell phone to keep our family updated.  Totally mean right?  

So when we pulled into the little town of Springside, we had no clue where our family was.  Thankfully the town is only about 300 head of folks and it only took a nice neighbor to look up the address for us. 

My sister came out of the house sobbing.  They thought we were seriously injured or something.  

The rest of the trip was just that...a trip.  It just kind of burred all together.  I have been told that Canadian's, well, at least this family loved big weddings...and they do them practically on there own minus the flowers, catering and photography.  So I did alot of decorating while I was there.  The wedding was beautiful and my sister lookes like a Wedding Barbie special edition.  She was absolutely stunning!  Lot's of tears followed.  I was able to sing during the wedding and it was such an honor being able to stand near my sis on her day.  I was able to get a little closer to Cam's family...which are awesome by the way.  They are so sweet and LOVE to visit ALL the time.  So, that is a little of my trip.  Here is a peak of my journey:

Isn't she beautiful?  This was her at the rehearsal dinner.

It was so much fun helping her get ready...

The only shot I was able to sneak in of both of them together...the photographer didn't want me to take any pictures :-(  So I went into the gazebo and took this through the screen.  The effect of the screen is kind of cool...

In all the hustle of the wedding, my poor children were sometimes left for themselves, Parker wet through his pants because no one had changed him in awhile and so I let him frolic around in his diaper...it was a great day and I thought it was funny, him still being a little boy climbing and exploring with no pants on.

On to Canadia...

OK...where have I been the last few days?  Too many places to say.  I love bullets:

*Photo session on Saturday morning

*Got chicken coop supplies

*Had a great Mother's Day nap (and didn't feel guilty about it)

*Work

*My dog's middle toe on his back right foot is as big as a bratwurst sausage and he has to go to the vet tomorrow

* I have SO much to do tomorrow before my trip to Canadia

*My daddy flies in tomorrow night...YAY

So, I picked up my dress tonight from the lady who made it for me.  The skirt is perfect and the top fits but it's a little big for the "girls" So I feel like it's gonna fall off and it would be the first mardi gras in Canada.  I don't think that my sister would appreciate that...so I am gonna call a friend who specializes in wardrobe malfunctions and ask her what I should do.  

I have to run 4 miles tonight...I AM going to do it!  I was supposed to do it last night but got tied up doing the bills.  I ran 3 last Friday.  My goal is to run long distances Monday, Wednesday and Friday and then do my normal weight/abs/legs/cardio routine on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I've been working out consistently for a couple of months now and I am glad that I haven't given up...I am working towards running a longer distance race by next spring...I would like to do a half marathon.  A friend of a friend inspired me to do that.  So, we'll see.

Wow, my dog farted and I think the end of the world is near...so I will leave you with some pics that I have got done editing from the shoot and I'm gonna run now... literally

PS...Still need a website...for my photography...sorry...

I think I need to start a photo blog...

It seems lately all I have been doing is posting pictures...so I think I'm going to start up another site where I can post my photography and then eventually it will be the site for my business.  So, it's always...yes...you guessed it...BUSY!  I almost loathe that word.  

David's mom visited on short notice this last weekend so he didn't get to recoup from his work week.   Needless to say, Dave has been sick and this is his second day not going to work...PLEASE pray for him as we really can't afford for him to have sick days...It's amazing what us women consider sick compared to men.  I went to work a couple of weeks ago, nautious and the pharmacy has no ac so it was about 95 degrees.  Yes, I puked, yes I felt like crap, and yes I probably wasn't as efficient as I normally am...but I did go to work.  I don't know...mom's rarely get sick days...and when we do get a day, we never have off from the kids.  Can you tell I'm a bit frustrated at this whole situation?  

Anyway, enough about that.  So, I have my first official shoot this weekend.  My subjects are a mom and her daughter and son.  And then three brothers...two whom are twins.  I'm very excited.  I've been reading alot on twin sessions.  I'm very blessed to have this opportunity for my first shoot.  I just hope I don't screw it up.  

