Vacation rentals, web guy, home restorer and aspiring wine maker

I'm Jason Miller and this is my little spot on the web. During the day I work for a SaaS company as a sales engineer. In the evenings I run Weekend Oasis Vacation Rentals and a few other small hobby businesses.

The purpose of this website is to introduce you to my businesses, share some of my photography and hopefully help friends and family stay in touch or maybe even meet new folks with similar interest. Enjoy and thanks for visiting!

-jason
jason@jamz.net
Twitter: WeekendOasis
Facebook: WeekendOasis

Wow! I haven't updated my personal blog since July! Lots and lots and lots of stuff has happened. First, Amber and I moved! As you may know, our primary residence for a period of time was New York City. I was either at the cabins or in NYC. In August of this year we moved to Baltimore Maryland living in Fells Point. Amber walks to work, I work from home still, and driving to the cabins is much easier. We love it!

After the move, we had our wedding in September. This is a memory we will cherish for a lifetime. If you have not checked out our wedding page please do. Lots of photos and videos we are sharing: AmberLovesJason.com

Once the wedding settled down we enjoyed getting settled into Baltimore. We've met lots of new people, this past weekend hosted a dinner party for 10, and we really feel like this will be home for awhile.

We also take advantage of living so close to the cabins. Sustainable farming has become part of our lives. We travel to the farms, buy our food, and appreciate eating organically and natural as much as possible.

For Thanksgiving we had a fresh turkey from Crowfoot Farms in Amissville Virginia. We enjoyed the holiday at Amber's aunt's house in Potomac MD -- it was a day (and next day) of relaxation, stuffing our faces, and enjoying quality time together.

Things for following and being part of our adventure!

Thunderstorms! Big lightning strike!

I love a good thunder storm! Last Wednesday I was driving (late night, around 12am) down I81 into Virginia from Pennsylvania. Around mike marker 314 the skies really started to light up. I was able to get a picture and a quick video.

We just made a ton of updates to the website and a short slideshow video:

As you can tell from my blog, lots of activity has been happening on my other sites.

Weekend Oasis Vacation Rentals is chugging along nicely. Our rental cabins in Virginia are booking up fast and guests are leaving delightful comments! Thank you. On a side note, we have 2 content creators for Weekend Oasis and one advertising manager. I have developed a team of virtual workers and after a few months of perfecting how to work with my team, I think I've figured it out. In the coming weeks I am going to write an article about having virtual staff as part of your small business. Stay tuned.

Backyard Winery is reaching a major milestone. Our grafted vines are arriving this week and will be planted over the weekend. The trellis system and trench system were complete last week. This will be my first attempt at growing grapes as an aspiring wine maker and eager to keep you updated on our website, Backyard Winery.

Thanks for all the support along the way!

Fox Meadow Vineyards

Tap the tank

Amber and I enjoyed our visit at my rental cabin in Front Royal this past weekend. It was great to relax like our guests! We had to hit the vineyard trail and visited Gadino Cellars, Narmada Winery, and Fox Meadow Vineyards.

While at Fox Meadow, we enjoyed the tap the tank experience! Tasting wines that are getting ready to be bottled! Let me tell you, they have some AMAZING stuff about to come out! Loved the Viognier.

Fires in Virginia

Amber and I are enjoying Blue Mountain Oasis this weekend and woke up this morning to an interesting weather warning:

THIS RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE OCCURRING NOW. A COMBINATION OF VERY STRONG WINDS... LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY... AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

Sure enough, the Shenandoah Valley started to go up in flames! Blue Mountain had 2 fires and over 300 acres in Shenandoah National Park were burning.

I don't think I even recall seeing this in Virginia! The photo below was snapped in Hume Virginia.

After the weather today this song seems fitting:

The local newspaper (Northern Virginia Daily) picked my picture up and gave me a mention:

Click for a larger image

Tea at the Stegmaier Mansion

Amber and I enjoyed chocolate lovers tea for Valentine's day at the Stegmaier Mansion. It's a beautiful place packed with antiques and rich in history. Located in the River Street Historic District of Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and adjacent to several colleges and universities, The Frederick Stegmaier Mansion has been meticulously restored to its former opulence by owner Joseph Matteo and operates today as an historic house museum, banquet facility and grand bed & breakfast.

See our pictures of the Stegmanier Mansion by clicking here.

Our pug and boston terrier

Dogs meeting for the first time:

Amber and I left PA on Sunday and had an interesting drive in the snow! We made it back to NJ and the blizzard was well upon us!