Just wanted to say hey! I am in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, visiting a friend of mine. Just me. Alone. No kids! Let me tell you, this has been one of the most refreshing trips ever!!! I really needed it!

I have a ton of pictures to go through and edit, but wanted to post a couple from yesterday. We went and drove around Amish country...totally BEAUTIFUL!! I saw some little amish kids playing, they were so stinking cute in their blue shirts and overalls and bonnets!!

Anyway...there are a lot of black and white cows here....we dont have a lot of these type in Oklahoma...most of ours are brown or black or Texas Longhorns. They cows here are really friendly too! lol! I think they WANTED their picture taken!



and...a fuzzy catipillar! How cute is he!!




Alrighty...we are about to head out to Ohio to a state fair to see Josh Turner in concert!!! WHOOHOO!!! See ya!!

So I felt like cooking a nice lunch for...well...ME today. :) I too often just have PB&J or Cheese & Crackers or Mac & Cheese with the kids. So I decided to make something new and yummy. I knew my hubby wouldn't like this, either, so It was a good excuse to make it for just me! (plus I have to try things out before I make them for my girlfriends! I love them too much to make them my guinea pigs!)

So I had some gnocchi in the pantry, and some sauce...and threw together this:


Strobist Info: Speedlight bounced off of couch (yes, I said couch) to warm up the picture. EV +1 (my couch is a light tan and works pretty well at reflecting light ;) )



Strobist Info: Speedlite shot through umbrella, camera left 45 degrees, and up 45 degrees. EV +1

OK, here we go. :)

Gnocchi: You can either buy it prepackages at the store in the pasta aisle, or make it. Recipe: HERE
Boil them for a minute or two in boiling water, until they float to the top, then drain. They will stick together so don't let them sit too long.

Chicken: 4 chicken breasts, sautéed in olive oil over medium heat. I season with some Greek Seasoning I have, but you can just use salt, pepper, oregano, garlic, and thyme if you like. :)

Sauce: I totally cheat and buy jar sauced, but only Gia Russia's Alla Vodka sauce. Its about $7 a jar, but its so worth it.

Boil or steam some asparagus to your liking....this will go underneath everything else when dish is assembled.

I got some Asiago Cheese bread from a local grocery here, but I am sure you can find it anywhere. I just slice, butter it, and then sprinkle some garlic salt on it, and put it in the oven on broil for a minute or two. It doesn't take long, so watch it or else you will have black croutons instead of crusty toasted garlic bread!

To Assemble...its pretty simple. Asparagus goes on the bottom, then add a chicken breast and some gnocchi. Then spoon on warm vodka sauce, and add some parsley for garnish!

...since I last posted!!! I have just been SO busy lately.

I thought I would share some more of my kids (since they are my favorite subject!!!) My daughters birthday party was this past Saturday! I cant believe she is about to turn 1!! I am going to be doing her "official" 1 year pictures here in a couple weeks when I have a free weekend, but until then, these will have to do.

Oooo, and I got the most fabulous cupcakes from a new bakery that is about to open here! They were SOOOOOOOOO yummmmy! I am going to be doing cupcake pictures for her store and website here in a few weeks! Im excited!








And cant forget her brother...hes actually letting me take some pictures of him lately!!

This weekend was busy. My sister was in town, so we headed over to Loops to look at yarn for my baby cocoon/wrap that she is making me for my newborn sessions. We found some wonderfully soft, yummy Plymouth Earth Rainshadow baby Alpaca yarn in a couple of their new fall colors. I can't wait to see how it turns out. :) What's cool about this yarn is that its not dyed, so the color of the yarn is the actual color of the baby Alpaca that is came from. :)




We also went to the Cherry Street Farmers Market here in Tulsa. Did you know that its not light out at 6am??? I cant remember the last time I voluntarily got up that early!! It was a nice little market, with lots of things to choose from! Next time I will have to buy more there. This time I came home with a yummy, crusty baguette, some yellow squash, some new red potatoes and some apples!



We also found what we thought was a dead lizard in my moms house, but quickly discovered it was not quite dead. I took it outside (after screaming and feeling pretty silly after it tried to rub its lizardy little head on my finger)It was the neatest looking lizard ever! We looked it up, and it is a Blue Tailed Lizard and is a type of Skink (not SKUNK...SKINK) It was a baby...as they are about 9 inches long at adulthood, and lose some of their color. We set it free and it hopefully will go on to live a nice little lizardy life, and stay out of my moms house. :)


So there you go...Alpaca yarn, blue tailed skinks, fresh produce at 6 am...just a normal weekend! (Yeah....right)

Well, this sneak peak is a little late, as the session was Thursday...but I still wanted to post it. :)

I'm learning I love maternity shoots. :) Maybe its because I am done having kids myself, and so I can live vicariously through them for a few minutes during the session. :) I just think pregnant women are so beautiful. I know when we are huge and pregnant, we feel far from bit, but there is just something so natural and simply gorgeous about them.





As I post this, all I can think about is my friend Bonnie, who is going through her fourth miscarriage. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Her blog can be found HERE