Vacation Over!

What a difference a 2 1/2 hour airplane ride can make!

I spent the last week in Florida. The first few days were vacation, followed by two days of business. This morning I woke up and walked on the beach in the Gulf of Mexico.





Fast forward a few hours to this evening.



Luckily enough, I escaped Cleveland's second brutal winter storm of the season. We were lucky to have some friends plow our driveway while I was gone, but I needed to do some clean up tonight when I got home. Vacation Over!

On Vacation

I am currently on vacation - escaping the Ohio snow for a week.

Tracy Nicole in Pink

A few weeks ago I had a teaser image from my December session with the beautiful Tracy Nicole.


Here are the rest of my favorite tattooed chick!








And one last shot of me and my moustache and Tracy Nicole and hers.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (and Winter Storms)

Well, the good news is that I missed Cleveland's first severe winter storm of the year. The bad news is I was out of town and could not make it home.

I was in Nashville Saturday morning waiting at the gate with a 1/2 hour left before our plane was to leave for Cleveland. The flight was showing that it was on time. A few minutes later, the gate agent let us know that the Cleveland airport had a foot of snow on the ground and the airport was closed... indefinitely. I was stuck in Nashville for another day. Luckily enough I have some good friends I could stay with.

Sunday morning, I tried coming home again. The plane left the gate on time, then we waited while the plane was de-iced. A few minutes later, the plane returned to the gate since there were problems with the plane's instrumentation. They found us another plane, and we were finally on our way home two hours later.

Planes:
Here is a shot I took out the airplane window while we were waiting to get off the plane in Cleveland.


Trains:
While in Nashville, I stopped by the historic Union Station Hotel. This former train station that opened in 1900 is now a magnificent looking hotel. If you are ever in Nashville, stop by and check this beauty out.





Automobiles:
When I returned to my car (parked at the off-airport parking) it took a while to clean the snow off and then work my way through the snow drifts.



Back home, I arrived to see a driveway that didn't look too bad. Diane had two kids with ATV's with snow plows arrive yesterday afternoon to ask if we wanted our driveway plowed. They did a pretty good job.

After I got home I fired up my Dad's old snow blower that he gave me when he moved into a condo. After sitting for 10 months, this baby starts on the first pull. Thank you Daddy!

The final snow tally in our yard was an unofficial 14 inches.


Despite the snow, I am happy to be home.

Christmas Leftovers

Happy New Year 2009!

I still have some Christmas pictures left from this past Christmas, so let's get to them!

Remember Baby Gabriel? Here are a few portraits of him for his first Christmas.

This is Gabriel back on Daddy's deer pelt.

And one in his little baby Santa suit.


And one with Mommy and Daddy torturing him. I have a funny feeling this picture is going to make an appearance in a slide show at his wedding.


And one last shot checking out Daddy and Mommy's cowboy boots.