Zaffiro Is Heading To California

I'm on my way to California today! I'm super excited about this trip because I will be taking my nephew and his best friend's Senior Portraits'. I cannot believe he's a senior already! Sometimes when time flies, it's not so fun. Especially when all those cute adorable little nieces and nephews grow up!

I'm hoping to grab some of my oldest, and other nieces!

I'll be back next week and post some pictures for ya!

In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend!

Trip to New York

Last week I took a last minute trip with my husband to New York. I wasn’t planning on going, but when I heard the 9/11 Memorial was open, I thought, why not. I made the reservation and then went over the site online to find out more information on the memorial. Which I should have done before I made the flight reservations. Even though the 9/11 Memorial is a public memorial, you are required to have a pass (which is free, of course) to enter the site. They were “sold out” of passes through the end of September. I thought maybe I could obtain a pass when I arrived in NY, except by the time we arrived; it was “sold out” through the end of the year. So heads up – if you are planning on going to NY and you think you’re going to be able to get in the 9/11 Memorial – get your passes online super early!

Our trip this

In The Middle of Nowhere!

I took a trip to Arizona weekend before last to visit two high School friends of mine. Peggy, lives in Anchorage but travels down to Arizona in the winter to run her horse riding business. Reta, lives in California. I seem to see Peggy every 2 – 6 years, depending on what’s going on and where we happen to be. Reta, I haven’t seen her in 31 years. So, in between ‘visiting’ Peggy, Reta and I were catching up on 31 years of life. We still have lots in common and our friendship picked up like it never left. We also pitched in and helped Peggy do some running around and moving items, as that was her last weekend in Arizona. She has a long haul back to Anchorage with horses in tow. A long haul I’d love to drive some day! I can only imagine the beauty traveling through Canada!

Being in the desert has it's perks and miseries. One perk was it's quiet. It's

Walkin in the Swamps of Louisiana

Wednesday, the day after Mardi Gras, Ray and I stopped by the swamp in Jean Lafitte on our way home. It had rained the night before and various parts of the area flooded. We wanted to check out the swamp after the storm.

It was interesting and scary at the same time. Scary, because the water was right up to the boardwalk, on both sides, and alligators lurk around there.

Here are some pictures of the area we

Mardi Gras in New Orleans

This year, my birthday fell the day before Mardi Gras, so that’s where I wanted to be. Right in the middle of it all, in New Orleans! There are two kinds of Mardi Gras in New Orleans – one where all the tourists go. That’s on Bourbon Street. Yes, this is where “all that raunchy stuff” goes on. And it’s all tourists. You won’t see any of the locals bearing it all for the beads. Then there’s the one held along St. Charles Street in the Garden District (as well as other locations throughout the New Orleans area) and that’s where the REAL Mardi Gras happens. Family fun, BBQs, happy little faces, and wholesome. If you ever go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, you MUST experience the true celebration of Mardi Gras. Even if it’s just once.

We did a little of both.

My first stop of the day was to have lunch with my wonderful

A Trip to Florida

I'm lucky to get to travel with my husband on his business trips. This past February we traveled to Orlando, Florida. I have never been to Florida, so landing in the middle of the state was OK with me. Maybe next time we'll head to Miami, or the Florida Keys, or somewhere where I can lay on the beach for a few days. But, Orlando was just fine by me.

We arrived on Monday, February 21 for a week’s stay. Ray’s seminar didn’t start until Thursday, so we had a couple of free days to play together. We checked into our hotel and headed to St. Augustine. The one thing Ray and I love to do when we travel is try to cram in as much as we can do in the amount of time we have. The drive to St. Augustine took about 2 hours. Ray's been there before and wanted to share his experience.

On the way there we took a quick detour

Welcome December!

The last month of the year. Wow!

I don’t know about you, but for me this year flew by. Heck, every year flies by in your adult life. Why is that? When we were kids, time couldn’t fly fast enough. Especially when you’re sitting in the most boring class during school. Or Christmas couldn’t come fast enough when you’re counting down the days in December. Or when you get in trouble and your Mother would say “you just wait until your Father gets home!” THAT was the longest time to wait. LOL - Yes, there were days I was a little devil in my younger years!