So, to get ready for the shoot I went to the location and played around with my boys.  I had great lighting.  It was a cloudy day so I didn't have overwhelming shadows...If it ends up being bright and sunny I might ask somebody to help me with a big piece of cardboard.  We'll see.  So, here are those shots for your viewing pleasure...and I will work on that other site so I don't fill up this one with my work :-)

The three images that are the same shows the difference of color, black & white, and black & white with a hint of tint:

PS  The reason you don't see Parker in but one pic is because he was fed up with the camera...so yea, ya'll know how that goes.  

It's been a very busy weekend for us here at the Brown home.  Tonight was the first night that I just sat down on the couch and "chilled."  Dave and I watched The Island tonight and it was a really good movie.  

Earlier today, I went with some friends from church to Paris Gibson track and ran a mile.  I am glad to say that I was able to do it without stopping.  My time still could improve though.  

Yesterday, I was honored to sing at my friend Alicia and Jason Hefner's wedding.  I asked if I could tag along my camera and pretend I was a photographer...so here are some, "I'm not really the photographer so I'm not gonna get in the way" pictures...

My boys were being so cute the other day with there sunglasses, that I had to experiment with my camera again...aren't they funny?

And lastly, after the wedding, Dave and I did have a couple of hours together...we had fun just being lazy in the sun.  I thought he looked super hot so I snapped some of him too...

And this is his super hot but not-so-hot-on-gas truck

So there's the weekend update.  I have made a goal to run next month's mile in 9 minutes or under so I have to start running at the park in the morning.  It would probably be a good idea for me to get to bed so I can do that.  

Tuesday morning my husband had to call into work to see if he was needed.  Unfortunately, he was not and that stinks b/c it's alot of moolah that we won't be seeing this next check.  Anyhoo, he asked if he could have the kids for the day b/c I would normally take them to day care.  I thought that was very awesome of him...the kids rarely get to see their daddy and they were so excited to have a day with him.  I frantically called the daycare and asked if I could switch their day from Tuesday to Wednesday so that I could have a day "off."  Thankfully, this was not a problem.  It was so nice just doing whatever I wanted without having to wipe something gooey up every 20 minutes.  The only stinky thing was that I wasn't feeling very good.  But I did get to poot around on my camera programs alot.  I even got to hang out with Ann which is always a blast.  So, I asked her if I could take pictures of Grace to experiment with.  I still need to work on my shutter speed/ISO/aperture settings but I don't think they're that bad.  I got to play on Adobe Camera Raw and Photoshop with these.  Grace did pretty good for on the fly. 

Before that I was able to capture my dog doing what he does best...being lazy.

These were some shots that I was able to take Monday morning of the freezing frost...so pretty.

I am very excited about what I have been learning and the loads of info that I still need to soak in.  My chickens are getting bigger...maybe I should get a picture of them.  Oh and sad news...we are having to get rid of the new animal of the house, Leah.  Our umbrella cockatoo.  She isn't adjusting very well to the kids and other animals...she has biting Ashton, me, Dave, Sophie (my cat) and Sam - SEVERAL times-he is just too slow to get away I guess.  Anyway, she normally is very lovey with us adults but I have been reading that these birds can get jealous when having other animals around and can just get plain nasty...so that is sad but I am tired of catching Sam limping everywhere because he got bit by the bird.  So, needless to say, we have to keep her locked up now and I just feel so bad about that.  We are in the works for finding her another home that will suit her better.  Be praying that we'll find someone...I always hate having to give a pet away.  

I just viewed my post and these pictures are not the same colors as they are on my computer...so sorry.  So I am now investigating to see how I can make them show up true from my files to cyber space...wish me luck ;-)

Subjects wanted...

So, it's been a very eventful couple of days.  After only two weeks of working the extra half day, David and I have decided that it isn't worth it...me working an extra half day that is.  I pay more in daycare than I make.  I am just praying that my boss will understand.  I also had to share my pride in one of the tasks I completed today.

 

Since David has been working these two jobs, I try to make the most of my time and am trying to get my house organized.  I am right along with Ann on that one.  I was really productive in the beginning but now that I am also starting to workout in the evenings I haven't had a ton of time for the organizing...

