Photo Challenge Day 30/30 - Family

Today as I was thinking of something that made me happy, my family kept coming to my mind. I am so grateful for them. It is not always roses and romance, but we laugh a lot, love spending time together and really do love one another. I couldn't do it without Dusty or Kinley. I love my cute little family!!

Hope you guys didn't get too bored this month with all the posts, but I enjoyed really thinking about the stuff that makes me happy and hopefully you all got something out of it too.

Wedding Day: July 8, 2005

Kinley is welcomed into our family

August 1, 2010

Photo Challenge Day 29/30 - Tangled

I LOVE Disney movies and I am so excited that Tangled comes out today! This movie goes on the list of my favorite Disney movies that includes Hercules, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin.

Photo Challenge Day 28/30 - Kinley

I knew that at some point during this challenge I would be doing a post about Kinley because she makes me so happy and I love being a mom. But after a weekend away, I was so excited to see her. I love her smile, laugh and everything about her. I love being a mom to this cute girl!

Dusty loves to put Kinley's pants on her head

Photo Challenge Day 27/30 - The Temple

I love the temple and the blessings that it brings.
I am also so grateful that we have temples so close to us.

This year we are working on trying to go to the temple more often, so this is a good reminder!

Photo Challenge Day 26/30 - Wicked!

My mom, sister and I are going to this tonight!

So excited!

Photo Challenge Day 25/30 - Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn is one of my all time favorite actresses. She is a classic beauty with amazing style. She is also in some of my favorite movies (Sabrina, Roman Holiday, My Fair Lady, Charade) I have loved her since I was little and still do to this day! I can't wait to watch her movies with Kinley when she is older

Photo Challenge Day 24/30 - Grey's Anatomy

Thursday nights are a good night in our house. It is Grey's Anatomy night. It might be ridiculous to get so excited over a show, but this show holds so many memories. Dusty and I started watching the show when we were dating, so it has been with us through so much :) If you have never watched the show, I highly recommend it!

This is a promo pic from the current season

Photo Challenge Day 23/30 - Red

I love the color red! It makes me happy. I love to decorate with it, love fruit that is red, cars that are red, dark red hair, red nailpolish, red clothes, rosy red cheeks from the cold, red leaves in the fall, red flowers, etc.

It is my favorite color and makes me very happy!

Photo Challenge Day 22/30 - Breakfast for Dinner

One of my all time favorite dinners is breakfast. I love it! I love breakfast food but rarely eat it because I don't like to eat much in the morning. So tonight I made breakfast for dinner. Dusty was also happy with the choice! I also made my first omelet! It was delicious and actually looked good too! I will for sure be trying different combinations.

Photo Challenge Day 21/30 - Spring

So pretty much this cold weather is starting to make me depressed, so today I had to think of Spring to make me happy!

Dear Spring;

Please hurry and come and visit us. You can also stay awhile.

We would love it. Thinking of you!

Love,

Ali

Photo Challenge Day 20/30 - California

I love vacations and one that has become my favorites in the last couple of years has been California. We have created a lot of great memories there and next weekend I get to make another one with my mom and sister! I can't wait. I am going to be a happy girl all week!

Photo Challenge Day 19/30 - Babies

Today with a HUGE help from my mom, we did Kitani's baby shower. We are so excited for Jeff and Kitani and that they are going to be having a baby boy!! They are going to be amazing parents.

Babies make me so happy. It is just an exciting time for the new parents and I love doing parties for them too! So here are 2 pictures from the day. I will get other pictures posted later :)

The table - It was a Jungle theme
Kitani and her adorable belly!!!
She is so cute pregnant!
Can't wait to meet Baby Anderson :)

Photo Challenge Day 18/30- My Hubby

This weekend was so busy and I didn't get a chance to post yesterday so I will have to do 2 today.

This weekend would not have been possible without my amazing hubby! I did a shower for Kitani on Saturday and I had stuff to get done and Dusty took time off of work on Friday so that I could go shopping for everything on Friday. When I got home my house was also cleaned and he got our outside ready as well. Friday night was spent cleaning up some more, keeping me company and doing anything that he could to help. And he didn't stop there, he woke up with Kinley last night so I could sleep and woke up bright and early and ran the last minute errands, hung the decorations and helped build the parfaits. And when it was all over he played with Kinley while I took a nap! (Sorry to go on and on, but I just had to let everyone know how amazing he is!) I don't think that I could ask for a better husband and that is why this post is dedicated to him. Dusty makes me so happy and I am so lucky that I have someone like him. He is always helping me with everything and is so supportive. He loves coming home to his girls and Kinley and I love to see him when he gets home. So thanks babe for making me so happy!!

