One more photo session this evening, a sales session in the morning and then I have the rest of the holiday weekend off to do whatever I want.  My Jeep is ready to go for Sunday and I'm looking forward to the day of wheeling with friends.

I received a call from the owner of the professional lab we use and he asked if he could drive down from Iowa to meet with us.  We are pretty high volume for a photography studio when it comes to albums and such and he wants to get together in person to help strengthen our business relationship, look at Jodi's editing and color correction processes and discuss a mutually beneficial partnership in regard to promotion opportunities.  I'm looking forward to our meeting.

JD sent me a video yesterday of him singing at a local establishment on Karaoke night.  He sang Aerosmith's "Dream On".  The video quality is pretty poor but the audio is good enough to tell that he really sings well.  I like the fact that he likes all genre's of music.  I wish he would try his hand at recording.

We had a fun session yesterday in the urban jungle and we followed that up with a late night dinner at Waffle House.  Jodi met me and my assistant there and we enjoyed some breakfast for dinner. 

To my surprise, my Badge of Honor for Holy Cross arrived yesterday.  Typically these badges have been taking months on end to receive but apparently their recent supplier change has sped up delivery of them.  Next month, I'm running tow more Badge of Honor trails at SMORR.

We are off to Kansas Rocks on Sunday morning for a day of wheeling.   It has been awhile since we have been there so we are due for a visit.  We'll be wheeling with good friends and members of our club.  Thew weather has turned nicer here temp wise and I am looking forward to Fall.

We received a nice thunderstorm yesterday around dinner time.  It was perfect timing as my yard guys had just finished up mowing and then the lawn got a nice drink.  With the three day weekend ahead, I should plan to do some weeding and getting the lawn ship shape for Fall.

We have a perfect day here in KC with a high of around 80 degrees.  Our senior today really lucked out for her session as it has been pretty hot of late.  Tomorrow I have a session with a boy that will finish out on a golf course which should be pretty fun. 

Yesterday, I spent some time working on our big Jeep event scheduled for September 16th at Smithville Lake.  Our Jeep social group usually meets at a local restaurant but I suggested we get together for an outdoor event and everyone seemed to love the idea.  So, I created our Jeep Invasion event. Our company donated the fees for the pavillion and will also provide some meet for grilling.  We currently have about 70 Jeeps who have RSVP'ed for the event and I hope to get it to 100.  It will be a day of fun at the lake with our Jeeple.

The short weekend is over and it's back to work at the day job and three photo sessions and three ordering sessions ahead.  At least this weekend will be a three day weekend that should include some wheeling on Sunday at Kansas Rocks.  We haven't been there in a while and will be going with a contingent of our Jeeple and club members.  I expect a large turnout since it's a holiday weekend.

It looks like we will have a good sized group going to SMORR the weekend of the 22nd.  We are going to likely stay in Springfield at a nicer hotel than the ones that are closer to the off road park.  I'll pay more and drive further to do so. 

 

We had a fun urban session last night with a young lady who lives about an hour away from us.  Her mom really loved the whole experience we provided it calling it a "once in a lifetime experience".  Big sale coming!

I'm still waiting on a ship notice for some parts I ordered that will need powder coating so I'm hesitant to remove my front bumper until I see they are on their way as I want to be able to drive my Jeep until they arrive.  I have some free time next week so I'll just wait a bit longer. 

I'm looking forward to having three days off for Labor Day.  Luckily, it is not my weekend to work so I get some extra time off as I head into my 30th anniversary month.  We also get a nice bonus at work in September so MORE JEEP PARTS! 

After work yesterday, I headed over to the Brass Rail for a farewell party for my immediate supervisor who is retiring after 41 years with our company.  We have worked together at both St. Louis and Kansas City and he has been a great person to work with for all of these years.  It just so happens that the Brass Rail is where our Northland Jeep group meets and a few friends had arrived before I left the party to head home for a couple sales sessions.  When I got home, Jodi headed over and hung out with all of our Jeeple for a few hours.  She got home right as I was wrapping up the second sales session.  Two more sales sessions and two shoots remain this week for us.

It's hard to believe it is almost September.  This year has really flown by but I am certainly looking forward to the Fall weather.  It's my favorite season and going off roading in the Fall is probably my favorite thing to do.  I'm really looking forward to going to SMORR for the first time and we are talking about a trip down to Arkansas for some wheeling too, maybe in late October or early November.  There are two Badge of Honor trails at SMORR and 3 at Superlift ORV in Hot Springs.   

Work consumes us, at least for 3 more months and then we should see a break.  Jodi doesn't leave her desk chair much and I'm taking over all of the sales sessions so she can work or get a break.  I have two sales sessions tonight.  She is going to work all day and then go to our Jeep group meetup to relax a bit while I do my thing.  I'm glad she enjoys the mind numbing work that I cannot deal with but even she needs breaks from time to time.  She's been getting to go to Jeep meetups and I've been missing them but I'd rather her get the break than me.

I hope to get my bumper to the powder coater next week.  I have some new parts coming that need to be powder coated so as soon as they arrive I'll head that way with them and the bumper.  They just finished up my Posion Spyder bumper skid plate so I'll get that while I'm there.  I've been thinking about adding a cage to my Jeep too.  I've been doing more extreme wheeling and for safety reasons, it may be the right thing to do.  That would probably be a winter project along with Raptor Lining my exterior.  I'm excited to get that done.

Here is a quick drone shot from Mosquito Pass in Colorado.  I've got a lot of video to get through.  Watch it on Youtube for a bigger view and to choose high resolution.