The end of 2008 is drawing near.
It's time to reflect back on the past year.
This was by far, the most wonderfully successful year of my life. This was the year I brought life into this world. My daughter, Avery was born on May 14, 2008.
I am not a perfect person. I have made my share of mistakes. But I made up for all of it when I brought Avery into this world. She is perfect. She is my light.
My husband and I waited many years to get pregnant. We have been together for over 14 years now, married for over 7. And while I am glad we waited, as we did what we felt was right for us, I look back and cannot imagine life without her.
2008 was also an extremely successful year for my career. Even as the market was slower than years past, my team and I were still able to help people sell their homes and move on. Additionally, and even more rewarding, we assisted many people with purchasing a home. I just love seeing the joy and experiencing the gratefulness when helping someone to purchase a home, be it their first or just the perfect home, or even the second home they've always wanted. That is the best part of my job. That is what makes all the sleepless nights and stress and hard work worth it!
As you may, or may not know, my team is comprised of three of the best Realtors in Mason County. Rob Drexler, Margie Heath and I make up "Your Dream Team." And in 2008 we made what has turned out to be the smartest decisions of our careers. Rob became co-owner of the John L. Scott office in Belfair and "Your Dream Team" moved in Oct. 1. Since changing brokerages, we have noticed a sharp increase in business - and our morale is soaring, even with all the doom and gloom about the market in the news. It's refreshing to be able to go into the office with a positive outlook, and to have that outlook matched by others in the office! Plus the tools available have allowed us to increase our already high levels of customer service!
As I look back, I smile at what 2008 has brought me, both personally and professionally. I am proud of my accomplishments. And while it's always sad to watch another year fall to the wayside, I know that 2008 is a year I'll always remember - and I'm thankful for that!
Well color me surprised. On December 22nd, I received a Lemonade Award from Rich Dansereau. Apparently a Lemonade Award is given to 10 bloggers whom a prior recipient feels displays gratitude and/or attitude in their blog. I'm honored to be recognized in this way, (even though I'm sure I was awarded this for the "attitude" part!!) and am happy to announce the winners of my Lemonade Awards. These are bloggers here in the ‘Rain whose blogs I look forward to daily. Bloggers that I subscribe to, and I recommend you do the same.
Check out these blogs,
The next step is for those awarded this oh so prestigious award to now award 10 of their own bloggers, Be sure that you include links to the blogger that awarded you and those you award! Happy Awarding!
I'm not going to blog about our ridiculous snow again. I realize that I'm beginning to sound like a broken record. But, after being mostly homebound for so many days in a row, I find that I have little else to blog about.
However, due to our unusually high volume of snow, there are a lot of people completely snowed in. Truly homebound. My grandma and her neighbors are included in this group. She is a widow and lives in a retirement community. A lot of her friends are also widows, all are elderly. Their neighborhood had been plowed but the result was pretty much 2" of compacted snow and ice on top of the road. None of them were going anywhere.
I have called my grandma everyday since this weather hit, making sure she was ok. She's been fine of course. She's had plenty of food and water and her electricity remained in tact. However, I was getting cabin fever and I had ventured out a few times since these storms hit. I knew my grandma had not been out of her house in about a week. She hadn't even walked out to her mailbox. So, when my husband and I decided to head out (shopping was just an excuse, we just needed to get out) we called my grandma.
She didn't even hesitate to say yes when we asked if she wanted to get out. We had her call her friends, and while we didn't have room to take them on our field trip, we wanted to make sure we picked up anything the might need.
Grandma practically leapt into the truck when we pulled up. (Ok, that's a complete exaggeration but you get my point.) We took her to a few local stores, slid around a bit and laughed and gasped and eventually got our shopping done, making sure to pick up everything on the lists for her friends. We drove around her neighborhood, dropping off small bags to her friends and eventually dropped Grandma off at her place.
It was a small gesture, but she was so grateful for it. As were her friends. It's amazing how easy it is to make someone's day. And seeing her smile so, brought a large smile to my face as well!
This really is a Christmas to remember. My daughter's first Christmas, and the snowiest Christmas season I've ever had. I was pretty much a warm weather girl before moving to the Pacific Northwest in 1991. Born in San Diego the daughter of a Navy man, we moved to a small Italian Island in the Mediterranean Sea. From there we moved to Florida and then Central Georgia before settling in out here in God's Country. This is the most snow I've ever seen outside of the mountains. It's pretty amazing.
Our snowfall began last Saturday night into Sunday with a dusting of about 2". It's been snowing heavily off and on since Wednesday night. My husband worked from home on Thursday and Friday. We ventured out Saturday - hit the malls and grocery stores for last minute Christmas gifts and food! Then we hunkered down for the night.
As I woke up in the night to check on my daughter, I was astounded by the sheer volume of snow that had fallen. I was also shocked by the fact that it was STILL snowing! And although I was pretty bleary eyed, I smiled.
** This picture was taken on Sunday at about 4pm. We drove the truck on Saturday, parked it about 6pm. This is less than 24 hours!!**
The snow has finally stopped falling. Nightfall is upon is, and our 15" of snow has an hard ice crust over it. The roads are covered, and even though the plows and sand trucks are out, I expect tomorrow to be quite a mess. I plan to stay at home at least one last day. I'll finish up my housework and last minute preparations for Christmas (we are hosting our family dinner this year.)
I hope everyone is staying safe and warm during, and making the most of this weather!
I woke up this morning to a winter wonderland. Everything is so beautiful (except traffic) in the snow. It's like it washes everything clean.
I drank my coffee as I gazed out my window and was struck at how funny the aircraft carriers looked covered in snow. I'd take a picture, but it's snowing so much that you can barely see across the Puget Sound with the nake eye, a camera lens just wouldn't capture it. Perhaps I'll get a shot later!
I love the snow. Especially on days that I don't have any important meetings or things to do that require me to leave my cozy home. Today, I'll do some work on my website, change some photos around on some listings - just to make them pop a bit, and do some Christmas baking! Mmmmm... I can smell the cheesecake tiramasu bars already!
I wish everyone a happy snow day!
 |
|
|
Alisha is a member of "Your Dream Team," dedicated to providing the highest level of customer service to clients, creating customers for life! Buying and selling real estate in Belfair, Mason County.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
Powered by the ActiveRain Real Estate Network
© 2009 ActiveRain Corp. All Rights Reserved