Maybe time flies because we try to cram in as much as we can during the day.

Holidays are here, sessions are slowing down, and I can get caught up with my blog again.

Ray and I took our annual trip to New York last month. It was a short trip, 4 days, and we crammed in a bunch of stuff like we always do. It felt like we were there for a week.

Here’s an aerial view of New York City as we were coming in. Beautiful day!

Other than our trip to New York, and a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family, it’s been busy with Holiday Sessions and spending time with my adorable grandson.

Here’s a peek at Kylene and Jayden’s Holiday Session. They both crack me up so much!

I’ll put up a few of the last couple of sessions I’ve done a little later.

In the meantime, enjoy the first day of December!

San Antonio Trip

I've been busy, I know, but sometimes we just need to get away. And my hubby and I did just that. We headed for San Antonio last weekend. Neither of us have been and we heard wonderful things about San Antonio so we drove out Friday afternoon.

What I liked about San Antonio first was the historic feel to the city. Unlike many cities these days, there’s no historic feel to them. I don’t know why, but many cities feel the need to tear down the old and replace with the new. San Antonio still

To Da Beach

Ray and I headed to the beach on Saturday. A much needed quick day get away for just the two of us. The weather was HOT and MUGGY at the house, so we thought the beach would be at least a tad cooler.

It was.

And, it was a bit crowded as well.

What I don't understand -- these umbrellas along the beach rent for $20.00, I believe 2 chairs come with them. Why rent, when you can buy a nice umbrella and a couple of chairs and you don't have to be stuck right next to people on either side of you.

I guess many like to be right on the water's edge

The water was warm. Usually about 85

Bryce National Park

I have been going through some old photo CDs and came across a trip Ray and I took to Utah and Nevada back in 2007. I thought I’d share part of that trip with you.

In June of 2006, I came across a photo contest for Zion National Park. The winner would receive an all exclusive 7 day trip to the park. I liked that! Zion is one of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring National Parks I have been to.

In February 2004, Ray and I relocated to North Carolina and we decided to make a vacation out of it. We took 2 weeks to get there, zigzagging across the U.S. We made

New Orleans Graveyards . . .

Had a fantastic trip to New Orleans. As always, I absolutely enjoy visiting New Orleans. I really miss it, and, being a 5 hour drive away here in Houston, I’m glad I can go back and know where all the really good places are to visit. The good restaurants, bars, clubs, locations and the little quiet festivals that aren’t all touristed up (is that a word? Well, it is now). And, as odd as this may sound, I love the old graveyards of New Orleans. I can wander through them all day – with Ray in tow of course. I would never wander by myself!

The Cemeteries of New Orleans are much like the city itself. They are a mirror to the opulence and desecration of a mysterious and enchanting city. They dance back and forth between beauty and ruin.

Make My Cake! November 13, 2009

Harlem. We visited Harlem last year, and fell in love with a little bakery called Make My Cake. It has the best cupcakes I’ve ever tasted. Today, we were heading in that direction.

Ray and I love to walk when we visit places. We see more that way. We’ll walk for hours until we can’t walk no more. It’s usually me that suggests getting in something with wheels.

I wanted to walk up to Central Park and catch the subway there, instead of the subway right outside our Hotel. We’re on 8th and West 34th Streets, Central Park is along 5th Avenue and begins at Central Park South Street (aka 59th Street). It’s a hike, but I enjoy it.

As you walk around Manhattan, you catch a whiff of roasting Chestnuts. Man, they smell sooo good! We pick up some nuts before we head up to

Statue of Liberty - November 12, 2009

Today Ray and I went to see the Statue of Liberty. Last year we never got around to seeing her and knew we’d be back this year.

It was cool and a light rain from time to time. We jumped on the subway to the New York Harbor at the tip of Manhattan.

Great architect on this subway station.

Once we got out tickets, we headed to our ferry, named the Statue of Liberty. The ferry ride to Liberty Island is about 15 minutes. The view of

The City That Never Sleeps! - November 10-11, 2009

New York. Huge. Crowded. New York.

