Recent photos...

I've been taking lots of pictures for friends lately...here are a few of my favorites.

N&Q - engagement pictures

Baby E...this shows how inexperienced I am with positioning babies!
But I still got a laugh out of it.

Baby E again...Mr. Serious :)

The N family kids...cute bunch!

Baby T!

I had the privilege of practicing my photo skills on baby T a few weeks ago... :)

Starved Rock

Well, we didn't quite make it up to Lowden State Park. Once we got close to Starved Rock, we decided to stay there for the weekend. Starved Rock is just too hard to pass up sometimes. :) We had exceptional weather all weekend, if you didn't count the 5 minute rain shower. We did have an issue with the dogs on Friday night. When we camp, we chain them up outside (no dogs allowed in the camper!)...and apparently they both decided together to bust off the tie-out and go hiking in the woods. Luckily we were alerted by another dog and the sound of commotion outside of the camper. Sean called them back, and they came right back (good dogs)...amazingly their 20 ft. chaind didn't get caught on anything in the woods during their 'hike'.

I don't think the dogs got any sleep all weekend. They've been crashed on their pillows all afternoon!

One of the many pretty views on our hike

A wild turkey at the campground

Sadie made a bed in the woods...

So excited....let's go!!!

Random pictures...

Sean and I are headed out this weekend for our first camping trip of the year! Our original plan was to visit Garden of the Gods in Southern IL and stay at Dixon Springs State Park, however we decided that was too far of a drive (over 4 hours) for just a quick weekend trip. Instead, we are going to Lowden State Park in Northern IL, near Sterling. I'll be taking my camera, so hopefully I'll find cool things to photograph!

In the meantime, here are some random pictures...

A baby robin perched on our fence. I took this from our patio using my telephoto lens.

Sadie...isn't she a pretty dog?! :)

Miss Jada - taking a break from playing with her favorite summer toy, a tennis ball

Garden and...IRISES!

I finally have some pictures of my garden. And I was pleasantly surprised this evening to see that my irises are going to bloom this year! I transplanted them two years ago, and last year they never did bloom. I kept checking earlier this spring, and nothing...but today, BOOM - blooms!

My snap peas...not doing so well yet. Only one little vine is still living, I think. :-(
p

The whole garden...three tomato plants, three pepper plants (two bell, one jalapeno), one egg plant, and one snap pea plant.

Ahhh....the long-awaited iris blooms! They are purple!
(I wasn't even sure what color they were!)

Not just your ordinary turkey sammich

I concocted one of the best homemade sandwiches for dinner tonight, and I just HAD to blog the recipe! Try it out!

Ingredients:
Sandwich Thins (found in the bread department of any store, usually by the hamburger buns)
Turkey deli meat
Mozzarella cheese slice
Sliced tomato
Sliced red onion
A few leaves of fresh spinach
Balsamic vinegar
Olive Oil

Directions:
Put the tomato slice and onion slices into a shallow dish and coat with balsamic vinegar. Let sit in the dish until you are ready for them, turning them every few minutes to coat both sides nicely.
Open the Sandwich Thin and spread olive oil on both insides. Lay flat on a cookie sheet, oiled side up. Broil for 3-5 minutes, until toasty. Take the bread out of the oven. Put the tomato slice on the top half of the bread, then lay the cheese on top of the tomato. Put the turkey on the bottom half of the bread, and lay the red onions on top of the turkey. Leave the sandwich open-faced, and put it back into the oven to broil. Broil until the cheese starts to get slightly brown. Take it out of the oven and add the spinach on top of the cheese. Leaving the sandwich open-faced still, return it to the oven to broil for another 1-2 minutes (don't leave the spinach wilt too much). Take it out of the oven, put the halves together, and enjoy!

Let me know if you try this recipe and like it! :)

The garden has been planted!

Well....most of it, anyway. We just got back from a weekend trip to Birmingham to visit my sister, and I threw some laundry in the washer and hopped in the car to Menards to buy some garden plants. I bought three tomato plants (Early Girl, Celebrity, and Cherry), jalapeno, eggplant, orange bell pepper, and snow peas. It's our first try at snow peas this year. I bought a cute little tower for them. :) I still have enough room for 2-4 more plants, depending on what type of veggies I pick out. Sean has requested chives, but I've heard those can take over a garden, so we'll grow those in container on the patio. Once I get the rest planted, I'll be sure to blog some pictures.

Sorry about being a bad blogger...it's been a whirlwind around the Schick house lately, and the only thing I can think of to blame that on is my new job. What happened to only working 40 hours a week?!

I need to wrap up this post and change out the laundry. Adios!