This picture is from our wedding day.

What a hottie!!

Photo Challenge Day 17/30 - Holidays!!

Holidays are a days to do a little something extra that makes people happy! I love taking advantage of all of them. That probably comes from growing up in a house where my mom always made it holiday so fun! I hope that Kinley grows up to love the holidays as much as I do.

Today was St Patricks day and we all dressed in green! And had some green food to eat. It wasn't a lot, but it just made the day a little special. Hope no one got pinched today!

Kinley in her Kiss Me I'm Irish shirt

(I am sure she has a little Irish in her somewhere)
For dinner we had shepards pie. It seemed Irish to me, just without the corned beef :) And I made the potatoes green. Then a green salad and green kool aid. Jeff and Kit joined us for dinner and I think that they enjoyed the holiday as well :)

Photo Challenge Day 16/30 - Cupcake Chic

I feel like everywhere you look you see a new cupcake store pop up. They are the new craze. There are tv shows Cupcake Wars and DC Cupcakes (and yes I do watch them!) that talk all about them and how amazing they are. I like cupcakes just like the next person, but have never really LOVED them. Enter Cupcake Chic. It is a cupcake store that is in Orem by Costco. I happened to go in there one day to check it out and I was pleasantly surprised. They have DELICIOUS cupcakes. They actually taste homemade, not mass produced like so many other cupcake places in Utah. I have tried the Red Velvet, Chocolate, and Vanilla with Strawberry Icing. My fav has to be the Vanilla Strawberry. Today I converted my mom as well. She has never been a fan of the cupcake stores, but she agreed that they are amazing. So today I am happy that I have found a delicious cupcake store to satisfy my sweet tooth. If you want an amazing cupcake visit http://www.cupcakechicutah.com/ and go get one!!

This is the Vanilla Strawberry

Photo Challenge Day 15/30 - The Bachelor

I am half way through the Photo Challenge and I have enjoyed thinking of things that make me happy/grateful/inspired etc. I love the litle joys in life, and one of those for me is reality tv and one of my fav shows is The Bachelor. I love everything about it; the romanitc dates, the drama, the weirdness of group dates, the anticipation, the trips, the spoilers! Yes it is true, I read all the spoilers. It actually makes me enjoy the season even more. Knowing what is going to happen, makes me read into all the little things and the hints that the producers leave as to what is going to happen. Dusty and I watched the finale last night and I am glad that he chose Emily. I am also glad that they didn't put up a front and pretend everything was so great! They admitted having problems, and working on them like a real couple. Would I love to see them stay together? Of course! But I look at the track record of the show and see that the odds are not in their favor :)

I am excited for the Bachelorette and the Bachelor Pad. Maybe I will start doing recaps on my blog when they start. What do you think?

Photo Challenge 14/30 - My Sister!

It is my sister Tia's birthday today!

I am so grateful to have an awesome sister like her that I can look up to. She is a great mom, cook, crafty girl and always lots of fun. Growing up Tia always was the best big sister. She let me hang out with her and her friends, played with me, and made me laugh.

My sister is something that makes me very happy!

Tia and Ali

(this picture is from my senior pictures)

Photo Challenge Day 13/30 - Church

I am so grateful for the church and that we are able to go as a family!

This is Dusty and Kinley before church today

Photo Challenge Day 12/30 - Cancun

One of my favorite vacations that Dusty and I ever took was to Cancun. We had been married 5 months and were excited to have a real honeymoon. We did a lot of fun things; the Mayan ruins, Xcaret, the beach, delicious food, relaxing. Hopefully we get back there again someday!!

With all this cold weather it has got me thinking about somewhere warm, and I wouldn't mind being in Cancun right now.

Photo Challenge Day 11/30 - Dedicated Parents

So Thursday when I was at Disney on Ice I caught this picture on my phone. It was a dad dressed up as Buzz Lightyear and his little girl as Jessie. I just looked at that and said "that is one dedicated dad." I thought it was really sweet and just made me happy to see a dad so willing to dress up just to make his daughter happy. (either that or he was just really into dressing up, which makes me laugh too!) Kids really do change your life for the better!