Not too long ago I discovered something that I think should be a documentary for the Discovery Channel.  The link between cave drawings in B.C. times and toddlers:

I came home from work one day and to my astonishment, cave man drawings were on the wall above Parkers bed.  I know they are Parker's because every time he draws a person they end up looking like Bert from Sesame Street.  I had to leave the room from busting out in a big gut laugh right in front of him.  He had stumbled upon some wax crayons made for drawing in tubs and showers.  Well, our claw foot tub is rough and needs to be be resurfaced so I was saving them in the very cluttered linen closet.  Anyhoo, this is the result of my mess in the closet.  I had to take a picture of the men before painting over them.  Thank goodness he didn't decide to be Picasso on his newly painted walls.  

A Thrift Store Treasure:

To the right is my cat Sophie.  I adopted her from the humane society last year on Mother's Day.  She has been such a blessing to me and I love her dearly.  She was so skinny when I first got her and now from this photo you can see that she is very healthy.  So, we cuddle every night and I could go on and on about my sweet kitty.

I was in Saint Vinnies to buy a cute chest for the 

boys room, and lo and behold, there she was!

My Sophie in ceramic form, blue eyes and all! She was a little overpriced but where in the world would I ever get the opportunity to buy my kitty.  So I got her and when I got home I was delighted to find out that she has a slit in her back...she's a kitty bank.  So she (ceramic Sophie) is perched on my fake fireplace and anytime I give the boys a quarter for chores or they find pennies on the ground, they stick it in the "Kitty Bank" or "Sophie Bank."  I just thought that was too cool!

Anyway, to the title of my blog.  Yes, I need subjects.  I am pursuing photography and have been in contact with a very established photographer via email.  His work is amazing and he has been so kind to give me advice on how to start out.  To get into this awesome sort of art, you must have a decent camera, some hint of a gift, a fast computer and a "dark room" or post processor program.  Well, I just recently bought myself the Canon EOS 40D, and the new Imac, I think I do have a hint of a gift for taking pictures so the only thing I'm lacking is my "dark room."  Which happens to be Photoshop Creative Suite 3.  I'm trying to develop my portfolio so I have a couple of sittings that I am doing for fun...A pregnancy sitting of a friend and another friend who is easy to photograph.  But, I need a way to save up for this amazing program.  So, I was thinking, why not take pictures for folks for a 25.00 fee.  Not too shabby since I would post process on my default iphoto program (not near as good as photoshop but something) and also give whomever a CD of their "proofs."  It would take only 10 sittings to then save up.  Normally, PS CS3 is about  650 bucks...but a student discount is 250 and Dave is still considered a student right now.  So anyhoo, if you know of anyone who wants a girl getting into photography with a nice camera to take pictures of them, kids, animals, whatever, then please let me know.  I have 2 days during the week I can shoot and also Saturday morning or afternoons. 

Any encouragement or advice is welcome and I thank everyone in advance for supporting me in this new adventure.  I have always loved catching moments in time and would love for this to eventually be my job one day.  Here are a few samples of pics I've taken that I think are neat:

Long time, no blog...

Everyone has been telling me that they are tired of the ugly sweaters...."We wanna blog!!" They exclaim...so here ya go.  Something new and fresh.  So what has been going on in my life since Christmas?  Here's the bulleted version:

*Ashton turned 4

*Got reeeeal sick

*Dave separated from the AirForce

*Went to Florida for vacation - don't hate ;-)

*Dave looks for new job

*Dave looks for new job

*Dave looks for new job

*YAY!  Dave got 2 jobs

*Wait, BOO!  Dave got TWO jobs

*Parker turned 3

*New animals added to the Brown house

So, there it is.  It has been a huge transition for us these past couple of months.  God has been giving me supernatural strength to work 30 hours a week, take care of the kids Monday through Friday with no help and get by with seeing my husband for only 1 1/2 hours M-F.  I know there are those who have it way worse than me and I'm not trying to whine, but it has been very difficult for me.  I think that God knows just how much to give us so that we have to rely on him.  And you know what?  I am going to rejoice in this...b/c I have grown so close to my sweet heavenly Daddy.  So, with that nutshell said, I better get to work so I'm not late and here are some recent pictures of the fam...

I love Trees!

Relaxing on a wonderful Florida day...

Having fun on the island

Wrestling with daddy during his terminal leave

The kiddos at Easter

Parker with his "presents"

My love after a hard day at work