This was my second trip to New York. Ray and I went last year. He attends a seminar there each November and I follow along. Great way to vacation, for me.

We arrived late afternoon on November 10. We never rent a car in New York. What’s the point? There’s no parking to speak of. And you’d never get anywhere with all the traffic. The choice of transportation around New York City – a yellow cab. And believe me, in a sea of yellow, you’re gonna get one. As we drove to our hotel, I grabbed a few shots of the city viewed from the cab.

We stayed at the New Yorker Hotel on 8th and West 34th streets. A midtown Manhattan Hotel. Has quite the history. It was built in 1929 was considered one of the largest hotels in it’s hey day. The New Yorker is designed in

We're Off to New York

We heading out of here in the morning to New York for 5 days.

I'll be back soon with some cool shots of the Big Apple!

Day Fourteen – Anchorage - September 14, 2009

I wanted to get up and out at the crack of dawn to catch some sunrise shots. Of course, as usual, I’m a little late. That bed felt so good, especially spending 7 nights in a Cruise Ship’s bed! It’s ok, but not like home. When the alarm went off, I did look out the window and saw this.

And was hoping we will be able to see Denali one more time. That would make it 3 times during our trip. We loaded up our car and headed out. Anchorage is approximately 200 miles from Denali. A long, but beautiful drive. We had periods of thick fog then clear skies and it was crisp and fresh

Day Thirteen – A Drive to Fairbanks - September 13, 2009

Sunday morning we woke up around 9:00am, the latest since we left Houston on September 1! I wanted to just lie around all day and do absolutely nothing! I was tired, worn out, beat, and just exhausted! It was raining outside, none of the mountains were visible, so why not!

11:00am, Ray was getting hungry. We looked at the menu of the local Grill. Nothing exciting there, just your basic hamburger joint. We got dressed and headed out searching for something to eat. At the fork in the road, one way leads back to Denali NP, the other to Fairbanks. Knowing there wasn’t much towards Denali, we headed towards Fairbanks. Searched around the little town of

Day Twelve –Denali National Park – September 12, 2009

I have been to several National Parks: Bryce Canyon, Crater Lake, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Great Smokey Mountains, Joshua Tree, Kings Canyon, Lassen, Redwood National, Sequoia, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion. Each one absolutely gorgeous in its own way. But Denali is the most beautiful by far because of its unspoiled beauty. To drive through a National Park with hundreds of other people enjoying its beauty is one thing, fun, exciting and can be disrupted by voices all around unless you hike deep into the backcountry. Going through a National Park and not seeing another soul, only the vast unspoiled tundra and wildlife, the strange stillness and peacefulness is another. It’s what a National Park should be like. No

Day Eleven –Seward to Anchorage to Denali, NP – September 10, 2009

We pulled to Seward at 3:00am, and our scheduled time to disembark was at 7:00am. We met at our location on the ship, received our transfer tickets for the train, which we took to Anchorage Airport, and headed towards the exit. Once we stepped outside the doorway, it was a beautiful scene.

We walked through customs where bags, upon bags were waiting to load on the train. I hope ours is in there somewhere!

And walked to the train.


On the train we were pretty impressed with the seating area. I’ve never been on a train like this before that I can remember. All open, you can see everything. Our Steward, Mike, was quite the crack up with his story telling

Day Ten –Hubbard Glacier – September 10, 2009

Hubbard Glacier is a tidewater glacier. Named in 1890 after Gardiner G. Hubbard (regent of the Smithsonian Institution and first president of the National Geographic Society), it is the longest tidewater glacier in Alaska, with an open calving face over 6 miles wide.

The longest source for Hubbard Glacier originates 76 miles from its snout and is located at about at about approximately 5.0 miles west of Mt. Walsh with an altitude around 11,000 feet. A shorter tributary glacier begins at the easternmost summit on the Mt. Logan ridge at about 18,300 feet. Before it reaches the sea, Hubbard is joined by the Valerie Glacier to the west, which, through forward surges of its own ice, has contributed to the advance of the ice flow that experts believe will eventually dam the Russell Fiord from Disenchantment Bay waters.

Woke up today to some thick fog. I was excited because the ice will be that beautiful blue