Photo Challenge Day 10/30 - Nieces and Nephews

Dusty and I got lucky with some awesome nieces and nephews and Kinley has some great cousins. Trae, Kira, Dax, Aiden and Rilyn are all so much fun and have such different personalities. Our families wouldn't be complete without anyone of them. I love that they all live within driving distance and that we are able to spend time with them whenever we get the chance. I got a chance tonight to spend time with Trae, Kira and Tia at Disney on Ice. It was a lot of fun and the kids really liked it. I am lucky to be their YaYa. Thanks Tia for the invite!

Ali, Trae and Kira

(the other 3 cousins are under the tab "Things we Love")

Photo Challenge Day 9/30- Paris

One place that I have always loved since I was a little girl has been Paris. I love everything about it; the architecture, the language, the cafes, etc.

I have never been able to take a vacation there, but one day I will since it is my number one spot.

Paris has even inspired me in my decorating choices in my home. Orginally I wanted to do our bedroom with a Paris theme, but no I have moved it down to our family room and kitchen. I love the idea of having a French Bistro as a focal point in my kitchen and using it throughout the downstairs. In fact while in Vegas we bought a painting of Paris. I will post pictures while we finally decide wear to hang it!

Photo Challenge Day 8/30 - Kindle/Reading

One of my favorite things to do is read. If I am not careful I could read all day. One of my favorite presents has been my Kindle. I love that I can have a bunch of books and not have to worry about where I am going to put them, and if we ever move that I don't have to worry about how heavy they are!

I took this picture today of Kinley playing with my Kindle. She loves all of our electronics.

Photo Challenge Day 7/30 - Grammy Time

While in Vegas this last weekend, I didn't take a lot of pictures so I posted the couple that I did because this weekend with my mom made me very happy! She is a lot of fun to be around and we had a great time just relaxing and hanging out. Her and Dusty are always laughing and kidding around with each other and Kinley loves her Grammy that plays with her all of the time. I just needed some mom time. It was a great weekend to get us all through the rest of this long winter! Kinley and Grammy hanging out

I LOVE this picture of Kinley - she was smiling a second before and just started screaming. She is a drama queen and I love it!

Photo Challenge Day 6/30 - Date Night

I love date night with my hubby! It is so nice to get out and not have to worry about the baby for a couple of hours. My mom watched Kinley last night so that we could grab some dinner at BJ's (another thing that also makes me very happy) and go watch the fountain shows down at the Bellagio. There was some excellent people watching down there last night!

Thanks Dusty for taking me out on a date and mom for watching Kins for us!

Photo Challenge Day 5/30 - Old Friends

I was looking through some of my old pics from high school and came across this picture. It is one of my favs! We had a lot of good times and it makes me happy to remember all of them! I love that I am still friends with these 2 girls and that even if we haven't talked in awhile we can pick up right where we left off!

Whitney, Ali & Shayla

Photo Challenge Day 4/30 - SPONTANEITY

Everyone told Dusty and I that when we had a kid that we wouldn't be able to take spontaneious trips anymore but that doesn't seem to be the case. While Dusty was cooking a delicious breakfast this morning he looks up at me and says "We should totally go to Vegas for the weekend." I agreed and we are getting all packed up and getting on the road!
I love that Dusty is ready for anything and that we can have so much fun even with a baby! Good thing she is an awesome traveler!

VEGAS HERE WE COME!!

Photo Challenge Day 3/30 - Halloween

I love all holidays but the one that I love the most is Halloween! I love dressing up and that my last name Batty goes with Halloween!

Halloween 2008
We were a witch and a firefighter

Photo Challenge Day 2/30 - Bon Jovi

I planned on doing a post about music that made me happy sometime during this challenge but today seemed like the perfect day to do it since it is Jon Bon Jovi's birthday!

I have loved Bon Jovi it seems like forever. I love the music but I also think that he is a major hottie! One of my favorite dances while on my high school dance team was You Give Love a Bad Name. Thank you Bon Jovi for making me happy :)

(we also joke that Kinley got her dimple in her chin from him since we don't know where it came from)

Photo Challenge Day 1/30 - MAIL

One of the most simple things in life that makes me happy is getting mail! I love that feeling that someone took their time and went out of their way (to the post office) to send you something! And I love to get anything a card, letter, invatation, package or even a good magazine! I recieved this in the mail just a couple of days ago and it made my day!